Sarah L. Voisin/The Washington Post via Getty Images Yumi Hogan

Yumi Hogan is telling her story of how she immigrated to the United States from South Korea "to pursue the American Dream"  and how, over 40 years later, she is part of a community that is still facing harrowing hatred.

In an impassioned essay for CNN, the wife of Maryland Gov. Larry Hogan recalls being a single mom in America after leaving her family's farm in her home country, struggling to make ends meet for the sake of her three daughters while being "in a completely different world culturally" than she had known her entire life up until that point.

"My family worked hard, and I was taught to be sober and diligent  to never get lazy," Yumi, 61, writes of her own childhood, as the youngest of eight. "Leftover and broken eggs that couldn't be sold from the farm were my snack. I walked 2 miles every day between home and school since there was no bus available."

When she moved to the U.S., Yumi "didn't speak much English" and, given her status as a single mother having to provide for her kids, "didn't have time to do anything" for herself.

"My life didn't seem to be close to the American Dream. Without letting my daughters know, I would dry my tears quietly, remembering my childhood. I missed everything familiar from my homeland," Yumi writes. "But I never, never gave up."

Never miss a story  sign up for PEOPLE's free daily newsletter to stay up-to-date on the best of what PEOPLE has to offer, from juicy celebrity news to compelling human interest stories.

Bill O'Leary/The Washington Post via Getty Images Yumi Hogan (center)

RELATED: Anti-Asian Hate Crimes in Major U.S. Cities Increased 150% in 2020: Report

Yumi remembers how her older two daughters "took part-time jobs" when they got old enough, to help her out. He girls "worked and studied hard" and "were the reason I went through all the hard times, and ultimately were the ones who helped me push through."

Story continues

They also encouraged their mom to go back to school, telling her it was "[her] turn" to "follow [her] own passion and dream," Yumi writes. As a result, she earned two college degrees and began teaching at MICA, which she has continued to do for the last decade. (She met her husband, the future governor, at an art show in 2001.)

And while Yumi and other Asian Americans "have worked hard, served our communities, started businesses and raised families here, often while struggling to learn a new culture and a new language," leading to them be "an indispensable part of this country," they are still facing "discrimination and racism" today, including in the form of violence.

"Some may share common experiences  no support or response was provided by the police when hate crimes or incidents happened; their windows were broken by aggressors; discrimination or bamboo-ceilings prevented them from being promoted at work; they were asked where they 'originally' or 'really' come from; their children were bullied and told they 'smell bad' due to their lunch box with Asian food; they were insulted with slanted-eye gestures," she writes.

"We Asian Americans are a proud people," Yumi writes. "Instead of fighting back or speaking up against this hate, we worked that much harder to prove our worth. We focused on the problems right in front of us  finding ways to make ends meet, feed our families, and educate our children."

But now," she continues, "as our nation grapples with the COVID-19 pandemic, hurtful words have too often escalated to brutal acts of violence."

This content is not available due to your privacy preferences. Update your settings here to see it.

RELATED VIDEO: "I Belong Here": Sandra Oh Protests in Solidarity, Condemning Violence Against Asian Americans

Yumi, the first Korean-American first lady of a state, writes that the U.S. is still "envy of the world because of its diversity," something that "makes us stronger, and it is built on embracing, understanding, and enjoying the differences among us."

But while her husband has supported and passed legislation "that improve and expand the reporting of hate crimes," she believes "institutions and laws are not enough."

"Our society should evolve to the point where Asian Americans are considered Americans without any questions," she writes.

"My fellow Asian Americans weep over the rising number of attacks against our people. But in the face of this senseless violence, I see a new strength, determination and resilience in our eyes. We will not stay silent anymore," she wrote. "But we will also not respond with vengeance. Instead, we will love each other more, we will support each other more and we will stand together. We will make sure the overwhelming outpouring of support from leaders turns into real and lasting action that protects our children and grandchildren."

Yumi's essay comes amid a rise in violence against Asian Americans and Pacific Islanders, including the March 16 shootings at three Atlanta-area spas that killed eight people, six of whom were Asian women.

A recent report from the Center for the Study of Hate and Extremism at California State University, San Bernardino, found that anti-Asian hate crimes increased 150 percent in 2020 in America's 16 largest cities, despite overall hate crimes dropping 7 percent in those cities.

If you've been attacked or witnessed an attack, please contact your local authorities. You can also report your incident here. 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.
After announcing an accelerated schedule for COVID-19 vaccine eligibility in Pennsylvania on Wednesday, Acting Health Secretary Alison Beam addressed reporters questions on a number of related issues.

Here are some of those questions and answers, edited for length.

Do you expect another backlog for vaccination appointments, and what are you telling providers to plan for regarding a surge in calls?

No. The state is now able to tell providers the minimum amount of vaccine they will regularly receive, week after week, so they can schedule appointments into the future based on that information. Previously, that predictability didnt exist.

How and why has the states vaccine allocation strategy changed?

Because the federal government is activating more retail pharmacy providers and increasing allocations to them, state officials realized that a focus on regional mass vaccine clinics was not the most prudent use of resources. So, instead, the state will allocate more vaccine directly to counties in ways that local and county leaders have requested. Federal officials expect that by April 19, 90% of individuals will not only be eligible for a vaccine, but living within 5 miles of a vaccinator.

Are people better off making an appointment at a mass vaccination site or a pharmacy?

Try scheduling with both types of sites and go with the one that can schedule an appointment soonest.

Is there any projection for when we can stop wearing masks and social distancing?

No. We have to be closely attuned to the presence of variants of the coronavirus, which are likely contributing to rising case counts, which will likely be followed by increased hospitalizations and deaths. Officials are constantly evaluating the data to understand the right level to relax mitigation.

Is Pennsylvania still on track to loosen pandemic restrictions on bars and restaurants beginning Sunday?

As of now, yes.

Some rural communities are still seeing low vaccination numbers and and higher case counts. What is the department doing to help close the equity gap, and are increasing case counts related to low vaccination numbers in these communities?

The state is working to equitably allocate vaccine to counties, taking into account the extent to which providers can administer them. Convincing folks to get vaccinated is an entire other challenge. The more urgent crisis is where we have an allocation but we wont turn it into an administration because there is hesitancy from the population. We are working across the board to ensure folks understand that the facts and the science are there, that the health and safety of our communities is reliant on us getting vaccinated, and that the freedom and local control so many people want will be facilitated best when we have the most folks vaccinated.

Other states are planning clinics for manufacturing employees at large sites. Is Pennsylvania?

We are working closely, particularly with the food and agriculture industry, to facilitate partnerships between providers and some of the large companies. We hope to be able to do more as the supply increases.

Is there a problem in communicating with providers, given that in Washington County, vaccines have already been offered and administered to police and firefighters?

Providers should be conforming to the states eligibility requirements. Some counties were able to get through Phase 1B. The state has worked with providers that have jumped the phases. We have worked to better enforce our allocation around those providers and we will continue to do so and closely monitor for compliance with our phases.

A lot of people in the food service and restaurant industry, who wont be eligible to schedule vaccination appointments until April 12, feel their health will be at greater risk when the governor loosens restrictions on their employers on Sunday. Are the interests of businesses being considered over the interest of their health by allowing them to work in an environment where they will be at increased risk?

We are incrementally increasing occupancy, not swinging the doors wide open. You still have masking and social distancing and making sure restaurants comply with best practices for cleaning. Its not just flipping a switch entirely, its allowing us to slightly progress through relaxation of mitigation efforts while closely monitoring how folks are complying with all safety parameters.

Pfizer said its vaccine is 100% effective for 12- to 15-year-olds in clinical trials and they hope to have a rollout by the fall. Do you have any idea how a rollout in Pennsylvania will go, and how important is it to have kids vaccinated to reach a herd immunity?

Having adolescents and then eventually children vaccinated is incredibly important; they represent 25% of the nations population. To be reach full immunity as a country, were going to have to make sure theyre vaccinated as quickly and safely as they can be. Well be using what we learned over the past three months to inform what we do next.

The Phase 1A vaccine rollout seems prolonged. How will the state ensure each new phase will start on its designated date?

State officials will remain in close contact with providers. Weve been nimble this whole time and we will continue to advance different strategies as other curveballs are thrown our way.

How many Pennsylvanians in Phases 1B and 1C have yet to be vaccinated?

The four targeted populations who became eligible Wednesday number between 190,000 and 250,000 people. The remaining 1B population is 700,000 to 1 million people, and the remaining 1C population is 1.3 million to 1.7 million.
Indian authorities have reportedly blocked bank accounts of ByteDance, the parent company of TikTok, for alleged tax evasion, prompting the company to ask a court to quash the directive which it feared would hurt its operations.

A two-judge bench at the High Court in Mumbai heard the plea of a ByteDance counsel who said the company was "bleeding" and needed funds to pay staff salaries and rent, but the court gave no relief.

After hearing objections from a government counsel, the court said the case will next be heard on April 6.

While TikTok amassed hundreds of millions of users in India, it lost all of these after border tensions between India and China in 2020 were followed by authorities banning the app in India over "national security" concerns.
While the threat of COVID-19 and the need for precautions arent over, there is one long-awaited move to a semblance of normalcy: Many residents at nursing homes are once again experiencing the joy of visits, something that wasnt possible last year.

The expansion of visitations is a change that long-term facility residents and their families desperately want and need, but they also make us nervous.

Some of the most heartbreaking stories during this pandemic belong to those who live and work in long-term care facilities.

For more than a year, parents, grandparents and great-grandparents who live in long-term facilities  where they faced the highest risk from COVID-19  have endured profound sadness, loneliness, depression, anxiety, grief and death.

Patty Ducayet, state long-term care ombudsman at Health and Human Services, has been fighting to get visitation restored.

There is nothing compared to what nursing home residents went through. Think about the people who have not only been locked up, but had their roommates, neighbors and people who took care of them die, she said. They feel trapped. They say this isnt living. There has been loss of cognition. They have lost weight. Dementia worsens over time, and this doesnt help.

Federal and state medical experts credit an increase in vaccinations and advances in COVID-19 mitigation for the expansion of visitation, but are such visits safe?

According to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, 3.7 million doses of vaccine were administered to long-term care facility residents by March 25.

This is impressive, but we wonder if it will be enough, especially because of the extreme vulnerability of older people.

This past week, the Center for Public Integrity and National Public Radio published a report that found while most nursing home residents are getting vaccinated through the Federal Pharmacy Partnership for Long-Term Care, half of nursing home employees nationwide are choosing not to get vaccinated.

Their analysis found that in Texas, only 54 percent of the 95,917 long-term care workers received both vaccines through the federal program.

The CDC is working with nursing home trade associations to study the reluctance, but action is needed.

Medical workers who care for our most vulnerable should be required to get a vaccine, just as babies and students are required to get vaccinations. While this may sound bold, we have seen  especially in Texas  that being meek wont save lives.

At this point, COVID-19 cases are down in Texas and Bexar County. The positivity rate for Bexar County  the percentage of people tested for the virus who turn out to be infected  dropped to 2.1 percent last week, according to the city of San Antonio website.

Health officials consider any rate below 5 percent a sign that virus transmission is at a manageable level. One year ago, the rate was 11.6 percent. On July 12, the rate was 24.2 percent, and on Jan. 4, it was 23.2 percent.

But the virus isnt gone, and we cant forget where we once were. Bexar County has suffered more than 3,150 COVID-19 deaths. We cant assume those residents most vulnerable to COVID-19 are completely safe.

As of March 18, Texas Nursing Facilities self-reported 69,892 COVID-19 positive cases  3,606 in Bexar County. There were 8,870 COVID-19 deaths in Texas  454 in Bexar County, according to a Health and Human Services dashboard.

At Southeast Nursing and Rehabilitation Center in San Antonio, one worker and 18 patients have died from the coronavirus  the most deaths of any nursing home in San Antonio. At least 75 of 84 residents and 29 workers at the 116-bed facility have tested positive for the virus, according to the Express-News.

In recent months, Southeast nursing homes Facebook page tells of a facility that is trying to move on. On Jan. 15, it posted that many of the staff and residents had their first vaccine. In February, there were updates about fresh exterior paint. This past week, photos showed smiling, masked residents receiving festive Easter baskets.

Federal, state and local leaders must ensure that as residents in long-term nursing facilities receive visitors, and feel love and joy, they also remain safe and healthy.
State Auditor Beth Wood at a Local Government Commission meeting. | Photo: Carolina Journal

This post appears here courtesy of the Carolina Journal . The author of this post is Andrew Dunn The federal government sent nearly $4 billion in COVID relief money to North Carolina, but a sizable chunk of it was returned, unwanted, a new report from the state auditor's office finds.The report from State Auditor Beth Wood determined North Carolina's budget office properly distributed the $3.6 billion in COVID relief money allocated by the General Assembly last year. The money was part of the trillions of dollars in relief passed by the U.S. Congress over the course of last year.But $120.8 million was returned to the state, primarily from state agencies that could not put it to use.The largest chunk  $62.6 million  was part of the Extra Credit Grant program created by the General Assembly to send $355 checks to North Carolinians with children. That represents roughly 14% of the total program, and was sent back from the Department of Revenue after the December deadline. The General Assembly subsequently extended the deadline for families to claim the credit.The Department of Commerce also returned $50 million set aside for increased unemployment benefits, after determining they weren't needed.Thirteen primarily rural hospitals declined $5.8 million in assistance, concerned about the requirements imposed by the state and federal government.The University of North Carolina returned $2.1 million in money for scholarships for students with disabilities.While the report determined the money was properly allocated, Wood was careful to note that her audit did not seek to evaluate whether the money was used in accordance with the requirements of the U.S. Department of the Treasury or if the money accomplished its intended purpose.On top of the money returned, about $179 million remained unspent at the end of 2020.The audit comes as Democrats controlling Congress continue to push for more federal spending. Gov. Roy Cooper, a Democrat, has also called for hundreds of millions in new spending for what he claims are pandemic-related needs.In a letter responding to the report, State Budget Director Charlie Perusse said the budget office and pandemic recovery officeWood wrote that although the budget office agreed with the results, its response
They had met in Munich in 1934. Unity was in Germany as a student and began stalking the Fuhrer, watching him at his favourite haunt, the Osteria Bavaria cafe. Her persistence worked. Hitler invited her to his table and was enchanted.

Unity was one of the six Mitford Girls, daughters of the eccentric Lord Redesdale, and Hitler hoped she would provide him with a 'way in' to British aristocratic circles.

He believed this English Valkyrie ('mythical maiden'  who, in fact, had that as her middle name because her grandfather was a friend of the composer Wagner) had been 'sent' to him.

Niece who hot herself with Hitler's pistol: Much gossip arose from Hitler's relationship with Angelika  'Geli'  Raubal, the daughter of his older half-sister, Angela. When Geli began university in Munich in 1929 she moved into his apartment. He took a close interest in his attractive, lively niece, who was 19 years his junior

As a girl, Unity had pictures of Hitler and swastikas on her bedroom wall  she and her older sister Diana were both committed fascists and attended the Nuremberg rally in 1933.

Unity's antics caused an outcry in Britain: she proclaimed herself a 'Jew hater,' gave a Nazi salute to the British consul in Munich, and when Germany annexed Austria in March 1938, she stood beside a triumphant Hitler on the balcony in Vienna.

There was no doubt that Hitler and Unity were very close, but whether the relationship went beyond friendship is unclear. He certainly played her against Eva Braun, his long-term mistress, leaving the insecure Eva jealous and angry.

With both Mitford sisters spending time in Germany, Unity hoped the country and Britain would be allies.

However, having taken Diana into his confidence, and at a time when British Prime Minister Neville Chamberlain was still hoping to maintain peace, Hitler sat on a sofa next to Diana and whispered into her ear that war between Germany and Britain was inevitable.

Joseph Goebbels, Hitler's propaganda chief, introduced Renate Muller to a star-struck Hitler and they became an item. The relationship was not exclusive, but it was close: he gave her an expensive diamond bracelet

A few years later, Braun pointed to the sofa on which Chamberlain, too, sat during the Munich Crisis of 1938, and said, smiling: 'If only he knew what has gone on there on that sofa.'

When war broke out in 1939, Unity was devastated and shot herself in the head with a pearl-handled pistol given to her by Hitler. The wound was not fatal but the bullet lodged in her brain and could not be removed. Hitler insisted she have the best treatment but could not spare the time to visit her in hospital.

Transferred home to England, she was nursed by her mother, but her personality had changed and she had the mental age of a ten-year-old. She died aged 33 in 1948, still a Nazi.

In the wake of Unity's suicide bid, Hitler declared: 'I fear I bring women no happiness.' It was something of an understatement.

Unity's attempt to kill herself was one of a string of suicide attempts by women who became involved with Hitler  some were successful, some not. She was one of legions of women to become obsessed with him. From the millions of ordinary German frauleins who hung on his every word to those who became his intimate companions, women adored him.

In private, Hitler was far removed from the screaming, ranting demagogue seen on newsreels.

He could be soft, jovial, even kindly, especially with women. He charmed them, he made love to them  with his eyes if nothing else  and made them believe that they were the only people who mattered. However, he did not like intelligent women, finding them threatening.

Despite the popular belief in Hitler as a platonic lover wedded only to the German nation, he had sexual desires, although their nature has been the subject of much speculation. There were stories, largely spread by his enemies, of strange sexual proclivities.

(As for the claim his right testicle was undescended, a medical examination in 1923 confirmed, as the song goes, he had only 'one ball'.)

Unity was in Germany as a student and began stalking the Fuhrer, watching him at his favourite haunt, the Osteria Bavaria cafe. Her persistence worked. Hitler invited her to his table and was enchanted

There was persistent gossip that he was homosexual  with an allegation that he had an affair with his deputy Rudolf Hess when they were in prison together in 1924. Hess's devotion was all-encompassing but there is no proof they were lovers.

Nazi Party member Ernst Rohm once teased Hitler about his passion for peasant girls: 'When they stand in the fields and bend down at their work so you can see their behinds  that's what he likes, especially when they've got big round ones. That's Hitler's sex life.'

Not long after, Rohm was killed during the Night of the Long Knives when the SS and Gestapo purged political opponents.

Much gossip arose from Hitler's relationship with Angelika  'Geli'  Raubal, the daughter of his older half-sister, Angela. When Geli began university in Munich in 1929 she moved into his apartment.

He took a close interest in his attractive, lively niece, who was 19 years his junior. Soon, 39-year-old 'Uncle Alf' started to control her life. She was not allowed out unless he or a chaperone accompanied her. She was effectively his prisoner.

He showered her with gifts and new clothes. How far the relationship went has never been clear, but Geli's comments indicate that they were intimate, and several Nazi officials reported statements she had made to that effect.

Not only was she Hitler's niece, and had been under-age when they first met up in 1924, but rumours began to circulate about Hitler's sexual perversions.

Geli told a stormtrooper that 'Hitler made her do things in the privacy of her room that sickened her'. Otto Strasser, a Nazi Party member but a Hitler critic, claimed Geli had been forced to urinate on the Fuhrer.

Geli is also said to have taken other lovers, including Hitler's chauffeur, Emil Maurice. When Hitler found out, he threatened Maurice with a gun.

Relations between uncle and niece became strained. There were screaming matches. He was not above grabbing her, leaving bruises. All Geli wanted was to escape, but the more she demanded freedom, the stricter Hitler became.

Mitzi Reiter is pictured above in the 1930s, when she began an affair with Hitler

After one argument in 1931, Hitler stormed out, leaving Geli alone, depressed and tearful.

The following morning, when the housekeeper knocked on her door, there was no answer. Geli had killed herself. She was found with a gunshot wound to her chest and Hitler's Mauser pistol by her side. There was no suicide note. The newspapers had a field day, blaming Hitler for the suicide.

But was it suicide? Had Hitler shot Geli and then gone off to provide an alibi for himself?

The party's line was that it was an accident. The gun had gone off when she was cleaning it.

Hitler was distraught. He ranted, raved and made several gestures or attempts to shoot himself. He thought about giving up politics and retiring to the countryside. He forsook alcohol and became a vegetarian. He set up a shrine in her room. In death, as in life, Geli was to be his and his alone.

Hitler's obsessive behaviour with Geli  which was repeated in other relationships  had its roots in his relationship with his mother, Klara. Four of her six children died young, so she cossetted and doted on the young Adolf.

Although he often abused her all-consuming love, he was devastated when she died of breast cancer when he was 18. He spent the rest of his life trying to recapture the feelings of emotional security that his mother had created.

As a teenager, Hitler became obsessed with Stefanie Isak, from his home town of Linz. He stalked her for four years, but never once spoke to her.

Her image lodged in his mind as the ideal Teutonic woman  graceful, untouchable and pure. For Hitler was both repelled and fascinated by sex.

Before the First World War, when trying to make a living as an artist, he lived in the slums of Vienna and Munich, where he encountered prostitutes. To him, these degraded women were evidence of the moral decadence of the Austrian and German nations.

Even so, there were rumours, unconfirmed, that Hitler used prostitutes and had been treated for syphilis.

When war broke out in 1914, Hitler enlisted in the German army and was later awarded the Iron Cross for bravery.

In the summer of 1917, when his unit were on a rest period near the village of Fournes-en-Weppes in France, Hitler was said to have met 16-year-old Charlotte Lobjoie. The young German soldier and the village girl reportedly became friendly and, after a tipsy evening, ended up having sex. In due course, Charlotte gave birth to a son, Jean-Marie, but there is no mention of Hitler in the birth registry.

Although, years later, Jean-Marie claimed Hitler was his father, DNA tests proved inconclusive. Since at that point Hitler rarely drank alcohol, was shy and spoke no French, the paternity seems unlikely.

Hitler remained in the army for two years, then returned to Munich where he joined the Right-wing German Workers' Party, which became the National Socialist German Workers' Party.

A colleague from that time, Hermann Esser, noted that Hitler had a 'tremendous impact on the female sex. No one in the general public knew who he was in 1920 but I noticed not only the waitress, but several other young ladies were making eyes at him' They included Suzi Liptauer, an Austrian who fell head over heels for Hitler. Their relationship was clearly sexual, but from the outset Hitler was often unfaithful. It was a habitual problem.

Their affair ended in 1921 after Suzi had threatened to kill herself if Hitler ever became involved with another woman.

When she heard of his relationship with a girl by the name of Emmi Marre, Suzi checked into a hotel, took a sash and wound it around her neck in an attempt to hang herself.

The chambermaids found her, unconscious but still alive. The potential scandal was quickly hushed up and Hitler went back to Suzi, but the relationship was never the same and they drifted apart.

Hitler resumed his affair with Emmi, a statuesque Bavarian blonde who mothered him, although she was only 18. Her greatest pleasure was darning his socks and making him tea. When Hitler ended the relationship, Emmi was devastated, bitterly crying that no man would ever be like her 'Wolfchen' (little wolf).

Hitler's admirers and lovers were many and varied.

In 1925 he met 16-year-old Mitzi Reiter outside her parents' drapery shop in Obersalzberg. He was 37. After his return to Munich and despite him writing her letters, their correspondence died out and it seemed he had forgotten her.

It is possible that Hitler was being blackmailed: Mitzi was a minor, and although there appears to have been no sexual contact beyond kissing, he was still committing an offence.

However, in despair, Mitzi wrapped a length of clothes line around a door handle and her neck. She glided to the floor and lost consciousness. Her brother-in-law managed to untie her and saved her life.

While Eva was hidden away, Magda  universally regarded as the First Lady of Nazi Germany  was unashamedly open about her admiration for Hitler. Nobody has been able to say, unequivocally, whether her love was of a sexual nature

Mitzi eventually married a local innkeeper, but the marriage failed and, after she left her husband in 1931, she and Hitler slept together for the first time. In her words: 'I let everything happen. I had never been so happy as I was that night.'

But while Mitzi wanted marriage, Hitler felt his duty was to Germany, so they separated.

They met again in 1934 when he was Chancellor, and he boldly asked her again to be his lover. She refused  it was marriage or nothing.

She married an SS officer but he died at Dunkirk in 1940. Hitler sent her 100 red roses in sympathy.

Hitler's sister Paula said Mitzi was the only woman who might have been able to curb his murderous instincts.

Hitler's chauffeur Emil Maurice said that when his boss was a rising politician in Munich, he often dispatched him to find beautiful women, preferably actresses, to spend the evening with.

Maurice was clear that some of these evenings concluded with sex.

Such actresses were mainly among the rank-and-file of the profession. But one who did not quite fit this bill was the slim, blonde Renate Muller  the ideal woman to appear in films to promote the Third Reich.

Joseph Goebbels, Hitler's propaganda chief, introduced her to a star-struck Hitler and they became an item. The relationship was not exclusive, but it was close: he gave her an expensive diamond bracelet.

There are two versions of what came next. Renate became addicted to heroin, had a breakdown and was admitted to a sanatorium. There, she died after throwing herself from a third-floor window. This was the version preferred by Hitler and Goebbels.

An alternative is far darker. In this narrative, Renate's dishevelled and distraught appearance on a film set one day worried the movie's director. She duly confessed that the previous evening she had been with Hitler.

She believed they were about to go to bed together and both undressed. But then Hitler fell on the floor and begged her to kick him.

She demurred but finally acceded to his wishes.

He then demanded she beat him with his whip  he had a large collection of leather-thonged whips  and hurl obscene words at him. She obliged and Hitler became very sexually excited.

Afterwards, they put on their clothes and he thanked her, very civilly, for an enjoyable evening. This story gels with other rumours circulating of Hitler as a sadomasochistic sexual pervert.

True or not, after that evening his relationship with Renate cooled and she visited an ex-boyfriend, a Jewish actor, in London where he had fled from Germany.

On her return, she was blacklisted and learnt that she was to be arrested for 'race defamation'.

Facing a potential criminal charge, her career in ruins, Renate resorted to heroin and was admitted to a sanatorium for treatment. Convinced that she was being watched by the Gestapo, when a car with four black-coated agents drew up at the sanatorium, she threw herself from the window and was killed.

By 1934 Eva Braun, pictured, was established as Hitler's mistress, although few people outside his intimate circle knew anything about her

Was it suicide, or was she murdered, to get her  and her knowledge of Hitler's sexual depravity  out of the way?

Another striking woman to fall under Hitler's spell was actress-turned-film-maker Leni Riefenstahl, who made films glamorising the Nazi Party. She flirted and fawned on the party leader, desperate for an intimate relationship with 'the Chief'.

Once, when they were alone together, Hitler embraced her, then stopped himself.

Why would he avoid an affair with Leni, who was young, attractive and eminently available?

Maybe it was the fact that she was also exceptionally talented and clever, and Hitler disliked clever women.

Another possible reason? Eva Braun, the pretty but empty-headed blonde Hitler had first met in 1929.

After his lover Geli's death, he moved Eva into his Munich apartment, still filled with photographs of his tragic niece.

Eva was unconcerned by these, but she was jealous of exotic creatures such as Riefenstahl.

By 1934 she was established as Hitler's mistress, although few people outside his intimate circle knew anything about her.

In 1936 he installed Eva at the Berghof, his home in the Bavarian Alps. Among regular guests there were Joseph Goebbels and his wife Magda. While Eva was hidden away, Magda  universally regarded as the First Lady of Nazi Germany  was unashamedly open about her admiration for Hitler. Nobody has been able to say, unequivocally, whether her love was of a sexual nature.

Erich Kempka, another of Hitler's chauffeurs, certainly thought so, quipping: 'When Magda Goebbels was around Hitler, one could hear her ovaries rattling.'

Magda said she had married Goebbels just to be closer to Hitler: 'Of course I love my husband, but my love for Hitler is stronger; I would be willing to lay down my life for him.' She kept her word.

On April 29, 1945, with the Soviet Army less than a mile from Hitler's Berlin bunker, Hitler and Eva were married. She was overjoyed, even though the marriage would be short-lived.

The following afternoon, with the Red Army almost at the door  most senior Nazis and officials having fled several days earlier  the couple bade farewell to the remaining staff and went into their room. Then a gunshot broke the silence. The Fuhrer had bitten on a cyanide capsule and shot himself in the mouth. Eva hadn't used her pistol, just the cyanide.

As Hitler had ordered, their bodies were burned.

Magda had arrived at the bunker just as most people were leaving, bringing her six children. The day after Hitler's death, she dressed them in long white robes and put them to bed. Reports of how the Goebbels children were killed vary. It seems likely that SS dentist Helmut Kunz gave each an injection of morphine. When they were unconscious, Magda crushed cyanide ampules in their mouths. Then Goebbels shot his wife, before putting a bullet into his own head.

Like Braun, Magda did not want to live in a world without Hitler.

Despite inspiring such devotion, no woman was ever more important to Hitler than his mother, Klara. His love for her never wavered. Would Hitler have become the monster he did if she had lived? The question is unanswerable.

 Phil Carradice, 2021

Hitler And His Women, by Phil Carradice, is published by Pen & Sword History at 19.99.

To pre-order a copy for 17.59, go to mailshop.co.uk/books or call 020 3308 9193 before April 11. Free UK delivery on orders over 20.
U.S. government facilities holding migrant children along the border with Mexico are "stretched beyond thin," an independent monitor concluded after visiting the sites, saying acute overcrowding has created unsafe conditions for thousands of minors in U.S. custody.

In a report filed late Friday to the federal court in Los Angeles, two inspectors appointed by U.S. District Judge Dolly Gee to monitor conditions faced by children in U.S. immigration custody detailed "severe overcrowding" at Customs and Border Protection (CBP) facilities in south Texas.

Social distancing was "functionally impossible" inside the holding facilities, the experts said, calling the level of overcrowding "not sustainable." In one over-capacity facility, there were not enough caregivers for the 500 migrant children under the age of 12 who were held there, the report said.

"Physical distancing precautions to mitigate the spread of COVID-19 have, out of necessity, been set aside and still, CBP facilities  which are not appropriate for minors, in any event  have been stretched beyond thin," Andrea Sheridan Ordin, the court-appointed independent monitor, and Paul Wise, a medical expert, wrote in their report.

Young children look out from inside a pod at the Donna holding facility, the main detention center for unaccompanied minors in the Rio Grande Valley run by the Customs and Border Patrol. / Credit: DARIO LOPEZ-MILLS/POOL/AFP via Getty Images

Overcrowding was so widespread at CBP's main holding facility for unaccompanied children and families in Donna, Texas, that on certain days there was no space between the mats migrants used to sleep, the report said, citing visits Wise made in March.

"The open spaces designed for walking, reading, or play are also fully occupied by mats," the report said, referring to the tent complex in Donna. "The showers designed for an occupancy of 1,000 are occupied all day, with some children reporting that they did not receive showers for days at a time."

As of March 30, there were approximately 3,000 unaccompanied migrant children held at the Donna facility, including 2,500 minors who had been in Border Patrol custody beyond the 72-hour legal limit. About 500 of the unaccompanied minors were younger than 12 years of age.

Story continues

Wise found the number of caregivers charged with caring for the "tender age" unaccompanied children at Donna to be "profoundly inadequate." Due to the amount of young children, the caregivers had to focus on only caring for very young minors and those with special needs.

The independent monitor, appointed as part of the long-standing case over the Flores Settlement Agreement, which governs the care of migrant children in U.S. custody, noted that water, fruits and snacks for children and families in U.S. custody were "plentiful." Baby formula and diapers were also available.

Monitored by a caretaker, young unaccompanied migrant children, ages 3 to 9, watch TV inside a playpen at the Donna Department of Homeland Security holding facility. / Credit: DARIO LOPEZ-MILLS/POOL/AFP via Getty Images

The report highlighted that Border Patrol deployed teams of nurses and physician assistants to its stations and the Donna facility to screen migrant children and families, and provide them necessary medical services. But the monitor said an "unsustainable burden" has been placed on the medical staff working at Donna, who are now being helped by two teams from the U.S. Public Health Service.

"Performing the responsibilities listed above for several thousand migrant children is difficult enough," the report said. "However, this task is exacerbated by the fact that minors generally present to the facility in large groups, at times numbering close to 200, thereby placing an immediate and at times overwhelming demand for health intake interviews, screenings, and medical assessments."

The report said the conditions, taken together, created an "unsafe environment" for children. CBP did not respond to requests to comment on the independent monitor's findings.

Friday's report corroborates findings about the Donna tent by lawyers who interviewed children held there and journalists who toured the facility this week. Earlier in the week, the Donna facility was at 1,624% of its pandemic-era capacity, with pods designed to hold 32 migrants under COVID-19 mitigation protocols housing more than 600 unaccompanied children.

A young migrant girl walks over others as they lie inside a pod for females at the Donna holding facility. / Credit: DARIO LOPEZ-MILLS/POOL/AFP via Getty Images

The overcrowding at border facilities stems from the historic number of unaccompanied children crossing the U.S.-Mexico border and the limited shelter beds for them.

U.S. officials encountered nearly 19,000 unaccompanied children along the southern border in March, a record monthly high. As of Friday morning, there were nearly 5,400 unaccompanied minors in short-term Border Patrol holding facilities, which the Biden administration has said are not appropriate for children.

The Department of Health and Human Services (HHS), which is responsible for the long-term housing of unaccompanied children until it can place them with a family member in the U.S., has been scrambling to get children out of Border Patrol facilities.

HHS has identified ten emergency housing sites to accommodate the increasing number of children crossing the southern border, including convention centers, camps for oil workers, military bases and a Houston church hall that received 466 migrant girls on Friday. It is also considering additional sites, including the Camp Roberts National Guard post in California.

While the independent monitor said the opening of the emergency facilities represented "a constructive strategy" to get children out of Border Patrol custody, it recommended in its report that HHS develop standards for the care of minors in these facilities.

CBS News reported Thursday that lawyers who inspected two of the emergency HHS sites expressed concern about the limited access to case managers, phone calls to family, outdoor recreation and education that children housed there reported having.

In a statement, HHS said case management, education and recreation "are being provided to the extent possible in emergency settings."

"Pet nannies" see boom in business thanks to pandemic

Archaeologists use new digital technology to uncover mysteries of a church in Jerusalem

Miami medical officials try last ditch efforts to find loved ones of those who died of COVID
India on Saturday reported a net increase of 44,213 in active cases, the daily biggest jump so far, to take its count to 658,909. That is nearly 65 per cent of the September 18 peak of 1,017,754. Indias share of global active cases now stands at 2.91 per cent (one in 34). The country is 5th among the most affected countries by active cases. On Saturday, it added 89,129 cases, the most in a day since September 20, to take its total caseload to 12,392,260. And, with 714 new fatalities, the most in a day since October 21 6, its Covid-19 reached 164,110, or 1.32 per cent of total confirmed infections.

With 3,093,795 more people getting Covid-19 vaccine shots on Friday, Indias total count of those inoculated reached 73,054,295. The count of recovered cases across India, meanwhile, reached 11,569,241  or 93.36 per cent of total caseload  with 44,202 new cured cases being reported on Saturday.
Police have registered an offence



against some members of a film crew after more than a hundred people were found constructing a movie set without adherence to COVID-19 guidelines in Maharashtra's Palghar district, an official said on Saturday.

The case was registered on Thursday, he said.

"The work of building the film set at Suncity grounds in Palghar's Vasai had started on March 24. Over a hundred people worked at the site at a time. When a police team went there, it was found that none of the workers followed norms like wearing masks and maintaining social distancing," he said.

"Therefore, a case was registered against some members of the film crew under IPC sections 188 (disobedience to order duly promulgated by public servant), 269 (negligent act that is likely to spread the infection of any disease dangerous to life)," the official of Manikpur police station under Mira Bhayandar-Vasai Virar police commissionerate said.

Nobody has been arrested in this connection, he added.

The police did not reveal any further details, like the name of the film for which the set was being constructed.

Maharashtra on Friday recorded 47,827 new COVID-19 cases, the highest daily count since the pandemic began, which took the state's caseload to 29,04,076.

(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.)
Jerusalem: Christians in the Holy Land marked Good Friday without the mass pilgrimages usually seen in the days leading up to Easter because of the coronavirus, and worshippers in many other predominantly Christian countries where the virus is still raging observed their second annual Holy Week with tight restrictions on gatherings.

In Jerusalem, many holy sites were open, thanks to an ambitious Israeli vaccination campaign. It was a stark contrast to last year, when the city was under lockdown.

Young choristers wear masks as they prepare for the the Good Friday morning choral service, which took place without members of the public present due to Covid-19 regulations, at Truro Cathedral in Truro, England. Credit:Getty

In neighbouring Lebanon, Christians observed Good Friday under a lockdown and suffering a severe economic crisis.

In Latin America, penitents from Mexico and Guatemala to Paraguay carried tree branches covered with thorns and large crosses in Passion Plays re-enacting the crucifixion of Jesus Christ.
The work was part of the ongoing pre-feasibility study for the asset, which is set to become the South American country's next copper mine

Samples from the project were selected to best represent the composition of the geological features that would be mined over the first 12 years

( ) (OTCMKTS:LSANF) (FRA:L41A) has welcomed the final results of metallurgical testing on ore from its Vizcachitas porphyry project in Chile, which confirmed that a future mine could produce "clean and high-quality" copper concentrate.

The work was part of the ongoing pre-feasibility study (PFS) for the asset, which is set to become the South American country's next copper mine, and showed copper recovery of 91.4% and that a high-quality clean copper concentrate at 24.5% could be generated.

"This testwork validates the flotation performance when the operating parameters are applied to the more complex areas of the mine," noted Los Andes' executive chairman Fernando Porcile in a statement.

"These results are encouraging and give us confidence as we continue to progress the development of the project, focusing on delivering sustainable mining, including a reduction in both its water and energy consumption."

Samples from the project were selected to best represent the composition of the geological features that would be mined over the first 12 years of the mine plan.

This is also the period in which the most complex mineralogy and alteration would be exploited, and thus present the toughest conditions for the flotation circuit.

The Vizcachitas deposit sits in a huge land package, spanning 308 square kilometres (sq km), of which only a small portion has so far been explored, and is currently at PFS.

A positive 2019 preliminary economic assessment (PEA) assumed an overall life of mine copper recovery of 91.0% and using a copper price of US$3.50 a pound, the after-tax net present value (NPV) was pegged at US$2.7 billion, while the internal rate of return (IRR) was 26.7%.

Initial capex was put at US$1.88 billion for a project with 3.4 year pay-back time and a mine life of 45 years.

Contact the author at giles@proactiveinvestors.com
BUENOS AIRES  President Alberto Fernandez of Argentina tested positive for Covid-19 on Saturday and was experiencing mild symptoms despite having been vaccinated earlier this year, becoming the latest in a series of world leaders who have contracted the virus.

In a series of tweets sent early Saturday, Mr. Fernandez said a light headache and a temperature of 99.1 degrees had prompted him to take a quick antigen test. Its positive finding was confirmed later Saturday by a more rigorous P.C.R. test, said Dr. Federico Saavedra, the presidents physician.

Mr. Fernandezs symptoms were mild due in large part to the protective effect of the vaccine, Dr. Saavedra said.

The president, who first learned the preliminary result on Friday, his 62nd birthday, said he would remain in isolation. I am physically well, and although I would have liked to end my birthday without this news, Im also in good spirits, the president wrote on Twitter.
New Delhi, April 3 : Amid the surge in Covid-19 cases in the national capital and the Delhi government pushing for a mass level vaccination drive, several Delhi Government-run hospitals have reported a staff crunch. The hospital authorities said that after the vaccination for people of 45 years and above started (from April 1), more people are coming forward for the vaccine jabs and they would need more staff.

The hospital authorities told IANS that they planned to increase the number of vaccination sites to inoculate more people in the coming days. Dr O P Chaudhary, senior doctor in Lok Nayak Jai Prakash (LNJP) hospital said, "LNJP has been vaccinating at an average 150-200 per day at two sites, after April 1 the number of daily vaccination doses have reached to around 350-400. So we are planning to setup at least three more sites." The hospital authorities have also pointed out that non-medical staff deployed at vaccination sites have been another concern. "On an average, 4-5 non-medical people are deployed at each vaccination site. They are deployed mainly for observing the patients after vaccination doses are given and for some other assistance also. As they are non-medical staff and not trained for the purpose, they sometime fail in observing the condition of people vaccinated at the site and at the end we find difficulties," said Dr Amit Gupta, who is in-charge of administration in LNJP hospital.

Gupta stated that shortage of medical staff in LNJP has emerged because several medical staff have been deployed at private hospitals, which can be done by the government in these pandemic times. "Several medical staff members have been sent to private hospitals and at present LNJP has a shortage of around 50 medical staff," Gupta added.

Dr B L Sher, Director of Rajiv Gandhi Super Speciality Hospital, another health institute under the Delhi government, said the department has planned to enhance the number of vaccination sites from 2 to 6 for which additional medical staff and non-medical staff would be required. "We have sent our recommendations to the Delhi government. We have demanded medical staff and non-medical staff and some equipment as well." When asked if school teachers are deployed at vaccination sites in the hospital, Sher replied that "school teachers are deployed mainly as observers and for non-medical work."
US has lifted sanctions and visa restrictions imposed by Donald Trump's administration on officials of the Criminal Court (ICC), who are investigating American military and intelligence officials for potential war crimes in Afghanistan and had also opened a probe against alleged crimes by American ally Israel in Palestinian territories.

US Secretary of State Antony Blinken said in a statement on Friday that President had revoked the sanctions imposed by the previous Trump administration on personnel of the Netherlands-based ICC.

The top US diplomat said the sanctions "were inappropriate and ineffective" and called for closer co-operation.

"Today, President [Joe] Biden revoked Executive Order 13928 on 'Blocking Property of Certain Persons Associated with the Criminal Court (ICC),' ending the threat and imposition of economic sanctions and visa restrictions in connection with the Court," the US Secretary of State said.

"As a result, the sanctions imposed by the previous administration against ICC Prosecutor Fatou Bensouda and Phakiso Mochochoko, the Head of the Jurisdiction, Complementarity and Cooperation Division of the Office of the Prosecutor, have been lifted," Blinken said.

The Biden administration also terminated the policy from 2019 that imposed visa restrictions on certain ICC personnel, Blinken said.

His statement said that Washington continued to "disagree strongly with the ICC's actions relating to the Afghanistan and Palestinian situations" and that US maintained its longstanding objection to the ICC's "efforts to assert jurisdiction over personnel of non-States Parties such as the United States and Israel".

The United States does not recognize the jurisdiction of the ICC.

The Trump administration in September 2020 imposed economic sanctions on ICC officials, including Gambian- born Chief Prosecutor Fatou Bensouda. The sanctions froze any US assets Bensouda may have had.

Earlier in 2020, Trump also authorized the use of such sanctions against the ICC, and also declared the situation a national emergency, calling the court a "threat" to the US

The previous year, the Trump administration had revoked Bensouda's U.S. visa, citing her efforts to investigate alleged crimes in Afghanistan. It also said it would ban visas for linked to the court, though it gave few details.

(Only the headline and picture of this report may have been reworked by the Business Standard staff; the rest of the content is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.)
.......... .......... .......... .......... .......... .......... .......... .......... .......... .......... .......... .......... .......... .......... .......... .......... .......... ..........

After warming up the veto pen Tuesday to stop an unnecessary water fee increase, Gov. Michelle Lujan Grisham should continue to exercise her executive authority to stop legislation that would impair the states economic recovery.

The governor issued her first veto of the year Tuesday, rejecting House Bill 92, which proposed a 67% increase for a fee charged to public water systems. The increased fees would have generated an estimated $1.4 million a year in new revenue, but the governor rightly noted now is not the time to increase water fees. This bill creates a tax on water that is too onerous on New Mexicans as we strive to recover from the pandemic, the governor said, adding money for testing drinking water can be found elsewhere.

In that vein, her veto pen is all thats left to stop hypocritical legislation that would impose onerous mandatory sick leave requirements on businesses of all sizes while exempting state government agencies (HB 20); a bill that exposes every municipality to additional costly lawsuits that can already be filed for wrongdoing by public officials (HB 4); and one that unfairly sticks only taxpayers with additional contributions to public pensions (SB 42).

The governor is off to a good start vetoing HB 92. She has a terrific opportunity to show the state is on a clear economic recovery path by vetoing others that are anti-business and/or anti-consumer as our state works to regain its financial health in the wake of the devastating coronavirus pandemic.

This editorial first appeared in the Albuquerque Journal. It was written by members of the editorial board and is unsigned as it represents the opinion of the newspaper rather than the writers.

ADVERTISEMENTSkip



................................................................
Advertisement

A 13-year-old boy is among eight people arrested after youths threw bottles, bricks and fireworks during a riot in a loyalist area of Belfast which left 15 police officers injured.

The PSNI's Belfast District Commander, Chief Superintendent Simon Walls, said 'a small local protest quickly developed into an attack on police officers' and that at points there were up to 300 people of all ages on the streets.

He called for calm, urging anyone with influence in the loyalist community to dissuade young people from causing violence and harm.

He said: 'I'm not going to enter into dialogue about political commentary.

'What I would ask is that people with influence, people in local communities, would dissuade young people, or anyone else, intent on causing violence or intent on harming police officers.'

He described it as a 'real tragedy' that children as young as 13 and 14 were among those arrested.

'I think it's a tragedy that any child in Northern Ireland is sitting in a custody suite this morning and facing criminal investigation, possibility of being charged and possibility of facing a criminal conviction,' he said.

'It shouldn't happen. And that's why I'm very keen that people with influence try to ask anyone intent on violence to please step back. It's not the way to resolve tensions or arguments.'

Eight police officers have been injured after they came under attack from youths throwing bottles, bricks and fireworks during a riot in a loyalist area of Belfast

The behaviour, which followed four successive nights of disturbances in the unionist Waterside area of Londonderry, was branded 'appalling' by the city's District Commander Chief Superintendent Simon Walls

The incident last night started in the Shaftesbury Square area before moving into nearby Sandy Row

Police said seven people were arrested as officers suffered burns, head and leg injuries

The disorder has flared amid ongoing tensions within loyalism across Northern Ireland

Loyalists and unionists are angry about post-Brexit trading arrangements which they claim have created barriers between Northern Ireland and the rest of the UK

Political leaders have also called for calm over the Easter weekend following the riots.

Stormont's First Minister Arlene Foster urged young people 'not to get drawn into disorder', saying violence 'will not make things better'.

The DUP leader said: 'I know that many of our young people are hugely frustrated by the events of this last week but causing injury to police officers will not make things better.

'And I send my strong support to all of the rank-and-file police officers that are on duty over this Easter weekend.

'I appeal to our young people not to get drawn into disorder which will lead to them having criminal convictions and blighting their own lives.

'I also ask parents to play their part and be proactive in protecting their young adults.'

Northern Ireland Secretary Brandon Lewis described the unrest as 'completely unacceptable'.

Mr Lewis said: 'Violence is never the answer. There is no place for it in society. It is unwanted, unwarranted and I fully support the PSNI appeal for calm.'

The trouble came after four successive nights of disturbances in the unionist Waterside area of Londonderry.

The disorder has flared amid ongoing tensions within loyalism across Northern Ireland.

Loyalists and unionists are angry about post-Brexit trading arrangements which they claim have created barriers between Northern Ireland and the rest of the UK.

Tensions ramped up further this week following a controversial decision not to prosecute 24 Sinn Fein politicians for attending a large-scale republican funeral during Covid-19 restrictions.

Tensions ramped up further this week following a controversial decision not to prosecute 24 Sinn Fein politicians for attending a large scale republican funeral during Covid-19 restrictions

The Sandy Row disturbances, which unfolded ahead of a planned loyalist protest in the area, were met with widespread political condemnation last night

However, the main non unionist parties also accused unionist leaders of creating the febrile atmosphere and stoking up tensions

Loyalists take part in a protest at Shaftsbury Square near Sandy Row in south Belfast as the PSNI moved in to disperse the crowd

All the main unionist parties have demanded the resignation of PSNI Chief Constable Simon Byrne, claiming he has lost the confidence of their community.

The Sandy Row disturbances have been met with widespread political condemnation.

Ulster Unionist Policing Board member Mike Nesbitt said the riot 'did not just happen' and people were encouraged to take part.

'Someone planned it, someone encouraged people on to the streets,' he said.

'I challenge them to explain a strategy that portrays loyalists and unionists as law-breakers, prepared to attack the PSNI, injure officers and frankly take the focus off Sinn Fein and the republican movement.

'The history of street violence is unambiguous. It does nothing to advance our cause.

'It is a huge mistake and should not be repeated.'

Alliance South Belfast MLA Paula Bradshaw said responsible leadership is required from all quarters to stop a repeat of the scenes in Sandy Row.

Ms Bradshaw said those involved in the rioting had 'achieved nothing other than bringing misery upon their own area'.

'There is no future in this type of behaviour,' she said.

'Our thoughts must also be with the police officers who were injured. Public servants have a fundamental right to go to and return from work without being targets.

'I trust therefore those in positions of political leadership and responsibility will reflect on whether their words and actions in recent days have helped or hindered when it comes to reducing tensions.

'Political leadership requires the right decisions, not the easy ones. It often means taking people to places where they are uncomfortable for the sake of the greater good.

'We are seeing very little of that currently and it is resulting in serious harm.'
The Defence Forces tents at the back of Rosslare Europort, which will act as the holding area for those in quarantine

Tucked away to the rear of the Rosslare Europort building are two large green tents, flanked by several defence forces SUVs. The newly erected 'holding area' is evidence of the new quarantine system which came into play at all entrance points to Ireland on Friday - including the Wexford port.

Under the new rules, anyone arriving into Ireland from a list of 33 'high-risk' countries will be legally required to undertake a mandatory two-week quarantine at one of four Dublin hotels costing a minimum of 1,875. While it was reported that the old Hotel Rosslare had been looked at as a possible quarantine facility, this has not come to pass and anyone arriving at Rosslare who is required to quarantine will be brought to the capital.

Although Rosslare is unlikely to see too many people who have passed through the 33 countries, most of which are in South America and Africa, new rules also state that passengers arriving into the country without a negative PCR test taken a maximum of 72 hours before arrival, will be forced to wait in mandatory quarantine until they return a negative test.

This means that any passengers arriving in Rosslare, excluding truck drivers and crew, from France, Spain or the UK will be legally required to present a negative Covid test. If they don't, they'll be brought to the 'holding area' tents at the rear of the terminal building, where they will be tested before the defence forces bus them out to a mandatory quarantine facility in Dublin where they will pay at least 150 per day until a clear test is returned.

'This is all run by the Department of Health, the gardai and the defence forces,' said Europort Manager Glenn Carr. 'We have the same system as Dublin Port and Cork. Passengers disembarking the ferries will be met by gardai and customs as always, at which point they will have to present a negative PCR test. If they are unable to do that, they are brought to the holding area and the defence forces will transport them to the relevant quarantine facilities.

'Obviously Rosslare has no direct connection to the 33 high risk countries on the list. The only way we could come into contact with someone in that situation would be if they flew from one of those countries to France or Spain, for example, and got the ferry across.'

Since the beginning of the pandemic, 28 fixed charge penalty notices have been issued by gardai for breaches of Covid regulations by passengers arriving at Rosslare.

Wexford Garda Chief Superintendent Denis Ferry said that, overall, compliance with PCR testing requirements at Rosslare had been good and that at the time of going to print, nobody had had to be brought from the port to Dublin for mandatory hotel quarantine.

'The volumes of passengers coming into Rosslare at the moment are very low,' he said. 'The vast majority of people coming in are 100% compliant. We've worked with the HSE and the defence forces in recent weeks to put the procedures in place for the introduction of mandatory hotel quarantine, but we expect that the numbers of passengers travelling will remain low and that those who do have a legitimate reason to travel will be well aware of the requirements. Basically, this just provides an extra layer of protection, but equally it's important that people know that from our point of view, we're doing our bit.

'Overall, things are running very smoothly in Rosslare. The biggest thing is freight. Of those passengers who do enter the country, most have valid and legitimate reasons.'

Chairman of Wexford County Council Cllr Ger Carthy had initially believed that the old Hotel Rosslare premises in the harbour was to be used as a mandatory quarantine facility and was critical of the council and locals being kept in the dark on plans.

'So the situation now is that the army will escort people who need to quarantine by bus,' he said. 'Initially it seemed like Hotel Rosslare was to be used, but that must've changed. Given the defence forces' involvement, I'm sure this will be done right. The numbers of passengers coming through are very small and it seems to be mainly trucks, which would be exempt.

'This whole quarantine situation is just a further example of an inept and chaotic lack of forward planning from the government though,' Cllr Carthy said. 'It's taken a year to get mandatory quarantine in place and when we do get it, it seems half-baked. It all seems to be soundbites. It seems to me that quite a few people in this government are asleep at the wheel.'
NEW YORK  Add travel to the activities vaccinated Americans can safely enjoy again, according to new U.S. guidance issued Friday.

The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention updated its guidance to say fully vaccinated people can travel within the U.S. without getting tested for the coronavirus or going into quarantine afterward.

Still, CDC Director Dr. Rochelle Walensky urged caution and said she would advocate against general travel overall given the rising number of infections.

If you are vaccinated, it is lower risk, she said.

According to the CDC, nearly 100 million people in the U.S.  or about 30% of the population  have received at least one dose of a COVID-19 vaccine. A person is considered fully vaccinated two weeks after receiving the last required dose.

The agency had said it would update its guidance as more people got vaccinated and evidence mounted about the protection the shots provide.

Every day you get more data, and you change your guidance, said Dr. Ali Khan, dean of the University of Nebraskas College of Public Health.

The CDC is sticking to its guidance for unvaccinated people to avoid unnecessary travel. If they do travel, the agency says to get tested one to three days before the trip, and three to five days after. People should also stay home and quarantine for seven days after travel, even if their COVID-19 test is negative, the agency says.

The new guidance says:

 Fully vaccinated people can travel within the U.S., without getting tested for the coronavirus or quarantining. People should still wear a mask, socially distance and avoid crowds, the agency says.

 For international travel, the agency says vaccinated people do not need to get a COVID-19 test before leaving, unless the destination country requires it.

 For travelers coming into the U.S., vaccinated people should still get a negative COVID-19 test before boarding a flight, and be tested three to five days after arrival. They do not need to quarantine. The agency noted the potential introduction of virus variants and differences in vaccine coverage around the world for the cautious guidance on overseas travel.

Already, air travel in the United States has been picking back up. Although traffic remains down by nearly half from a year ago, more than 1 million travelers daily have been going through U.S. airports in recent weeks.

Airlines do not require COVID-19 tests or proof of vaccination for travel in the U.S.

The CDC cited recent research on the real-world effects of the vaccines for its updated guidance. Last month, the agency said fully vaccinated people could visit with each other indoors without wearing masks or social distancing. It also said vaccinated people could visit with unvaccinated people from a single household under similar conditions, as long as the unvaccinated individuals were at low risk for severe illness if infected.

The U.S. began its vaccine rollout in mid-December. Vaccines from Pfizer and Moderna require two doses given a few weeks apart. A one-shot vaccine by Johnson & Johnson was given the green light by regulators at the end of February.
After more than 112,500 teachers and school staff were vaccinated in about three weeks, Gov. Tom Wolf declared the initiative a success Friday during a visit to Luzerne County.

This is a great success, and I am so proud of everyone who made it happen, Wolf said during his stop in Kingston, according to a news release. We know that teachers and students want to be back in the classroom where students can learn, laugh and grow with their friends.

Completing our special vaccination initiative is a big milestone for Pennsylvania, one that will better protect schools, families and communities. 

The governor held a press conference at Luzerne Intermediate Unit 18, where he was joined by its executive director, Dr. Tony Grieco, Acting Education Secretary Noe Ortega and others, including state legislators.

After the federal government approved the single-dose Johnson & Johnson vaccine for use, Wolf and the state COVID-19 Vaccine Task Force announced an initiative on March 3 to provide a voluntary opportunity for Pre-K to 12 educators and school staff to be vaccinated.

The administration partnered with the states 28 intermediate units to rapidly establish vaccine clinics and conduct outreach to teachers and staff through school districts to schedule appointments.

We are now closer than ever to a safe, full return to in-person teaching and learning, Ortega said

The Pennsylvania National Guard and AMI Expeditionary Healthcare coordinated the 28 vaccine clinics.

In Schuylkill County, the Schuylkill Intermediate Unit 29 vaccinated around 1,200 staff in county school districts, including charter and parochial schools, John Matz, county Emergency Management Agency coordinator, said earlier this week.

Matz said another clinic was held last weekend in Milton to inoculate any remaining staff members who wanted to receive the vaccine.

The state made a decision to combine efforts, so four IUs were brought together and they determined how many more people needed it or wanted it, Matz said. About 378 from Schuylkill County had gone up, and other ones were seeking vaccine locally.
Olympics logo (File Image)

Beijing [China], April 3 (ANI): A recent survey among Canadians has revealed that more than half of those polled favoured boycotting Canada's participation in the 2022 Winter Olympic Games in Beijing, underscoring the negative public opinion in the country toward China stemming from allegations of human rights abuses.

Online polling of 1,000 Canadians found that 54 per cent believe that the country "definitely should / probably should" boycott the international competition, while 24 per cent said "probably should not / definitely should not" according to Canadian polling firm Research Co. as reported in the South China Morning Post.

The diplomatic relationship shared by China-Canada has a very topsy-turvy dimension.

China-Canada relations have been getting increasingly tense, with both sides hurling insults and threats. The feud ignited after Canada agreed to a US request to extradite a Huawei executive. This led to retaliation by China with two Canadians - Michael Kovrig and Michael Spavor - being confined over espionage allegations.

The to and fro accusation has been going on for some time.

In February, this year Canada's House of Commons voted 266-0, with abstentions by Prime Minister Justin Trudeau and most members of the federal cabinet, on a resolution that equated China's treatment of the Uyghur minority population to genocide and urged the International Olympic Committee (IOC) to find a different host for the upcoming Winter Games.

The World Uyghur Congress, a human rights group, has urged International Olympic Committee's ethics commission to personally make a ruling on a complaint the group filed to move the 2022 Winter Olympics from Beijing, The Hill reported.

The rights group that represents Uyghurs Muslims in China, had filed a complaint with the Olympic committee's ethics commission in August 2020 requesting the organisation to reconsider holding the 2022 Olympics in China due to "verifiable evidence of genocide and crimes against humanity taking place against the Uyghur and other Turkic Muslims by the People's Republic of China."

Story continues

Since January 21 this year the US Government, the Parliaments of Canada, and the Netherlands have officially recognised China's atrocities against the Uyghurs and other Turkic peoples in East Turkistan as genocide.

According to the Washington Post, "China is committing genocide against its 12-million person Uyghur Muslim minority. This declaration in the State Department's annual human rights report comes as no surprise, but it does make the conclusion by President Biden's administration official."

That means the 2022 Olympic Winter Games in Beijing will draw athletes, diplomats and corporations to a country that this government recognizes as responsible for ongoing crimes against humanity. "Calls to boycott next year's events, therefore, have to be considered seriously," the Washington Post said.

There are also doubts about how the Games in February next year will deal with the coronavirus. (ANI)
BRIDGEPORT  A summer camp and mentoring program that help children and teen survivors of domestic and sexual violence will get a $1.5 million boost from the Elizabeth M. Pfriem Foundation.

The Bridgeport-based Center for Family Justice, which provides shelter and other services to domestic and sexual abuse survivors, announced that it had received a five-year grant from the Pfriem foundation which will allow the center to expand its Camp HOPE-America-Bridgeport program and its related Pathways to HOPE mentoring program.

Since its inception in summer 2017, the camp has provided local children with a therapeutic summer camp and year-long mentoring program focused on helping them overcome their trauma and develop resiliency in the aftermath of abuse.

The foundation, endowed by the late Bridgeport philanthropist Elizabeth Pfriem, recently announced the donation. In light of the gift, the programs will now be known as The Elizabeth M. Pfriem Camp HOPE America-Bridgeport and the Elizabeth M. Pfriem Pathways to HOPE mentoring program.

The money will allow for the addition of several new educational elements to the camps year-long mentoring component, as well as the services of a full-time staff clinician to support campers emotional health throughout the year, officials said.

This incredible gift will be a true game changer for this inspiring program and our future efforts to support the youngest, most vulnerable survivors of abuse, said Debra A. Greenwood, President and CEO of The Center for Family Justice in a news release.

We are grateful to the Elizabeth M. Pfriem Foundation for believing, as we do, that Camp HOPE has the capacity to change and save young lives, while breaking the generational cycles of abuse. We know the impact of this gift will be realized for many years to come, she said.

Elizabeth Pfriem, who died in 2017, was the daughter of a Polish immigrant coal mining family and moved to Bridgeport from Scranton, Penn., after World War II. She was the publisher of the former Bridgeport Post (now the Connecticut Post). She became the first female Ringmaster of Bridgeports Barnum Festival in 1986.

Camp HOPE is a free, confidential program open to children ages 7 to 17. Qualified campers include center clients, the children of its clients or young people referred by one of the nonprofits many community partners.

Each summer, Camp HOPE campers spend a week on site at YMCA Camp Hi-Rock in the Massachusetts Berkshires where they engage in a traditional summer camp experience, along with a therapeutic curriculum. After the camp session ends, campers continue to work with CFJs staff as part of its Pathways to HOPE mentoring program.

To learn more about the Elizabeth M. Pfriem Camp HOPE America-Bridgeport visit CenterforFamilyJustice.org or contact CFJs Camp HOPE coordinator Sasha Collins at SCollins@CenterforFamilyJustice.org
For those who know the children's nursery song "Old MacDonald Had A Farm," well, he does in real life, and it's in Texas, y'all.

In 1991, Donald Wilkerson launched Old MacDonald's Farm in Humble after realizing there wasn't an official petting zoo or farm with that name, his son Mitchell told MySA.com.

READ ALSO: Texas' newest state park just a four-hour drive from San Antonio

Mitchell, who took over operations seven years ago, said his father decided to call the attraction Old MacDonald's Farm in tribute to the famous song and as a nod to Donald's first name. Mitchell said his father was always interested in safari drive-thru parks and petting zoos, so it was natural for him to start his own.

Old MacDonald's Farm is located at 3203 FM 1960 Rd. in Humble, which is about a three-and-half hour drive east of San Antonio (so plan ahead before heading out). The 15-acre property is pretty much a children's paradise with several petting zoos, playgrounds, picnic areas, and more.

Scroll below for more details about Old MacDonald's Farm.
Read what is in the news today:

Society

-- Vietnam recorded three imported cases of COVID-19 on Friday afternoon, raising the national tally to 2,620 patients, with 2,382 recoveries and 35 virus-related deaths, according to the Ministry of Healths data.

-- Rain is in the forecast for the southern Vietnamese region, including Ho Chi Minh City, on Saturday night, following the heavy rain on Friday midnight, according to the Southern Center for Hydro-Meteorological Forecasting.

-- Authorities in southern Ba Ria - Vung Tau Province fined a local company specializing in producing fish feed VND372 million (US$16,100) and suspended its operations for 4.5 months on Friday for discharging wastewater in excess into the environment, resulting in the color change of a lagoon to purple pink.

-- Leaders of the Ho Chi Minh City Department of Transport said on Friday that the construction of Thu Thiem 2 Bridge connecting Thu Duc City and District 1 is expected to be resumed before April 15 after a long halt due to site clearance hindrance.

-- Two workers were dead after a scaffold at a construction site in the Khuc Xuyen craft village industrial cluster in Bac Ninh City in the namesake northern province collapsed on Friday afternoon.

-- Police in south-central Binh Dinh Province said on Friday they had detected 50 young people using drugs at a karaoke bar in Quy Nhon City on Thursday night. Some 44 out of them tested positive for drugs.

-- Vietnamese for the first time surpassed people from South Korea to become the second biggest foreign-born community in Japan after Chinese, according to the largest data of the Immigration Services Agency of Japan.

Business

-- A ceremony was held in Ha Tien City in Kien Giang Province on Friday to announce the establishment of the Ha Tien Border-Gate Economic Zone, the Mekong Delta province's only economic zone.

-- The opening ceremony of the National Tourism Year 2021 will take place on April 20 at the Complex of National Relics, which were recognized as special national relic sites in Truong Yen Commune in Hoa Lu District in the northern province of Ninh Binh.

World news

-- Taiwanese prosecutors have sought an arrest warrant for a construction site manager whose truck is believed to have caused a train accident in which at least 50 people died, Reuters reported.

Like us on Facebook or follow us on Twitter to get the latest news about Vietnam!
San Antonians may like to poke fun at Austin, but an institution in the Capital City just got (some of) us good.

On Thursday, Tex-Mex restaurant El Arroyo tweeted that its iconic sign, which features clever and topical one-liners, had been stolen. The tweet included pictures of the spot in the parking lot where the sign calls home and #BringBackTheSign as a way to get the buzz going online.

In follow-up tweets, the restaurant even showed apparent security footage of four individuals hauling the sign away.

Concerned Texans expressed their worry of the sign being lost forever, sharing memories of seeing the witty captions during their commutes or visits to the free-spirited city. Others were ready to fight the heartless criminals that dared to steal the iconic sign, which has its own books and was even used to announce the upcoming season of "Queer Eye."

Later on in the day, El Arroyo shared a video of Texas Gov. Greg Abbott advocating for the return of the sign.

I said alcohol to-go, not signs to-go, Abbott said. With a trooper standing behind him, Abbott said that he was calling for the Department of Public Safety to find El Arroyos sign.

By this point, Twitter users across the Lone Star State figured out that the stolen sign was part of El Arroyos April Fools Day shenanigans  and a lot of Texans were turned off by Abbott being included in the bit.

Soon after, El Arroyo returned to Twitter to clarify that the sign was found at YETIs flagship store in South Austin and part of a giveaway between the two Texas icons, much to the relief of worried Austinites.

Did you fall for this joke or find it lame? Let us know!
Dinosaur and fossil aficionados are intimately familiar with the meteorite strike that drove Tyrannosaurus rex and all nonavian dinosaurs to extinction around 66 million years ago. But it is often overlooked that the impact also wiped out entire ecosystems. A new study shows how those casualties, in turn, led to another particularly profound evolutionary outcome: the emergence of the Amazon rain forest of South America, the most spectacularly diverse environment on the planet. Yet the Amazons bounty of tropical species and habitats now face their own existential threat because of unprecedented destruction from human activity, including land clearing for agriculture.

The new study, published on Thursday in Science, analyzed tens of thousands of plant fossils and represents a fundamental advance in knowledge, says Peter Wilf, a geoscientist at Pennsylvania State University, who was not involved in the research. The authors demonstrate that the dinosaur extinction was also a massive reset event for neotropical ecosystems, putting their evolution on an entirely new path leading directly to the extraordinary, diverse, spectacular and gravely threatened rain forests in the region today.

These insights, Wilf adds, provide new impetus for the conservation of the living evolutionary heritage in the tropics that supports human life, along with millions of living species.

Carlos Jaramillo, a paleobiologist at the Panama-based Smithsonian Tropical Research Institute and co-lead author of the study, agrees that the meteorites evolutionary and ecological effects hold implications for todays rapid, human-caused destruction of the Amazon rain forest and other key habitats across the planet. We can relate this to nowadays, he says, because were also transforming landscapes, and that lasts foreveror at least a very long time.

Analysis of some 50,000 pollen grains and 6,000 fossil leaves reveals that the meteorite that wiped out nonavian dinosaurs also gave rise of the Amazon rain forest.

Read | World's first preserved dinosaur atop nest with fossilised embryos found in China

Modern-day rain forests are integral to life on Earth. The Amazon, in particular, plays a crucial role in regulating the planets freshwater cycle and climate. Yet Western European and North American paleontologists have paid little attention to tropical forests, focusing instead on temperate latitudes. Many academic and amateur fossil hunters have also tended to write off warm, wet locales as a lost cause for finds because they have assumed that conditions there would prevent organic materials from being preserved long enough to fossilize. Its this combination of factors that has led us to this absence of much data in the tropics, says Bonnie Jacobs, a paleobiologist at Southern Methodist University, who co-authored a contextualizing essay that was published with the new study in Science.

Scientists already knew that the effects of the meteorite collision and its aftermathat least in temperate zonesvaried with local conditions and distance from the Chicxulub impact crater in Mexicos Yucatan Peninsula. New Zealand forests, for example, escaped relatively unscathed. But researchers have had no idea how the event changed the tropical rain forests of Africa or, until now, those of South America.

Along with most of his co-authors, Jaramillo is from Colombia and specifically wanted to investigate the origins of his home countrys tropical forests. The new study, which he conceptualized as an undergraduate student, represents nearly 12 years of effort. It took us a long time, he says, because we had to start from zero.

Whole trees are almost never preserved in the fossil record, so Jaramillo and his colleagues turned to fossilized pollen and leaves for insights. Pollen preserves well over time and is widespread in the fossil record. Like leaves, it differs morphologically among species, which helps researchers determine what types of plants lived in an ancient habitat.

Jaramillo and his colleagues searched 53 sites across Colombia for rocks that formed during the Late Cretaceous period, just before the meteorite strike, and others that formed during 10 million subsequent years, in the Paleogene period. From these rocks, the team amassed and analyzed around 50,000 fossil pollen grains and 6,000 fossil leaves to characterize the types of plants that made them. Recent separate findings indicate that plant leaves receiving more light have a higher density of veins, as well as a higher ratio of a naturally occurring isotope called carbon 13. The researchers studied those features among the collected fossils to piece together the structure of the regions past forests.

Also Read | Comet from edge of solar system killed the dinosaurs: Study

Their findings paint a picture of a sudden, cataclysmic annihilation of life after the impactbut also of a phoenix-like rebirth in the millions of years afterward. Prior to the meteorite, the authors determined, South Americas forests featured many conifers and a brightly lit open canopy supporting a lush understory of ferns. Dinosaurs likely played key roles in maintaining these Cretaceous forests by knocking down trees and clearing out vegetation, among other things. Within moments of the Chicxulub meteorites impact, however, this ecosystem was irrevocably altered. Fires, which likely burned for several years, engulfed South Americas southerly forests. Along with many of the animals they supported, a total of 45 percent of the continents tropical plant species disappeared, according to the authors calculations.

It took six million years for the forests to return to the level of diversity they had before the meteorite, and the species that slowly grew back were completely different than what came before. Legumesplants that form symbiotic relationships with bacteria that allow them to fix nitrogen from the airwere the first to appear, and they enriched the formerly nutrient-poor soil. This influx of nitrogen, along with phosphorus from the meteorites ash, enabled other flowering plants to thrive alongside the legumes and to displace conifers. As flowering species competed for light, they formed dense canopies of leaves and created the layered Amazon rain forest we know today, which is characterized by a blanket of productivity up top and a dark understory at the bottom.

Regan Dunn, a paleoecologist at the La Brea Tar Pits and Museum in Los Angeles, who was not involved in the new study, agrees that its findings are not only key for revealing the past but also for putting current anthropogenic threats into perspective. She particularly notes the authors calculation that 45 percent of plant species went extinct following the meteorite collision, because current estimates suggest that at least this many plant species will be globally threatened in the Amazon basin in the next 30 years from human activities alone.

The question remains: How will human impact change the composition and function of Amazonian forests forever? Dunn says.

The new findings show how extensive mass extinction events can alter the course of everything, Jacobs says. Today we are in the midst of another such event, she adds, but this one is driven by a single speciesand there is no place far from the metaphorical impact crater because humans are ubiquitous.

Yet unlike past mass extinction events, Jacobs says, this time we are not powerless to stop it.
Murray State Launching Early Learning Program

By West Kentucky Star Staff

MURRAY - Murray State University's Center for Autism Spectrum Disorders is launching a new Early Childhood Program for local children in need of individualized intervention in a classroom environment.The initiative's primary goal is to prepare young children with developmental disabilities to succeed in an educational setting by Kindergarten. Eligible children will be between two-years-old and six-years-old and have autism or other related needs. Children will receive custom support to address social skills, language, pre-academic skills, self-help skills, toilet training, and feeding.The program is anticipated to begin in August and will occur at the John W. Carr Hall on Murray State's main campus. Children accepted into the program will receive specialized attention Mondays through Thursdays from 9 a.m. until noon. The classroom will be supervised by Dr. Sean Simons, a Kentucky-licensed psychologist; Dr. Jessica Branch, an early childhood professional; and a team of school psychology graduate students from the University's College of Education and Human Services.The cost of enrollment is just $15 per day for each child. The fees will directly fund the day-to-day operations of the classroom. Simons and Branch are hoping to provide scholarship opportunities to local families in need."With a classroom capacity of approximately five children, a $75 donation would fund an entire classroom for a day, or a donation of $60 would fund one week of therapy for a single child in need," Simons said."We know there are people in our community who want to help but aren't sure where to begin," added Branch. "This is an easy way to make a difference in the life of a child and their family."Melanie Brooks, director of development for the College of Education and Human Services, said they currently aim to raise $5,000 by August, which would fully fund all children participating in the fall semester.You can learn more at the link below.On the Net:
The handover ceremony of COVID-19 vaccines at the National Institute of Hygiene and Epidemiology in Hanoi

Addressing the handover ceremony of COVID-19 vaccines at the National Institute of Hygiene and Epidemiology in the afternoon of the same day, Deputy Prime Minister Vu Duc Dam expressed deep thanks for the great and valuable support from international organisations for the countrys fight against COVID-19.

Kamal Malhotra, United Nations Resident Coordinator in Vietnam, said that these vaccines will be a gamechanger and a critical new tool in the fight against the pandemic.

Today marks a turning point  not just because we welcome 811,200 vaccines to Vietnam, the first in several anticipated deliveries of the COVAX-supplied vaccines to this country this year  but because it marks an incredible moment in history where a handful of countries, along with other actors, especially in the private sector, as well as UNICEF and WHO, have joined hands in solidarity, in recognition that vaccines are a public good which must be accessed equitably by both the richer and poorer countries alike and also by the poor and the most vulnerable individuals within the countries, he noted.

An additional shipment of 3,364,800 doses is expected by the end of May, followed by more later in the year.

The vaccine containers touched down at Noi Bai International Airport in Hanoi

The vaccines in the cold storage of the National Institute of Hygiene and Epidemiology in Hanoi

If the world is to stem the spread of COVID-19 and urgently stop further dangerous variants from appearing, effective vaccines must reach 75 per cent of the worlds population. Beyond being an ambitious and essential goal that will allow economies to open and flourish, it is also an incredible moment in history, where the biggest and most complex vaccination campaign ever attempted is underway. Globally, more than 32 million doses of COVAX-supplied vaccines have been delivered to 63 countries in just one month.

Essential to the success of the campaign is vaccine equity, meaning every country and every person, including those hardest to reach, should benefit. To enable global equitable access to COVID-19 vaccines, especially to priority groups, the COVAX Facility, made up of GAVI, CEPI, WHO, and UNICEF  was formed. It is the only global initiative that is working with governments and manufacturers to ensure COVID-19 vaccines are available worldwide to both higher-income and lower-income countries.

While the arrival of vaccines through the COVAX Facility is welcome news, it will still be some time before a large proportion of the adult population is vaccinated. In the meantime, it is essential that people continue to follow government advice to wear masks, wash hands regularly, and maintain physical distance to reduce the risk of transmission.

At the handover event at the National Vaccine Storage Facility in Hanoi, a series of governments were recognised and thanked for their generous financial contribution to the COVAX Facility for the provision and distribution of vaccines to 92 lower- and middle-income countries, free of charge.

Governments contributing in the spirit of vaccine equity: Australia, Austria, Belgium, Bhutan, Canada, Colombia, Denmark, Estonia, the European Commission, Finland, France, Germany, Greece, Iceland, Ireland, Italy, Japan, Kuwait, Luxemburg, Monaco, Netherlands, New Zealand, Norway, Qatar, Korea, Saudi Arabia, Singapore, Spain, Sweden, Switzerland, United Kingdom, and United States Private sector companies and foundations lauded for their contributions: Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation, Thristledown Foundation, Mastercard, TikTok, Shell, as well as individuals.

On the ground in each country, the WHO and UNICEF are actively supporting country health systems to plan and deploy, train health workers, improve their cold chain capacity, conduct monitoring, and raise public awareness and information on why vaccination is so important.

The WHO joins the government of Vietnam and our partners in welcoming this milestone in the pandemic response, said Dr Kidong Park, WHO Representative in Vietnam. This achievement is a testament to global solidarity and what we can achieve together when many countries and partners work in unity to deliver a critical public health good. I commend Vietnam for the incredible work to facilitate the arrival of these vaccines from COVAX.

I would like to acknowledge the hard work of all the government counterparts involved, both from the health and non-health sectors," he added. "I have seen how much you prepared for the arrival of these vaccines, from identifying priority groups, training health staff, facilitating delivery systems to reach the provinces, and keeping the public informed. The arrival of the vaccines means that more frontline workers and high-risk populations can be vaccinated and protected. WHO will continue to work alongside our counterparts to make sure these vaccines benefit whose who need them the most.

Led by UNICEF, the procurement and delivery of this supply of the vaccines through the COVAX Facility underpins Vietnamese governments Resolution No.21/NQ-CP dated February 26, 2021 on purchasing and using COVID-19 vaccines and will provide critical vaccination support for 20 per cent of the population.

UNICEF Representative Rana Flowers, in thanking all the countries who have generously supported COVAX, said: This is a historical and highly complex effort  the likes of which none of us have experienced before. UNICEF is bringing to this global effort every ounce of the experience gained in saving millions of lives through the safe delivery of vaccines.

Our work with the Ministry of Health here in Vietnam includes support with planning, training, and communication, as well as the procurement and delivery of additional syringes, safe boxes, and fridges. Only with vaccine rollout to every corner of Vietnam can life and the economy start to return to normal, can we ensure children have uninterrupted access to schools, healthcare, and protection services. What a great moment for us all to join hands in support of the people of Vietnam, added Flowers.

The vaccine procured for Vietnam is developed jointly by AstraZeneca and the University of Oxford and is manufactured under licence by SK Bioscience in South Korea. The AstraZeneca/Oxford COVID-19 vaccine has received the Emergency Use Authorization from WHO and is already used in Vietnam.
New Delhi:

The security forces on Saturday night resorted to lathicharge on students protesting inside the Banaras Hindu University (BHU) campus for increasing incidents of eve-teasing.

Four people including 1 female and 3 males were injured in the incident.

The latest incident was reported on Thursday, when a woman student of the Arts Faculty was harassed by three men on a motorcycle inside the campus as she returned to her hostel. The three men abused her and fled when she resisted their attempts, she said.

The woman alleged that security guards, about 100 metres from where the incident happened, did nothing to stop the men. She said her warden, instead of taking up the issue with her superiors, asked her why was she returning late to the hostel.

The wardens response angered the students colleagues, who sat on a dharna at the main gate midnight Thursday.

ALSO READ | Ryan murder case: Police lathicharge parents demanding CBI probe, govt accepts negligence on schools part

One of the students even got her head tonsured. The protest is continuing. It had forced authorities to change the planned route for Prime Minister Narendra Modis convoy on Friday.

The students said they have to face eve-teasers inside the campus regularly and the varsity administration was not taking any action to stop the miscreants.

Police and BHU professors tried to pacify the students on Friday, but they refused to end their protest and sought assurance from the university vice chancellor.

A large number of police personnel have been deployed near the campus as a security precaution, said the police.

On Friday night, the BHU issued a statement saying the 'dharna' by the students just a day before Modi's visit was "politically motivated" to malign the image of the university.

The university also said that security guards were regularly patrolling the campus and assistance from the police is sought from time-to-time to maintain peace in the campus.

(With PTI inputs)

ALSO READ | Darjeeling: Police use lathicharge against GJM protesters at Chowk Bazar

For all the Latest India News, Download News Nation Android and iOS Mobile Apps.
When UConn coach Geno Auriemma was diagnosed with COVID, it was four days after he had received his second vaccine dose.

If I hadnt gotten the vaccine ... I might be really, really, really sick, Auriemma said in March.

Cases like Auriemmas, called breakthrough infections, do happen, just as they happen with any other vaccine, said Department of Public Health spokesperson Maura Fitzgerald.

But exactly how many there are in Connecticut is difficult to tell.

Reports of possible breakthrough infections are being collected as part of a special epidemiologic project, said Fitzgerald. The Department of Public Health will publish a summary report when case investigations have been completed and the data are analyzed.

It could, theoretically, be thousands of cases, though ultimately a small percentage of the total number of vaccinated people.

Remember, the vaccine is not 100 percent effective, Moderna and Pfizer are only 95 percent effective, Tom Balcezak, chief medical officer at the Yale New Haven health system, said during a press conference. So, that means that five out of every 100 people that are exposed to the virus in a high risk exposure may become infected.

So far, Balcezak said Yale has seen just a small handful of breakthrough infections.

We've had six across the Yale New Haven health system admitted to the hospital, he said. It's a really small number, all of them have done well and been discharged home.

Ajay Kumar, executive vice president and chief clinical officer at Hartford Healthcare, said on March 26 that he had not seen any breakthrough infections.

So far we have no patients who have been vaccinated or partially vaccinated admitted to Hartford Healthcare because of COVID, he said. Unrelated reasons, maybe, but not because of COVID.

Asha Shah, associate director of infectious diseases at Stamford Health said only that the majority of our inpatient COVID cases are in individuals who have no record of vaccination or who have been incompletely vaccinated (first dose a few days prior to admission).

George Kuchel, director of the UConn Center on Aging, said he hasnt seen any cases yet.

I haven't myself, but I've certainly heard about it, so there are cases, he said. It's not particularly common, but I think it's a cause for concern.

Of particular concern to both Kuchel and Yales Balcezak is how the vaccines will work against new variants of the virus.

We expect some people who are vaccinated to be infected, Balcezak said. It's not a panacea.

Balcezak said all six of the breakthrough cases in the Yale health system were found to be the more infectious B.1.1.7 strain, originally sequenced in the United Kingdom. But because it is so widespread in Connecticut, it may be just the law of numbers.

Because it is becoming the dominant variant, it is so much more transmissible, I don't think it tells you anything about immunity conveyed by the vaccine and exposure to [the variant] B.1.1.7, he said.

Kuchel, as director of UConns Center on Aging, is particularly concerned about older patients.

He said vaccines work in two ways: Sterilizing immunity, which Kuchel defined as the ability to fend off the infection in the first place, versus the ability to clear the infection once it takes place.

With aging, it's actually the latter that's often the problem, he said. It's still not entirely clear that frail, older adults and people who are most vulnerable to COVID are as protected with these different vaccines, as their younger counterparts and their healthier counterparts. That jury's still out.

By some definitions, Auriemmas case would not be considered a breakthrough infection.

That should be two weeks beyond their second dose, Balcezak said. So we're calling those breakthrough COVID.

After Auriemma tested positive for COVID, experts speculated that his case was asymptomatic because he had been vaccinated. There is some evidence to support that argument.

A study published on March 29 in the journal Nature Medicine showed that the viral load was substantially reduced for infections occurring 12 to 37 days after the first dose of vaccine, suggesting that breakthrough infections are very unlikely to cause a severe reaction.

These reduced viral loads hint at a potentially lower infectiousness, further contributing to vaccine effect on virus spread, the study says.

Thats been true as well for breakthrough cases in Connecticut.

They've all done fine, Balcezak said of COVID cases in vaccinated patients. It's rare to have severe illness, meaning an illness that needs you to be admitted. And even if you do have an illness that needs you to be admitted, the course of that illness in general is much, much better.
by Melani Manel Perera

During the civil war, he served as bishop of Mannar, in the north. A supporter of the Tamil people, subject of abuses and attacks, abductions and land grabs, he was suspected of supporting the Tamil Tigers and for this, he received threats.

Colombo (AsiaNews)  Mgr Rayappu Joseph, bishop emeritus of Mannar, died on Thursday at the age of 80. He was known to all as an advocate of peace for his country and justice for Tamils.

Born on 16 April 1940, on the northern island of Neduntheevu, also known as Delft, he was educated at St Patrick's College, Jaffna, and St Joseph's College, Anuradhapura.

He became a priest on 13 December 1967 and later studied in Rome for a doctorate in Canon Law at the Pontifical Urbaniana University. He was fluent in Italian, German and English.

In 1992 he was appointed bishop of Mannar, northern Sri Lanka, an area caught up in the civil war between government forces and Tamil insurgents.

He was vice president of the Catholic Bishops' Conference of Sri Lanka and head of the National Commission for the Laity. He became bishop emeritus in 2016.

In his dealings with the Vatican, Caritas Internationalis, and the European Union he was known as a supporter of the Tamil cause and even suspected of being close to the Tamil Tigers, the guerrilla group that fought against Sri Lankas regular army.

His death is an unbearable pain, a great loss, said A Marianayagam, from Pesalai, who sang a funeral hymn in front of the bishops body at last night's funeral vigil in Mannar. During the war he was everything to us, to the voiceless, the missing and displaced in the north.

Because of this he was often labelled a supporter of the Tamil Tigers, but in reality, he supported us. He was a real pastor and a father to all of us. I shall never forget his love.

For Herman Kumara, National Convener of the National Fisheries Solidarity Movement, Mgr Rayappu Joseph was crucified by Sri Lankan society several times when he defended his people and their rights.

The bishop was committed to the people who went missing, and to people of the fishing community of Mullikulam, who were driven off their land by the military who seized their beaches. He was a good shepherd for all of us and guided us in very difficult times, Kumara noted.

Fr Victor Soosai, vicar general of Mannar, shows the breadth of the late bishop's dedication. He always acted on behalf of the Tamil people on issues like war crimes, land grabs, enforced disappearances, rights violations.

He exposed such discrimination to the entire international community in order to find a political solution for the Tamil community, he added.

During the conflict he was very critical of the government and the military and received many threats from some politicians and government supporters.

Brito Fernando, president of the Families of the Missing, remembers him as a great symbol and a true priest who committed his life to the Tamil people, even when no support came from the rest of the Church. We shall never forget him.
Monrovia  A former soldier of the Armed Forces of Liberia has told the Finnish court hearing the ongoing war crimes trial of Gibril Massaquoi in Monrovia that the ex-Sierra Leonean rebel commander &killed nearly an entire town in Lofa County.

Angel Gabriel killed the town chief and his family along with half of the town including men, women, children and the elderly, because he told them not to leave the town, he told the court of the incident he said that took place in Kamatahun in the Kalahun District in the early 2000s. [Massaquoi] cut off their throats with a knife.

The ex-soldier also accused Massaquoi of butchering civilians he accused of looting in Monrovia, removing their hearts and intestines.

The government forces, then headed by Charles Taylor, were fighting rebels of Liberia United for Reconciliation and Democracy (LURD) at the time. Fighters of the Revolutionary United Front (RUF) of Sierra Leonethe group Massaquoi fought forhad begun collaborating with Taylor when he headed the National Patriotic Front of Liberia (NPFL) in the early 1990s.

Angel Gabriel opened fire on the people because he said the people were looting, he said about the Waterside incident, which has previous witnessed have spoken of. I saw over 15 bodies of civilians who came to look for food, because whenever they caught them in any store, they killed them.

The ex-soldier told Finnish judges hearing Massaquois case he and other soldiers wanted to kill Massaquoi after incident the but another soldier, General Sweet Candy, stopped them. He alleged Massaquoi later killed a pro-government militiaman who confronted him over the killings.

His testimony lasted for over three hours before he was cross-examined by the Massaquois defence team.

Massaquois lawyer, Kaarle Gummerus, dug out inconsistencies in the witness testimony and pretrial statement.

He had told the Finnish police he first met Massaquoi in 2003 but on Friday he said 2001. Gummerus repeatedly pressed the witness on that inconsistency but the he said he could not remember as it has been nearly 20 years since it happened.

Massaquoi, who watched the proceedings from Finland, assisted his lawyers draw the questions.

The witnesses, known to the court as Soldier 17 expressed fear for his safety and was assured he would be safe.

Massaquois trial is being held in the District Court of Tampere in Finland where he was relocated in exchange for his testimony against Charles Taylor and others in the war crimes prosecutions there.

The hearings here being held in a secret location in Monrovia to allow the court to hear directly from more than 80 Liberian witnesses. The court has ordered journalists to conceal the witness identities for fear of intimidation or retribution.

The second and third witnesses also told the court Massaquoi killed civilians.

Burnt alive

The second witness known to the court as Soldier 50 told judges Massaquoi burnt villagers alive in Kamatahun. The victims were men and boys accused of being LURD rebels, according to the former soldier.

Even though I was a soldier, I was not happy when the people were killed because they were my people from the same county, he said. So when I returned, and saw the fire burring, I felt bad.

Gummerus also picked inconsistencies in the second witness testimony during cross-examination. Soldier 50 had told Finnish police during pretrial he was on the scene when the alleged killing took place but in court he said he was not present.

The third witness known as Soldier 37 accused Massaquoi of ordering the killing of townspeople in Kamatahun he accused of being LURD informants.

ADVERTISEMENT

I was not on the spot, when Angel Gabriel gave the order to arrest and kill the people, but when I heard the noise and arrived on the scene, I learned that Angel Gabriel ordered the killing of the people, the third witness said. Some people were burned, women were raped and killed. He said Benjamin Yeatan, who was the head of the Special Security Service (now Executive Protection Service) wanted to kill Massaquoi but changed his mind.

Massaquoi, 51, is on trial for war crimes allegedly committed in Liberia between 2001 and 2003. His charges, which he denies, include war crimes and crimes against humanity between. He is accused of committing and authorising the murder and rape of civilians. The charges also include several allegations of cannibalism. He faces a lifetime sentence, which is 15 years under Finnish law.

So far, there have been 48 witnesses who have testified and three more will testify next week. Thereafter, the court will move to Sierra Leone on April 28.

This story was a collaboration with New Narratives as part of the West Africa Justice Reporting Project
The Gulf Stream is important to us as it sends warm water from the tropics to our shores to keep our climate mild in winter

We are warned by earth scientists that the Gulf Stream is slowing down. That great river in the North Atlantic Ocean that sends warm water from the tropics to our shores to keep our climate mild in winter is losing force. It is slowing and it is carrying less water.

The decrease is likely due to global warming that in turn is being caused by excessive greenhouse gas emissions due to governments worldwide pursuing unsustainable economic models.

The current is called the Gulf Stream because it originates in the Gulf of Mexico, but it is no stream. It is a mighty river about 100km wide, nearly as wide as a road journey from Dublin to Athlone is long. The river of warm water is some 800 metres deep and flows at a mean rate of 6.4km per hour. And it is not a stand-alone current but is part of the great North Atlantic Gyre.

The gyre is a huge set of currents continuously circulating around the North Atlantic Ocean driven by the rotation of our planet, wind, and changing densities.

Warm water is lighter than cold water so warm water flowing north from the tropics floats. However, it sinks when it gets cold in Arctic regions. When it sinks, the heavy, cold water flows south along the ocean floor in a huge convection current moving like a great conveyor belt.

The North Atlantic Gyre is divided into four components based on the four main points of the compass. The Gulf Stream is the western component. The North Atlantic Drift is the northern component, a continuation of the Gulf Stream, and the current that is important to Ireland as it brings warm water to our shores keeping our climate mild in winter.

It follows that any slowing of the Gulf Stream is likely to have knock-on impacts on the North Atlantic Drift, the North Atlantic Gyre, the other associated gyres that make up the overall circulation system in all of the world's oceans, and the global climate systems that these currents drive.

It appears reasonable to assume that it will take a long time for the Gulf Stream to recover. The bottom line is that there is a need for all of us to inject a bit of urgency into our present rather complacent approach towards taking action to address the climate emergency formally declared by some 38 countries to date and being championed here at home by the Climate Bill that featured in the news last week.
Remains of kidnapped evangelical missionary recovered in Mali

Email Print Img No-img Menu Whatsapp Google Reddit Digg Stumbleupon Linkedin Comment

The body of Beatrice Stockli, an evangelical missionary from Switzerland who was held captive by Islamist extremists in Mali since January 2016, has been found and identified, Malis foreign ministry has said.

Stocklis body was given to Malian authorities by the International Committee of the Red Cross, and a DNA test confirmed that its of the Christian woman, who had been kidnapped from Malis Timbuktu city by the jihadist group Jamaat Nusrat Al-Islam wal-Muslimin, The Washington Times reported.

Sadly, we now have definitive evidence that the woman who was held hostage is dead, Swiss Federal Councillor Ignazio Cassis said in a statement by the Swiss Federal Department of Foreign Affairs.

But I am also relieved that we can return the womans remains to her family and I would like to pass on my deepest condolences to them. I also wish to thank the Malian authorities for their assistance in helping to identify the body, Cassis added.

Last October, the Swiss department announced that Stockli had reportedly been killed. The information came from French hostage Sophie Petronin, a 75-year-old French charity worker who was abducted by jihadists in December 2016 and released in 2020, BBC reported at the time.

Petronin, who converted to Islam during her captivity, reported that the missionary was reportedly shot dead about a month earlier for refusing to take part in another move with her kidnappers in the Sahara. Petronin said they moved around regularly to keep Malian and French soldiers from tracking them down. She said Stockli was dragged outdoors one night during her protest and she then heard a shot go off.

Stockli started working as a missionary in Timbuktu city for a Swiss church in 2000 but soon branched off on her own, World Watch Monitor said earlier. A local church leader in Mali said she led an austere life in Abaradjou area, where she sold flowers and gave out Christian material. She was known to be sociable, especially with women and children, but the area was also popular with jihadist groups.

In 2012, she was kidnapped by Islamists but released 10 days later after mediation led by neighboring Burkina Faso. She left Mali after her mother and brother pleaded with her but soon returned even though the Swiss government had warned her against it.

She was dragged from her home again in 2016 by armed men in four pickup trucks.

Beatrice Stockli is a Swiss nun who declared war against Islam in her attempt to Christianize Muslims, a masked speaker with a British accent who claimed responsibility for her kidnapping on behalf of al-Qaeda in the Islamic Maghreb said in a video.

In exchange for Stocklis release, AQIM wanted their jailed fighters in Mali and one of the groups leaders detained at the International Criminal Court at The Hague to be freed. They also demanded that Stockli not return to any Muslim land to preach about Christianity.
This past week, I had the good fortune of interviewing Ben Fountain, one of this countrys finest writers.

The Dallas-based Fountain is a rare master of both the fiction and non-fiction forms and his work  particularly his best-selling novel Billy Lynns Long Halftime Walk and his searing opus on the 2016 presidential campaign, Beautiful Country Burn Again  has revealed more about the tortured soul of 21st century America than just about any writer you could name.

Toward the end of our Zoom discussion, recorded for an April 16 Gemini Ink Autograph Series event, we started talking about a chapter tucked away near the end of Beautiful Country.

The chapter explored the impact of Franklin Roosevelts New Deal, making the case that FDRs legislative program was so transformative, so fundamental to the shaping of American life over the last 80 years, we take it for granted.

Fountains chapter offered a refresher course on the country FDR inherited; a nation in which 6 million of its 6.8 million farms had no electricity; where daily life had been transformed by the Great Depression from extremely hard to impossible.

Roosevelt brought electrification to the rural south and so much more.

The air we breathe. The ground beneath our feet, Fountain wrote. New Deal initiatives produced much of the infrastructure that we rely on to this day, the roads, waterways, bridges, sewers and water mains, courthouses, libraries, and power grids.

Roosevelt stabilized American agriculture and banking and built a system of social insurance for the elderly, unemployed and disabled. Were so used to it, we forget someone had to create it.

Its to Roosevelts infinite credit that he lifted the United States into the modern age. Its to his countrys infinite discredit, however, that were still basically living off the infrastructure improvements the New Deal provided in the 1930s.

By sheer coincidence, the same day I interviewed Fountain, President Joe Biden was in Pittsburgh, rolling out his $2.25 trillion, eight-year infrastructure proposal.

Bidens infrastructure plan drew quick rebukes from Republicans, who regard it as an extravagant socialistic boondoggle.

It also left some progressives underwhelmed. New York Congresswoman Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez gave Biden points for effort, but said the scope of the presidents plan was way too small. She called for at least $10 trillion in infrastructure investment.

The bipartisan sniping recalled what FDR experienced, when he simultaneously faced attack from conservatives, for allegedly destroying capitalism, and progressives, for supposedly thinking too small.

Getting any infrastructure package passed in this divided Congress will be a heavy lift even if Democrats try to get around a Senate filibuster by using budget reconciliation to pass it. To be sure, there is plenty of room for debate about the scale and the specifics of Bidens proposal.

But Biden, a career politician routinely pigeonholed as a moderate incrementalist, is attempting something big here.

The plan would invest $621 billion in transportation infrastructure, including $115 billion in highways, bridges and roads, $85 billion in public transit and $174 billion for electric vehicles.

The proposal would also provide $111 billion for clean drinking water (including the replacing of all lead pipes), $100 billion to increase high-speed broadband, $100 billion for electrical grid infrastructure and $213 billion for affordable housing.

If we drop all partisan posturing and accept the concept that governments most basic role is to provide crucial services that the private sector is not equipped to handle, its hard to deny that the presidents plan, at its core, meets this definition.

A Reuters/Ipsos poll this past week found that 79 percent of Americans support a government-funded overhaul of roadways, bridges, ports and railways. Seventy-one percent support the expansion of high-speed internet and 68 percent backed the replacement of lead pipes.

Bidens Republican predecessor, Donald Trump, also pushed for an infrastructure overhaul.

Trumps $1.5 trillion plan was doomed, however, because his fellow Republicans were lukewarm about the concept and Democrats didnt like Trumps approach: leveraging $200 billion in federal investment to get states and cities to pick up more than 80 percent of the tab.

Dilapidated infrastructure is costing us lives, jobs and equal access to opportunity. The power and water outages this state experienced during our mid-February freeze should leave no doubt how big the stakes are.

Consider this prescient passage from Fountains Beautiful Country, in which the author tried to imagine what Texas will look like in 70 to 80 years if our state government continues to ignore the needs of its people:

Crumbling roads, jerry-rigged bridges, worn-out farms. A grudging, market-based energy grid. Clean water a rarity, and health care thats hit and miss.

Sounds familiar, doesnt it?

ggarcia@express-news.net | Twitter: @gilgamesh470
(Bloomberg) -- With the sun rising outside their conference room in Midtown Manhattan, the visitors to a secretive investment empire bent their heads in prayerful meditation.It was another Friday morning, 7 oclock, and a familiar scene was unfolding again inside Archegos Capital Management, an obscure family office that would go on to shake the financial world.In the days before the pandemic, 20 or 30 people would squeeze together around the long table and, over coffee and Danishes, listen to recordings of the Bible, according to people who were there.First might come the Old Testament, perhaps Isaiah or Lamentations. Then came the New, the Gospels, which called out to the listeners drawn from a path known more for its earthly greed than its godly faith: Wall Street.Hitting the play button and then receding into the background was the host, Bill Hwang, the mysterious billionaire trader now at the center of one of the biggest Wall Street fiascos of all time.The story thus far -- of a mind-boggling fortune made in stealth and then wiped out very publicly in a blink -- has sent shock waves through some of the worlds mightiest banks. Estimates of the potential size of his position before it imploded have spiraled toward $100 billion. The Securities and Exchange Commission is looking into the disaster, which has set teeth on edge in trading rooms across the globe.But those accounts tell only part of the story. Interviews with people from inside Hwangs circle, Wall Street players close to him and documents associated with his multimillion-dollar charitable foundation fill in missing puzzle pieces -- ones that havent been reported previously.The picture that emerges is unlike anything Wall Street might suspect.There are, in a sense, not one but two Bill Hwangs.Christian CapitalistOne of them walks for hours through New Yorks Central Park listening to recordings of the Bible and embraces a new, 21st-century vision of an age-old ideal: that of a modern Christian capitalist, a financial speculator for Christ, who seeks to make money in Gods name and then use it to further the faith. A generous benefactor to a range of unglamorous, mostly conservative Christian causes, this Hwang eschews the trappings of extravagant wealth, rides the bus, flies commercial and lives in what is, by billionaire standards, humble surroundings in suburban New Jersey.Then theres the other Bill Hwang: a former acolyte of hedge fund legend Julian Robertson with a thirst for risk and a stomach for volatile markets -- a daring trader who once lost a fortune betting against German automaker Volkswagen AG while running a hedge fund that was supposedly focused on Asian stocks.This is also the Bill Hwang who then went on to quietly become one of the most successful alumni of Robertsons vaunted Tiger Management. This one masks his dangerous leveraged bets from public view via financial derivatives, was once accused of insider trading and pleaded guilty in 2012 to wire fraud on behalf of his hedge fund, Tiger Asia Management.That same Bill Hwang, it turns out, is also a backer of one of Wall Streets hottest hands of late, Cathie Wood of Ark Investments. Like Hwang, Wood is known to hold Bible study meetings and figures into what some refer to as the faith in finance movement.And here, at last, is where the Bill Hwangs collide. The fortune he amassed under the noses of major banks and financial regulators was far bigger and riskier than almost anyone might have thought possible -- and these riches were pulled together with head-snapping speed. In fact, it was perhaps one of the greatest accumulations of private wealth in the history of modern finance.And Hwang lost it all even faster.Breakneck SpeedArchegos -- a Greek word often translated as author or captain, and often considered a reference to Jesus -- was believed by many traders doing business with the firm to be sitting atop $10 billion of assets. That figure, representing Hwangs personal fortune, was actually closer to $20 billion, according to people who did business with Archegos.To put that figure in context: Bill Hwang, a name few even on Wall Street had heard until now, was worth more than well-known industry figures like Ray Dalio, Steve Cohen and David Tepper.Even more remarkable is the breakneck speed at which Hwangs fortune grew. Archegos started out in 2013 with an estimated $200 million. Thats a sizable fortune but nowhere near big money in the hedge fund game.Yet within a decade, Hwangs fortune swelled 100 times over, traders and bankers now estimate. Much of those riches accrued in the past 12 to 24 months alone, as Hwang began to employ more and more leverage to goose his returns, and as banks, eager for his lucrative trading business, eagerly obliged by extending him credit.Hwangs success enabled him to endow his own charity, the Grace & Mercy Foundation, which had almost $500 million of assets as of 2018, according to its most recent tax filing.One institution close to Hwang, and a beneficiary of his foundation, is The Kings College, a small Christian school in the heart of New Yorks Financial District.In a statement to Bloomberg, the college said it was grateful for his generosity and that our prayers are with Mr. Hwang and his staff.McDonalds JobThe story of both Bill Hwangs begins in South Korea, where he was born Sung Kook Hwang in 1964. The tale he has told friends and associates is a familiar one of immigrant striving -- followed by financial success that few even on Wall Street can fathom.Hwang grew up in a religious household (like roughly a third of Koreans, his parents were Christian). When he was a teenager, the family moved to Las Vegas, where his father got a job as a pastor at a local church. Hwang has told friends that he arrived in the U.S. unable to speak or write in English and only picked up the language while working nights at McDonalds. Soon after, his father died and his mother moved the family to Los Angeles. Hwang went on to study economics at the University of California, Los Angeles, and then picked up an MBA at Carnegie Mellon University in Pittsburgh.Finance beckoned -- and Hwang, it turned out, was very good at it. While a lowly salesman at Hyundai Securities, part of the sprawling Korean chaebol the Hyundai Group, he caught Julian Robertsons eye. Hwang, not yet 33, was then handed a golden ticket to Wall Street: an offer to join Robertsons Tiger Management, then at the top of its game.Hwang quickly distinguished himself by introducing Robertson to the Korean markets -- at the time headed into the teeth of the Asian financial crisis -- and masterminding what turned into a lucrative stake in SK Telecom Co.Hamptons LunchTiger colleagues say Hwang was one of Robertsons most successful proteges -- a quiet, methodical analyst with intense focus. Even today, he keeps his desk free of all clutter, the better to focus his mind. Robertson, these people recall, dubbed him the Michael Jordan of Asian investing.Robertson, now 88, still considers Hwang a friend, and the two lunched together in the Hamptons a few months ago.Hes not one to be tiny, thats one thing for sure, Robertson told Bloomberg after news of the Archegos losses broke.Hwang would eventually strike out on his own as a so-called Tiger cub. Initially, Hwang shot the lights out, returning an annualized 40% through 2007, when he managed $8 billion.The hot streak didnt last. In late 2008, his Tiger Asia incurred stinging losses on a big bet against Volkswagen. Many other hedge funds were shorting the German automaker, too, and when Porsche Automobil Holding SE abruptly announced that it would raise its stake, all hell broke loose. VW soared 348% within 48 hours, crushing shorts like Hwang.Tiger Asia ended the year down 23%. Many investors pulled their money, angry that a hedge fund that was supposed to be focusing on Asia somehow got caught up in the massive squeeze.GameStop FrenzyIt was a painful and instructive lesson for Hwang, people who know him say. In the future, hed hunt out stocks that many traders were shorting and go long instead. Millions of amateur investors took up that approach this year during the social media-fueled frenzy over GameStop and other stocks.But before the next success, Tiger Asia ran into more trouble -- this time, trouble big enough to bring Hwangs days as a hedge fund manager to an end.When Tiger Asia pleaded guilty to wire fraud in 2012, the SEC said the firm used inside information to trade in shares of two Chinese banks. Hwang and his firm ended up paying $60 million to settle the criminal and civil charges. The SEC banned him from managing outside money and Hong Kong authorities prohibited him from trading there for four years (the ban ended in 2018).Shut out of hedge funds, Hwang opened Archegos, a family office. The firm, which recently employed some 50 people, initially occupied space in the Renzo Piano-designed headquarters of the New York Times. Today its based further uptown, by Columbus Circle, sharing its address with the Grace & Mercy Foundation.My journey really began when I was having a lot of problems in our business about five or six years ago, Hwang said in a 2017 video. And I knew one thing, that this was a situation where money and connections couldnt really help. But somehow I was reminded I had to go to the words of the God.That belief helped Hwang rebuild his financial empire at dizzying speed as banks loaned him billions of dollars to ratchet up his bets that unraveled spectacularly as the financial firms panicked. What ensued was one of the greatest margin calls of all time, pushing his giant portfolio into liquidation. Some of the banks may end up with combined losses of as much as $10 billion, according to analysts at JPMorgan Chase & Co.Leveraged Blowout: How Hwangs Archegos Blindsided Global BanksAs a bruised Wall Street points its collective finger at Hwang, his Christian associates have rallied around him.Doug Birdsall, honorary co-chairman of the Lausanne Movement, a global group that seeks to mobilize evangelical leaders, said Hwang always likes to think big. When he met with him to discuss a new 30-story building in New York for the American Bible Society, Hwang said, Why build 30 stories? Build it 66 stories high. There are 66 books in the bible.Before so much went so wrong so fast, Archegos appeared to be ramping up. A year ago, Hwang petitioned the SEC to let him work or run a broker-dealer; the SEC agreed.Its impossible to say where Bill Hwang, the hard-charging financial speculator, ends, and Bill Hwang, the Christian evangelist and philanthropist, begins. People who know him say the one is inseparable from the other. Despite brushes with regulators, staggering trading losses and the question swirling around his market dealings, they say Hwang often speaks of bridging God and mammon, of bringing Christian teaching to the money-centric world of Wall Street.If you know how Bill lives, you will never think this man is worth the kind of money he was, said John Bai, a finance executive whos known Hwang for 30 years. Maybe for some its an epic disappearance of wealth, but hes got God on his side. I am not worried about Bill. Hes not about the money.For more articles like this, please visit us at bloomberg.comSubscribe now to stay ahead with the most trusted business news source.2021 Bloomberg L.P.
It was always a reasonable guess that appointees of various top politicians on the states ultra-secretive Joint Commission of Public Ethics were protecting their patrons and their patrons cronies from investigations. Now the speculation is over.

The public got a firsthand look last week at exactly how Gov. Andrew Cuomos appointees on JCOPE are able to shield his administration from even a whiff of scrutiny. They were able to fend off an investigation even though they dont hold a majority on the panel.

At issue was a request to have JCOPE issue a subpoena seeking information about unpaid volunteers who are involved, sometimes in highly influential ways, in the states COVID-19 response. Under an executive order signed by Mr. Cuomo last year, the volunteers are exempt from the usual ethics disclosure forms that would reveal any conflicts of interest they might encounter in their public service. The subpoena, proposed by JCOPE Commissioner Gary Lavine, would have looked at who has not filed disclosures, and whether they had recused themselves from any matters that might pose a conflict of interest. A fair good-government question, especially on a matter of such critical public interest involving untold millions or billions in spending of public funds.
.......... .......... .......... .......... .......... .......... .......... .......... .......... .......... .......... .......... .......... .......... .......... .......... .......... ..........

SANTA FE  A state district judge in New Mexico has postponed a jury trial for a man accused of rape after his attorney argued his clients right to a fair trial was being violated because none of the potential jurors were Black.

Maury Elliot, 25, is accused of raping two teenage girls and a woman in separate attacks between October 2019 and January 2020, The Santa Fe New Mexican reported.

He was scheduled for trial in one of the cases this week on multiple charges, including kidnapping, criminal sexual penetration, criminal sexual contact and contributing to the delinquency of a minor.

Jury selection was scheduled to start Monday and testimony was set for Tuesday, but 1st Judicial District Judge T. Glenn Ellington halted the trial before jury selection began after defense attorney Jennifer Burrill raised concerns that none of the 77 potential jurors were the same race as Elliot.

ADVERTISEMENTSkip



................................................................

Its hard to imagine a situation where the defendant is the only Black person in the room that every juror could be free from partiality based on race, Burrill said.

Under state law, defendants can challenge the racial makeup of jury pools but are also required to provide data showing the pool does not represent a fair cross section of the community.

Burrill said that data does not exist in New Mexico, citing U.S. Census data showing that 2.6% of the state population is Black and 1.2% of Santa Fe Countys population is Black. But jury pools are chosen from a more specific category of the population among taxpayers, drivers license holders and registered voters.

Burrill said none of the three state agencies compiling information of those groups could produce statistics on race, making it impossible to determine if the jurors were proportionately represented.

The system they have constructed is inherently racist, Burrill said. Because in order to make racial challenges, they are denying us the information to make the challenge. Its an impossible standard because the state does not collect the data.

Burrill said she thinks the Legislature needs to require officials to collect that data in the future and use it to help policymaking.

Assistant District Attorney Kent Wahlquist opposed Burrills motion, arguing that the racial makeup of the jury pool, also called a venire, represented Santa Fe, even though it included no Black people.

The larger community of the Santa Fe area is 1.2% Black. Of a jury venire of 77 people, 1.2% equates to .92, less than one (1) person, Wahlquist said. This jury venire has less than one Black person.

Wahlquist also argued the jury pool could only be found unsuitable based on the characteristics of the jurors and not on their ethnic composition.
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 a disturbing video of an assault on an Asian couple went viral, police asked the public for help finding the attacker. Now, just a few days later, theyve arrested a suspect.

Police in Tacoma, Washington announced on Friday that they have arrested a 15-year-old boy in connection to the attack and charged him with second-degree assault. They did not disclose his name.

The unsettling video, which was filmed in November last year, shows a person in a red coat following and punching an Asian man and woman. Screaming and cursing can also be heard.

The victims had not known there was video of the attack, the Tacoma Police Department said. But after the department posted a still shot from it on 31 March and asked the public for information, a family member called in a tip. From that call, police were able to determine exactly where and when the assault took place, and found their way to the suspect.

The TPD says it is investigating the case as a hate crime.

Read more:

The Tacoma Police Department stands with our Asian American and Pacific Islander community and have no tolerance for hate crimes, the department said in its 31 March post. We encourage all those in the Asian-American and Pacific Islander community to report all crimes to help us fulfil our mission of creating a safe and secure environment.

Anti-Asian hate crimes have risen dramatically since Covid-19 arrived in the United States. From 2019 to 2020, such crimes more than doubled in the countrys 16 largest cities, according to the Center for the Study of Hate and Extremism.

The increase came into the spotlight last month after six women of Asian origin were among eight people killed in a mass shooting in Atlanta, Georgia.

One of the two victims in the Tacoma case, a 56-year-old Korean man, spoke anonymously to KIRO 7 about the ordeal.

I just dont understand why I was attacked, he told the station . He and his wife were just going for a walk, he said, when they encountered four teenagers theyd never seen before.

I thought they were messing around with each other and accidentally bumped into me. So, I asked, You OK? You OK? he said.

Thats when the punches started.

A fist came flying in, hit me right here, and I started bleeding, he said. After that, the teens ran off.

The man says he forgives his attacker.

I want him to be better, he said. I want him to know this was bad.
Elderly people wait for the Covid-19 vaccine at the Don Orione rest home in Rome (AP)

Octogenarians in Tuscany have watched in disbelief and indignation as lawyers, magistrates, professors and other younger professionals received Covid-19 vaccinations before them, despite government pledges that Italys oldest citizens would be given priority.

Even some of the OAPs adult children jumped the queue ahead of them.

By one estimate, the failure to give jabs to the over-80s and those in fragile health has cost thousands of lives in a country with Europes oldest population and the continents second-highest coronavirus death rate.

As the elderly were elbowed aside, a dozen prominent senior citizens in Tuscany published a letter calling out the authorities, including the regions governor, for what they said was a violation of their health care rights enshrined in the Italian Constitution.

We asked ourselves: Whats the reason for this disparity?' said signatory Enzo Cheli, a retired constitutional court judge who is a month shy of 87.

By late March, he still had not been vaccinated, three months into Italys inoculation campaign.

The appeal was born of this idea that errors were being made, abuses, Mr Cheli said in an interview.

He noted that investigations are under way in Tuscany and other regions where professionals received priority status.

Expand Close Health workers applaud after an elderly man receives a dose of the Pfizer Covid-19 vaccine at the Don Orione elderly peoples home in Rome (AP) / Facebook

Twitter

Email

Whatsapp Health workers applaud after an elderly man receives a dose of the Pfizer Covid-19 vaccine at the Don Orione elderly peoples home in Rome (AP)

Those aged over 80 in Tuscany have the lowest vaccination rate nationally.

Another signatory was 85-year-old editorial cartoonist Emilio Giannelli, who has not been vaccinated, while his son, a lawyer, has.

A Giannelli cartoon appeared on the front page of Corriere della Sera depicting a young man in a business jacket kicking an old man leaning on a cane out of a vaccine queue.

In a country where many citizens have learned not to count on often weak national governments, outsize influence is wielded by lobbying groups, sometimes derided as castes.

Premier Mario Draghi has decried such contractual clout, saying last month that the basic line is the need to vaccinate the most fragile people and the over-80s.

His government insists that vaccinations proceed in descending order by age, with the only exceptions being school and university employees, security forces, prison personnel and inmates, and those in communal residences such as convents.

According to a calculation by the ISPI think tank, opening vaccination rollouts to younger Italians cost 6,500 lives from mid-January through to March, a period in which nearly 28,000 people died.

Expand Close Italian prime minister Mario Draghi (AP) / Facebook

Twitter

Email

Whatsapp Italian prime minister Mario Draghi (AP)

ISPI researcher Matteo Villa said any decision to vaccinate non-health care professionals who face infection risks should have been limited to those aged 50 and older.

If we give 100 vaccines to people over 90, we save 13 lives, Mr Villa said, citing mortality rates. But it takes 100,000 vaccines to 20-to 29-year-olds to save just one life.

The current average age of pandemic victims in Italy is 81.

Throughout the pandemic, the oldest Italians have made up the majority of deaths, and not just in Tuscany.

Just before Mr Draghi sounded the alarm about lobbying groups, journalists in the small region of Molise had been poised to receive early vaccinations. In Lombardy, veterinarians were given priority.

In Campania, the region including Naples, drug company salespeople were given priority status.

Regional leaders blame vaccine delivery delays, alleging that the previous governments vaccine rollout opened the door to lobbying groups.

Some regions such as Lazio, which includes Rome, resisted such pressures. By the end of March, nearly 64% of those 80 and older in Lazio had received at least one Covid-19 jab, compared with 40% in Tuscany.

When out & about, make hand sanitizer part of your mask  wearing routine.



Clean your hands every time you:

  put on your mask

  adjust/touch your mask

  remove your mask



We are #InThisTogether to beat #COVID19pic.twitter.com/QX57ltMoFV  World Health Organization (WHO) (@WHO) April 3, 2021

Speaking about societys most fragile, Lazio governor Nicola Zingaretti told the Corriere della Sera newspaper: Its true everyone risks getting Covid, but the difference is that they are among those who, if they catch it, risk dying more than others.

Of Italys 4.4 million residents 80 or older, fewer than 29% had been vaccinated, and another 27% had gotten only the first dose by the end of March, said the GIMBE foundation, which monitors health care in Italy.

That compares with 95% of that age group in Malta who have received at least one dose, and 85% in Finland, according to the European Centre for Disease Prevention and Control, Italy.

In Britain, where the vaccine rollout began roughly a month before the EUs, most of the over-50s have received at least one dose.

GIMBE official Renata Gili linked much of Italys uneven performance to varying organizational capabilities as well as an excess of autonomy in regions in the choice of priority categories to vaccinate.
Glanbia informed IFA about the judicial review being initiated by An Taisce at a meeting last November, the association has confirmed.

In a statement on the matter, IFA stated that: At that meeting, Glanbia was clear that they preferred to deal with the matter behind the scenes. IFA respected that position".

Meanwhile, the statement added that, at a meeting with IFA this week Glanbia revised this position and rightly called out An Taisce for their reprehensible actions.

The update comes as the farm lobby group mounts pressure on Government and Glanbia to protect milk suppliers who will be impacted by processors new peak milk supply policy  a sudden policy change that the processor has proposed due to the planning delays for its proposed new 140m cheese plant in Belview, Co. Kilkenny.

Speaking after a special meeting of the IFA National Dairy Committee, IFA President Tim Cullinan said: A core principle of the Glanbia Milk Supply Agreement is that all the farmers milk will be purchased at the price set by the Glanbia Ireland board.

"Saying that a proportion of milk will not be purchased, or will be purchased at a penalised price, due to no fault of the farmer, is not consistent with the agreement.

The processing capacity issue must be dealt with on a voluntary basis in full co-operation with individual farmers.

"In this regard, the proposals around the voluntary retirement scheme and the voluntary milk reduction scheme should be expanded and funded by Glanbia Ireland to try and address the problem.

Glanbia must be prepared to accept reduced profits for the next three years to fund some of these voluntary measures, said Mr Cullinan.

New Entrants

IFA national dairy chairman Stephen Arthur said that up until recently Glanbia were "actively encouraging expansion and canvassing for new entrants.

While farmers are rightly raging with An Taisce and frustrated with the planning process, its wrong that individual farmers are the ones forced to carry the can.

"To expect farmers to adjust their calving patterns and at such short notice is just unrealistic.

While Mr Arthur acknowledged the efforts Glanbia has made to address the concerns of farmers by making changes to their proposals, he added that they must go further - no farmer can have their livelihood put at risk.

It is outrageous that An Taisce, an unelected elite, would seek to damage the livelihoods of farm families through spurious planning objections.

The Government must change our planning process to tighten up the basis on which planning objections can be made, and to limit the number of appeal avenues open to people. The current system is doing untold damage and is a cranks charter, Mr Arthur concluded.

Judicial review

Last month, a High Court case commenced between Glanbia Ireland and An Taisce over proposed plans to build a 140m continental cheese plant in Belview, Co. Kilkenny.

An Taisce pursued the judicial review against the decision of An Bord Pleanala to grant planning permission for the project  a joint venture between Glanbia and Dutch dairy processor Royal A-Ware  as the the Irish National Trust contends that its concerns regarding the environmental impact of the proposed plant were disregarded in the process.

The outcome of the judicial review is expected this summer.
Rioting erupts in the Sandyrow area of south Belfast on April 2, 2021. Photo by: Kevin Scott for Belfast Telegraph

A 13-year-old boy is among eight people arrested in connection with riots on the streets of Belfast.

Police said 15 officers were injured on Friday night after being targeted by a crowd of mainly young people in Sandy Row, throwing stones, fireworks, flares, manhole covers and petrol bombs.

The PSNIs Belfast District Commander, Chief Superintendent Simon Walls, said a small local protest quickly developed into an attack on police officers and that at points there were up to 300 people of all ages on the streets.

He called for calm, urging anyone with influence in the loyalist community to dissuade young people from causing violence and harm.

Read More

He said: Im not going to enter into dialogue about political commentary.

What I would ask is that people with influence, people in local communities, would dissuade young people, or anyone else, intent on causing violence or intent on harming police officers.

He described it as a real tragedy that children as young as 13 and 14 were among those arrested.

I think its a tragedy that any child in Northern Ireland is sitting in a custody suite this morning and facing criminal investigation, possibility of being charged and possibility of facing a criminal conviction, he said.

It shouldnt happen. And thats why Im very keen that people with influence try to ask anyone intent on violence to please step back. Its not the way to resolve tensions or arguments.

Political leaders have also called for calm over the Easter weekend following the riots.

Stormonts First Minister Arlene Foster urged young people not to get drawn into disorder, saying violence will not make things better.

The DUP leader said: I know that many of our young people are hugely frustrated by the events of this last week but causing injury to police officers will not make things better.

And I send my strong support to all of the rank-and-file police officers that are on duty over this Easter weekend.

I appeal to our young people not to get drawn into disorder which will lead to them having criminal convictions and blighting their own lives.

I also ask parents to play their part and be proactive in protecting their young adults.

Northern Ireland Secretary Brandon Lewis described the unrest as completely unacceptable.

Mr Lewis said: Violence is never the answer. There is no place for it in society.

It is unwanted, unwarranted and I fully support the PSNI appeal for calm.

He added that his thoughts were with the officers injured.

The trouble came after four successive nights of disturbances in the unionist Waterside area of Londonderry.

The disorder has flared amid ongoing tensions within loyalism across Northern Ireland.

Loyalists and unionists are angry about post-Brexit trading arrangements which they claim have created barriers between Northern Ireland and the rest of the UK.

Tensions ramped up further this week following a controversial decision not to prosecute 24 Sinn Fein politicians for attending a large-scale republican funeral during Covid-19 restrictions.

All the main unionist parties have demanded the resignation of PSNI Chief Constable Simon Byrne, claiming he has lost the confidence of their community.

The Sandy Row disturbances have been met with widespread political condemnation.

Ulster Unionist Policing Board member Mike Nesbitt said the riot did not just happen and people were encouraged to take part.

Someone planned it, someone encouraged people on to the streets, he said.

I challenge them to explain a strategy that portrays loyalists and unionists as law-breakers, prepared to attack the PSNI, injure officers and frankly take the focus off Sinn Fein and the republican movement.

The history of street violence is unambiguous. It does nothing to advance our cause.

It is a huge mistake and should not be repeated.

Alliance South Belfast MLA Paula Bradshaw said responsible leadership is required from all quarters to stop a repeat of the scenes in Sandy Row.

Ms Bradshaw said those involved in the rioting had achieved nothing other than bringing misery upon their own area.

There is no future in this type of behaviour, she said.

Our thoughts must also be with the police officers who were injured. Public servants have a fundamental right to go to and return from work without being targets.

I trust therefore those in positions of political leadership and responsibility will reflect on whether their words and actions in recent days have helped or hindered when it comes to reducing tensions.

Political leadership requires the right decisions, not the easy ones. It often means taking people to places where they are uncomfortable for the sake of the greater good.

We are seeing very little of that currently and it is resulting in serious harm.
Category Select Category Apparel/Garments Textiles Fashion Technical Textiles Information Technology E-commerce Retail Corporate Association Press Release

SubCategory Select Sub-Category
We all seem to have an opinion on where in the country offers the best motorway service station for that all important pitstop.

But now the debate seems to have finally been settled.

For a survey by consumer group Which? has ranked the best and worst motorway service stations across the UK based on their range of facilities, cleanliness, prices, and ease of social distancing.

Gloucester service station on the M5 was ranked the best in a survey conducted by Which?

Tebay on the M6 in Cumbria (pictured) came in second after Gloucester with a score of 83 per cent, winning praise for the freshly prepared food on offer in the restaurant and farm shop

Pictured: Cairn Lodge on the M74 in Lanarkshire, Scotland, came in third with 69 per cent

Top of the stops was Gloucester on the M5, which received a score of 86 per cent and five stars for cleanliness, quality of its shops and food outlets, and its range of facilities.

One visitor described Gloucester services as 'as far from a typical motorway stop as you can imagine', where customers can enjoy home cooked meals and buy local produce from the 'fabulous' farm shop.

Tebay on the M6 in Cumbria came in second with a score of 83 per cent, winning praise for the freshly prepared food on offer in the restaurant and farm shop, while Cairn Lodge on the M74 in Lanarkshire came third with 69 per cent.

Which? surveyed more than 2,700 members covering around 5,600 experiences at almost 70 motorway service stations across the UK

THE UK'S BEST SERVICE STATIONS 1. Gloucester, Gloucestershire M5 86% 2. Tebay, Cumbria M6 83% 3. Cairn Lodge, Lanarkshire M74 69% 4. Norton Canes, Staffordshire M6 65% 5. Wetherby, West Yorkshire A1(M) 61% Advertisement

THE UK'S WORST SERVICE STATIONS 64. Keele, Staffordshire M6 42% 65. Sandbach, Cheshire M6 42% 66. Newport Pagnell, Bucks M1 41% 67. Gordano, Somerset M5 40% 68. Bridgwater, Somerset M5 32% Advertisement

Best and worst ranked were only an hour's drive apart on the M5, showing value of planning ahead when it comes to taking a break on a long journey. Pictured: Norton Canes services

Wetherby services, operated by Moto, on the A1(M) in Yorkshire made it into the top five

At the other end of the table was Bridgwater on the M5 in Somerset, which was described by recent visitors as 'dirty' and 'depressing'.

The service station, owned by Moto, was awarded just one star in every category, scoring a total of just 32 per cent,.

The best and worst ranked services were only an hour's drive apart on the M5, showing the value of planning ahead when it comes to taking a break on a long journey.

Welcome Break was responsible for half of the 10 service stations at the bottom of the table  more than any other brand, including Gordano near Bristol and Newport Pagnell near Milton Keynes.

The survey of 2,700 people found Bridgewater (pictured) on the M5 was 'dirty and depressing'

Welcome Break was responsible for half of the 10 service stations at the bottom of the table  more than any other brand, including Gordano on the M5 near Bristol (pictured)

This service station at Newport Pagnell, Buckinghamshire on the M1 ranked third from bottom

Sandbach service station (pictured) on M6, Cheshire, scored 42 per cent, ranking fourth worst

Which? surveyed more than 2,700 members covering around 5,600 experiences at almost 70 motorway service stations across the UK. Pictured: Keele services on M6 came in fifth worst

Roadchef, meanwhile, runs three of the services listed in the bottom 10, including Watford Gap on the M1 in Northamptonshire and Sandbach on the M6 in Cheshire.

Rory Boland, Editor of Which? Travel, said: 'The results of our survey show that it pays to plan ahead to avoid some of the UK's worst motorway services.

'It could be the difference between a home-cooked meal in peaceful surroundings, or crowded queues in downright dirty facilities.

'Whether you're zipping down the M5 towards the beaches on the south-west coast, or up the M6 towards the Scottish border, make sure your journey isn't spoiled by a stop at a shoddy service station.'
Student artwork submitted in 2016 Contest A Virtual Contest for students to

celebrate the 50th Anniversary of the

Chesapeake and Ohio Canal National Historical Park



The Chesapeake and Ohio Canal National Historical Park is celebrating 50 years (1971-2021) as a national park! Together with the C&O Canal Trust, we are hosting a virtual contest for students to learn about the C&O Canal. Winning projects will receive a scholarship from the park's non-profit partner, the C&O Canal Trust. The Elementary/Intermediate Contest is open to all Grade 3-5 Classrooms. The Middle/High School Contest is open to all Grade 6-12 Students. Winning projects will be announced and showcased on the park website and social media sites. Please read the information below for complete contest guidelines.

New Submission Date: Projects are due May 21st, 2021. The Chesapeake and Ohio Canal National Historical Park is celebrating 50 years (1971-2021) as a national park! Together with the C&O Canal Trust, we are hosting a virtual contest for students to learn about the C&O Canal. Winning projects will receive a scholarship from the park's non-profit partner, the C&O Canal Trust. The Elementary/Intermediate Contest is open to all Grade 3-5 Classrooms. The Middle/High School Contest is open to all Grade 6-12 Students. Winning projects will be announced and showcased on the park website and social media sites. Please read the information below for complete contest guidelines. Elementary/Intermediate Contest for Grade 3-5 Classes

Teachers, if you're considering entering your class in the Canal Voices Contest, please read the information below. Through this virtual contest, we hope that your class will enjoy learning about the C&O Canal and we can't wait to see the project your class submits! Winning projects will receive a scholarship and a C&O Canal Explorer Backpack filled with fun nature activities that can be used outdoors or in the classroom! Project submissions are due May 21st, 2021. How to Participate To participate in the virtual contest, an elementary classroom will: Complete the following lesson: A Journey on the C&O Canal Complete independent/class research about the C&O Canal. Here are a few suggestions to get started: Explore Photos, Videos and other Multimedia about the C&O Canal. Learn about the people that lived and worked on the C&O Canal Discover nature and wildlife that make the C&O Canal their home Complete independent/class research about Americas national parks Explore the National Park Service and America's national parks online Check out one or more Junior Ranger activities Prepare and submit a short video (between 3-5 minutes). In the video, students will respond to one of the Topic Questions below: Why is the C&O Canal an important part of our countrys history?

What makes the C&O Canal relevant today?

Why are national parks important to me?

Why is it important to preserve special places and stories?

What are 5 interesting facts you learned about the C&O Canal? What are 5 things you would like to do when you visit the park? Judging Criteria A video must be completely original, submitted by an Elementary (Grades 3-5) Teacher and Class. A video must include closed captioning, and a video transcript must be included with the submission. A video will be a length of 3-5 minutes. Winning videos will offer a unique perspective and include multiple student voices, they will demonstrate creativity in verbal and visual content. The video will robustly answer one of the Topic Questions. NOTE: Schools must provide a photo/video release waiver, allowing a video to be shared on the parks website and social media sites. A video may not include any personally identifiable information. Awards Winners will receive a $300 classroom scholarship, and a C&O Canal Explorer Backpack filled with guides and tools to explore nature in the park, schoolyard, or from the classroom! Winners will be announced in late-May, and videos will be posted to the park's website and/or social media sites. Submission Video submissions are due May 21st, 2021 and should be sent by email to the C&O Canal Classroom Education Team at: cocanaleducation@nps.gov. Please include #50thCanalVoices in the emails Subject Line. Submissions will be evaluated by a panel of park rangers and educators from the Chesapeake and Ohio Canal National Historical Park and winners will be announced June 4th, 2021. Questions? Please contact the C&O Canal Classroom Education Team at cocanaleducation@nps.gov to inquire about the contest. We look forward to hearing from you! Middle/High School Contest for Grades 6-12 WHO? Any student in grades 6-12 is eligible to participate.

WHAT? A virtual contest for middle/high school students to learn about the C&O Canal and share what they've learned with others. Students can choose to submit a research paper OR an artistic illustration. Winners will receive a scholarship!

WHEN? Submissions are due by May 21st, 2021. Winners will be announced June 4th, 2021.

WHERE? Submissions will be received by email only.

WHY? In 2021, the Canal Voices Middle/High School Contest aims to highligth the lesser-known stories of African Americans, Women and Immigrants on the C&O Canal. We hope as a result of this virtual contest students will enjoy learning about the C&O Canal's unique history and we look forward to sharing these projects and research with future park visitors!

HOW? The research paper or artistic illustration must be original, unpublished, and completed solely by the student submitting the project. Written projects may include traditional research papers or types of creative writing such as fictional diaries or poems. Artistic illustrations may include painting, drawing/sketching, photography, and graphic illustrations. A project must be based in research and that research must be cited. Specific guidelines are listed below. Judging Criteria A winning paper or artistic illustrations will be original, well researched and cited and contribute new knowledge and insights. It will have a unique perspective, demonstrate creativity and be relevant to the past and present. When choosing a project topic, please consider what ways you would like to contribute to the meanings and understandings of the C&O Canal.

Project research topics/themes may vary based on your interests and research. A few suggested themes might include: African American experiences at the C&O Canal

The Underground Railroad and the C&O Canal

Women and the C&O Canal

The Cost of Construction: Immigrant experiences in building the Canal

Each project must include the following: A Cover Page with your name, grade and email address.

An Abstract of your paper or artistic illustration.

An Annotated Bibliography detailing your research.

All typed materials should use size 12 font and double-spaced. Important Note: Submitting a project gives the park permission to use the research and paper/artwork in digital media (website and social media), publications, and interpretive and education programming with school groups and general visitor audiences. Submitting a project gives the park permission to use the research and paper/artwork in digital media (website and social media), publications, and interpretive and education programming with school groups and general visitor audiences. Awards There will be a first, second, and third place winner for both categories, Research Paper and Artistic Illustration.

Scholarship amounts are $500 for first place, $300 for second place, and $200 for third place.

Submittals will be evaluated by a panel of judges from the Chesapeake and Ohio Canal National Historical Park.

The panel's decision will be announced June 4th, 2021. Research Paper Instructions Research papers can be traditional or feature creative writing styles. All papers must be typed or legibly handwritten in ink on plain, white 8.5 x 11-inch paper with 1-inch margins on all sides. Pages must be numbered consecutively and double-spaced with writing on one side and with no less than 10-point type. The cover page should include: Student name, email address, grade level and school. Submissions must include an abstract summarizing your research and written work. The text of historical papers must be no less than 1,500 and no more than 2,500 words in length. The 2,500-word limit does not apply to: notes, annotated bibliography, illustration captions, works cited/bibliography, and supplemental/appendix material. Works cited/bibliography are required and should be included at the end of the text in the style (MLA, Chicago, APA, etc.) of your choice. Citations are used to credit the sources of specific ideas as well as direct quotations. NOTE: Oral history transcripts, correspondence between you and experts, questionnaires, and other primary or secondary materials used as sources for your paper should be cited in your bibliography but not included as attachments to your paper. Art Illustration Instructions For artistic illustrations please submit a cover page with 12 font and double-spaced, featuring an abstract summarizing your research and explaining your artistic design. The cover page should include: Student name, email address, grade level and school.



Artistic illustrations must be created solely by the student, and can include painting, drawing/sketching, photography, and graphic illustrations. Artistic illustrations should convey a theme or story about the experience of Women, African Americans or Immigrants on the C&O Canal, and should represent the student's historical research and perspectives. How to Submit Your Project Please submit your project by email to the C&O Canal Classroom Education Team at cocanaleducation@nps.gov. Please include #50thCanalVoices in the emails Subject Line.

Artistic illustrations can be submitted by taking a photograph or digital scan of the artwork and sending by email.

All submissions must be received by May 21st, 2021. Questions? Please contact the C&O Canal Classroom Education Team at cocanaleducation@nps.gov to inquire about the contest. We look forward to hearing from you!
The Twins have placed Josh Donaldson on the 10-day injured list because of a mild right hamstring strain, per the team. The move is retroactive to April 2nd. Outfielder Brent Rooker has been recalled to take his roster spot.

Donaldson left the Twins opener after doubling in his first at-bat of the year. Donaldson has, of course, dealt with myriad injuries since his heyday in Toronto. This looks to be another of the ticky-tack variety. Thats not to diminish the difficulty of dealing with this sort of injury, as hamstring injuries are notoriously fickle. Still, the assumption right now would be that Donaldson shouldnt miss too much time. Luis Arraez is slated to play third base today, and he could be a frequent replacement while Donaldson is out.

Rooker debuted last season with 21 plate appearances. He notched seven hits, including two doubles and a homer. A first round pick by the Twins in 2017, Rooker is a power bat who could be especially helpful as a pinch-hitter for the rest of the current series while they dont have a designated hitter at their disposal. The Twins return to American League rules on Monday when they face the Tigers in Detroit.
U.S. President Joe Biden told Ukraine it would "never be left alone against Russian aggression," the leader of the eastern European country said Friday.

"We enjoy the full and unwavering support of international partners, including Europe and the United States," Volodymyr Zelenskiy said, referring to Biden's call to him following reports of Russian troop movements on Ukraine's eastern border.

The United States and Ukraine say Russia is escalating tensions in eastern Ukraine, where Russia-backed separatists have been fighting Ukrainian forces since 2014. Russia denies having a military presence there.

The Pentagon this week accused Russia of violating a 2020 cease-fire, including in a March 26 clash that killed four Ukrainian soldiers. Ukraine's military blamed a Russian mortar attack.

"Preserving a complete cease-fire is a guarantee of continuing difficult yet much-needed negotiations," Zelenskiy said.

He also said that the Biden had shown support for Ukrainian efforts to fight corruption and promote judicial reforms.

(Disclaimer: This story is auto-generated from a syndicated feed; only the image & headline may have been reworked by www.republicworld.com)
The Biden administration has made clear its intention to talk with Iran. Since every negotiation has to have an endgame, consider both parties to the proposed conversation and what they intend to get.

Before the election, Biden told a journalist he wants to "build on" the JCPOA with a new agreement to tighten and lengthen Irans nuclear constraints, as we address the missile program. He also talked about Irans human rights record and its destabilizing activities, which threaten our friends and partners in the region. At that time, Mr. Biden said the only way to negotiate a new deal was to return to the old one. And in February 2021, as president, he said Iran would have to come back into compliance with the 2015 deal in order to have the U.S. ease sanctions.

So, the American negotiating goals are:

A return of Iran to the terms of the 2015 JCPOA

A new and longer agreement

No Iranian nuclear weapons

No Iranian ballistic missile program

Iranian respect for human rights

A halt to destabilizing activities -- presumably in Syria, Lebanon, Iraq, Yemen, and the Gulf

An end to threats to Israels existence (one of our partners in the region)

For which we will pay with trade and good relations. It is the Obama deal writ larger, and Biden is prepared to sweeten the pot, to get his conversation.

According to one report, the U.S. will ask Iran to stop only some of its nuclear activities, in exchange for some relief from U.S. economic sanctions. The new American proposal is, more than anything, about trying to get the conversation started said an insider. Reuters reports, A senior Biden administration official declined to discuss details. We have been clear that we are ready to pursue a mutual return to the [Iran deal], the official added. We have also been open that we are talking with our [international] partners about the best way to achieve this, including through a series of initial, mutual steps.

But why would Iran agree? The mullahs have their own end game. It includes:

Keeping the current JCPOA with its sunset clauses that kick in in 2025. Iran has been cheating on its commitments since 2002, but even if they hadnt, the JCPOA gives the Islamic Republic a legal pathway to nuclear weapons capability.

Exercising their position as the go to power in the region and expanding the reach of Shiite governance to areas with Shiite majorities or large minorities. The Iranian-sponsored Houthi war against Sunni Saudi Arabia, as well as support for Hezbollah in Lebanon and militias in Iraq are parts of the plan. This is what Mr. Biden calls destabilizing activities.

Managing control of the population of Iran to ensure that government resources are spent expanding the reach of Shiite governance (see above). This is what Biden calls human rights violations. Repression at home and abroad may ultimately be a losing proposition for the Mullahs, but not yet.

Threatening Israel -- and the United States -- is a matter of religious honor, but it is also a means of achieving regional hegemony.

The U.S. has misunderstood the nature of the whole, entire process. It is the bazaar, only not quite. Traditionally, you go to the bazaar looking for a rug. The shopkeeper has a rug. You want to spend this and he wants you to spend that. Likely you will spend more than you intended, and he will get less than he intended. But okay, its only money. On the other hand, if you are looking for a rug and he wants to sell you a camel, you arent likely to agree on a price. No matter how much you offer, the camel wont become a rug. No matter how low he goes, the camel wont become a rug. Game over.

Unless you decide to take the camel.

Which is what the Obama administration did. While Obama thought it was negotiating constraints on Irans nuclear weapons capability, Iran was negotiating a mechanism for pursuing that precise capability without the U.S. going to war. Thats why there is no agreed upon text and no U.S. Senate ratification of the JCPOA -- which is a treaty. (Perhaps the biggest mistake of the Trump administration was not sending the text to the Senate, putting an end to the charade.)

The Iranians are now turning the tables -- they want to talk about Americas unacceptable activities. In an interview recently, Iranian Foreign Minister Javad Zarif said, If the U.S. passes the test of [the JCPOA], which doesnt seem very likely, then we can consider other issues. But I dont think the U.S. would be prepared to discuss those issues. Is the U.S. ready to reduce its arms shipments to the region?

The new multi-year, multi-billion-dollar deal with China is an indication that not only can Iran find an oil partner, but also that China no longer fears U.S. retaliation for breaking sanctions.

Obama was fleeced in the bazaar and Biden is currently throwing away any leverage remaining from the maximum sanctions regime that had constricted Irans ability to spend money on nefarious activities.

Whatever the administrations endgame, it is unlikely to succeed, and no amount of talk will rescue it.

Shoshana Bryen is Senior Director of the Jewish Policy Center and Editor of inFOCUS Quarterly.

Image: Markusszy

You can find the MeWe post for this article here.
ROCHESTER, Minn. - The rediscovery of a moment in Med City history could upend plans to redevelop a well-known downtown property.

Rochester's Heritage Preservation Commission is deeming the Labor Temple property a potential landmark after recently revealed documents show it was once home to a theater, and the first Red Owl store in the 1930's.

The city-owned property has been at the center of a contentious lease termination with Legends Bar & Grill, and was on track to be demolished in order to make way for the city's Riverfront Reimagined project.

Research indicates Red Owl sold coal, dry goods, and groceries when it was first founded in Rochester. Years later, the business would go on to operate over 172 stores across 10 states, accounting for 55% of the grocery business in Minnesota.

City of Rochester Heritage Preservation and Urban Design Coordinator Molly Patterson-Lundgren says redevelopment plans for the property could adapt to incorporate the Labor Temple's history.

"Redevelopment doesn't have to mean wipe it clean and then figure out what to do. Redevelopment can, and I think should, look at what are the resources that are already there." Patterson-Lundgren told KIMT. "Resources at this site certainly include the river, its location, and you know, maybe we find that these buildings are considered a resource as well."

Patterson-Lundgren says the historic and structural integrity of the two combined buildings on the property are still being evaluated, though her understanding is significant modifications have been made to their interior.

"It's really more the exterior of the buildings, and the story of what happened there, and does this building still convey that history - that story of why it's significant to the local community and the state."

Patterson-Lundgren says the property's history involving theater and the Red Owl store evoke fond memories for many in our area, including herself.

The grocery store chain was owned by a firm with ties to General Mills, and proof of a relationship between Dr. William J. Mayo and James Ford Bell (then president of General Mills) has also been uncovered. City staff say together, these pieces of information show a convergence of activity at the riverfront site in Rochester related to historic significance at the local and state levels.

The applicant formally pushing for the Labor Temple to be designated as a historic landmark, District Court Judge Kevin Lund, is now asking the City of Rochester for more time to study the property. He says information critical to completing the corresponding property landmark designation application has been stymied by the pandemic.

The Rochester City Council will vote on whether to extend the deadline for the application Monday.
Lucknow, April 3 : The .303 rifles which had been discarded earlier will once again be used in the upcoming Uttar Pradesh panchayat elections by the Home Guards.

Uttar Pradesh's Additional Director General (ADG) for Law and Order, Prashant Kumar, has written to the Senior Superintendents of Police (SSP) and the Superintendents of Police (SP) of all districts directing them to equip the Home Guards engaged in poll duty with .303 rifles.

Prashant Kumar said that as per the requirement in the districts, Home Guards trained in handling .303 rifles would be deployed on duty. The decision would be taken by the SPs of the districts concerned about how many Home Guards would be armed with these rifles.

After the election, these rifles would be deposited back in the warehouse.

In every phase of the state panchayat elections, 66,444 Home Guards would be deployed on duty. Apart from this, police personnel would be posted in their respective zones for election duty. Deployment of Pradeshik Armed Constabulary (PAC), Home Guards and Prantiya Rakshak Dal (PRD) troopers would be done from the Director General Of Police (DGP) headquarters.

The .303 rifles which had been the used by the police since the British era were not being used anymore in the state.

The Home Guards are well-trained to use .303 rifles while the policemen are now using Indian Small Arms System (INSAS) rifles.
Nick Miles has said he feels 'heartbroken and depressed' every time he sees burning moorland near his home in the Yorkshire Dales.

The Emmerdale star, 58, who plays Jimmy King on the soap, also called for a ban on the 'archaic' practice during an interview with The Mirror.

Moorland is often burnt to encourage fresh growth of heather and new regulations were announced at the start of 2021 in a bid to better protect peatlands.

Speaking out: Nick Miles has said he feels 'heartbroken and depressed' every time he sees burning moorland near his home in the Yorkshire Dales (pictured on Lorraine on Wednesday)

Nick said: 'We are told not to burn wood in our stoves but we see them setting fire to heather which damages the environment. It depresses me every time I see it.

'It is heartbreaking when you are on top of a hill and see five different fires with emissions going up into the atmosphere and knowing underneath it is a deep peat bog, a vital sink for carbon.'

Nick said he would like to see a ban on the burning and claimed he'd written to his MP and the Chancellor Rishi Sunak about the issue.

The soap star also said he was 'worried' about Environment minister Zac Goldsmith's promise to take action on peat burning.

Tradition: Moorland is often burnt to encourage new growth of heather which is then used for grouse to feed on (pictured a gamekeeper checking the flames on the Invercauld Estate near Braemar during a previous heather burning)

He said: 'He sits in the House of Lords which is full of landowners who want to carry on doing it. It is so archaic. It is bonkers.'

In January, it was announced that new regulations are to be brought in to prevent the burning of heather and other vegetation in a bid to better protect peatlands.

The plans to bring forward legislation for protected blanket bog habitats have been welcomed as 'vital' for 'globally important' land.

But the ban was considered a blow to gamekeepers and to grouse shoots, which burn heather to make way for younger, more nutritious plants for grouse to feed on.

The Moorland Association also warned its members will be concerned as heather-burning remains a 'vital tool', but Defra said the regulations will include exemptions.

On screen: The Emmerdale star, 58, who plays Jimmy King on the soap (pictured with co-star Nicola Wheeler on Tuesday), also called for a ban on the 'archaic' practice

Nick said: 'We are told not to burn wood in our stoves but we see them setting fire to heather which damages the environment. It depresses me every time I see it' (pictured on Emmerdale with co-star Adele Silva in 2011)

The UK has 13 per cent of the world's blanket bog - a type of peatland - and restoring such land will help reach the target of net zero carbon emissions by 2050, as well as protecting valuable habitats and the biodiversity they support, the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs (Defra) said.

Under the regulations, the burning of any specified vegetation on areas of deep peat - more than 40cm in depth - on a Site of Special Scientific Interest (SSSI) that is also a Special Area of Conservation or a Special Protection Area will be prevented.

Licences can be issued for burning as a means of wildfire prevention, a conservation purpose or where land is inaccessible to cutting or mowing machinery, and the ban will not apply to steep or particularly rocky land.

Some environmental groups said the legislation does not go far enough and argued that all burning, which they called an 'outdated and damaging' practice, should be banned.

Changes on the horizon: Some considered the ban on burning as a blow to grouse shoots and gamekeepers who burn heather to improve habitat for grouse (pictured a shooting party shoot on the Rottal Moor in Scotland on the opening day of the Grouse shooting season in 2019)

Welcoming the announcement, Natural England chairman Tony Juniper said it will mean 'better protections for our globally important peatlands', describing them as 'an amazing habitat that provides essential environmental benefits'.

However The Wildlife Trusts' chief executive Craig Bennett called for a total ban and criticised the length of time it had taken the Government to make the latest announcement.

He said: 'Why does the ban only apply to some of our designated peatlands? It should apply to them all.'

He suggested blocking ditches and helping peat become wet again is a viable alternative to burning, in a bid to prevent the spread of wildfires on dry ground.
Union Home Minister on



Saturday held a road show here, canvassing votes for BJP's Thousand Lights candidate Khushbu Sundar for the April 6 Assembly elections.

The BJP veteran travelled atop an open van with Sundar and AIADMK candidates from nearby constituencies at the well- attended roadshow.

Amid chants of 'Bharat Mata ki jai' and fluttering flags of alliance parties being carried by the respective outfits, Shah attended the road show in the last leg of the campaign, which ends tomorrow, here.

BJP has fielded Sundar, an actor-politician, from this constituency, where she will be taking on DMK's Dr N Ezhilan.

Elections to 234 Assembly seats in Tamil Nadu are scheduled on April and the counting of votes will be done 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.)
An inspiring Tauranga chiropractor who charges patients a koha rather than set fees is hoping his generosity will make a difference in the health and wellbeing of locals who are suffering financial hardship.

Dr Phillip Bailey opened the doors of his new Bethlehem clinic, Community Chiropractic, earlier this year and leaves the decision on how much to pay entirely up to his patients.

Its done on an anonymous basis. I have an EFTPOS machine which I show people how to use and its up to them what dollar amount they choose to put in. The total koha payments are merged together at the end of each day, so I never know who has donated what amount.

The unusual business model is based on Dr Baileys personal belief that regular chiropractic care is an important part of maintaining good health.

But the reality is most families cannot afford to do that. Standard chiropractic fees are $50-$60 per appointment which becomes a financial burden. I have seen the positive difference chiropractic and wellness care has on people of all walks of life, and I want to show love and compassion to the community of Tauranga through our koha-based care.

Dr Baileys own personal journey and his childhood experiences growing up in South Africa where his parents had to work hard to provide what was needed, has shaped his world view.

Im a Christian so for me theres always a bigger purpose. I went through a lot of depression in recent years and I was pretty close to taking my own life. The big thing for me getting back into work is being able to show a lot of compassion and love to other people in the community. Its less about money and creating a big empire. Its just really about trying to reach out and help those who at times cant help themselves.

Dr Bailey has previously owned clinics in Singapore and Papamoa and says a koha payment system has been on his mind since university. A small number of chiropractors in Christchurch are operating in the same way but he is the first in the Bay of Plenty to try a koha model.

Im hoping to encourage other professionals in the Bay to do something similar  it doesnt have to be a fulltime thing, but people are really struggling financially. Anything people can do to help others in need has got to be a positive thing.

Dr Bailey says regular, proactive chiropractic care is much more beneficial than just seeking help in an emergency when youre already in pain.

The body will respond better. So I hope I can help a lot more people by making things affordable for them.

Chiropractors focus on getting the body to heal in a natural way. They use a range of techniques to treat pain and can work with any joint in the body  not just the spine.

We often see people suffering from headaches, neck pain, lower back pain and many other health issues. Every person, no matter their age or health concerns, is able to benefit from regular proactive care which enables them to gain and maintain their optimal level of health.

Community Chiropractic is located on Moffat Rd within the Bethlehem Community Church complex. Dr Bailey says as long as hes making enough money to care for his wife and young son, he will be happy.

At the end of the day, I really dont want to know what people are paying. I make sure that Im giving my best service to every person. If I can make chiropractic care work for everyone, I trust that it will all pan out.

For more information, visit: www.communitychiropractic.co.nz
Pictured on the 14th of September 2019 are people enjoying the late summer sun at the launch of the Corrin Hill Nature Reserve, just south of Fermoy. The Nature Reserve won a prestigious award at the recent County Mayors Awards 2021

Cork County Council is seeking expressions of interest for the CLAR (Ceantair Laga Ard-Riachtanais) Scheme 2021, recently launched by the Department of Rural and Community Development.

This scheme makes provision for small scale infrastructural projects in rural areas to promote sustainable development and to attract people to live and work in the areas covered.

Mayor of the County of Cork Cllr. Mary Linehan Foley welcomed the opening of the scheme saying; "The CLAR Scheme provides a great opportunity for community groups to work with Cork County Council to address needs specific to their local area and community. The targeted funding empowers communities and helps them to build a better future in their towns and villages."

Chief Executive Tim Lucey also remarked on the importance of the scheme: "The CLAR Scheme is one such way that the Council engages directly with the community with support from National Government, and we look forward to supporting communities through this initiative." Interested groups are asked to contact their local Municipal District Office to express an interest which must be undertaken by 4pm, Friday 9th of April.

Mayor's Awards

Throughout the County there exists hundreds of volunteer groups and individuals who give so much to their locality and Cork County Council's Mayor's Awards is an occasion where much of this great work is recognised.

Now in its 8th year, the 2021 awards were held virtually on March 24th, where eleven awards were presented by the Mayor. Mayor Foley commended all nominees for their commitment and dedication to their communities, "These annual awards celebrate the best of our county's goodwill, generosity and altruism. It's an important opportunity to acknowledge and celebrate the selfless work of volunteers who've supported our communities, those vulnerable or those impacted since Covid19.

"We celebrate too those who have committed their energy to long term projects that make Cork County a better place to live, making real measurable difference to people's lives."

The overall individual award went to Mary Manning of Dromahane in acknowledgement of her commitment to her local area, while the overall community group award was won by Harper's Island Steering group in recognition of the success of the Wetlands Project in Glounthaune.

In the North Cork Division, Community Groups Category, three organisations received nominations; Mallow Arts Collective which organises the annual Mallow Arts Festival, Mallow Art & Crafts Market for their pop-up art markets and Corrin Nature Reserve. The winning group was Corrin Nature Reserve, open since 2019, and nominated by Cllr William O'Leary in recognition of their achievements, including the reintroduction of the near extinct native Grey Partridge bird.

Hedgerows

Reserves for nature are such a vital part of the country's biodiversity as it is critically important that our natural heritage has the opportunity to thrive and grow. This is not just important for nature's sake, but for our sake, naturally. There are many aspects of natural heritage that are of significant importance, and this includes protecting Ireland's hedgerows.

In relation to the cutting of hedges, the National Parks and Wildlife Service of the Department of Housing, Local Government and Heritage has warned of a 'zero tolerance' approach to any illegal cutting of hedges between 1st March and 31st August each year. This follows a recent prosecution related to illegal hedgerow destruction in Kildare, which resulted in a large fine.

Minister of State for Heritage and Electoral Reform, Malcolm Noonan TD noted: "The vast majority of landowners are already aware that, while limited exemptions do exist, it is illegal to damage or destroy hedgerows during the breeding season. I welcome NPWS's zero tolerance approach to offences under the Wildlife Act. These are extremely serious matters and my Department is responding by actively recruiting additional Conservation Rangers and establishing a Wildlife Crime Unit to properly resource our efforts to protect nature. I call on members of the public who witness these acts to contact and provide as much evidence as they can to the NPWS."

Commenting on the need for a zero-tolerance approach, Padraig O'Donnell, Regional Manager with the NPWS, said: "We are experiencing a crisis in our countryside and we have to undertake a zero-tolerance approach. We're losing hedgerows forever, and we need to temper it. There are exemptions and not all hedge cutting is illegal.

"This is not about people clipping a hedge, this is about hedgerow destruction. The biodiversity-rich hedgerows in the greater countryside are part of our shared heritage, but these are being destroyed by contractors and landowner, and we are determined that this must stop.

"Once they are destroyed they are gone forever, as is the biodiversity that depended on them. Everything from birds to mammals to insects to plants. They are a source of food and shelter and one of our most important habitats."

He urged people observing loss to contact the NPWS by sending an email to natureconservation@chg.gov.ie outlining their concerns and providing evidence where possible.

Dates for the cutting of hedges are set down in primary legislation under the Wildlife Acts. Section 40 of the Act prohibits the cutting, grubbing, burning or destruction of vegetation, with certain strict exemptions, from 1 March to 31 August.

Upcoming events

As we turn our attention to upcoming events, there are two that should be of interest to many. The first of these is a new radio documentary titled "Cahermee: The Runaway Fair" which will be broadcast on 93.1 LifeFM on Thursday the 1st of April between 3pm and 4pm, and repeated on Saturday the 3rd between 5pm and 6pm. Part 2 will play the following week.

Nearly 20 participants from throughout Cork City and County, Buttevant in particular, were involved in the documentary telling of their experiences and knowledge of what was once the largest Horse Fair in Europe. We hear about the connection with Napoleon and Wellington, marriages, horse dealing and all the fun of the fair as well as the reason for the saying "Abbeyfeale for Flour and Meat and Cahermee for Horses".

For more information listen in to the show or visit www.lifefm.ie/radio.

A few days later on Thursday 8th April at 19:30, there will be a talk by Bill Power looking at the Blackwater Valley.

Titled 'Images and Impressions of the Blackwater Valley from Past to Present' it will provide a great overview of the River Blackwater and the people that have lived alongside it.

Organised by Youghal Celebrates History, the talk takes place online via the Zoom Platform and for more information email kierangroeger@mac.com.
Advertisement

Ten police officers have been hurt during clashes at the Kill the Bill protest in London today with 26 people arrested after Jeremy Corbyn addressed thousands of activists in defiance of coronavirus regulations.

Protestors chanted, banged drums and waved placards at the demo to rail against the Police, Crime, Sentencing and Courts Bill, which will impose certain conditions on future protests.

Projectiles were thrown by demonstrators and several people were led away in handcuffs.

The Metropolitan Police has confirmed that 10 officers received injuries, none of which are believed to be serious, and 26 people were arrested. including a woman with a knife.

There appeared to be over 10,000 people at the rally, which was held in a crowded Parliament Square. For comparison, nearby Trafalgar Square is able to hold 20,000 people when full.

A small group of around 50-100 protesters in London began to block roads around Parliament Square and chanted anti-police slogans including 'All Cops Are B******s'.

The former Labour leader stood next to a statue of Mahatma Gandhi as he spoke at the rally, describing the Government-proposed bill as a 'very dangerous, slippery slope' and defending the right to protest.

He said: 'If we don't protest, things don't change', which drew cheers and applause from onlookers. Close by, anti-lockdown demonstrators staged their own protest, supported by Mr Corbyn's brother, Piers.

Dozens of extra officers were brought in outside Parliament to help unblock the road for a McDonald's lorry which became a target for the crowd, who whistled and booed as they stopped the driver from passing.

Bottles and missiles were thrown as police with riot helmets fired pepper spray and held batons aloft, screaming for the crowd to 'get back'. A man was carried away by officers.

Police were also seen taking away a young woman crying out in pain following clashes at the demo, which began after people marched to Trafalgar Square, with her friends saying she had sustained an injury to her shoulder.

A separate group in Parliament Square was seen demonstrating with anti-sexism slogans, including 'educate your sons' and 'misogyny is the virus', chanting 'women scared everywhere, police and Government do not care'.

By this evening, the Metropolitan Police said 'a small minority' of protestors, who were not social distancing, were still in the square and that arrests were being made after they turned down requests to leave.

The majority of protesters from the demonstration, who gathered earlier in the day, had dispersed several hours earlier but those still present shouted 'shame on you' repeatedly at officers.

Three Kill the Bill protestors unfurled a banner which read 'Kill Cops' and held aloft the incendiary message outside the Houses of Parliament - just 50 metres away from where PC Keith Palmer was stabbed to death in 2017.

The 'national weekend of action' has spread beyond the capital to cities including Newcastle, Liverpool, Brighton, Bristol and Manchester - where police said a number of 'peaceful' protests took police.

Dorset Police thanked those who took part in 'peaceful protests' in Bournemouth and Weymouth, and stuck to the Covid-19 restrictions.

In Norwich, Kill The Bill graffiti was daubed on a city centre war memorial while protestors in Manchester blocked tram tracks in St Peter's Square prompting police to move in and make arrests just after 5.30pm.

Meanwhile, Avon and Somerset Police said that part of the M32 motorway has been closed to traffic tonight after protesters sat on the road.

A dispersal order to direct people and groups to leave the city centre of Bristol was issued yesterday, following what police described as 'a number of incidents involving violence between the remaining protesters'.

The force tweeted this evening: 'The group have marched onto the M32 and are currently sat on the carriageway. The motorway has subsequently been closed to inbound traffic at Junction 3 in the interests of safety.'

Protesting is now legal in England following a change in Covid-19 lockdown rules which came into force on Monday, but organisers are required to submit risk assessments and ensure social distancing.

The rallies come as Covid deaths fall to their lowest in six months with the UK recording 10 fatalities, bringing the total to 126,826, and another 3,423 new infections.

A woman can be seen holding what appears to be a sharpened piece of wood during the Kill the Bill protest in central London

Demonstrators walk on a motorway during a 'Kill the Bill' protest in Bristol this evening. Avon and Somerset Police said that part of the M32 motorway has been closed to traffic

Police officers stand guard as demonstrators block a motorway during a 'Kill the Bill' protest in Bristol on Saturday night

A protestor uses a megaphone during a Kill the Bill protest on Newfoundland Road leading to the M32 on Saturday in Bristol

A police officer fires pepper spray as scuffles erupt between Kill the Bill protestors and police in Parliament Square today

protestors take part in a demonstration by Hyde Park against the Government's proposed Police, Crime, Sentencing and Courts Bill

Protestors and police officers pictured in Parliament Square, central London, during today's Kill the Bill protest. Projectiles were thrown as police pushed protesters away and at least one officer was injured in the scuffle

A woman is detained by police during a 'Kill the Bill' protest in central London. The demonstration is against the Government-proposed Police, Crime, Sentencing and Courts Bill

Police officers are seen restraining a demonstrator during a 'Kill the Bill' protest in central London this afternoon

Police scuffle with a crowd of protestors during a Kill the Bill protest near Parliament Square in central London this afternoon

A demonstrator is seen holding a red smoke flare at the 'Kill the Bill' protest n London with the Houses of Parliament seen in the background

Demonstrators use street barriers to block a road during a 'Kill the Bill' protest in central London on Saturday

Demonstrators knock over bins and traffic cones as they use street furniture to block a road during the protest in London

Police officers surround demonstrators lying on the road as they take part in the protest. The Police, Crime, Sentencing and Courts Bill would give police in England and Wales more power to impose conditions on peaceful protests

Police confront protestors with a bus seen in the background during a Kill the Bill demonstration on Saturday in London

Police officers hold back demonstrators near Trafalgar Square in central London as they detain one during the protest

A protestor blocking a road is detained by police during the 'Kill the Bill' protest held in opposition to the Police, Crime, Sentencing and Courts Bill. People gathered at Hyde Park before marching towards Parliament Square

A policeman holding a baton faces demonstrators during a 'Kill the Bill' protest against the Police, Crime, Sentencing and Courts Bill in Parliament Square, London

The former leader of the Labour Party addressed crowds gathered in Parliament Square as he described the Police, Crime, Sentencing and Courts Bill as a 'very dangerous, slippery slope' and defended the right to protest

Protestors stop a delivery truck during the 'Kill the Bill' protest in central London. The proposed legislation covers a wide range of issues and would broaden the police's authority for regulating protests

Police form a cordon as demonstrators sit in a main road during a 'Kill the Bill' protest against the Government's Police, Crime, Sentencing and Courts Bill in Bristol, south-west England

Demonstrators walk on a motorway as police officers stand guard nearby during a 'Kill the Bill' protest in Bristol this evening

Police officers stand guard as demonstrators sit down and block a motorway at a 'Kill the Bill' protest in Bristol

A crowd of demonstrators are seen marching at a 'Kill the Bill protest in Bristol, south west England, on Saturday evening

Police form a cordon as darkness falls and demonstrators march on a main road during a 'Kill the Bill' protest in Bristol

Protestors march down the A4 during a Kill the Bill protest on Saturday evening in Bristol, the south-west of England

Demonstrators walk along the A4032 into the town centre in Bristol during a protest against the Police, Crime, Sentencing and Courts Bill

A van driver clashes with a protestor on the A4044 during a Kill the Bill protest on Saturday evening in Bristol, south west England

A masked demonstrator holds a placard on top of a sign post as darkness falls during a 'Kill the Bill' protest in Bristol

People dance as they gather for a 'Kill the Bill' protest against the proposed Police, Crime, Sentencing and Courts Bill in Bristol earlier this evening

Crowds seen posing for the camera while drinking beer and dancing at a 'Kill the Bill' demonstration in Bristol, south-west England

In a statement, the Met Police said tonight: 'At this stage, 26 people have been arrested for a variety of offences including assault on police and breach of the peace. In one instance, a woman was arrested on suspicion of possession of an offensive weapon after a knife was recovered.

'The policing operation remains ongoing and this arrest total is likely to rise. Ten officers received injuries during the operation; none of these are believed to be serious.'

Commander Ade Adelekan, who led today's policing operation, said: 'The vast majority of people who turned out in central London today did so while adhering to social distancing. They engaged with my officers when required and left when asked  I would like to thank them for doing so.

'However, a small minority did not engage despite the repeated efforts of officers on the ground. This left us with no option but to move to an enforcement stage and arrests have been made.

'This has been another challenging day for officers on the ground and I want to thank them for their efforts throughout the course of today.

'We remain in the middle of a global pandemic and we have made great progress in controlling the spread of the virus; we will not allow the selfish actions of a small number of people to put Londoners progress in jeopardy.'

Liaison officers attempted to engage with them to move them along peacefully but they refused to cooperate.

Eventually the group moved on to the New Scotland Yard, the Metropolitan Police headquarters, where they continued with their anti-police rhetoric.

Tensions are running high following the arrest of serving Metropolitan Police officer Wayne Couzens for the kidnap and murder of Sarah Everard and Met probationer Benjamin Hannam being convicted last week of belonging to a Neo-Nazi organisation.

Officers ringed the Winston Churchill statue and the Cenotaph - targets at previous protests - as crowds marched down from the meeting point in Hyde Park to Westminster.

Lorries trying to drive past the Houses of Parliament were blocked by crowds. One truck delivering flowers was forced to turn round and head back the opposite direction.

One weeping female protester in Manchester was held against a police van, with protestors chanting 'Kill the Bill' as they blocked leaving trams.

Police officers form a cordon to free a delivery truck being stopped by demonstrators during the protest in central London

Protestors stop a delivery truck during the protest in London. Dozens of extra officers were brought in outside Parliament to help unblock the road

Police intervene as protestors attempt to stop a delivery truck during the 'Kill the Bill' protest held in opposition to the Police, Crime, Sentencing and Courts Bill

Protestors stop a delivery truck at the rally. Protesting is now legal in England following a change in Covid-19 lockdown rules which came into force on Monday, but organisers are required to submit risk assessments and ensure social distancing

A protestor appears injured as police intervene during the 'Kill the Bill' protest in central London, where demonstrators gathered at Hyde Park and marched towards Parliament Square

Ex-Labour Party leader Jeremy Corbyn standing next to a statue of Mahatma Gandhi as he speaks at the rally. Close by, anti-lockdown demonstrators staged their own protest, supported by Mr Corbyn's brother, Piers

Extinction Rebellion's Red Rebel Brigade are seen performing at a Kill the Bill protest in Mayfair as thousands marched through central London in protest of the Government-proposed bill

Thousands of activists have descended on London (pictured) as police brace for weekend of chaos with more rallies set to take place in towns and cities across the UK

Police have braced for weekend of chaos with more rallies set to take place in towns and cities across the UK. Pictured: Protests in Brighton

But the 'national weekend of action' has also spread beyond the capital to cities including Newcastle, Liverpool (pictured) and Manchester

Protestors attended the demonstration in Parliament Square, central London, against the Government's proposed Police, Crime, Sentencing and Courts Bill that will give police more power to shut down protests

Demonstrators sit on Baldwin Street in Bristol during a 'Kill the Bill' protest on Saturday against the Government-proposed bill

Demonstrators taking part in a 'Kill the Bill' protest sit and stand in the street listening to speeches in the centre of Bristol

The former leader of the Labour Party is pictured addressing the crowd during a 'Kill the Bill' protest against the Government's Police, Crime, Sentencing and Courts Bill in Parliament Square, London, today

Mr Corbyn stood by a statue in front of crowds during a 'Kill the Bill' protest at Parliament Square in London on Saturday

The ex-Labour leader seen wearing a face mask after speaking to protestors next to a statue of Mahatma Gandhi at a Kill the Bill protest in Parliament Square

The 'national weekend of action' has also spread beyond the capital to cities including Newcastle, Liverpool (pictured) and Manchester

Tram passenger Mike Horton, 43, said: 'There were lots of police and then they jumped on a few protesters. I got a real shock as I had just come to get on tram. They were shouting at the police and filming them with their phones.'

Protests and demonstrations were expected this weekend across England on what is forecast to be a is the first to benefit from the easing of 'stay at home' lockdown restrictions.

On Saturday, activists, climate change campaigners, and the Black Lives Matter movement said they would join 'kill the bill' rallies in London and other towns and cities including Manchester, Leeds, Brighton and Bristol.

'As protest is criminalised and our fake democracy is pushed further towards authoritarianism, we seek to find where we can come together with other movements to tackle the common causes that affect us all,' said Alanna Byrne from environmental group Extinction Rebellion.

Days of protests by the group paralysed parts of London in early 2019, action which helped fuel calls from some politicians for the police to be given the tougher powers to prevent excessive disruption.

Another demonstrator, Mark Duncan, added: 'The government are trying to curtail protests - especially BLM and XR - that is what this bill is all about. We want the clauses in this bill about protests quashed.'

A separate group in Parliament Square (pictured) were demonstrating with anti-sexism slogans, including 'educate your sons' and 'misogyny is the virus'

Protestors, including environmental protest group the Red Brigade - often seen at Extinction Rebellion demonstrations - have gathered at Hyde Park today (pictured)

Protestors in Parliament Square (pictured) gathered as part of the 'national weekend of action' that has spread around the country

There have been a number of Kill The Bill protests held in recent weeks to show opposition to the Government's proposed Police, Crime , Sentencing and Courts Bill 2021. Pictured: Protestors in Newcastle

The Metropolitan Police have since said: 'The majority of people at today's events in Central London (pictured) have tried to adhere to social distancing and Covid legislation'

Organisers reminded demonstrators to stay socially distanced on this 'national weekend of action' as they attempted to control the crowds. Pictured: Protestors in Reading

Protests and demonstrations were expected across England this weekend on what is forecast to be a is the first to benefit from the easing of 'stay at home' lockdown restrictions. Pictured: Protestors in London

There have been a number of 'Kill The Bill' protests held to show opposition to the Government's proposed Police, Crime , Sentencing and Courts Bill 2021. Pictured: Crowds in central London today

The group that gathered in Parliament Square (pictured), London, chanted 'women scared everywhere, police and Government do not care'

On Saturday, activists, climate change campaigners, and the Black Lives Matter movement said they would join 'kill the bill' rallies in London (pictured)

Organisers reminded protestors to stay socially distanced on this 'national weekend of action' as they attempted to control the crowds.

The Metropolitan Police have since said: 'The majority of people at today's events in Central London have tried to adhere to social distancing and Covid legislation.

'A small minority are blocking the road at Parliament Square. Officers are on scene engaging and encouraging them to move so we can reopen the roads.'

A Met Police spokesman also told MailOnline: 'Officers have been on the ground throughout the day engaging and encouraging those present to adhere to the current Covid legislation. There have been no arrests so far.'

But the 'national weekend of action' spread beyond the capital to cities including Newcastle, Liverpool, Brighton and Manchester.

Several hundred people gathered beneath Grey's Monument in Newcastle for a similar Kill the Bill protest with a low-key response from Northumbria Police.

Protesters cheered as a singer with a guitar performed in opposition to the proposed bill as another attendee held up a placard saying: 'We will not be silenced.'

Protests and demonstrations were expected this weekend across England on what is forecast to be a is the first to benefit from the easing of 'stay at home' lockdown restrictions. Pictured: Rally in Bristol

Earlier today several hundred people gathered beneath Grey's Monument in Newcastle (pictured) for a similar Kill the Bill protest

There was a low-key response to the city centre gathering from Northumbria Police and protesters cheered as a singer with a guitar performed in opposition to the proposed bill

The crowd (pictured) has since made its way through Newcastle city centre chanting: 'Whose streets, our streets' and 'F*** Priti Patel'

The crowd has since made its way through the city centre chanting: 'Whose streets, our streets' and 'F*** Priti Patel'.

Can protests take place in England under Covid rules? Britons are permitted to gather in groups larger than six for the purpose of 'Covid-secure protests' under updated lockdown rules. The guidance had previously outlawed any large gatherings, meaning the previous three Bristol rallies weren't permitted under Covid restrictions. However, an update which came into force on Monday allows people to gather in larger groups for protest if the organiser has 'taken the required precautions'. This includes completing a risk assessment for the gathering. The updated guidance reads: 'You may gather in larger groups... for the purpose of Covid-secure protests or picketing where the organiser has taken the required precautions, including the completion of a risk assessment.' Advertisement

Many took the knee at the Civic Centre and held a minute's silence for victims of oppression, after which a round of applause broke out.

Meanwhile, more than 400 Kill The Bill protesters today marched through Manchester city centre.

They halted traffic as they walked from St Peter's Square where they had held an hour-long rally as they shouted: 'All cops are b*******' and 'Our streets'.

The march was largely peaceful with the exception of one teenage protester jumping on top of a blue McLaren sports car before banging on the roof. He was held by police but later let go.

The protesters then gathered on the steps of Manchester Crown Court and chanted: 'No justice, no peace.'

The protestors included animal rights, environmental and LGBT campaigners and waved a range of Socialist Worker Party Kill the Bill, Black Lives Matter and Trans Rights Now placards.

Nurse Matthew Hampson, 53, had earlier told the crowd: 'Nurses are not just angry about the proposed one per cent pay cut, they are enraged.

'We need to protest, that is why we need to stop this Bill.'

The rally, watched by police in Tactical Aid vehicles as well as officers on foot, took place under a 48-hour police dispersal order for the entire city centre.

The order gives police the power to tell a person engaged in anti-social behaviour, or who is likely to engage in anti-social behaviour, to leave a specified area - but it expired at 3pm.

It was imposed following an illegal rave in the city centre as well as 18 people being arrested at last week's Kill the Bill protest in Manchester.

Protesters had sat on tram tracks and police had to apologise after one woman's underwear was exposed when she was dragged away.

Meanwhile, more than 400 Kill The Bill protesters today marched through Manchester city centre (pictured) watched by police in Tactical Aid vehicles as well as officers on foot

The rally in Manchester city centre (pictured) took place under a 48-hour police dispersal order for the entire city centre

The protestors included animal rights, environmental and LGBT campaigners and waved a range of Socialist Worker Party Kill the Bill, Black Lives Matter and Trans Rights Now placards

They halted traffic as they walked from St Peter's Square, Manchester (pictured), where they had held an hour-long rally as they shouted: 'All cops are b*******' and 'Our streets'

Elsewhere, around 300 protestors gathered outside Norwich City Hall as part of the country-wide demonstrations.

The protest passed off peacefully with a handful of police officers observing the event from a distance but graffiti carrying the Kill The Bill was daubed on the city's war memorial.

The protests have been sparked by the proposed Police, Crime, Sentencing and Courts bill would toughen measures officers can take to disperse demonstrations, such as imposing time and noise limits, which campaigners and activists fear would be used to curb dissent.

Since the bill was brought before parliament last month, there have been sporadic protests, notably in Bristol, southwest England, where demonstrations turned violent with officers and a police station bombarded with bricks and glass bottles, and police vehicles set on fire.

Prime Minister Boris Johnson criticised what he described as 'disgraceful attacks' on officers, but protesters have accused police of using heavy-handed tactics.

Demonstrations had not been permitted while a coronavirus lockdown was in place, but restrictions were eased this week, meaning organised rallies can go ahead providing they are 'COVID secure'.

In London, police warned, 'enforcement action will be taken, if needed, in the interests of public health'.

Some senior officers have said the 'kill the bill' tag was deliberately provocative as 'the bill' is a nickname in Britain for the police.
(Alliance News) - There is no evidence uptake of the AstraZeneca PLC coronavirus vaccine is slowing in the UK despite some European countries pausing its rollout, a public health expert has said.

Professor Linda Bauld of Edinburgh University said all studies indicated the jab was safe and effective, while the fact different countries were reviewing their position was a sign that the system was working.

British regulators said they have identified 30 cases of rare blood clot events associated with the AstraZeneca vaccine but stressed the benefits of the jab in preventing coronavirus outweigh any risks.

The Medicines & Healthcare Regulatory Agency said on Thursday that the risk associated with this type of blood clot is "very small" and that the public should continue to take up the vaccine when offered it.

The agency said it had identified 30 cases of rare blood clot events following use of the Oxford University-AstraZeneca jab, out of 18.1 million doses administered up to and including March 24.

Of these, it said it had received 22 reports of cerebral venous sinus thrombosis and eight reports of other thrombosis events with low platelets.

Responding to the data, a member of the Joint Committee on Vaccination & Immunisation said that taking up the vaccine was "by far the safest choice" at minimising risk of serious illness or death.

Professor Adam Finn, from the University of Bristol, said: "The report states that these cases are being very carefully investigated to better understand whether or not they may have any causal relationship with vaccination.

"Nevertheless, the extreme rarity of these events in the context of the many millions of vaccine doses that have been administered means that the risk-benefit decision facing people who are invited to receive Covid-19 vaccines is very straight forward: receiving the vaccine is by far the safest choice in terms of minimising individual risk of serious illness or death."

Regulators said they had received no reports of such clotting events after the use of the Pfizer Inc and BioNTech SE vaccine.

It comes after it emerged Germany was suspending use of the AstraZeneca vaccine for people aged under 60 due to fears of a link with rare blood clots.

On Friday, the Dutch government also said it would be temporarily halting AstraZeneca jabs for people under 60, after it received five reports of blood clots with low blood plate counts following vaccinations.

The head of the European Medicines Agency has said that there is "no evidence" to support restricting the use of the AstraZeneca vaccine in any population.

The agency said a causal link between unusual blood clots in people who have had the vaccine is "not proven, but is possible", adding that the benefits of the vaccine in preventing Covid-19 outweighed the risks of side effects.

This view is echoed by the World Health Organisation, which has urged countries to continue using the jab.

Speaking to the BBC's Good Morning Scotland radio programme, Professor Bauld said reports of blood clots were "very rare" and a direct link to the vaccine was very unlikely.

She said: "These kinds of pauses and reviews are a sign that the system is working.

"Because when you see either deaths or unlikely adverse events that you wouldn't anticipate or you didn't see in the trials it's reasonable for regulators to look at this.

"The MHRA is still consistently saying there's no cause for concern and that is absolutely the message to people."

She added: "It doesn't look from the behavioural response, the surveys I've seen, that it's affecting uptake in the UK and that's really important."

Bauld said she had recently received her blue letter inviting her for vaccination and she was "really looking forward" to it.

By Neil Pooran, PA Scotland Political Reporter

source: PA

Copyright 2021 Alliance News Limited. All Rights Reserved.
Palm trees swaying. Infinity pools sparking in the sunlight. Fresh ceviche served alongside tequila. It may sound dreamy, but all this and more is completely within reach with a short flight across the border.

Wondering what its like to visit Puerto Vallarta right now? The World Travel and Tourism Council (WTTC) has given the Safe Travels Stamp to the State of Jalisco, where Puerto Vallarta is, in recognition of the strict hygiene and safety standards in place throughout the region.

Tourists from the U.S. continue to discover exactly how well Puerto Vallarta and the State of Jalisco is handling guest health and safety, but perhaps youre still curious of exactly what to expect on your visit.

Read on to learn how Puerto Vallarta is welcoming guests, ensuring CDC-required test compliance, and catering to guest safety and comfort.

Lori A. May

Local airport requirements

While travelers may be focused on the latest CDC requirements to test prior to returning to the U.S. its important to note air travelers arriving in Mexico must comply with local health checks as well.

When entering Mexico, all arriving passengers must provide a completed Questionnaire for Identification of Risk Factors in Travelers. Questions confirm guest health and produce a QR code which must be presented to immigration upon arrival. This form is again required to be completed in preparation for departure from Mexico.

Some airlines will provide a print questionnaire for passengers who forget to complete the online form, and these forms are also available upon arrival at airports. However, its advised to complete the online questionnaire prior to your departure to ensure efficient immigration processing upon arrival in Mexico. Complete a new form immediately prior to arriving at the airport for your return flight home.

CDC testing requirements

The CDC requires all travelers entering the U.S. from an international destination to complete pre-travel testing with negative results obtained within 3 days of flight departure. Test results will be verified prior to boarding, most often at the airline check-in desk prior to entering security. Guests must also provide a signed attestation form confirming their negative test results. This form must be printed and shown at check-in and during boarding.

To comply with the CDC and make the testing experience as seamless as possible, many Puerto Vallarta hotels and resorts are offering onsite testing for guests. Many familiar hotel brands are even offering complimentary onsite testing for registered guests, while a few hotels provide the service for a nominal fee. Travelers are encouraged to review hotels offering testing through the Visit Puerto Vallarta tourism website.

Throughout the pandemic, Puerto Vallartas hotels have gone above and beyond to create a safe and sanitary environment without comprising the overall guest experience, said Abel Villa, speaking on behalf of the Puerto Vallarta Hotel Association. On-site testing administered by qualified medical professionals is the next step to ensuring that hotel guests can quickly and easily obtain COVID-19 results with minimal disruption to their trips.

If you book accommodations not providing onsite testing, Visit Puerto Vallarta has compiled a list of other testing facilities accessible to visitors. PVR airport does have a temporary testing facility in place for passengers who forget to complete the testing requirements prior to arrival.

LORI A. MAY, SPECIAL TO THE SEATTLEPI

Note that most resorts offering onsite testing do so for guests staying a minimum of three nights or more. At Marriott Puerto Vallarta Resort & Spa, for example, guests staying at least three nights will receive complimentary onsite rapid antigen tests in a private room transformed into a testing center. Guests complete a brief form with contact info and then, after the test is complete, results will be emailed shortly thereafter to ensure timely results. Its advised to schedule your testing as soon as you arrive, to guarantee an appropriate test time aligned with your departure date.

Be sure to save your test results. You will need to show your negative test result when you arrive for boarding at Puerto Vallarta International Airport. Staff will check the test results, your name, and the date and time the test was administered. The form will most likely also be reviewed at the boarding gate, so keep it handy at all times.

Positive test accommodations

While widespread vaccinations will add a little extra comfort to international travelers, it is still important to consider your plans should you test positive when across the border.

While testing negative for COVID-19 is the optimal scenario, travelers can remain confident that Puerto Vallartas hotels will extend our signature hospitality to them should they need to quarantine or extend their stay to accommodate a mandatory quarantine, said Luis Villasenor, managing director of the Puerto Vallarta Tourism Board. These guests will be well taken care of and remain in safe isolation until they are cleared to return home.

In fact, most Puerto Vallarta hotels have a comprehensive plan in place to offer guests accommodations and services should they be diagnosed with COVID-19. Guests who test positive but dont exhibit symptoms may be accommodated for a 14-day quarantine on a designated floor or separate zone within the hotel, provided with three meals daily, and receive medical support if needed.

Guests are advised to check with their individual property of choice to fully understand the contingency plans in place. Some, but not all hotels offer quarantine stays at a reduced rate, so its important to keep personal budgetary considerations in mind.

Guests who present significant symptoms and receive a positive test may be connected to a local medical professional for further treatment. When planning ahead, its advisable to review what your personal travel insurance may and may not cover should you test positive while traveling internationally.

LORI A. MAY, SPECIAL TO THE SEATTLEPI

What to expect at hotels, eateries, and attractions

Puerto Vallarta, as part of the State of Jalisco, has received the World Travel and Tourism Council (WTTC) Safe Travels Stamp in recognition of local hygiene and safety standards.

This means guests will see throughout Puerto Vallarta constant cleaning and attention to safety standards. Stores and attractions have prominently offered hand sanitizing stations, as do hotels and restaurants.

At hotels, guests will see staff actively sanitizing and disinfecting public areas. Most entrance points will also have sanitizing mats for wiping your feet prior to entering an establishment. Guests can also expect non-touch temperature checks prior to entering hotels, restaurants, shops and attractions.

Puerto Vallarta guest safety includes mandatory mask wearing in public spaces and on public transportation, as well as within commercial establishments. Hotels and resorts will remind guests to wear their masks properly, and social distancing markers are in place throughout the city.

Digital restaurant menus offered via QR codes are dominant throughout Puerto Vallarta, though guests may also request a sanitized menu if desired. Check to see if your hotel also offers a digital contactless key option.

Upon hotel check-in, guests will be informed of any adjustments to daily housekeeping, with most hotels offering every other day. Guests may express a desired cleaning schedule at some properties or skip housekeeping entirely. Room amenities may otherwise be requested as needed, often delivered in a non-touch manner with items left outside the guestroom.

Elaine Thompson/Associated Press

Before you go

Review the latest CDC guidelines for travelers and familiarize yourself with testing requirements. Ensure your resort offers onsite testing, or otherwise plan to complete the required testing at a convenient Puerto Vallarta facility.

Review your travel insurance coverage to understand how you are covered if you test positive and must self-quarantine while in Mexico. Ask your hotel what accommodations are in place for guests who must complete an extended stay.

Keep up to date with the latest capacity limitations and reopening phases in Puerto Vallarta.
NEWS FLASH





Air Serbia has renewed its Special Prorate Agreement with Hainan Airlines enabling passengers to reach Beijing from Belgrade via Brussels, Berlin and Moscow. When Hainan Airlines decides to increase capacity to Europe and when the Chinese market additionally opens up, passengers will be able to travel from Beijing to other destinations in China, Air Serbia said. The two carriers have been cooperating since 2016. In 2017, Hainan Airlines launched flights from Beijing to Belgrade via Prague, which ran for a year. China was Belgrade Airports largest unserved market prior to the pandemic. In 2019, Shanghai was the busiest unserved route from the Serbian capital, followed by Beijing. Jointly, the two cities accounted for 114.641 indirect passengers at Belgrade Airport.
Local Minister James Browne has welcomed confirmation from Minister for Education Norma Foley that Bunclody Vocational College has been approved for works under the Additional Accommodation Scheme 2021.

Under the Additional Accommodation Scheme 2021, the school has been approved for the purchase of Modular accommodation, 5 x 60m2 general classrooms, 1 X 40m2 toilet facility and 1 x 120m2 SEN classroom.

Minister Browne said: 'It is very welcome to see confirmation from Minister Foley that additional accommodation has been approved. This will help the school continue to grow while wider expansion works are prepared.

'In 2019, the Department gave the go ahead for a 5,000 square metre building. The additional modular accommodation will assist the school in catering for its students in advance of the future construction of the extension. I look forward to continuing my engagement with the Principal, Board of Management, and wider school community.

'I also want to acknowledge the hard work and commitment of the school community over the past year as we all learned to adapt to remote learning and the challenges that presents,' concluded Minister Browne.

Local Councillor Barbara-Anne Murphy said: 'I am delighted to see confirmation of this investment in Bunclody Vocational College. I look forward to our continued work with stakeholders in the school to see the wider expansion works progressed for the teachers, students and all involved in the school.'
Johannesburg, April 3 : A total of 55 students from South Africa's University of Pretoria have tested positive for Covid-19, said Minister of Higher Education, Science and Innovation Blade Nzimande on Friday.

"We are aggressively working on contact tracing with the help of the health department and have tested and screened a large number of students and staff over the last few days," he said on Friday.

As screening and testing are still ongoing this week, there is a probability that the number of positive cases may rise, Xinhua news agency quoted the Minister as saying.

Nzimande added that they are also working with the National Institute for Communicable Diseases to investigate the outbreak.

The authorities have established screening stations around the affected residences, Nzimande said, noting that other medical facilities including mobile health units and institutional campus clinics have also been stationed to offer psychosocial and other health assistance to the affected residents.

He called on students, lecturers and all staff to observe Covid-19 health protocols and guidelines as the 2021 academic year gets underway.
Amazon isn't normally one to say sorry for its behavior, but it just made a notable exception  more or less. GeekWire reports that company has apologized to Rep. Mark Pocan for Twitter posts blasting the Wisconsin politician when he criticized working conditions that included drivers peeing in bottles as they faced pressure to meet quotas. The tweets were "incorrect" by focusing on warehouse workers rather than drivers facing these problems, according to Amazon. A flawed process also meant the tweets didn't receive "proper scrutiny."

The company partly downplayed the drivers' experience, arguing that peeing in bottles was a "long-standing, industry-wide" problem made worse by the COVID-19 pandemic. However, it also recognized this wasn't acceptable and that it would "look for solutions."

There was no explanation for why Amazon issued a rare social media attack. Recode sources recently claimed that outgoing CEO Jeff Bezos was frustrated with his company's lack of resistance to accusations he felt were inaccurate or misleading. On top of its response to Pocan, Amazon recently defended its practices against criticism from Senators Bernie Sanders and Elizabeth Warren.

It's not certain why Amazon took over a week to apologize to Pocan, although it comes as warehouse staff in Alabama vote to unionize. The internet shopping giant has also faced growing scrutiny of its union-busting tactics and overall labor conditions. Amazon isn't necessarily trying to draw attention away with the apology (the move arguably highlights those concerns), but it is recognition that the tech firm's work environment is a hot-button issue.
Authorities investigate the scene after a man rammed a car into two officers at a, barricade on Capitol Hill in Washington, Friday, April 2, 2021. AP



A Capitol Police officer has died after a man rammed his car into two officers at a barricade outside the U.S. Capitol and then emerged wielding a knife. It was the second line-of-duty death this year for a department still struggling to heal from the Jan. 6 insurrection.



Video shows the driver of the crashed car emerging with a knife in his hand and starting to run at the pair of officers, Capitol Police Acting Chief Yogananda Pittman told reporters Friday. Authorities shot the suspect, who died at a hospital.



''I just ask that the public continue to keep U.S. Capitol Police and their families in your prayers,'' Pittman said. ''This has been an extremely difficult time for U.S. Capitol Police after the events of Jan. 6 and now the events that have occurred here today.''



Police identified the slain officer as William ''Billy'' Evans, an 18-year veteran who was a member of the department's first responders unit.



Two law enforcement officials told The Associated Press that investigators initially believed the suspect stabbed one of the officers, but it was later unclear whether the knife actually made contact, in part because the vehicle struck the officers with such force. The officials were not authorized to publicly discuss the investigation and spoke on condition of anonymity.



The authorities said there wasn't an ongoing threat, though the Capitol was put on lockdown for a time as a precaution. There was also no immediate connection apparent between Friday's crash and the Jan. 6 riot.



Law enforcement officials identified the suspect as 25-year-old Noah Green. Investigators were digging into his background and examining whether he had any mental health history as they tried to discern a motive. They were also working to obtain warrants to access his online accounts.



Pittman said the suspect did not appear to have been on the police's radar. But the attack underscored that the building and campus  and the officers charged with protecting them  remain potential targets for violence.





Officials tow the vehicle from the scene after it rammed a barricade outside the US Capitol in Washington, DC, USA, April 2, 2021. EPA-Yonhap



Green described himself as a follower of the Nation of Islam and its founder, Louis Farrakhan, and spoke of going through a difficult time where he leaned on his faith, according to recent messages posted online that have since been taken down. The messages were captured by the group SITE, which tracks online activity.



''To be honest these past few years have been tough, and these past few months have been tougher,'' he wrote. ''I have been tried with some of the biggest, unimaginable tests in my life. I am currently now unemployed after I left my job partly due to afflictions, but ultimately, in search of a spiritual journey.''



President Joe Biden said in a statement that he and his wife were heartbroken to learn of the attack and expressed condolences to the Evans' family. He directed flags at the White House to be lowered to half-staff.



The crash and shooting happened at a security checkpoint near the Capitol typically used by senators and staff on weekdays, though most were away from the building for the current recess. The attack occurred about 100 yards (91 meters) from the entrance of the building on the Senate side of the Capitol. One witness, the Rev. Patrick Mahoney, said he was finishing a Good Friday service nearby when he heard three shots ring out.



The Washington region remains on edge nearly three months after a mob of insurrectionists loyal to former President Donald Trump stormed the Capitol as Congress was voting to certify Biden's presidential win.



Five people died in the Jan. 6 riot, including Capitol Police officer Brian Sicknick, who was among a badly outnumbered force trying to fight off the intruders seeking to overturn the election. The authorities installed a tall perimeter fence around the Capitol and for months restricted traffic along the roads closest to the building, but they have begun pulling back some of the emergency measures. Fencing that prevented vehicular traffic near that area was only recently removed.





National Guard troops arrive along Constitution Avenue as law enforcement responds to a security incident near the U.S. Capitol on April 2, 2021 in Washington, DC. AFP-Yonhap
The energy markets have seen several major upsets during the 21st century yet one can state fairly confidently that the market slump of 2020-2021 has triggered the most damage of them all. This is also true for international licensing where dozens of rounds were delayed, either to 2021 or indeterminately, for fear of not generating enough interest amidst drastic CAPEX cuts and massive divestment schemes. The end result is that 2020 was the weakest year in terms of total acreage awarded to oil and gas companies since 2002 (0.35 million km2), roughly a third of what it was in 2019. The price rebound of February-March 2021 will provide a suitable springboard for new licensing round  it is this momentum that Egypt will try to capitalize on with its latest licensing round. Egypts last licensing round was held in 2019, then the Red Sea auctioning saw 3 blocks allocated between Chevron (Block 1), Royal Dutch Shell (Blocks 3 and 4) and Mubadala Petroleum (Block 4). Although a much-needed step to tap into a freshly opened-up area  Egypt and Saudi Arabia demarcated their Red Sea territories only in 2017  Cairo failed to market all the 10 blocks that were on offer. Then came another licensing round that focused on the Western Mediterranean in early 2020, the state-owned Egyptian Natural Gas Holding (EGAS) was supposed to offer 11 blocks. This endeavor never really materialized, instead Egypts Ministry of Petroleum and Mineral Resources awarded 7 blocks via direct negotiations to Western majors that supposedly were financially, technologically and organizationally ready to develop offshore projects in the Mediterranean.

Related: The Future Of U.S. LNG Hangs In The Balance

The new licensing round comprises 9 offshore blocks in the Mediterranean and 3 blocks in the Gulf of Suez, as well as 12 onshore blocks managed by the Egyptian General Petroleum Corporation (EGPC) in Egypts main oil-producing region, the Western Desert, with bidding set to conclude on August 01, 2021. There are many reasons to be excited about new Eastern Mediterranean acreage being offered, especially blocks that are so close to the supergiant Zohr field and might potentially utilize the infrastructure already in place, however, it needs to be said that Egyptian authorities have done their utmost to promote investment into heretofore untapped frontiers. Having demarcated the Saudi-Egyptian maritime border, Egypt has signed a delimitation covenant with Greece in October 2020 and sorted out most of maritime disputes with Israel.

As attractive as the prospect of new Mediterranean acreage would seem, there is a geopolitical catch in Egypts current licensing round, namely the overlapping of several offshore blocks with disputed maritime borders:

Block MED-W11 overlaps with Libyas claimed maritime borders

Blocks MED-E4, MED-E5 and MED-E6 overlap with assumed maritime borders of Gaza (potentially Israel)

Whilst Cairo has the political clout to settle any future issues with Gaza, i.e. creating a joint scheme of developing any prospective fields by tying-in offshore output into the Egyptian LNG system, it can hardly do anything with Libya. First and foremost, there is no way of concluding a comprehensive agreement with Libya whilst it has two competing governments. Second, even if there were a unified Libya there is no guarantee Tripoli would want to conclude a covenant that it might perceive as being deleterious to its national interests.

In addition to all the above-mentioned factors, there is also one country, taking a most active part in the Libyan conflict and generally seeking to exert its influence in the Mediterranean, a country that is almost certain to react to Egypts offshore licensing, Turkey. All three blocks that are up for grabs in the westernmost part of Egypts territorial waters (MED-W11/W17/W18) are delineated according to the bilateral agreement between Egypt and Greece, a covenant whose legitimacy Turkey fully dismisses as being worthless (in the words of President Erdogan) on the grounds that there should be no maritime border between the two countries. Such claims are part of a long-standing standoff whereby Ankara has argued that Greeces islands should not be taken into account when demarcating Libyas Mediterranean frontier. The last weeks have seen a flurry of Turkish media reports stating that Ankara is on the brink of settling Turkish-Egyptian maritime border, indicating that Turkish authorities would seek a diplomatic solution to solidify their further claims.

Related: ExxonMobil Set To Outperform As Oil And Gas Prices Climb



Blocks MED-E1/MED-E2/MED-E3, to the north of Zohr, respect the 2003 Delimitation Agreement between Cyprus and Egypt. The Turkish-run Republic of Northern Cyprus, however, is almost certain to claim almost all of Cyprus exclusive economic zone. Unless prospective plays extend across the maritime border, the frontline of the Egyptian EEZ is demarcated well enough so as not to trigger any immediate reaction, though even here future drillers might opt for the Total scenario, i.e. drilling in diplomatically fireproof parts of the licensed territory (as it was the case with the French major in Lebanese waters). Perhaps ironically, the Israeli-Egyptian maritime cooperation is the most robust amongst all members of the Eastern Mediterranean drilling quintet.

Simultaneously, the long-term future of onshore production in the Western Desert remains an open question. The thing is that whilst offshore acreage in the Mediterranean is expected to generate ample interest, Western majors seem to be intent on divesting Western Desert assets. For instance, Shell has sold its upstream assets (29 blocks overall) in the Western Desert to Cairn Energy and Cheiron Petroleum for $646 million in early March 2021. Before COVID hit, the Anglo-Dutch major expected to generate $1 billion from this transaction, indicating that it was ready to settle for less given the circumstances. Concurrently to the above, the US-based Apache is planning to spud almost two dozens of wildcats in the Western Desert, thus there remains hope of maintaining Western Desert production over the longer term.

By Viktor Katona for Oilprice.com

More Top Reads From Oilprice.com:
Washington: Law enforcement officials said that terrorism is not suspected in a deadly confrontation outside the US Capitol that began when a man rammed his car into two officers outside the Capitol and then emerged wielding a knife.

Officials declined to offer a motive, but Robert Contee, the acting chief of the Metropolitan Police Department, said there was no ongoing threat to the area and that the incident did not appear to be linked to terrorism.

#UPDATE A Capitol Police officer has died after a car rammed into law enforcement at a security barricade. A second officer has been injured. The incident doesn't appear to be 'terrorism-related,' police say pic.twitter.com/1TA3JCbLFn  ANI (@ANI) April 2, 2021

Both Capitol Police officers were hospitalised and Acting Chief Yogananda Pittman told reporters Friday afternoon that one of the officers succumbed to his injuries.

Slain US officer hailed as a martyr

The Capitol Police officer, who was killed in the attack, was identified as an 18-year veteran of the force. William Billy Evans joined the department in 2003 and was a member of its first responders unit. House Speaker Nancy Pelosi hailed Evans as a martyr for our democracy, while Senate Majority Leader Chuck Schumer said he was heartbroken.

Flags at half-staff after Capitol officer killed

President Joe Biden has ordered that US Flags at the White House be lowered to half-staff until April 6 in honour of a US Capitol Police officer who was killed in the attack. Biden says he and first lady Jill Biden are heartbroken over the death of Officer William Evans.

Biden says he knows what a difficult time it's been for the Capitol and all who work there and protect it. Friday's incident came about three months after the January 6 insurrection that killed a Capitol police officer and four other people.

Biden released the statement from the Camp David presidential retreat, where he is spending the weekend. He expressed gratitude to the Capitol Police and the National Guard troops for responding quickly to the attack.

The death is the latest moment of sorrow for a department after the loss of Brian Sicknick, who clashed with rioters during the January 6 insurrection and died a day later, and Howard Liebengood, who committed suicide weeks after that.

Video shows the driver of the crashed car emerging with a knife in his hand and starting to run at the pair of officers, Capitol Police acting Chief Yogananda Pittman told reporters.

Suspect identified and shot dead

Authorities shot the suspect, identified by law enforcement officials as 25-year-old Noah Green. Investigators were digging into his background and examining whether he had any history of mental health problems as they tried to discern a motive. They were working to obtain warrants to access his online accounts.

The crash and shooting happened at a security checkpoint near the Capitol typically used by senators and staff on weekdays, though most are away from the building during the current recess.

The attack occurred about 100 yards (91 meters) from the entrance of the building on the Senate side of the Capitol. One witness, the Rev. Patrick Mahoney, said he was finishing a Good Friday service nearby when he suddenly heard three shots ring out.

It comes as the Washington region remains on edge nearly three months after a mob of armed insurrectionists loyal to former President Donald Trump stormed the Capitol as Congress was voting to certify Joe Biden's presidential win.

Five people died in the January 6 riot, including Capitol Police officer Brian Sicknick, who was among a badly outnumbered force trying to fight off insurrectionists seeking to overturn the election.

Authorities installed a tall perimeter fence around the Capitol and for months restricted traffic along the roads closest to the building, but they had begun pulling back some of the emergency measures in recent weeks. Fencing that prevented vehicular traffic near that area was recently removed.

Live TV
During a Government meeting on March 31, Prime Minister Nguyen Xuan Phuc gave his in-principle approval for a loan of US$2 billion from international lenders to develop the Mekong Delta region.

A farmer visits his rice field in the Mekong Delta in southern Vietnam, which suffers from salinity intrusion. Prime Minister Nguyen Xuan Phuc gave his in-principle approval for a loan of US$2 billion from international lenders to develop the region, including addressing salinity intrusion  Photo: Hoa Hoi/SGT

Despite the success in implementing the Governments Resolution 120 on climate resilient and sustainable development of the Mekong Delta, climate change, natural disasters and salinity intrusion have been plaguing the region, which is in southern Vietnam.

As such, it is necessary to mobilize capital sources and forces to address the problems, the local media reported, citing PM Phuc.

The prime minister agreed to borrow some US$2 billion from the World Bank, Germany or France for the development of the region.

The Ministry of Planning and Investment was tasked with completing the plan as soon as possible and working with relevant agencies to separate some investment projects which are sourced from the central budget or implemented by the localities.

In addition, the Ministry of Finance was told to promptly submit to the Government an amended decree replacing Decree 97 on the on-lending of official development assistance loans and foreign concessional loans with more favorable conditions.

Chairing a conference on the sustainable development of the Mekong Delta in mid-March, the prime minister said that it was necessary to prioritize infrastructure investment for the region, speed up the construction of planned projects and further develop airports, roadways, waterways and railways.

SGT

Mekong Delta continues to develop transport infrastructure The Mekong Delta is working with the Ministry of Transport to improve the local transport infrastructure and thus trade flows, the Can Tho branch of the Vietnam Chamber of Commerce and Industry has said.
Srinagar, April 3 : A gunfight is underway on Saturday in South Kashmir's Shopian district between security forces and terrorists, officials said.

The gunfight erupted after a joint team of the police and the Army cordoned the forested Chor Ki Gali area and launced a search operation based on specific information on the presence of terrorists.

As the security forces zeroed in on the spot, they came under a heavy volume of fire that triggered the encounter.

"A joint operation was launched today morning based on Jammu and Kashmir Police inputs at Chor Ki Gali in Sedhau forest area of Shopian. Area cordoned off and contact established. Firefight ensued. Joint operation in progress," the Army said.
Thailands first reduced quarantine tourists arrive in Phuket

PHUKET: The first tourists to arrive in Phuket under the reduced mandatory quarantine introduced on Thursday landed at Phuket International Airport just after 6:30am today (Apr 3).

COVID-19Coronavirustourismtransporteconomics

By The Phuket News

Saturday 3 April 2021, 10:53AM

Passengers on board the Thai Airways flight TG921 Airbus A359 direct flight from Frankfurt were welcomed to Phuket by senior airport management then escorted to the clearing procedures to be allowed onto the island.

The arrivals are being heralded as the first sign of hope of tourists returning to Phuket. Non Klintha, Executive Vice President of Thai Airways International, earlier this week revealed that the airline is opening two direct flights from Frankfurt to Phuket in April and May.

The other flight, with identical timings, will be on May 7, arriving in Phuket on May 8. No details were released about the return flights from Phuket to Frankfurt at the time of the announcement.

The CCSA has now approved relaxed quarantine conditions for tourists who have been vaccinated and test negative for COVID-19 to visit Thailand from April 1, Phuket Airport General Manager Thanee Chuangchoo said on Wednesday.

We hope this will signal the start of tourists starting to return to Phuket and we are delighted to announce the international terminal at Phuket International Airport is now open as of 00:01am on April 1, he added.
Photo: Pexels

Health Canada is warning the public about face masks labelled to contain graphene or biomass graphene.

There is a potential that wearers could inhale graphene particles from some masks, which may pose health risks. Graphene is a novel nanomaterial (materials made of tiny particles) reported to have antiviral and antibacterial properties.

Health Canada conducted a preliminary scientific assessment after being made aware that masks containing graphene have been sold with COVID-19 claims and used by adults and children in schools and daycares.

Health Canada believes these masks may also have been distributed for use in health care settings.

A preliminary assessment of available research identified that inhaled graphene particles had some potential to cause early lung toxicity in animals. However, the potential for people to inhale graphene particles from face masks and the related health risks are not yet known, and may vary based on mask design.

The health risk to people of any age is not clear. Variables, such as the amount and duration of exposure, and the type and characteristics of the graphene material used, all affect the potential to inhale particles and the associated health risks. Health Canada has requested data from mask manufacturers to assess the potential health risks related to their masks that contain graphene.

Until the Health Canada completes a thorough scientific assessment and has established the safety and effectiveness of graphene-containing face masks, it is taking the precautionary approach of removing them from the market while continuing to gather and assess information.

If you have worn a mask containing graphene or biomass graphene, consult your health care provider if you have health concerns, such as new or unexplained shortness of breath, discomfort or difficulty breathing.
A Sennett man facing a charge of attempted murder has additionally been accused of rape and possession of child pornography.

Jeffrey Murray Jr., 22, of 3031 Turnpike Road, was arrested March 14 after a 28-year-old man was dropped at the emergency room at Auburn Community Hospital with multiple stab wounds. Police at the time said the stabbing occurred near Grover and Steel streets in Auburn and that the victim, who was not identified, was transported to Upstate University Hospital in Syracuse for further treatment.

Murray has been at the Cayuga County Jail since then after being charged with second-degree attempted murder and second-degree assault, both felonies.

Three days before the Auburn stabbing incident, Murray had been picked up on a warrant by the Cayuga County Sheriff's Office on charges of endangering the welfare of a child and fleeing an officer in a motor vehicle.
Assuming that its customers have not had a negative impact on economic productivity Delta 9 Cannabis continues to add value to the Manitoba economy.

Assuming that its customers have not had a negative impact on economic productivity Delta 9 Cannabis continues to add value to the Manitoba economy.

The licensed cannabis producer  one of the original 13 companies in the country to be licensed by Health Canada  recorded a 64 per cent increase in revenue in 2020 to $52 million, increased its workforce by 50 per cent to about 300 people and generated $3.8 million of operating profit.

And this was done while dealing with all of the complicated adjustments an essential service was required to undertake during the pandemic.

"We very happy with how the results shook out for us this year," said John Arbuthnot the co-founder and CEO.

In addition to the dramatic revenue growth, the company doubled its retail revenue and number of stores, continued to grow its wholesale and grow pod business  Delta 9s proprietary shipping container cultivation systems were sold to operations in Maine and Michigan last year  and the company is in very good shape to continue to grow.

"There are lots of positive takeaways," Arbuthnot said. "Its a major milestone for any company to produce positive cash flow and positive EBITDA."

Delta 9 is one of only a few Canadian cannabis companies that is profitable. (Mike Sudoma / Winnipeg Free Press files)

Considering that many others in the industry were shedding assets, shuttering facilities and laying off thousands of workers, it is a major accomplishment that Delta 9 is now one of only a few Canadian cannabis companies that are profitable.

Arbuthnot and his co-founder/father, Bill Arbuthnot, have taken a careful and prudent approach from Day 1 and have persisted with their model of creating a vertically integrated company with increasingly efficient cultivation and production, a commitment to expanding its wholesale market (its now a licensed wholesaler in six provinces), an in-demand growing system and an increasing retail footprint.

Last year, it opened stores in busy retail hubs on Kenaston Boulevard and Kildonan Crossing, one in Calgary and another in Grande Prairie, Alta. and since the beginning of the year has opened a large store on Henderson Highway in Bunns Creek and a small "express" location in the Kirkfield Motor Hotel on Portage Avenue beside its beer vendor.

This month it will open its 11th store in the Northgate Shopping Centre on McPhillips Street. Arbuthnot said hes confident they will get to 20 stores by the end of this year.

In December the company raised $5.75 million in an equity offering at 55 cents per share (Delta 9 shares closed at 57 cents on Thursday) and it continues to boast a strong balance sheet.

The industry is in growth mode with legalization legislation happening in several U.S. states and increasing expectation that it may happen on the federal level as well in the U.S. during the Biden administration.

With all that going on there is also the expectation that there will be consolidation in the industry. With its shares undervalued and one of the rare cannabis companies that have become profitable, Arbuthnot was coy as to what role Delta 9 might play when it comes to mergers and acquisitions.

"It puts us in a great position to participate in that consolidation," he said.

martin.cash@freepress.mb.ca
TERRE HAUTE, Ind. (WTHI) - As the weather gets warmer, you may be making plans to head outdoors...and the YMCA wants to help.

The organization will host a car show on May 1. With the car show, there will be a vendor and craft fair along with activities for kids.

It happens from 9 am to 3 pm.

The money raised from the event will help kids over the summer.
The United States and Iran said they would begin indirect talks with other major world powers to try to get both countries back into an accord limiting Irans nuclear program, nearly three years after President Donald Trump pulled the US out of the deal.

State Department spokesperson Ned Price called the resumption of negotiations, scheduled for Tuesday in Austria, a healthy step forward.

But Mr Price added: These remain early days, and we dont anticipate an immediate breakthrough as there will be difficult discussions ahead.

Agreement on the start of multiparty talks  being held to get Iran and the United States over their differences on conditions for returning to the 2015 nuclear deal  came after talks Thursday brokered by other countries in the accord.

Mr Trump pulled the US out of the Iran nuclear deal in 2018, and President Joe Biden has said rejoining the agreement is a priority for his administration.

The Biden administration and Iran have differed on any conditions for that to happen, including the timing of the lifting of US sanctions against Iran.

Iranian Foreign Minister Mohammad Javad Zarif immediately stressed that no meeting was planned between officials from Iran and the US.

In a tweet, Mr Zarif said the aim of the Vienna session would be to rapidly finalise sanction-lifting and nuclear measures for choreographed removal of all sanctions, followed by Iran ceasing remedial measures.

Earlier the group  the European Union, China, France, Germany, Russia, Britain and Iran  issued a statement saying it recognised the prospect of a full return of the US to the JCPOA, and underlined their readiness to positively address this in a joint effort, the chair of a meeting of high-level officials said, referring to the acronym for the nuclear accord, the Joint Comprehensive Plan of Action.

The participants said they emphasised their commitment to preserve the JCPOA and discussed modalities to ensure the return to its full and effective implementation, according to a statement after their virtual meeting,

The group said they would resume talks on Tuesday in Vienna on the 2015 agreement, in order to clearly identify sanctions lifting and nuclear implementation measures.

Yesterdays statement from the EU-chaired meeting said the groups coordinator will also intensify separate contacts in Vienna with all participants of the nuclear agreement and the United States.

Iranian state television quoted Abbas Araghchi, Irans nuclear negotiator at the virtual meeting, as saying during yesterdays discussion meeting that any return by the US to the nuclear deal does not require any negotiation and the path is quite clear.

The US can return to the deal and stop breaching the law in the same way it withdrew from the deal and imposed illegal sanctions on Iran, Mr Araghchi was quoted as saying.

Russias ambassador to international organisations in Vienna, Mikhail Ulyanov, said: The impression is that we are on the right track, but the way ahead will not be easy and will require intensive efforts. The stakeholders seem to be ready for that.






The Dutch election on 17th March 2021 on Bonaire results spoke volumes on the discontent from the people of Bonaire. This indisputable rejection of Dutch rule on Bonaire. The results on Wednesday shows a clear-cut message as from the 13490 eligible voters only 3076 voters turned out at the polling stations a 22%. 10, 414 did not turn out to vote, The last Dutch election in 2018 was almost the same average of 70% and so was the year before that. We Want Bonaire Back Campaign  Dont go to vote as always sparked a landslide victory as the people once again united even if they were from different political parties they all united and refuse to take part in this farce dormancy.

This imposed election is a mockery or farce democratic event for our people as this Dutch parliament that embedded us in their constitution under unequal rights, consists of 150 members in The Hague, where they all agreed to this criminal act against our peoples and for one seat there is needed about 60,000 votes and on Bonaire we have 13.000 eligible voters as we make no mathematically chance. More impossible is that to change the Dutch constitution back in our favor to give us equal rights, we need 2/3 of the Dutch parliament, 100 seats to agree to change this back. And not only in one government term but in two different elections and governments terms these 100 Dutch parliament members have to agree to this.

The Bonaire political parties MPN, UPB, and DP influential Leaders, workers union leaders of Bonaire, all aggressively promoted in a grand scale Television, radio, and newspaper ads a very elaborated and expensive election campaign as never seen before in Bonaire in favor of the Dutch political parties in which they are aligned within Nederlands. They thought that this time would be different but they all look very embarrassed at the very low turnout of voters. The results are a strong reminder that the people did not choose for integration and they were forced into an illegal Annexation.



The Dutch parliament, the 2nd Chamber, annexed the BES islands, including Bonaire on October 10, 2010, and wiped out the democratic rights of the Boneiran peoples. Since then the democratically elected Bonaire parliament by the Bonaire people was subordinated under Dutch rule by Dutch law that started a new form of 21 st century colonial rule over our peoples. In October 2017 the Dutch parliaments and government by a unilaterally undemocratic law completed the illegal annexation by integrating the people of Bonaire in the Dutch Constitution under unequal rights, degrading them to second class citizens a new form of apartheid in the Dutch Kingdom and world. The Bonaire people are since then being governed in a status not of their choosing, under unequal rights, in a status that they overwhelmingly rejected in the 2015 referendum with a decisive No vote.

Our foundation We Want Bonaire Back consistently continued awareness campaigns paid off, and stood strong, as the Bonaire people did not listen did not follow the manipulative media campaigns and these leaders can be considered traitors of their own people. The Bonaire people stand their ground and rescued their dignity, as over 77% of the electorate protested with this No-vote action against the Dutch invasion and occupation of Bonaire. We Want Bonaire Back will continue to work diligently in our trajectory of Relist Bonaire on the Non- Self-governing territories of the United Nations.

James Finies  Foundation We Want Bonaire Back
Patna, April 3 : Three members of a family, including a 5-year-old girl, died in a fire that broke out in their house in Bihar's Rambhadrapur village in Samastipur district.

The deceased were identified as Kausalya Devi (60), her daughter-in-law Sangeeta Devi (28) and the latter's five-year-old daughter. The deceased were asleep when the fire broke out, which was fanned by the strong wind blowing at the time. The deceased got no time to escape the inferno.

According to the Samastipur Fire Officer, the exact reason for the fire has not been ascertained as yet, but it appears to have been caused by an earthen stove which had not been doused properly.

The villagers informed the fire department about the incident. However, by the time the fire tenders reached the village, it had damaged adjoining properties as well.
Microsoft has scored another major government contract, this time to produce augmented reality devices for the US Army.

The Army announced Wednesday that it had awarded Microsoft a contract to produce augmented reality systems based on its HoloLens 2 device called Integrated Visual Augmented Systems (IVAS). The devices are designed to help soldiers, "fight, rehearse and train using a single platform," the Army said.

The deal has a five-year base and a five-year option to extend, and could be worth up to almost $21.9 billion over the full 10 years. The Army's initial objective is to provide systems for its entire Close Combat Force (CCF), which will mean making more than 120,000 devices, Microsoft said.

The contract is a continuation of existing work on the devices that Microsoft has done for the US Army. In 2018, the tech giant was awarded a $479 million contract to create prototypes of the devices, and the new agreement announced Wednesday will take them into production and into the field.

Microsoft worked closely with the Army to create the devices and software that goes with them, which are designed to provide soldiers in the Close Combat Force with "improved situational awareness, target engagement, and informed decision-making necessary to achieve overmatch against current and future adversaries," the Army said.

"We appreciate the partnership with the U.S. Army, and are thankful for their continued trust in transitioning IVAS from rapid prototyping to rapid fielding," Microsoft said in a blog post. "We look forward to building on this successful partnership with the men and women of the U.S. Army Close Combat Force."

This is just the latest large military contract Microsoft has received. In 2019, Microsoft was granted a $10 billion contract to supply cloud services to the Department of Defense (though its rival, Amazon, is still waging a legal contest against that decision).

Microsoft has faced some criticism from employees related to its work on the HoloLens project for the Army, but CEO Satya Nadella defended it, saying the company would not "withhold technology from institutions that we have elected in democracies to protect the freedoms we enjoy."

Wall Street, however, will likely approve. In addition to deepening its relationship with the US Department of Defense, the deal demonstrates the opportunity for Microsoft to monetize its AR and HoloLens technology, Wedbush analyst Dan Ives said in a note to investors Wednesday.

Ultimately, Microsoft could "expand the use cases across the enterprise (R&D, healthcare) and consumer landscape especially with price points expected to come down over the coming year," Ives said.

Microsoft's stock spiked following the announcement, and ended Wednesday up more than 1.5%.
New Delhi, April 3 : Retired Supreme Court judge Justice D K Jain headed panel, formed in Septmber 2018 by the top court to probe the role of Kerala police officers in wrongful arrest of ISRO scientist Nambi Narayanan in a 1994 espionage case, has submitted its report in a sealed cover. However, a source confirmed that the findings of the report are not known yet.

79-year-old Narayanan waged a legal battle against the Kerala police officers who accused him of being a Pakistan spy in 1994. Besides appointing the panel, the top court had directed the Kerala government to pay Rs 50 lakh compensation for causing immense humiliation to Narayanan.

In 2018, a bench of the then Chief Justice Dipak Misra, Justice A.M. Khanwilkar and Justice D.Y. Chandrachud decided to appoint a committee under Jain and asked the Centre and the Kerala government to name one person each to the committee under Jain. While the Centre appointed a top official -- D.K. Prasad, the Pinarayi Vijayan government appointed former Additional Chief Secretary V. S. Senthil.

The ISRO spy case surfaced in 1994 when Narayanan was arrested on charges of espionage along with another senior official of ISRO, two Maldivian women and a businessman.

The CBI had held that the then top police officials in Kerala were responsible for Narayanan's illegal arrest. The panel examined the circumstances leading to Narayanan's arrest. It was alleged that confidential documents on India's space program was allegedly transferred to foreign countries.

Incidentally this case took place when the factional feud in the Congress party between the K. Karunakaran and the A.K. Antony factions led by Oommen Chandy was at its zenith. Karunakaran had to quit the office in 1995 after it was found out that he was shielding his close aide and senior police officer Raman Srivastava, who later became the state police chief and after retirement became the advisor to Chief Minister Pinarayi Vijayan.

Narayanan had maintained that Kerala police fabricated the case and the technology he was accused to have stolen and sold in 1994 case did not even exist at that time.

Narayanan moved the top court challenging Kerala High Court judgement. In its verdict, the apex court had said, "We think that obtaining factual scenario calls for constitution of a committee to find out ways and means to take appropriate steps against the erring officials." The top court said the "entire prosecution" initiated by the state police was malicious, which caused tremendous harassment and immeasurable anguish to Narayanan. The top court noted that fundamental right of life and personal liberty of Narayanan was "gravely affected".
Project Management Institute (PMI) and the Peter Drucker Society Europe today announced the launch of a strategic partnership in which PMI President and CEO Sunil Prashara will join the Drucker Society International Advisory Board.

The Peter Drucker Society Europe is a non-profit organization that seeks to advance a critical, international dialogue between management practitioners, academics, and other stakeholders. Their mission is to give a new voice to management in all sectors of society, thus contributing to the continuous improvement of the practice of management. This partnership will complement PMIs role as the world's leading association for project professionals and changemakers.

Both organizations are non-profit entities with the shared objective of improving the practice of management in every area of society, from government and public sector to private and not-for-profit bodies, said Richard Straub, founder and president of the Global Peter Drucker Forum, the annual conference organized by the Drucker Society Europe.

We are enabling millions of project leaders and changemakers to make important contributions to the world, Prashara said. PMIs missionto enable individuals to make ideas realityaligns perfectly with Peter Druckers legacy of rigorous thought leadership around management as a systematic discipline entailing research, teaching, and practice. I see the Drucker Forum as a key platform and partner for raising awareness of the fundamental importance of management in building functioning modern societies.

In support of their mission, the Peter Drucker Society Europe has designated the Global Peter Drucker Forum as a strategic initiative. The forum is an international management conference held annually in Peter Drucker's home city of Vienna, Austria, and is often hailed as the "Davos of Management, as it has become one of the leading management conferences in Europe. The Global Peter Drucker Forum 2021 is centered on the theme of The Human Imperative: Navigating Uncertainty in the Digital Age. Forum stakeholders will take part in a range of discussion on ways to resolve tensions between technocratic and humanistic approaches to crisis, to arrive at a synthesis of "change and continuity."

###

About Project Management Institute

Project Management Institute (PMI) is the world's leading professional association for a growing global community of millions of project professionals and changemakers worldwide.

As the worlds leading authority on project management, PMI empowers people to make ideas a reality. Through global advocacy, networking, collaboration, research, and education. PMI prepares organizations and individuals at every stage of their career journey to work smarter so they can drive success in a world of change.

Building on a proud legacy dating to 1969, PMI is a for-purpose organization working in nearly every country around the world to advance careers, strengthen organizational success, and enable changemakers with new skills and ways of working to maximize their impact. PMI offerings include globally recognized standards, certifications, online courses, thought leadership, tools, digital publications, and communities.

Visit us at https://www.pmi.org/, www.projectmanagement.com , https://www.linkedin.com/company/pminstitute , www.facebook.com/PMInstitute , and on Twitter.

About Peter Drucker Society Europe Initiative

The Peter Drucker Society Europe is a practitioner-led, multi-stakeholder group that builds on Peter Druckers fundamental ideas and ideals with the aim of contributing to the evolution of management as a vital piece of a functioning modern society. Each year, the Drucker Society Europe hosts the Global Peter Drucker Forum, a crystallizing event where decision makers convene to discuss the future of management in a pragmatic and solution-oriented manner.

To fulfil its mission, the Peter Drucker Society Europe has established legally and financially independent nonprofit Drucker Society chapters in Austria, London, Barcelona and Mannheim. Please note that The Drucker 1996 Literary Works Trust is the owner of the service marks "Peter Drucker", "Peter F. Drucker" and "Drucker".

Learn more at www.druckerforum.org

View source version on businesswire.com: https://www.businesswire.com/news/home/20210401005059/en/
Phone numbers and personal information of half a billion Facebook users may have been stolen and posted online in an unprecedented security breach, Business Insider reported Saturday.

The huge trove of data was uploaded to an online forum used by hackers. It reportedly includes email addresses and biographical information.

Alon Gal, the co-founder and chief technology officer of the private cybercrime intelligence firm Hudson Rock, first posted about the data breach early Saturday morning on social media platforms, including Twitter and LinkedIn. He shared screenshots showing an online marketplace where 533 million records were being solicited by a Telegram user with a redacted account name.

This means that if you have a Facebook account, it is extremely likely the phone number used for the account was leaked, Gal wrote on Twitter.

If each record represents a single Facebook user as Business Insider has reported, that means roughly 19% of the social media giants 2.8 billion individual profiles personal information was compromised. According to Gal, more than 32 million compromised records originated from the United States.

Business Insider reported that user information had been posted on a low level hacking forum.

The Menlo Park social media company did not immediately respond to The Chronicles request for comment.

According to Business Insiders reporting, the trove of records was first obtained in 2019 because of a software vulnerability. The online news outlet said it verified the leak by matching known Facebook users phone numbers with the leaked data.

Interactive Vaccine Tracker: Latest developments Detailed information about the coronavirus vaccines as it becomes available.

The stolen personal information could be used by scammers and identity thieves.

Facebook has been the subject of past security breaches, including one involving the British firm Cambridge Analytica in which the personal information of an estimated 50 million Facebook users was sold to and used by the 2016 presidential campaigns of Donald Trump and Sen. Ted Cruz.

Steve Rubenstein is a San Francisco Chronicle staff writer. Email: srubenstein@sfchronicle.com Twitter: @SteveRubeSF
European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen, European Council President Charles Michel, German Chancellor Angela Merkel, French President Emmanuel Macron, and Chinese leader Xi Jinping are seen on a screen during a video conference, in Brussels, on Dec. 30, 2020. (Johanna Geron/Pool/Reuters)

Partner or Systemic Rival: EU Finds Itself at Crossroads on Its China Policy

Commentary

The European Unions policy toward China is at a historic crossroads and at times, swinging from side to side and contradicting itself, as revealed by the important events that have occurred recently.

On March 25, Joe Biden attended the EU summitmarking the first time since 2009 that a U.S. president had joined talks with the EUs 27 leadersand called for closer U.S.EU cooperation in dealing with the Chinese Communist Party (CCP) and Russia.

But German Chancellor Angela Merkel insisted that the EU would share no identity with Washington on the CCP issue.

That is absolutely clear, she added.

However, on March 22, the EU announced its first post-June 4, 1989, sanctions against the CCP regime, coordinating with the United States and its allies. On March 24, U.S. Secretary of State Antony Blinken held talks with European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen and EU Chief Foreign Policy Representative Josep Borrell, and subsequently issued a joint statement with Borrell announcing the resumption of the U.S.European dialogue on China.

From such a contrasting and somewhat dramatic set of events, we can see that the EUs policy toward China is at a crossroads.

On the one hand, in the face of the CCPs economic temptation and hijacking, the EU fell so deeply into the trap that its had a hard time extricating itself; on the other hand, the opposing values between the EU and the CCP, the CCPs global ambition, and Chinas Wolf Warrior diplomacy made the EU clearly feel the strategic threat and tactical coercion of the CCP, and it instinctively defended itself.

At this critical moment, when the international situation is undergoing profound changes and the international strategic landscape is being reshuffled, the EU urgently needs a strategic framework on China that is clear rather than vague, forward-looking rather than old-fashioned, and internally coherent rather than contradictory.

Following the publication of the first policy document on China, Communication from the CommissionA Long Term Policy for China-Europe Relations in 1995, the EU issued seven more documents; they include Elements for a New EU Strategy on China in 1996, Building a Comprehensive Partnership with China in 1998, The EU Strategy towards China: Implementation of the 1998 Communication and Future Steps for a more Effective EU Policy in 2001, EUChina: Commission Adopts New Strategy for a Maturing Partnership in 2003, EUChina: Closer Partners, Growing Responsibilities in 2006, Elements of a new EU strategy on China in 2016, and EUChinaA Strategic Outlook in 2019.

In these documents, the EU has always seen the CCP as a partner, even if it was not an easy partner; it wasnt until 2019 that the EU started to see the communist regime as a systemic rival.

However, this is only one of its three visions of the CCP, the other two being a negotiating partner and an economic competitor. Its still reluctant to give up its policy and delusions to see the CCP as its partner going forward. Yet, what is a systemic rival in its multi-pronged visions? The EU hasnt given a clear-cut answer, either.

The EUs long-standing illusions about the CCP may result from Chinas decades-long efforts, through united front organizations (pdf) to influence Europe, which it has regarded as a key battleground for its global campaign.

As early as the 1970s, Mao Zedong put forward the Three Worlds Theory, supporting European integration and Europe as an independent pillar among the world powers. That was fundamentally aimed at dividing the Western world by pulling Europe away politically, economically, and technologically, as part of the communist regimes grand scheme and geostrategic jostling across continents.

In the post-Mao era, the EU was further trapped by the CCPs reform and opening up, while European integration came to fruition in 1993, when the Maastricht Treaty entered into force and the EU was established. Consequently, the EU has greatly facilitated the rise of the CCP since opening its markets, capital, and technology to Beijing.

Bilateral trade between China and the EU, for example, jumped from $55.68 billion in 1999 to $709 billion in 2020, with China overtaking the United States as the EUs largest trading partner for the first time in 2020. In addition, Chinas long-term trade surplus with Europe ran up to $212 billion in 2020.

Germany takes up a huge share of the bilateral trade between China and Europe, with a total trade volume of $249 billion in 2020, making China the largest trading partner of Germany for the fifth consecutive year.

In another example, the number of EU-invested enterprises in China exceeded 16,000, with 47,224 projects established and a cumulative investment of $131 billion by the end of 2018, according to the statistics of the CCPs Ministry of Commerce.

The close economic ties between China and Europe have made the EU, and Germany in particular, quite deluded by the CCP. A case in point is that in 2020, when the United States began escalating the trade war with Beijing, Merkel insisted on using her position as chancellor of Germany and presidency of the EU Council to suppress opposition in the EU, in favor of the China-EU Comprehensive Agreement on Investment, despite opposition from the Trump administration and the Biden team.

She finally accepted CCPs nebulous commitment to safeguarding human rights and announced the pact.

In response, the CCP has rewarded the EU and Germany with economic enticements, as well as threats along the way. In December 2019, the Chinese ambassador to Germany, Wu Ken, threatened Berlin with retaliation that if it excluded Huawei as a supplier of its 5G telecommunications networks, as well as serious consequences related to cars exported to mainland China.

In other words, while the EU contributed to the rise of the CCP, the CCP didnt ease its pressure and became a growing threat to the bloc. Its economic and technological challenges turned more and more serious, its totalitarian approach became more and more destructive to the rules-based international order, and its Wolf Warrior diplomacy has become increasingly assertive on the international political and diplomatic fronts.

Strategically, the confrontation between the communist regime and Europe has become self-evident.

Facing such a grim reality, some forces within the EU are still unwilling to confront it squarely. The mainstream view of the EU on the rise of the CCP remains such that the CCP is a partner, a competitor, and a systemic rival of the EU on economic, technological, and global issues.

This view is reflected in the January 2019 report on China by the Federation of German Industries (pdf). According to the report, Germany and Europe should abandon the trade for change policy toward China and avoid trying to change the CCP. After more than 40 years of development, China has established a political, economic, and social hybrid model with its own characteristics, integrating elements of the state-owned economy and the market economy, and the CCP has developed into a rule-maker from a rule-follower to become a systemic rival to the open market economies of Germany and Europe.

The subtext seems to be that Western societies should coexist peacefully with the CCP. In the 1950s, Khrushchev advocated the three peace linespeaceful transition, peaceful competition, and peaceful coexistencebetween the United States and the Soviet Union, or between socialist and capitalist countries, which soon failed completely.

Its funny that certain forces within the EU now seem to be picking up former Soviet leader Nikita Khrushchevs obsolete fantasy again. This is very dangerous.

In a speech to the Czech Senate on Aug. 12, 2020, then-Secretary of State Mike Pompeo said, the threat posed by the Chinese Communist Party and its campaigns of coercion and control is greater than the threat that was posed by the Soviet Union.

Whats happening now isnt Cold War 2.0. The challenge of resisting the CCP threat is in some ways much more difficult. Thats because the CCP is already enmeshed in our economies, in our politics, in our societies in ways the Soviet Union never was, he said.

In fact, its the EUs own illusions about the CCP that gave the CCP the power to deter the bloc. The EU truly has an advantage in strength over the communist regime. As Luke Patey, a senior researcher at the Danish Institute for International Studies, points out, Beijing wants to bully European countries with economic threats, but Europe doesnt need the CCP as much as it thinks it does.

For example, EU officials often boast that every day over 1.5 billion euros ($1.6 billion) worth in goods flow between the regional body and China. But EU member states trade nearly 30 billion euros a day in total with internal and external partners, Patey wrote.

Another example is that in 2020, the EU had total foreign trade of $4.2 trillion, a year-on-year decline of 10.43 percent, while total intra-EU trade was $3.3 trillion, down 7.37 percent year-on-year. Evidently, intra-EU trade shows stronger resilience than its external trade.

Therefore, its nonsense to claim that Europe is economically dependent on the CCP; if one must say such dependence exists, its mutual, and the CCPs dependence on the EU is far greater than the EUs dependence on the CCP.

If the EU is able to overcome CCPs economic temptation in the short run, then it isnt so difficult for it to create strategically sound policy on China, and the crossroads will be crossed in just one single step. Prolonged hesitation and delusions will leave the EU in more threatening and deeper troubles with the Chinese regime down the road.

Wang He has masters degrees in law and history, with a focus on the international communist movement. He was a university lecturer and an executive of a large private company in China. He was imprisoned in China twice for his beliefs. Wang lives in North America now and has published commentaries on Chinas current affairs and politics since 2017.

Views expressed in this article are the opinions of the author and do not necessarily reflect the views of The Epoch Times.
More than 74,000 married women are set for a 23,000 windfall due to underpaid state pensions.

They are part of a group of 200,000 pensioners, including widows and over-80s, who are owed 3billion in total.

The fund was announced after the Government found systemic failures to automatically award pension pay rises stretching back 30 years.

Work and Pensions Secretary Therese Coffey said the Government is conducting a forensic sweep of records to identify and pay those due arrears

Widowed retirees are owed an average of 17,000, rising to 23,000 for married women, according to the Office for Budget Responsibility.

And 72,000 over-80s are due refunds of more than 10,000 on average.

The Government will dole out the money in lump sums totalling more than 570million every year until 2026.

Former pensions minister Sir Steve Webb, who uncovered the blunder, said the figures were 'a reminder of the scale of what's gone wrong'.

But Sir Steve, now a partner at consultancy Lane Clark & Peacock, questioned whether the five-year timetable was urgent enough given some women had been 'underpaid for decades'.

I was paid 11k  after 1 phone call Anne Psaros was thrilled to receive 11,600 after finding out her weekly pension had been underpaid by 23.52. The retired lithographer, 79, had no idea the Department for Work and Pensions had failed to upgrade her pension to the married women's rate when her husband Anthony retired more than ten years ago. But when Anthony, 76, read about the women's pension scandal in Money Mail last year, the couple made enquiries. A quick phone call to the DWP confirmed Mrs Psaros, of Poole in Dorset, had been underpaid. The lump sum landed in her account two weeks later and Mrs Psaros now receives 81.06 a week. She said: 'I had no idea I should have had a better pension and women won't lose anything by calling up to see if they are eligible for more too.' Advertisement

The scandal relates to the old state pensions system, meaning it affects women who retired before April 2016.

They are entitled to a state pension worth 60 per cent of their husband's basic rate, if this is bigger than a pension based on their own contributions.

Hundreds of thousands of women missed out because the process of claiming an additional amount of state pension based on their husband's records was made automatic only in 2008.

Some women have already discovered they are owed six-figure sums.

But up to 80,000 affected women will not get a penny back.

Married women who were entitled to the pension pay rise before March 2008 will not be told if they have missed out.

This is because it was their duty to claim the extra pension before the law changed to make it the Government's responsibility to award it automatically.

Money Mail has campaigned for women to receive all the money they missed out on. The law currently means they can backdate a claim by only 12 months.

Many women who lost thousands of pounds insist they were not properly informed of their entitlement by the Department for Work and Pensions.

The Mail last year revealed that the department had sent the vital forms to their husbands when it was time to make a claim.

This revelation is now being used by women in a complaint of maladministration to the Parliamentary Ombudsman against the DWP.

Baroness Ros Altmann, also a former pensions minister, called for a full investigation into what went wrong and a wider review of the gender pensions gap.

She said: 'It really is so worrying that so many women could have been living on or forced to live on much less pension than they were due.

'But even when women called the DWP, they were told, 'No, your state pension is correct'.

The officials and staff trained to help people with their state pension didn't seem to know the rules, either.

Hundreds of thousands of women missed out because the process of claiming an additional amount of state pension was made automatic only in 2008

'I'm delighted that the Government is now taking it seriously, but it's taken a long time. Unfortunately, a lot of the women will have passed away without ever being able to enjoy the extra money.'

She added: 'We've made progress on the gender pay gap. But on the gender pensions gap, we're not even close to where we should be.'

Work and Pensions Secretary Therese Coffey said: 'The figures remain highly uncertain at this stage. We're conducting a forensic sweep of our records to identify and pay those due arrears and so people do not need to proactively contact the department.

'The vast majority of cases we have reviewed to date are in receipt of the correct amount of state pension and not due arrears.'
Gong Hyo Jin's team addresses the issue regarding her involvement with the upcoming Netflix series "Queen of the Scene."

Earlier this week, rumors sparked that the "When the Camellia Blooms" actress reportedly declined the offer to star in Netflix original drama, which is set to be released sometime this year.

Gong Hyo Jin's Agency Clarifies Rumor About her Appearance at "Queen of the Scene"

However, her agency Management SOOP clarified their side and explained their position amid the controversy.

An individual related to the company revealed that the rumors circulating are "not true" and has not rejected the role. In fact, the award-winning actress is currently evaluating the character.

"She is still under review for the Netflix original "Queen of the Scene," a representative mentioned.

"Queen of the Scene" Synopsis

Amid this issue, Gong Hyo Jin is being courted to play the role of Kim Ma Ri, a Korean telenovela writer who became famous because of her makjang dramas that feature unexpected twists and turns of her stories.

Interestingly, the conflict rises after Kim Ma Ri is trapped in her own story and faces challenges as she tries to return back to reality.

Helmed by "How to Use Guys with Secret Tips" director Lee Won Suk, the "Queen of the Scene" is written by scriptwriter Kim Soo Ah, whose famous works include "Whatcha Wearin'?" and "I Like It Hot."

If Gong Hyo Jin accepts the role, this will be her first project in two years after the hit 2019 series "When the Camellia Blooms" alongside Kang Ha Neul and her movie "The Most Ordinary Love."

Park Ha Sun Offered to Join Gong Hyo Jin in Netflix's "Queen of the Scene"

Aside from the two-time Baeksang winner, Park Ha Sun is also offered to join the "Queen of the Scene" cast and reportedly reviewing the story.

The 33-year-old actress will portray the role of Oh Soon Shim--Kim Ma Ri's soap opera's lead character.

Gong Hyo Jin Confirmed to Star in "House on Wheels"

2021 will be a busy year for the "Jealousy Incarnate" star after tvN recently confirmed that Gong Hyo Jin would appear for the new season of "House on Wheels," alongside the "It's Okay to Not Be Okay" star Oh Jung Se.

Back in March, the broadcasting network made the announcement, adding that the "Clean With Passion For Now" actress might join the duo.

"We're currently discussing positively with Kim Yoo Jung about an appearance," said tvN.

The South Korean variety show premiered in 2020 with cast members Sung Dong-il, Kim Hee-won, Yeo Jin-goo, and Im Si-wan as they traveled across the country while living in a mobile home together with their special guests.

This is not the first time that the award-winning actress graced the tvN program.

Over Gong Hyo Jin's Instagram, she previously shared a photo alongside the hosts during her appearance on "House on Wheels" season one.

IN CASE YOU MISSED: Gong Hyo Jin Talks About Her Current Co-Stars And Responds To Being Actors' Favorite Pick

KDramastars owns this article.

Written by Geca Wills
Rev Brian Moodie is minister of Dromore and Banbridge Non-Subscribing Presbyterian churches. He is married to Wendy.

Q. Can you tell us something about yourself?

A. I was born in Kwazulu-Natal, South Africa in 1974 and grew up as a Methodist with my parents, Tony and Margaret, and my brothers, Wesley and Keith. Wesley was a Wimbledon men's doubles champion in 2005. My mom intuitively felt I would be a minister when she held me as a new-born baby.

Having felt a call into ministry during high school, I worked as a youth pastor before entering the Methodist ministry in 1999. For 14 years, I served in five Methodist churches until I resigned in 2013. I am grateful for my time as a Methodist minister, though towards the end it began to feel like a much-loved shoe that fitted a little too tightly.

My marriage to Wendy in December 2011 came as a wonderful gift. She is a star and provides quality control on all my sermons. We met at a church when I was ministering in the Johannesburg area. In October 2017, we moved to Northern Ireland, where I became minister of Dromore Non-Subscribing Presbyterian Church and, in December 2020, also Banbridge Non-Subscribing Presbyterian Church.

The ethos of the Non-Subscribing Church, which I had read about in the advertisement, spoke to me. I have a Masters in Theology from the University of South Africa.

Q. How did you come to faith?

A. My parents taught me faith by their actions more than their words. As a teenager, a more conscious faith journey began when I responded to a call to give my life to Christ at a youth meeting. My faith has grown, changed and broadened over the years, but it remains central to my life.

Q. Have you ever had a crisis of faith, or a gnawing doubt about your faith?

A. Yes. In my first year of ministry, in 1999, stationed in the African township of Soweto. Leading a prayer service, I felt quite powerless when about 20 people came forward afterwards for prayer, all asking that they would find work. In the midst of high unemployment, I was left wondering what difference my prayer would make. My belief system was shaken, but I realised that I still believed in goodness, beauty and truth - qualities that I still saw and valued in the person of Jesus.

Q. Have you ever been angry with God and, if so, why?

A. No, just left wondering if our understanding of God needs to be changed.

Q. Are you ever ashamed of your own Church, or denomination?

A. I am very grateful to be a member of the Non-Subscribing Presbyterian Church. It is by no means perfect, but it offers its members space to follow their own consciences and to come to their own conclusions as to what the Scriptures teach and mean. These are enormous gifts, which I value deeply.

Q. Are you afraid to die, or can you look beyond death?

A. The greater fear has probably been the fear of truly living and taking risks.

It is this fear that I need to confront on a more regular basis than the fear of death.

Q. Are you afraid of hell?

A. No. I believe that God will eventually save us all from the hells of our own making and that all will eventually be brought home to God, no matter how far we have strayed.

Q. Do you believe in a resurrection and, if so, what will it be like?

A. "Further up and further in," as CS Lewis wrote in The Last Battle. I believe we have an eternity of exploring the infinity of life ahead of us.

Q. What about other denominations and faiths?

A. I love the Anglican liturgy of my father's and grandparents' background. Salvation Army brass bands from my mom's background continue to move me. The Quaker and Catholic contemplative tradition of valuing silence speaks deeply to me. Methodist and Lutheran emphasis on grace continue to warm the heart. We have something to learn from every denomination and faith tradition.

Q. Would you be comfortable in stepping out from your own faith and trying to learn something from other people?

A. I have been deeply enriched attending Friday night Shabbat services, mindfulness retreats and Hindu Satsangs with Jewish, Buddhist and Hindu friends.

Q. Are the Churches here fulfilling their mission?

A. To the extent that churches are places of love, they are fulfilling their mission. Churches have much work to do in protecting and caring for creation.

Q. Why are so many turning their backs on organised religion?

A. People may be tired of religions of fear and control. For many, there is also too great a disjunction between science and the Bible. The scriptures need to be read more like poetry to inspire the heart and teach us wisdom, rather than as a religious encyclopedia with absolute answers.

Q. Has religion helped or hindered the people of Northern Ireland?

A. To the extent that religion fills people with fear, it is generally a hindrance. But to the extent that it has filled hearts with love and care, it will always be healing. I sense that both have been true here in Northern Ireland.

Q. What is your favourite film, book and music, and why?

A. As for films, The Mission and Breakfast on Pluto both invite us to wrestle with what faith and love mean in the ambiguities of life. For the book, River of Fire, River of Water by Taitetsu Unno helped me understand more deeply the infinite wisdom and immeasurable compassion of God within my own faith tradition. Tears for Fears' The Seeds of Love album has brilliant songwriting, vocals and arrangements.

Q. Where do you feel closest to God?

A. In moments of stillness. My wife and I sit together in silence for at least 25 minutes every morning.

Q. What inscription would you like on your gravestone, if any?

A. To Infinity and Beyond!

Q. Finally, have you any major regrets?

A. For my many failings in love.
Attorneys general from 13 states sued the Biden administration last week over a critical element of the $1.9 trillion COVID-19 relief bill, prohibiting states from using federal funds to lower taxes.

13 states sued the Biden administration against tax provision

The case, filed in the United States District Court in Alabama, asks judges to overturn a clause of the American Rescue Plan that prohibits state governments from using the nearly $195 billion of federal funds "to either directly or implicitly cover a decrease in net tax revenue." The prohibition could continue until 2024.

In a statement, West Virginia Attorney General Steve Morrisey, who co-led the case with Alabama and Arkansas, said, "Never before has the federal government undertaken such a complete takeover of state finances. Such overreach would not be tolerated."

The complaint came just two weeks after 21 state attorneys general wrote to Treasury Secretary Janet Yellen, who is listed in the new lawsuit, asking how the administration intended to interpret the law. They asked, for example, whether states would be forbidden from lowering taxes for whatever cause, even if such steps were placed in effect previous to the bill's enactment, or whether the legislation expressly forbids states from using COVID-19 relief funds to offset new tax cuts.

Mitch McConnell Says Republicans to Fight Biden's Infrastructure Plan in 'Every Step of the Way'

Yellen noted that the legislation is not meant to be a blanket ban on tax cuts, and she indicated that states could reduce taxes without relying on stimulus funds to do so. On March 23, Yellen replied, "Nothing in the Act prohibits States from enacting a broad range of tax cuts. It clearly states that funds collected under the Act should not be used to cover a loss in net tax revenue caused by such state law changes."

On the other hand, Morrisey suggested that the term "indirectly" in the legislation could be read in a manner that forbids states from enacting tax cuts. The case was joined by attorneys general from Alaska, Florida, New Hampshire, Iowa, Montana, Oklahoma, South Carolina, South Dakota, and Utah, NY Post reported.

More funding would be allocated to states with a more significant percentage of unemployed people than the average population at the end of 2020, which has angered some states in the South and Midwest, representing Republican governors and lower unemployment rates. However, several Democrat-led states introduced stringent lockdown policies to stop the pandemic from spreading. Some Republican-led states took a more cautious stance, encouraging companies to stay open for the rest of the pandemic, as per Fox Business via MSN.

Joe Biden Urges $100 Billion Infrastructure Investment to Provide Affordable Internet by 2029

Biden claims massive tax increase will make the economy 'better'

According to the Washington Times, President Biden embraced an early victory lap Friday after a solid jobs report. But he said the spike in employment in March wouldn't stop him from pursuing a multi-trillion-dollar infrastructure plan that includes a huge tax hike. "Studies indicate that raising taxes won't slow the economy," Biden said at the White House. "It will make the economy function better," the President claims.

The President referenced a government report that found employers gained 916,000 workers in March, taking the unemployment rate down to 6% from 6.2%. Biden credited his $1.9 trillion COVID-19 relief bill, which was signed into law earlier this month and gave most families $1,400 checks.

According to the President, the employment report shows that his administration had generated more workers than any other in history in the first two months. "But we still have a long way to go," Joe Biden said, stressing that his proposed infrastructure plan would benefit the economy. He says his plan would generate 19 million jobs, ignoring the fact that 8.4 million jobs were destroyed during the pandemic.

Senate Minority Leader Mitch McConnell and other Republicans speak out against the current budget package and potential corporate tax increases, arguing that such a massive tax increase would damage the economy and result in job losses. "If the Republicans say that we don't need infrastructure, Republican voters, I guess, would have a lot to say about it," Biden said.

Joe Biden Unlikely to Issue Fourth Stimulus Check; Eyes on Infrastructure, Child Care

@ 2021 HNGN, All rights reserved. Do not reproduce without permission.
The girlfriend of a lovesick Romeo who got thrown in prison for crossing the treacherous Irish Sea on a jet ski just to see her has been charged with viciously attacking another woman.

Jessica Radcliffe has been charged with causing actual bodily harm, causing criminal damage and breaching lockdown restrictions.

The 30-year-old appeared at Douglas Courthouse on the Isle of Man via video link as the court heard Radcliffe and a friend drove to the home of another woman they had a feud with.

The Daily Record reports Radcliffe and her friend Leanna Bradley, 33, then forced their way into the house and smashed the alleged victim's iPhone before attacking her.

Jessica Radcliffe has been charged with causing actual bodily harm, causing criminal damage and breaching lockdown restrictions

Radcliffe's boyfriend Dale McLaughlan, 28, made the 25-mile journey from Scotland to the Isle of Man to visit his sweetheart in December last year - spending four and a half hours at sea

Jessica Radcliffe (pictured) appeared at Douglas Courthouse

Prosecutor Chrissie Hunt told the court the pair kicked and punched the woman as she screamed to her housemate to protect her children who were upstairs in their bedroom.

The woman was then dragged up the stairs by the pair, which left her with burns on her forehead, the court heard.

She was also allegedly left with bruising and injuries to her head, arms and back.

Radcliffe and Bradley, who were both described as unemployed, were bailed for 500 and are yet to enter their pleas.

The alleged attack comes after Radcliffe's boyfriend Dale McLaughlan, 28, made the 25-mile journey from Scotland to the Isle of Man to visit his sweetheart in December last year - spending four and a half hours at sea.

He was jailed for breaching coronavirus lockdown rules, but was freed three days before Christmas after serving 10 days of his sentence.

McLaughlans foolhardy plan to join his girlfriend of three months on the Isle of Man sparked a major Coastguard search.

He was spotted by a villager as he prepared to set off at dawn from a remote Scottish harbour, and claimed that he just wanted to make sure his jet ski was working properly before he sold it.

In reality he was preparing to ride through rough seas to see Jessica after he was banned from entering the island due to anti-coronavirus regulations.

McLaughlan (left) was jailed for breaching coronavirus lockdown rules to see Jessica (right), but was freed three days before Christmas after serving 10 days of his sentence

The alarm was raised after McLaughlan, who can hardly swim, failed to return to his car and jet ski trailer left near the harbour slipway in the Isle of Whithorn, Dumfries and Galloway.

Coastguard teams who found his car searched for him amid fears he had drowned at sea in conditions so rough that even local fishermen had decided not to venture out.

The search started at around the time he arrived in Ramsey harbour on the Isle of Man after completing his amazing four hour trip with only ten minutes of fuel left.

Coastguards only called off their hunt for him after they managed to contact him on his mobile phone and he assured them he was safe.

It is believed that he failed to tell them that he had just landed in the Isle of Man, and they assumed he was still in Scotland.

But his weekend of romance ended when he was arrested by Manx police after he was found to have entered the island without a permit.
Oregon Gov. Kate Brown on Friday called for flags at all public institutions throughout the state to be lowered to half-staff after a man drove a car into two police officers at the U.S. Capitol, killing one of the officers.

Flags will be flown at half-staff until sunset Tuesday. The order mirrors a proclamation from President Joe Biden.

I am deeply saddened by the events that took place at the U.S. Capitol earlier today, especially at a time when Capitol police officers are still feeling the effects from the events of January 6, Brown said in a statement.

Police identified the slain officer as William Billy Evans, an 18-year-veteran who was a member of the departments first responder unit. They have not identified the other officer who was injured. They identified the suspect as Noah Green, 25. Officers shot Green after the attack, and he died at the hospital.

The crash and shooting happened at a security checkpoint near the Capitol as Congress is on recess. According to police, Green crashed into the two officers as they were standing at a barricade, then got out of the car brandishing a knife.

The attack comes as the Washington region remains on edge nearly three months after a mob of armed insurrectionists stormed the Capitol as Congress was voting to certify Joe Bidens presidential win.

Five people died in the Jan. 6 riot, including Capitol Police officer Brian Sicknick, who was among a badly outnumbered force trying to fight off insurrectionists who supported former President Donald Trumps bid to overturn the election. Authorities installed a tall perimeter fence around the Capitol and for months restricted traffic along the roads closest to the building, but they have begun pulling back some of the emergency measures in recent weeks.

There was no immediate connection apparent between Jan. 6 and Fridays crash. Pittman said the suspect did not appear to have been on police radar. But the incident underscores that the building and campus remain potential targets for violence. It occurred about 100 yards (91 meters) from the entrance of the building on the Senate side of the Capitol.

The security checkpoint is typically used by senators and staff on weekdays, but lawmakers are away for recess. Fencing that prevented vehicular traffic near that area was recently removed.

The U.S. Capitol complex was placed on lockdown after the shooting and staff were told they could not enter or exit buildings. Video showed National Guard troops mobilizing near the area of the crash.

 Staff and wire reports.
Porterville, CA (93257)

Today

Sunny. Very hot. High around 105F. Winds W at 10 to 15 mph..

Tonight

Clear skies. Low around 65F. Winds SW at 5 to 10 mph.
Bishop Denis Brennan, Bishop of Ferns - An interview with La Civilita Catolica, published on 23 October 2020, the newly appointed secretary of the synod of Bishops in Rome, Cardinal Mario Grech, made a very thought-provoking comment regarding lockdown, restrictions, and church life.

He said: 'I find it curious that many people have complained about not being able to receive communion and celebrate funerals in church, but not as many have worried about how to reconcile with God and neighbour, how to listen to and celebrate the Word of God and how to live out a life of service.'

Not in any way making light of the genuine anxiety that restrictive numbers for funerals are bringing, or the deep sacrifice that the ban on public worship (somewhat unique to Ireland) imposes, I do nevertheless believe that the Cardinal's comments deserve our attention - for quite simply they tell us - that throughout this pandemic we have not ceased to be Church, that Christian living can and does continue, and that the call to be in right relationship with God and neighbor has not been taken away from any of us. If anything we have a little more time to make it a greater priority.

A stark invitation exists in the Cardinal's observations. Questions arise for us all - how am I doing at this point in life? How is my relationship with God and my neighbor? Am I who I should be or do I find myself at odds with what's core and what's life-giving? What changes should I make and is it time to blow the whistle on prevarication and postponement?

His observations beget hard and necessary questions. But they should be discerned gently, mindful of the gentle and encouraging mercy of God.

This Holy Week and Easter, I invite you to focus primarily upon that opportunity - 'to reconcile with God and neighbor' - for this is the ultimate and primary fruit of the life, death and resurrection of Jesus Christ.

Again this year, we cannot celebrate Holy Week and Easter as we would normally do.

Many parishes are looking at ways of 'taking Holy Week and Easter to your homes' - palm crosses, prayer books and leaflets, colouring resources for children, Easter water bottles and prayer cards - and I would ask that you join in that effort.

If out for the walk on Palm Sunday or Easter Sunday, call and collect any resources that your parish might have available. Get the schedule for online broadcasts from the parish, have a look at the national and indeed international broadcasts too.

Irrespective of the restrictions, we can participate through personal reflection, openness to a better relationship with God and neighbor, we can visit the local church and engage with the opportunities and resources that the parish is providing.

In conclusion, I would like to say a word of gratitude to the priests, the staff and the volunteers in our parishes.

I'm also acutely aware of the isolation of priests themselves and of the toll that being restricted in their ministry is taking.

I would ask that the churches be removed from level 3.

I thank the hundreds of people who have made themselves available to ensure that our churches were the safest of spaces for worship when last permitted.

Finally, I invite you to continue purposefully on the journey through the pandemic by engaging in best hygiene and safety and adopting afresh the mantra to "be heart, keep heart and give heart."

Let's look forward to meeting once again in person in our churches and parishes when possible.

'Let's remember that this time too shall pass'

Rev. Michael Burrows, Bishop of Cashel, Ferns & Ossory

In the spiritual and liturgical tradition from which I come, one of the most important things is the common or shared cup at the Eucharist. It speaks powerfully of our anticipation of the heavenly banquet, of the absolute equality before God of all who sip from it, of how we are called at times to share the costly cup of suffering from which the Lord himself drank. The impossibility of sharing a common cup, for obvious reasons of infection control, has been for me amongst the greatest spiritual losses of the Covid period.

Something rather essential has been taken away, our alignment with the acts of Jesus at his Last Supper with his friends on the night before he suffered is impaired.

I find myself looking at currently unused beautiful chalices and feeling sad, thinking of the many generations of faithful people who drank from those cups and thereby found strength to face the travails of life. I indeed worry about what we will do if, in the long term, something so central to the meaning of our worship as the common cup becomes perceived as a danger to public health. Where would that leave us? Perhaps I am being over - anxious; other pestilence and plagues reached their conclusion in the past and the return of the church's normative Eucharistic practice was not experienced as hazardous.

The loss of the common cup for me is particularly acute at Easter. On Easter Day...inspired by a liturgical scholar who influenced me many years ago...it has been my practice to fill the common cup at the Eucharist with champagne. This is certainly true to the ancient and proper practice of using the fermented fruit of the vine. However, champagne with its sparkle captures the joy of Easter and speaks of even greater feasts to come. If Eucharistic food for us as for Jesus is connected with the natural drink of celebration of a particular culture, champagne is the best means we have to celebrate with utter joy. Part of the wonder of sacraments and of the Eucharist is how they appeal to all the senses; the very sight and taste of champagne at worship affects the mood and the insights of worshippers. There is nothing irreverent about popping the corks at the Easter liturgy, offering back to God with joy a special gift of his in creation, and shouting our Alleluias.

We are very far this year from corporate worship which sparkles with such unrestrained enthusiasm. Most of us will not share the Eucharist physically at all; we may watch online worship and be grateful for its imaginative possibilities but nothing can replace the taste, the very sensuousness, of aligning ourselves with Christ crucified and risen as the cup of salvation is passed to us. Of course all this is a necessary sacrifice at this time for the sake of the wider public good, and conscious of those who make their own daily sacrifices as they take their places on the frontline of medical care and other aspects of community service.

Deprivation, however, certainly intensifies our sacramental longings and increases our sense of what the sacraments mean to us precisely because we cannot share in them just now. For many centuries of Christian history, the only time when lay people actually received communion was at Easter; otherwise they were content to be relatively passive spectators. Easter, even more than other Festivals, without actual participation just doesn't seem quite 'right' - but take heart! I for one have laid in my champagne in the sure and certain hope of better times. 'This too will pass'. ALLELUIA

'Pray to experience the presence of the Risen Lord'

Rev. Katherine Kehoe, Methodist Minister

Covid 19 entered our world a little over a year ago like a bolt out from the blue. Little did we expect a year later we would be preparing to celebrate our second 'Lockdown Holy Week,' Covid 19 has brought us face to face with unimaginable suffering and pain. Sadly for many even grave illnesses leading to loss and death.

I invite you to spend some time with Jesus over the first days of the most sacred week of the Liturgical Calendar. Holy Week begins on Palm Sunday as Jesus enters Jerusalem welcomed with shouts of praise by exultant crowds. This serves to further annoy the religious leaders, his gravest critics, who work all the harder to bring him down.

Monday March 29, 33AD Jesus entered the Temple Mount, he was surrounded by pious Jews who had made the pilgrimage to Jerusalem for Passover. Not only would they have to pay the Temple tax (a Tyrian shekel), but they would also have to purchase an unblemished sacrificial animal in the Court of the Gentiles.

Observing the moneychangers and merchants, a holy zeal and righteous indignation welled up within Jesus, they were turning his Father's house of prayer for the nations into a den of thieves who preyed upon the poor Passover pilgrims. Jesus began overturning their tables and chairs, throwing out the merchants and their scurrying customers and refusing entrance to anyone carrying goods for sale.

Imagine the indignation of the chief priests, scribes, and Jewish leaders, it was one thing for this self-proclaimed teacher from the backwaters of Nazareth to share his stories and make his claims and do his miracles. From this point forward, there would be no turning back. In fact, Jesus is accelerating his death.

Tuesday March 30, 33AD Jesus again locks horns with the religious leaders who lay some traps to ensnare him. When this fails they send an Expert in the Law to question him "Of all the commandments which is the greatest?" Jesus summarizes his answer in a word: 'love.' Jesus turns the tables and asks the Pharisees, Herodians and Sadducees a few questions of his own which none were able to answer and from that day forward did anyone dare to ask him any more questions.

Today Wednesday March 31, 33 AD. From Sunday's Triumphal entry, Monday's Temple Cleansing, yesterday's Question and Answer sessions Jesus and his disciples have experienced much drama over the past few days. Today is far too quiet, a little like the calm before the storm. Nothing much happening in plain sight, yet this is the day when the key pieces come together, in the plot for the murder of the Son of God. Out of sight evil is brewing. For centuries in the Christian church today has been known as 'Spy Wednesday' as the dark conspiracy against Jesus gains momentum, not just from the visible enemies, but from a traitor from his inner circle.

Jesus teaching again attracts a crowd in the Temple and today the Jewish leaders, silenced by Jesus the day before, avoid public confrontation and leave him be. Instead they meet with Caiaphas the high priest, these two groups, usually at odds with each other, now bedfellows in their quest to be rid of the that rabble rouser, the Nazarene preacher. They scheme to kill him, but don't have all the pieces in place yet. They fear the approving masses, and don't want to stir up the assembled hoards during Passover. The initial plan is to wait till after the feast, unless some unforeseen opportunity emerges which Judas is about to provide. Judas the traitor had long been on a journey of sin and hard-heartedness and will lead them to Jesus at an opportune time when the crowds have dispersed. At the beginning of the week Jesus seems to have all the friends he needs but as the week goes on, Judas plots, and the nervous disciples scatter, By the end of the week Jesus will face death alone.

Today due to social distancing many in our communities feel isolated and alone. As we journey through Covid 19 lets resolve to journey with them and show that we are willing companions. My prayer for you this Easter and always is that you might know and experience the presence of the Risen Lord.
Locals and political representatives are livid that Irish Water have no plans to replace a nine inch water pipe on the Fort Road in Gorey despite it bursting 14 times last year leaving thousands without water.

There is also frustration in Camolin after it was announced that waste water infrastructure in Camolin is not a top priority for Irish Water or Wexford County Council.

Given the number of times the pipe on the Fort Road burst last year there are concerns that residents may find themselves without water more frequently during the summer months.

Gorey resident Tamsin O'Neill who lives on Woodlands Drive said that she is concerned about water conditions and availability.

'Sometimes you get a bit of notice and sometimes you don't. It can be fine for a long time but then it might go a couple of days in one week or a few times apart in one day, or it could be fixed for a day and gone again.

'You don't know the time frame and it's frustrating and annoying, but I'm lucky that my youngest child is eight. We're a family of five with two dogs, but there are families with babies around and they need fresh water for babies bottles and it's something that I'm conscious of.

'My other concern is that sometimes when the water comes back, I wonder whether it's drinkable as it might be discoloured. The last 12 months it just seems to have been more frequent and it's all from this one particular pipe.

'When I'd be doing the school run, I might see water running down the road and you think to yourself here we go again and it's almost too frequent. I feel that it should be fixed in this day and age'.

Ms O'Neill said that she keeps up to date with councillors and uses the Council's app, but it can be unpredictable.

'Sometimes you just turn the tap on and the water pressure is non existent, it can be hit and miss. Us neighbours text each other saying to fill up the kettles and the pots but we've no guarantee that this will be sorted.

'I'm worried now that this might become even more regular in the summer. For me who knows nothing about the ins and outs of this, it seems like Wexford County Council and Irish Water are putting a plaster on this when it needs stitches or surgery. I feel it needs to be taken out and repaired or replaced, just to resolve the issue by doing whatever needs to be done,' she said.

On the issue of burst pipes in Gorey, a spokesperson for Irish Water said a section of main in Creagh was put forward by Wexford County Council Operations but both Irish Water and Wexford County Council deemed it a much lower priority than the other areas on the list.

'Unfortunately, therefore there are no immediate plans for mains rehab currently in those areas,' he said.

Senator Malcolm Byrne said that he was livid over this development, calling it completely unacceptable.

'I'm not going to accept another summer where large areas of Gorey town are to be left without water for prolonged periods. If there is a failure to repair the pipe work at Creagh, large areas of Gorey town will be left without water again this year if that same pipe bursts. Why Wexford County Council is ignoring this is beyond me. Even though North Wexford is the fastest growing area in the county, the demand for housing remains exceptionally strong so I cannot figure it as to why Irish Water and Wexford County Council would not prioritise the repair of a pipe that burst on at least fourteen occasions last year and left thousands without water.

'On the basis of this, we are going to continue to see large sections of Gorey town left without water again this year and no immediate prospect of change for Camolin.

'I am perplexed as to why Camolin again seems to have been de-prioritised by the Council and I'm angry that these issues aren't being prioritised. This issue has been going on for years and it just hasn't progressed and I'm disappointed'.

Councillor Andrew Bolger met with Irish Water last week along with fellow councillors, and raised frustration on both issues of Gorey and Camolin.

'Our local crew always act quickly but I believe they could be carrying out other work. The nine inch pipe on the Forte Road burst 14 times last year forcing a number of people in Gorey to go without water while working from home. A number of people had to call out plumbers to fix airlocks and this summer will be no different. I feel that the people of Gorey will not accept this and these views are reasonably held. Of course there will be operational costs of ripping up the road and making repairs.

'The issue of waste water capacity in Camolin village is one that has been ongoing for quite some time and will continue to be a problem for quite a while yet. If you ask the people in Camolin what is the main issue they will tell you it's the waste water capacity. It is not possible to get planning in the village because of this.

'The next review of this is in 2024 but that's a lifetime away for the people of Camolin'.

A spokesperson for Irish Water confirmed that the development of the waste water infrastructure there will not be considered under the investment cycle within the next year, as the next national prioritisation basis takes place after 2024.

They added that the Small Towns and Villages Growth Programme (STVGP) provides funding for Water and Waste Water Treatment Plant growth capacity in smaller settlements not otherwise provided for in the Capital Investment Plan 2020 to 2024, and that Irish Water is working with Local Authorities to ensure that the investment is made appropriately in accordance with the relevant county development plan.

'Under the STVGP scheme Irish Water invited Local Authorities to nominate qualifying settlements in order of priority. The settlements provided by Wexford County Council ranked Camolin as number seven in terms of priority,' the spokesperson said.
Killeen, TX (76540)

Today

Cloudy skies this morning followed by thunderstorms during the afternoon. High near 75F. Winds ENE at 5 to 10 mph. Chance of rain 70%..

Tonight

Rain showers early becoming more intermittent overnight. Low around 65F. Winds ENE at 5 to 10 mph. Chance of rain 40%.
SKY, BRITBOX, DISNEY+ & ACORN TV

Filthy Rich

Campy, soapy comedy drama series in which Margaret Monreaux (Kim Cattrall) is a televangelist in the American South. Her folksy schtick has made her so rich that she offers up prayers of thanks for her abundance of wealth.

However, when her supposedly equally religious husband is killed in a plane crash, it emerges that he had a relaxed attitude to the sins of the flesh and secretly fathered three illegitimate children, now adults, who all feature in his will.

Campy, soapy comedy drama series in which Margaret Monreaux (Kim Cattrall, above) is a televangelist in the American South

Things are further complicated by the fact that his offspring are a hooker, a hoodlum and a drug dealer. Star/Disney+, from Friday

Blood

Carolina Main has recently been seen as a cold-case detective in ITV hit Unforgotten, but she takes one of the lead roles alongside Line Of Dutys Adrian Dunbar in a gripping psychological thriller originally shown on Channel 5.

Carolina Main takes one of the lead roles alongside Line Of Dutys Adrian Dunbar (above) in a gripping psychological thriller originally shown on Channel 5

Main plays Cat, who returns to her home town following her mothers death. Flashbacks, hints and suspicions make her wonder if her father may have had more to do with his wifes demise than hes admitting. Acorn TV, from Monday

Indian Summers

Lavish, sultry and compelling, this Raj-set drama is an intriguing tale involving a group of ex-pats living in the foothills of the Himalayas during the 1930s. Julie Walters (above) stars

Lavish, sultry and compelling, this Raj-set drama is an intriguing tale involving a group of ex-pats living in the foothills of the Himalayas during the 1930s. Julie Walters, Jemima West and Henry Lloyd-Hughes star; Art Malik joins them for the second season. BritBox, from Thursday

Greys Anatomy

The ever-popular medical drama is back for its 17th series, with critics claiming its better than ever. It begins at the height of the pandemic as staff at Grey Sloan Memorial Hospital are overwhelmed by the number of patients.

Ellen Pompeo is at the centre of everything as Meredith, and fans will be pleased to see her reunited with Patrick Dempsey as Derek McDreamy Shepherd. Sky/NOW, from Wednesday

Catch Us If You Can

Not to be confused with a similar-sounding Steven Spielberg movie, this musical adventure stars the Dave Clark Five and was the directorial debut of John Boorman, who went on to make Deliverance and Point Blank.

Not to be confused with a similar-sounding Steven Spielberg movie, this musical adventure stars the Dave Clark Five (above, Dave Clark with Barbara Ferris)

It was inspired by the Beatles A Hard Days Night and, although not as commercially successful, is an unmissable slice of 1960s fun in which the band embarks on an adventure, taking a bored actress along for the ride. Multi platforms, from Monday

Wellington Paranormal

Deadpan mockumentary featuring the two cops from Jemaine Clement and Taika Waititis original What We Do In The Shadows vampire comedy. Officers Minogue (Mike Minogue) and OLeary (Karen OLeary) are not the sharpest stakes in the kit but, working under the command of Sergeant Maaka (Maaka Pohatu  note the effort that has gone into thinking up the characters names), an enthusiast for all things spooky, are called upon to investigate supernatural goings-on in the unlikely paranormal hotspot of Wellington, New Zealand.

Officers Minogue (Mike Minogue) and OLeary (Karen OLeary, above, with Minogue) are not the sharpest stakes in the kit but are called upon to investigate supernatural goings-on

Demons, zombies, aliens  all are dealt with with the customary Kiwi calm. Its cheap, cheerful, and filled with geeky references to horror and sci-fi classics. Sky/NOW, from Monday

Allen v Farrow

Did Woody Allen sexually abuse Dylan, his adopted daughter with Mia Farrow? This four-part documentary essentially presents the case against him. Dylan makes a convincing witness and even Allens most staunch backers must admit that his behaviour was, at best, often inappropriate.

But if you are a supporter of Allen, a group that presumably includes some of the stars who have appeared in his numerous films since the accusations first surfaced nearly 30 years ago, this is unlikely to convince you of his guilt.

Woody Allen (above with Mia Farrow, Dylan and son Satchel in 1985), who has never been charged with any crime and has always denied the allegations, refused to take part

Allen, who has never been charged with any crime and has always denied the allegations, refused to take part. Sky/NOW, available now

Man Stroke Woman

Nick Frost, Amanda Abbington and Daisy Haggard are the stars of this hilarious, laughter-track-free sketch show, originally broadcast by BBC Three in the mid-Noughties.

It was produced by Ash Atalla, whose CV also includes The Office, The IT Crowd and Trollied. BritBox, from Thursday

Criminal Minds

The US series ran from 2005 until 2020 and revolves around an elite team of FBI profilers who analyse the countrys most twisted criminal minds. As the team, including founder David Rossi (Joe Mantegna), evolves together they learn to identify predators emotional triggers in an attempt to stop them. Star/Disney+, from Friday

The hottest ten shows to watch on Netflix right now 1 Bridgerton Steamy scenes between Phoebe Dynevor and Rege-Jean Page (above) Glossy costume drama that got 82 million viewers hot under the collar for its steamy scenes between Phoebe Dynevor and Rege-Jean Page. 2 Mindhunter Drama to die for, as FBI agents try to get inside the minds of serial killers and psychopaths. Based on real cases. 3 Firefly Lane Massive word-of-mouth hit, despite what critics said. Chalk-and-cheese teenagers Tully and Kate become best friends, supporting each other through college, careers and romances. 4 Ozark Addictive thriller with Jason Bateman as a crooked city financial adviser forced to move his family to Missouri and is then sucked deeper into crime. 5 Emily In Paris Lily Collins (above) charms grumpy Parisians in a drama Lily Collins charms grumpy Parisians in a drama as insubstantial as a souffle and as silly as Sex And The City. 6 The Crown Hugely entertaining big-budget drama  with lashings of artistic licence  about the life and reign of the Queen. 7 The Queens Gambit Anya Taylor-Joy is mesmerising as the socially awkward Beth Harmon who proves to be an unlikely chess genius. 8 Call My Agent! Fantastic, star-packed French comedy-drama about the complicated personal lives of a Parisian talent agency. 9 The Staircase Find yourself changing your mind again and again in a documentary on Michael Peterson, charged with killing his wife. 10 The Dig Ralph Fiennes and Carey Mulligan are on top form in a film based on the discovery of the Sutton Hoo burial. Advertisement

NETFLIX

Thunder Force

Octavia Spencer and Melissa McCarthy join forces for a new comedy written and directed by the latters husband, Ben Falcone. Spencer plays Emily, a scientist who has developed a serum capable of giving ordinary people superpowers.

Octavia Spencer and Melissa McCarthy (above) join forces for a new comedy written and directed by the latters husband, Ben Falcone

McCarthy is her former best friend Lydia, who turns up out of the blue. Both women take the potion and, sure enough, suddenly develop amazing strength, speed and other incredible attributes  all of which come in handy when master criminal The King (Bobby Cannavale) and his cohorts (including a hilarious Jason Bateman) try to take over their home city of Chicago. From Friday

Night In Paradise

Korean director Park Hoon-jungs crime drama focuses on a gang member (Uhm Tae-goo, above) who tries to start anew after his sister and nephew are murdered

Korean director Park Hoon-jungs crime drama focuses on a gang member (Uhm Tae-goo) who tries to start anew after his sister and nephew are murdered. He flees to Jeju Island, where a friendship with a terminally ill young woman promises to transform his life. From Friday

Snabba Cash

This series started as a trio of films based on the novels by Jens Lapidus. It focuses on young single mother Leya (Evin Ahmad, inset above), determined to make it big in Stockholms business world.

It focuses on young single mother Leya (Evin Ahmad, above), determined to make it big in Stockholms business world

However, accepting money from the citys criminal fraternity to fund her tech start-up proves to be a big mistake. From Wednesday

Pieces Of A Woman

Hungarian film-maker Kornel Mundruczos English-language movie isnt easy viewing, but its compelling and brilliantly acted, particularly by Vanessa Kirby, whose performance has been nominated for both an Oscar and a Bafta.

She and Shia LaBeouf play young couple Martha and Sean, whose baby dies shortly after birth. The film follows them over the course of a year as they attempt to cope with the tragedy. Available now

This Is A Robbery: The Worlds Biggest Art Heist

During 1990s St Patricks Day weekend, two men disguised as police officers bluffed their way into Bostons Isabella Stewart Gardner Museum and stole paintings worth an estimated half a billion dollars.

None of them have ever been found and, despite numerous theories about their identities, no arrests have been made. Here, Boston-born brothers Nick and Colin Barnacle hope to shed new light on the mystery. Available now

Seaspiracy

Director Kip Andersen turns his attention to the global fishing industry, claiming that the approach to sustainable fishing needs to be re-examined while showcasing the damage caused to marine species by the human race. Available now

Why is there such a buzz about..? The Flight Attendant (Sky/ NOW) Most of the cast of The Big Bang Theory have been pretty quiet since the hit comedy ended two years ago (though Jim Parsons  uber-nerd Sheldon  has racked up numerous big- and small-screen roles). Kaley Cuoco (above) bought the rights to Chris Bohjalians 2018 book Kaley Cuoco, who played perky wannabe actress Penny, read Chris Bohjalians 2018 book The Flight Attendant and immediately bought the rights, spotting a nice juicy role for herself. In this comedy thriller, eponymous trolley dolly Cassie has a penchant for booze (her blood group must be Smirnoff-positive), partying till all hours, and even hooking up with passengers. As she does with first-class traveller Alex (Michiel Huisman), on board and afterwards one night in Bangkok. Then she wakes up in his hotel bed to find his dead body next to her, with no memory of what happened. Over eight episodes Cassie tries to get to the bottom of the mystery, enmeshing herself in an increasingly complicated case, all the while continuing to drink and generally irritate all those around her. Its actually slightly darker than you might expect, with clever use of flashbacks. Cuocos comedy talent is to the fore, but she also manages to suggest that, beneath the goofy, Goldie Hawn-ish exterior is a decent, warm-hearted woman. A second season is planned. Mark Cook Advertisement

AMAZON, BBC iPLAYER, STARZPLAY & ALL4

Palm Springs

Its an old premise, but a good one: characters are trapped in a time loop that forces them to relive the same day over and over, fine-tuning their behaviour to deal with the situation.

Yes, its Groundhog Day  again. Sarah and Nyles (Cristin Milioti and Andy Samberg) are guests at a wedding in the desert resort of Palm Springs, coming to terms with the fact that none of their actions have any real consequences because tomorrow the clock will be reset and theyll start all over again.

Sarah and Nyles (Cristin Milioti and Andy Samberg, above) are guests at a wedding in the desert resort of Palm Springs

This is a charming, funny, weird romcom, which was nominated for two Golden Globes. Amazon, from Friday

Deutschland 89

After a rather disappointing series two, the eight-part thriller focusing on East German spies hits a high point in 1989 and the fall of the Berlin Wall. As everything collapses, central character Martin (Jonas Nay) is in demand from various sides (not just the panic-stricken Stasi Sylvester Groth), pulled this way and that at a personal and professional crossroads.

As everything collapses, central character Martin (Jonas Nay) is in demand from various sides (not just the panic-stricken Stasi Sylvester Groth, above), pulled this way and that

Unfortunately, he has young son Max in tow  whom the Stasi are desperate to nab and use as leverage  as he tries to operate as a double agent. A terrorist plot adds to the tension in this stylish, and occasionally slyly humorous, drama. All4/Walter Presents, available now

We Children From Bahnhof Zoo

In 1981, the German movie Christiane F., based on the true story of a teenage heroin addict, became a cult hit. It was based on a book inspired by the life of Vera Christiane Felscherinow, as is this new eight-part drama.

The series is described as a reimagining of the story and follows Christiane (Jana McKinnon, above) and her friends as they search for excitement in Berlins underground clubs and parties

The series is described as a reimagining of the story and follows Christiane (Jana McKinnon) and her friends as they search for excitement in Berlins underground clubs and parties. Amazon, from Friday

Silent Witness

Emilia Fox (above) is the longest-serving actor, having played Nikki Alexander for 15 series, going in after the departure of Amanda Burton

One of the longest-running crime series on the planet, the show about a group of pathologists has run for 23 series, all now available. Emilia Fox is the longest-serving actor, having played Nikki Alexander for 15 series, going in after the departure of Amanda Burton. BBC iPlayer, from Thursday

Dublin Murders

Detective Rob Reilly (Killian Scott) and his partner Cassie Maddox (Sarah Greene) investigate the murder of a girl whose body is found ritually posed on an altar in the same woods where two children disappeared years before.

The atmospheric eight-part series with hints of the uncanny is adapted from two Tana French bestsellers. Starzplay, from Sunday

Them

Its 1953 and the Emorys, Henry and Lucky (Deborah Ayorinde), a nice couple with two cute children, are excited to move into their new house, but their joy doesnt last for long.

First, they are the only black family in a neighbourhood of racists. Second, there is a terrifying supernatural presence in the house. Finally, the Emorys have a traumatic back story.

Its 1953 and the Emorys, Henry and Lucky (Deborah Ayorinde, above), a nice couple with two cute children, are excited to move into their new house, but their joy doesnt last for long

This horror series is ambitious and brilliantly made, but includes very disturbing scenes and might prove too harrowing a watch for some. Amazon, from Friday

Bill Bailey: Limboland

The comedian and multi-instrumentalists pre-lockdown stand-up show features a hilarious Happy Birthday, performed in the style of a 1930s Berlin cabaret, and Twinkle Twinkle Little Star as a death metal anthem.

Bill Bailey (above) tells the stories of a disastrous trip to the Northern Lights and an awkward meeting with Paul McCartney

Bailey also tells the stories of a disastrous trip to the Northern Lights and an awkward meeting with Paul McCartney. Shows by Eddie Izzard and Dylan Moran are also available. BBC iPlayer, available now
The internet has more than its fair share of fake news. With the amount of freedom the online community has, it's all-too-easy to post and share information with just a click.

However, it is our responsibility to share what is true instead of click baits. Luckily, Google has the tools to make the process a lot simpler.

The search engine giant has taken steps to help users spot fake news and do fact-checking themselves, per Money Control. A general user can follow the steps provided by Google to verify if the story they are reading is accurate. Credible sources are essential in these recent times, where lifestyle is heavily dependent on the digital world.

Keep in mind that to verify your news, you would need to compare results with others sources. The real news is being reported repeatedly by other websites. Fake news have contents that do not match up with the facts reported.

Here are some of the tools that can help both authors and readers to verify their news and stop the spread of fake news.

Google Security Certificate

Websites must always have the security symbol at the start of their web address. This is the small padlock icon on your search bar. This tells you that the website has a security certificate and Chrome has a private connection with the site. You can click on the icon to view more information about the site.

Google Reverse Image Search

One of the handiest tools available in Google is the reverse image search. This can help you search for the source and any other website using the same image. Sometimes this tool could also be applied to videos by using their thumbnail icon in the search.

There are two ways to use this tool. You can navigate to https://images.google.com/ and drop the image you are searching by clicking the camera icon. On a mobile browser, you have to open the "request desktop site" settings option before searching the image.

The second way is more straightforward. On the desktop, simply right-click on the image and click "Search Google For Image." This will automatically bring out results using a similar image.

Read Also: Strange Google Pixel 'Something Went Wrong' Camera Issue: Here are Possible Fixes

Cross-Verify With Google News

When a topic is trending, chances are multiple websites will have the news in coverage. Head to the "News" under the Google Search Bar and type in your topic. This will allow you to view other sources that have covered the same topic. A pro tip is to repeat search the story headline but excluding results from your source site. You can do this by typing the headline, then adding '- site:(insert IP address).' Excluding your source site results will provide you with fresh news about what others are saying about the related topic.

Google Fact Check Explorer

This tool is incredibly easy to use to check your news validity. It instantly provides related search trends and ranked searches for the news that day. Simply head to Fact Check Explorer and search your news story. The results will speak for themselves.

Google Street View

You can verify a story if it is valid by checking the location of the incident. By pinpointing the location and comparing it to other results, you can possibly see the incident's footage. The best part is, you can verify all this news while staying comfortably in your house! Be sure to take advantage of these tools to help you verify your news and stop the spread of fake news.

International Fact Checking Day 2021: Google's Instructions to Spot Fake News

Aside from the tools Google also provided a five-point guide to spot fake news online. This is part of their efforts for the International Fact Checking Day 2021.

As MoneyControl reported, here are the instructions Google provided:

Check sources

Check if the image is correct and used appropriately based on the context

Cross-verify with multiple sources

Use Google tool Fact Check Explorer

Use Google Street View for location verification



Related Article: Google Pixel 6 vs Pixel 5: What Are the Changes? Design, Specs, and More- An Advanced Review
By now, weve all heard about Kim Kardashian Wests ongoing marital struggles with Kanye West. Though sources have walked us through whats been going on between the couple these last few months, not everything thats happened behind the scenes has been revealed, that is, until just recently.

During a recent episode of the final season of Keeping Up With the Kardashians, fans got a chance to see what really went down between Kardashian and West following his controversial presidential run in 2020  and to say it caused a lot of stress in the Kardashian family would be an understatement.

Kim Kardashian West and Kanye West attending the WSJ Magazine 2019 Innovator Awards | ANGELA WEISS/AFP via Getty Images

Kim Kardashian West tried to suppress the stress from her marriage

Kardashian and Wests marriage has had its ups and downs throughout the years. However, in July 2020, their marriage began falling apart following the rappers controversial presidential rally and Twitter storm.

During the March 25 episode of KUWTK, Kardashian West spoke about how stressful things have been in her marriage since West decided to run for president.

RELATED: What Are Kim Kardashian and Kanye West Each Getting In Their Divorce?

Its no secret that everyone sees things in the media about my life with Kanye, but Ive always been really respectful in not talking about issues that Kanye and I have, she said in her confessional.

Though she said the world is correct in thinking she and the rapper have issues, the KKW Beauty mogul didnt go into specific details on camera.

I mean, you guys clearly see them on Twitter, she continued, so Im still gonna choose to not really talk about it here.

However, Kardashian West did say that her husbands Twitter outbursts had been frustrating while hinting that they were causing problems in their marriage.

Kanyes been in Wyoming and posting a lot of things on social media, she said. That is a little bit frustrating, but you just have to kind of separate yourself from whats going on at home and whats going on on the Internet.

Kim Kardashian Wests family knew the stress was getting to her

Though she was stressed and frustrated in her marriage, Kardashian West still tried her best to fight for her relationship.

In a clip from the episode, the mother of four can be seen talking on the phone with someone from the Stronger rappers team in Wyoming, where hes been living.

Though West was resistant to see her at the time, Kardashian West was determined to fly out to the Midwest to talk with her husband in person.

Im happy to come. I can get on a plane tonight. When I talked to him, he says no, the reality star says to the person on the phone. Talk to him. Im happy to come tomorrow. Im happy to come next week, whatever he wants.

Meanwhile, Kris Jenner, Khloe Kardashian, and Kourtney Kardashian see what Kim is going through and are worried about her.

I just feel like shes struggling a bit with all the stuff going on, the momager said. I dont know how shes dealing with the stress of it all. You know, thats what I worry about. Shes always, like, the calm in the storm. I think shes got a lot on her plate. Shes got a lot going on with law school and everything else, the kids, everything shes trying to juggle.

The Poosh founder then added, Well, I just said she cant possibly navigate this on her own. I think she just needs help.

Kourtney and Khloe help Kim escape her reality

Later on in the episode, Kourtney and Khloe Kardashian decide to whisk their sister away to their Malibu vacation home to take her mind off of whats going on in her marriage.

While there, the sisters have a private dinner and discuss the Poosh founders love life to take the attention away from Kims relationship.

The low-key night was just what the mom of four needed.

RELATED: KUWTK Was a Big Reason For Issues in Kim Kardashian and Kanye Wests Relationship

Its so sweet that my sisters planned this little getaway night just to hang out and, you know, escape reality for two seconds, Kardashian West said during the episode. There are so many f*cking stressful things going on that I needed this the most.

Though theres no telling when/ if Kardashian will open up about her marriages demise on KUWTK, were sure that whatever she decides to do, her family will be right there to love and support her!
LOS ANGELES  The suspect in a shooting in an Orange business that killed four people, including a 9-year-old boy, this week has been charged with multiple counts of murder and attempted murder, the Orange County district attorneys office announced Friday.

The charges against Aminadab Gaxiola Gonzalez, 44, of Fullerton, who is hospitalized and in critical condition, were announced as the identities of the victims emerged.

Authorities on Friday identified three of the four people who were killed when a gunman opened fire Wednesday night inside Unified Homes, a manufactured homes business.

The Orange County Police Department said the victims include Genevieve Raygoza, 28, Luis Tovar, 50, and Matthew Farias, 9. The identity of the fourth person who was killed has not been confirmed by police or coroners officials.

Another woman remains hospitalized in critical condition after suffering multiple gunshot wounds, according to a family member.

Gonzalez has been charged with four counts of murder, one count of attempted murder and two counts of attempted murder of a police officer, all felonies, according to the DAs office.

He has also been charged with four felony enhancements of the personal discharge of a firearm causing death, and one felony enhancement each for the personal discharge of a firearm causing great bodily injury, premeditation, the personal use of a firearm and the personal discharge of a firearm. Prosecutors are also alleging the special circumstance of multiple murders.

Gonzalez was hospitalized Wednesday after exchanging gunfire with two police officers in the courtyard of the office complex where the shooting occurred, according to authorities

Police said he locked the gates to the complex with bicycle cables before opening fire on the victims.

Calling it a horrific massacre, Orange County District Attorney Todd Spitzer said Thursday that the severity of the crimes meant his office could seek the death penalty.

Its a horrible, horrible tragedy, Spitzer said, that Mr. Gonzalez made a decision to use deadly force to deal with issues he was dealing with in his life. So he will suffer the consequences.

Kimberly Edds, a spokeswoman for the district attorneys office, said Gonzalezs arraignment is expected to be postponed. Gonzalez is in critical but stable condition.

Officers arrived at the office complex in the 200 block of Lincoln Avenue at about 5:30 p.m. Wednesday, minutes after receiving reports of shooting. They encountered gunfire and shot through the locked gates, wounding the gunman, said Orange police Lt. Jennifer Amat. They used bolt cutters to enter the complex.

Officers found two victims in the courtyard  the boy and a woman who was alive and taken to a hospital. Spitzer said it appeared that the boy died in the arms of a woman who was trying to save him.

Police said Gonzalez had a business and personal relationship with the victims and that the attack was not random.

Our hearts are shattered into a million pieces as the community mourns the loss of four innocent lives, including a young boy, as a result of the horrific events that unfolded Wednesday evening and we pray for the recovery of the sole survivor, Spitzer said in a statement Friday. The taking of the life of another human being is the most serious of crimes and the slaughter of multiple people while they were essentially locked in a shooting gallery is nothing short of terrifying.

The residents of Orange County can rest assured that the District Attorneys Office is taking every possible step to ensure that every aspect of this case and the subsequent officer-involved shooting is thoroughly reviewed and that justice will be served for each and every victim, he added.
Last Sunday, Chippewa and Potawatomi artist Nancy King  better known by her Anishinaabe name Ogimaa Kwe Bnes, or Chief Lady Bird  announced on Twitter she had designed beer labels with traditional images and designs for Great Lakes Brewery, an independent craft brewery in Etobicoke, Ont.

Opinion

Last Sunday, Chippewa and Potawatomi artist Nancy King  better known by her Anishinaabe name Ogimaa Kwe Bnes, or Chief Lady Bird  announced on Twitter she had designed beer labels with traditional images and designs for Great Lakes Brewery, an independent craft brewery in Etobicoke, Ont.

The design (beautiful, by the way) is part of the brewerys participation in the Celebrating Sisters Brew Campaign, an initiative by 43 Canadian beer companies that donates proceeds from alcohol sales to Indigenous womens organizations and is organized by a trio of Indigenous brewers called the Indigenous Brew Crew (IBC).

Originally titled "the Red Beer Project" (referring to Metis artist Jaimie Blacks well-known Red Dress art installation that honours murdered and missing Indigenous women), the IBC explains on their website the Celebrating Sisters Brew Campaign is an attempt to "raise awareness about Missing and Murdered Indigenous Women in Canada" and "celebrate the strength and power of Indigenous Women."

Its one of a series of "Indigenous Brew Days" organized by the IBC, events which, according to co-founder Mark Solomon, attempt to address "the complexities with Indigenous peoples and alcohol within the Indigenous community and external perceptions around us." Solomon is a member of Henvey Inlet First Nation.

To call Indigenous relationships with alcohol "complex" is an understatement.

There is much alcoholism in my familys background. Many of my living relations still struggle with devastating relationships with booze. Ive struggled with alcohol too.

In fact, I dont know anyone in the Indigenous community who wouldnt echo one of the above statements.

Alcohol has always existed in Indigenous communities  many used forms of it in ceremonies and medicines  but its been used a great deal over the past few centuries to cope with trauma.

As land theft, violence and laws strangled our communities, removed our children and treated us like wild animals, alcohol use increased. Simply put: it provided an escape.

Alcohol has also been used as a weapon. Government agents used it to manipulate Indigenous leaders during treaty time. Traders used it to undermine traditional economies. The Indian Act even banned Indians from drinking in "pool halls" until after the Second World War.

Many Indigenous peoples have formed healthy relationships with alcohol of course, but its fair to say alcohol continues to be a primary facilitator of much violence in our communities. Of many dysfunctional relationships. Of a great deal of pain, suffering, and death.

This is why an event like Indigenous Brew Day is very, very complicated.

Discussing alcohol brings up many feelings, memories, and lives impacted by drunk driving, fetal alcohol spectrum disorder and addictions.

It also brings up many stereotypes of Indigenous peoples, invented to justify violence by journalists, writers and politicians.

The key is to remember alcohol isnt the problem though; Canadas violence is. The overuse of alcohol is basically medication for the historical and present trauma of being an Indigenous person in Canada.

For those who say abstinence is the answer, you dont understand the reality of Indigenous life.

If the trauma of societys racism, violence, and abuse against Indigenous peoples remains, so will the reasons to escape.

Quitting is one step, but finding a way to cope with Canadas violence will still be necessary. This is why traditional ceremonies, languages and cultural ways are so important.

This is also why talking about alcohol is so important. The outcomes of trauma are violence and silence  the two things which lead to more dysfunction (and, not coincidentally, addiction).

These conversations arent easy. So, without surprise, this weeks announcement of the Celebrating Sisters Brew Campaign brought up many reactions on social media.

"Alcohol has never brought anything good with it when it comes to Indigenous People," tweeted an Algonquin woman.

Negative reactions increased when the Great Lakes Brewery shared images of Indigenous peoples smudging their brewery and alcohol tanks (something they claim their Indigenous partners asked to do).

"I cannot think of any circumstance where it would be appropriate to smudge alcohol and take pictures of it," tweeted a woman from Beausoleil First Nation.

The brewery has since erased the photos.

The reaction to Chief Lady Birds designs was the most interesting though.

While some condemned her, a huge group of Indigenous peoples commended and encouraged her. Some even promised to buy the beer and pointed out Indigenous art has appeared on wine and alcohol elsewhere  but had been created by men, so her art was essentially proving the point of the campaign.

The best reaction though was by Chief Lady Bird. In a lengthy post, she wrote: "There has been a lot of amazing dialogue about what it means to have an Indigenous persons art on a beer can Im grateful for the time & care folks are putting into their thoughts about how colonialism and intergenerational trauma play a role in our relationships to alcohol."

Hear that?

That is the sound of the end of silence.

niigaan.sinclair@freepress.mb.ca
By Chris Brennan, The Philadelphia Inquirer (TNS)

A group of retired Philadelphia police officers apologized Friday for a Thursday fundraising email that blamed George Floyd for his own death and claimed former Minneapolis police officer Derek Chauvin is on trial for a murder he did not commit.

Protect Our Police PAC said it fired a national marketing company that sent the plea for donations, calling it tactless messaging that does not reflect the values or views of the group.

Chauvins actions were examples of bad policing and poor training that directly caused George Floyds death, in my opinion, Protect Our Police president Nick Gerace said in an email. The kind of messaging and innuendo included in that single email is not in line with our mission, and I vehemently denounce it.

The group was launched last year to challenge Philadelphia District Attorney Larry Krasners bid for a second term this year and to support candidates around the country seen as pro-police.

Protect Our Police PAC was expected to support Carlos Vega, a former veteran homicide prosecutor, in his Democratic primary challenge against Krasner. But Vega, after reading Thursdays email, said he didnt want the groups backing.

The views expressed in this email run counter to my beliefs and my record, Vega said. George Floyd was murdered. And we need to hold bad cops accountable, not make excuses for their behavior.

In this image from video, defense attorney Eric Nelson, left, and former Minneapolis police officer Derek Chauvin, right, listen as Assistant Minnesota Attorney General Matthew Frank, questions witness Donald Williams on Tuesday. (Court TV via AP, Pool)AP

Chauvin, now on trial, knelt on George Floyds neck for more than nine minutes during an arrest last May, according to prosecutors. His death set off protests across the nation and a reckoning about systemic racism and policing.

Thursdays email inaccurately blamed Floyd for his own death, declaring: Lets get one thing clear: George Floyd tested positive for COVID-19 and was high on a lethal dose of fentanyl when he died.

The Hennepin County Medical Examiners Office ruled Floyds death a homicide, listing the cause as cardiopulmonary arrest complicating law enforcement subdual, restraint and neck compression.

Heart disease, hypertension, fentanyl intoxication, and recent methamphetamine use were cited as other significant conditions for Floyd but not as a cause of his death.

Demonstrators gather to protest the death of George Floyd, Monday, June 1, 2020, near the White House in Washington. Floyd died after being restrained by Minneapolis police officers. (AP Photo/Evan Vucci, file)AP

The groups fundraising pitch also decried unhinged radical cop haters, accused Black Lives Matter of profiting from Floyds death, claimed the mainstream media was hiding the truth, and that Protect Our Police PAC is leading the counterassault against the calls for kangaroo courts, double-standards, and slander against police officers in our country.

Not all cops are bad or bastards, Gerace wrote Friday. There are almost 800,000 law enforcement officers in the U.S. and the vast majority serve the public with distinction and integrity. However, there can be bad police officers and there are certain reforms that are necessary to increase the overall safety of our community and our law enforcement.

Krasner, a career defense and civil rights attorney, won office in 2017 while running as a criminal justice reformer. He has clashed repeatedly with the local chapter of the Fraternal Order of Police, which has given Vega $25,200 in campaign donations since December.

Krasner is now campaigning by linking Vega and the FOP to Protect Our Police PAC and former President Donald Trump.

The local FOP has given Protect Our Police $80,000 since last summer.

Protect Our Police PAC raised $738,000 in 2020, with $500,000 coming from Republican megadonor Timothy Mellon, who also gave $20 million last year to a political action committee trying to help Trump win a second term.

Mellon, who also donated $50 million to two other groups boosting Republicans in House and Senate races, self-published a 2015 autobiography that described Black people as even more belligerent because of social welfare programs, which he called slavery redux.

More:

Woman who smashed police car windshield with flagpole amid George Floyd protest pleads guilty, avoids jail

30 years after Rodney Kings beating by police, George Floyds friends see similiarities in historic cases
Astronomers have detected X-rays from Uranus for the first time, in findings that could help them learn more about the seventh planet from the sun.

In a study published by the Journal of Geophysical Research on Wednesday, scientists from the UK, France, America and China said they had detected X-rays emitted by the planet thanks to visuals taken by NASAs Chandra X-ray Observatory, a space telescope.

They studied observations taken in 2002 and 2017 by the Chandra observatory, detecting X-rays in the first observation and a flare of X-rays in those taken 15 years later, NASA said.

The paper said that Uranus and Neptune were, until these findings, the only planets in the solar system where X-rays had not been detected.

Uranus, a giant, icy planet about four times the diameter of Earth, is made up almost entirely of hydrogen and helium.

Read more:

It has two sets of rings around its equator and is unique among planets in the solar system for rotating on its side, nearly parallel to its path around the Sun. The rotation and magnetic field axes of the other planets are almost perpendicular to their orbit around the Sun.

Scattered X-ray lights from the sun have been observed on both Jupiter and Saturn, but not on Uranus or Neptune.

As with Jupiter and Saturn, NASA said that the cause for Uranus emitting X-rays was mainly the sun.

However, the NASA statement added that there are tantalising hints that at least one other source of X-rays is present, something that, if confirmed, could have intriguing implications for understanding Uranus.

The planets rings could be producing the X-rays. Uranus is surrounded by electrons and protons in nearby space, which, if they collide with the rings, could cause them to glow and emit X-rays.

Another possibility, NASA said, is that the X-rays have come from auroras on the planet. The bright colours seen in the northern lights and other auroras on Earth are caused by high-energy particles interacting with the atmosphere.

On Earth, these auroras emit X-rays because electrons travel down magnetic field lines to the poles and are slowed down by the atmosphere.

However, scientists are not sure what causes auroras on Uranus and, because of its unusual axis, auroras there could be unusually complex and variable.

Working out where the X-rays have come from could give astronomers clues about more exotic objects in space, like growing black holes and neutron stars, NASA said.
Metro Manila (CNN Philippines, April 3)  The OCTA Research Team favors extending the enhanced community quarantine in Metro Manila, Rizal, Cavite, Bulacan, and Laguna or NCR Plus for at least a week, saying seven days are not enough to slow the spread of COVID-19.

"This one-week ECQ is certainly not enough. We are definitely not out of the woods, and we need an additional week and maybe more," OCTA Research fellow Ranjit Rye said in a briefing Saturday.

"If the R [reproduction number] does not drop dramatically in the next 7 days, the national government has to be prepared to consider an additional third week of ECQ," Rye added.

OCTA fellow Dr. Guido David said in the same briefing the reproduction number in Metro Manila, the epicenter of the local coronavirus outbreak, is currently at 1.65. It may go down to 1.33 a week from now and further reduced to 1.09 by April 16 if the ECQ is extended for at least seven more days.

David noted the cases in the NCR Plus are still on an upward trend, but the coronavirus was not spreading as fast as last week as suggested by a slightly lower reproduction number this week. He said the region's reproduction number was almost 2 or 1.96 a week ago.

David warned if the restrictions are eased after April 4, the supposed end date of the ECQ in NCR Plus or the Greater Manila area, the country may begin to log an average of around 12,000 to 13,000 new cases daily, which would "overwhelm" hospitals in the region, many of which are already full of COVID-19 patients.

The Department of Health earlier recommended extending the ECQ until April 11 to see a significant drop in new COVID-19 cases and hospital admissions.

OCTA said if the ECQ is prolonged in the Greater Manila area, and the two-week lockdown was able to slow the COVID-19 transmission rate, then the NCR Plus should shift to a modified ECQ first before transitioning to a more lenient general community quarantine "to sustain the gains we have achieved."

The country has been experiencing a fresh surge in coronavirus infections since last month. On Friday, it recorded 15,310 new COVID-19 cases  another all-time high  but the DOH said 3,709 of these infections were part of a backlog from March 31.
Termination of the business combination with

Second Sight Medical Products, Inc.

Paris, France, April 3, 2021  Considering the private placement recently announced and closed by Second Sight Medical Products, Inc. (Second Sight) was not only explicitly prohibited under the terms of the memorandum of understanding (MOU) entered into by the companies on January 5, 20211 but also detrimental to Pixium Visions interests, the company has offered Second Sight to renegotiate the MOU in order to allow the pursuit of the business combination while preserving the contractual balance and the interests of Pixium Vision and its shareholders. Pixium Vision regrets that Second Sight never responded to the proposals it made in good faith nor demonstrated any willingness to reach such agreement.

Following this delaying attitude and refusal to enter into discussions, Second Sight notified Pixium Vision on Friday its decision to unilaterally terminate the MOU, notwithstanding that the MOU does not provide Second Sight with this right.

Pixium Vision acknowledges the unilateral and wrongful termination by Second Sight of the MOU and the contemplated business combination. Consequently, Pixium Vision will consider all measures available (including any legal proceedings, in particular with the relevant stock exchange authorities) to preserve its rights and obtain compensation for its entire damages.

Such termination does not compromise the companys objectives in the context of the new compelling results with Prima System announced by Pixium Vision on March 30, 20212, an important step forward validating the Prima System as a treatment for dry age-related macular degeneration.

Lloyd Diamond, CEO of Pixium Vision commented: While we are naturally disappointed in the position being taken by Second Sight and that this business combination has not proceeded, Pixium Vision is in a strong position both financially and clinically, with a world-class Research & Development team and core expertise in vision neuromodulation and a solid patent portfolio. We are continuing our transition from a research organization to a commercially oriented company with the recent initiation of our PRIMAvera pivotal trial of the Prima System. Our ambition is to be the first company in the world to bring a retinal implant solution to the millions of people worldwide suffering with Dry-AMD and expand this to other retinal diseases. This is supported by the newly reported data showing patients could simultaneously use prosthetic central vision generated with the Prima System and their remaining peripheral vision. We are well positioned to continue the development of this exciting bionic vision system and bring it to market to improve patients quality of life.

Story continues

Pixium Vision is confident in its ability to present to its shareholders, at the annual general meeting, alternative financing solutions in order to enable the company to pursue the development of its activity. The company will study in the meantime any opportunity to access the US markets, one of the primary objectives pursued by Pixium Vision under the business combination with Second Sight, which is in the best interest of patients and its shareholders.

Contacts

Pixium Vision

Lloyd Diamond

Chief Executive Officer

investors@pixium-vision.com

+33 1 76 21 47 49 Pixium Vision

Guillaume Renondin

Chief Financial Officer

investors@pixium-vision.com

+33 1 76 21 47 49 Investor relation

LifeSci Advisors

Guillaume van Renterghem

gvanrenterghem@lifesciadvisors .com

+33 6 69 99 37 83

Pixium Vision is creating a world of bionic vision for those who have lost their sight, enabling them to regain visual perception and greater autonomy. Pixium Visions bionic vision systems are associated with a surgical intervention and a rehabilitation period. Prima System sub-retinal miniature photovoltaic wireless implant is in clinical testing for patients who have lost their sight due to outer retinal degeneration, initially for atrophic dry age-related macular degeneration (dry AMD). Pixium Vision collaborates closely with academic and research partners, including some of the most prestigious vision research institutions in the world, such as: Stanford University in California, Institut de la Vision in Paris, Moorfields Eye Hospital in London, Institute of Ocular Microsurgery (IMO) in Barcelona, University hospital in Bonn, and UPMC in Pittsburgh, PA. The company is EN ISO 13485 certified and qualifies as Entreprise Innovante by Bpifrance.

For more information: http://www.pixium-vision.com/fr

Follow us on @PixiumVision ; www.facebook.com/pixiumvision

www.linkedin.com/company/pixium-vision















1 Cf. press release issued by Pixium Vision on March 24, 2021

2 Cf. press release issued by Pixium Vision on March 30, 2021





Attachment




This last week has shown how difficult it is to have a nuanced discussion on race issues in the UK, especially when you belong to an ethnic minority, WRITES KEMI BADENOCH.

The Commission for Race and Ethnic Disparities was set up last year following the emotional outpouring of Black Lives Matter and evidence that Covid-19 was having a disproportionate impact on minority groups. It was established to understand the root causes of these inequalities and to find solutions.

Its members represent a cross-section of people, all but one from an African, Asian or Caribbean background. They are not a part of the race-relations industry, but come from all walks of life and include a space scientist, a police officer and a teacher as well as Dr Tony Sewell, an educationist who runs a charity helping young black people into science and maths careers.

Equalities minister Kemi Badenoch (pictured) writes that the commission was established to understand the root causes of inequalities and to find solutions

They are united in their desire to make this country a better place for everyone, whether they are black, brown or white. And their mandate was to produce recommendations based on data and evidence, not just personal opinion.

The way they have been treated since the report's publication has gone well beyond the boundaries of robust debate, however. And this clearly highlights one of the reasons why conversations on race have become so toxic. The fact is that some people have made it their mission to punish any member of an ethnic minority who steps out of line and dares to give an alternative view. This creates a chilling effect.

Cambridge don's 'Goebbels' jibe A Cambridge University professor has sparked outrage by comparing the chairman of the Government's race commission to Joseph Goebbels. Dr Priyamvada Gopal initially questioned whether Dr Tony Sewell even had a doctorate. Dr Priyamvada Gopal initially questioned whether Dr Tony Sewell even had a doctorate After finding out that he possesses one from the University of Nottingham, she made the comparison to Adolf Hitler's minister of propaganda. Dr Gopal, a professor of post-colonial studies, wrote on Twitter: 'Okay, established. It is, in fact, Dr Sewell. Fair enough. Even Dr Goebbels had a research PhD. (University of Heidelberg, 1921).' The tweet drew widespread criticism. Former ITV News presenter Alastair Stewart said: 'This is obscene and devalues anything and everything you have to say.' Cambridge University distanced itself from Dr Gopal's 'gratuitous comment' but defended her right to express her views. Advertisement

I know that many black and brown people disagree with the usual suspects who dominate the discussion. Yet they say nothing because the fear of being maligned is too great. In the past few days, the Commissioners have faced death threats, harassment at their places of work and an unbelievable amount of abuse on social media.

Their staff and colleagues have been vilified. Dr Priyamvada Gopal, a well-known Cambridge academic, questioned whether Dr Sewell had a PhD and compared him to Nazi propagandist Joseph Goebbels. Labour MP Clive Lewis brandished an image of a white hood and compared Dr Sewell  a black Caribbean man  to a member of the Ku Klux Klan. To say this is grossly offensive is an understatement.

Dr Sewell's request that teachings of slavery in the Caribbean should also recognise that black people preserved their humanity and triumphed over adversity has been distorted to suggest he was claiming they enjoyed their subjugation.

The report does not deny racism. In fact, it acknowledges that overt racism persists in the UK  but states that this is different from institutional racism. The report's authors explain how they came to these conclusions and propose solutions to the disparities they have identified. Theirs is not a controversial view. Yet there is now a concerted attempt to claim that anyone who holds this view is a racist or an apologist for racism.

And, partly as a result, the report's 258 pages, its findings and recommendations have barely been discussed. Genuine solutions that could help heal divisions in society have been ignored. What message are we sending people who would like to enter public life?

The commissioners do not have the support of any political party. They are accomplished people who came together in public service but now are paying a price for giving an honest opinion. They deserve a fair hearing.

The Sewell Commission was an opportunity to move away from discussions of 'culture wars' towards a balanced, informed discussion about race and opportunity in the United Kingdom. I know most people in this country want that, too. I would encourage them to read the report and come to their own conclusions.

What's REALLY in the race report the Left was too busy ranting to read? The complex findings about multi-racial Britain by authors who did NOT say racism doesn't exist

Despite a landmark report this week concluding that Britain is a model for other countries when dealing with matters of race, a chorus of voices from the Left have condemned its findings.

Among the most inflammatory attacks on the Commission on Race and Ethnic Disparities' report were that it 'sweeps the history of slavery under the table', and that it is 'patronising' and 'historically illiterate'.

But such comments gloss over detailed research in the report that provides a fascinating insight into today's multi-racial Britain.

Education expert Dr Tony Sewell (pictured) led the Commission on Race and Ethnic Disparities

Led by education expert Dr Tony Sewell, the commission did not claim that racism doesn't exist in the UK but that racial inequalities have narrowed in education and employment.

It argued that many problems blamed on racism are complicated, varied and linked to tradition, economics, class and other social factors  as this snapshot of the findings in the 258-page report makes clear.

The report argues that many problems blamed on racism are complicated, varied and linked to tradition, economics, class and other social factors

Poverty affects educational achievement more than race. Poor pupils lag more than two years behind in areas such as Blackpool, Knowsley and Plymouth  all almost exclusively white.

The pay-gap between white and ethnic-minority groups has closed to 2.3 per cent. Chinese and Indian employees now earn 'notably more' than the white average.

Life expectancy and mortality rates show that ethnic minorities do better overall than the white population and have better outcomes for many of the 25 leading causes of death. Britain's worst life expectancy is in the North East  which is one of the whitest regions.

Statistics show that last year, 15 per cent of all families were single-parent  but 63 per cent of black Caribbean children, and 43 per cent of black African children, grow up in one-parent households. The figure is just six per cent for Indian families.

Although ethnic minorities represent 16 per cent of the population, nearly 50 per cent of doctors working in NHS hospitals are from an ethnic minority  as are 21 per cent of lawyers.

Poor white boys achieve the lowest GCSE grades. Only 39.1 per cent of white boys got grade 5 or above in English and Maths in 2019, compared with 49 per cent of Asian boys.

Keith Fraser, 54, the former police superintendent and chair of the Youth Justice Board for England and Wales, was also part of the commission

Last year, white students were least likely to go to university (32.6 per cent), compared with nearly half of black pupils and 71 per cent of Chinese. However, ethnic-minority students are more likely to drop out, achieve lower exam results or have lower earnings after graduating.

The children of recent migrants perform particularly well at school, but long-term analysis suggests that such attainment tails off in subsequent generations.

The proportion of people, according to opinion polls, who believe that you must be white to be 'truly British' has declined from 18 per cent in 2006 to seven per cent now.

Rather than 'racism' being a factor, employers may hire in their own image and choose new staff based on their 'cultural fit', or 'chemistry' because of 'affinity bias'. The report says: 'All people, not just white people, are subject to these biases.'

Born in Kenya, Mercy Muroki was part of the commission. The 25-year-old attended a school with no electricity. Aged five, she arrived in West London with her parents and sister

Black Caribbean and Arab women earn more on average per hour (12.09 and 12.49 respectively  based on figures for 2019) than white British women, who got 11.21 an hour.

Black people are three times more likely to be arrested than white people  but juries are not more likely to convict ethnic minority defendants. Gangs and gang-related violence are linked to broken families, and not restricted to black communities. In the North, they are largely linked with white communities.

Black African men were almost 3.4 times more likely to die of Covid-19 in the first wave of the pandemic than white British men. But this was related to an increased risk of infection  living in multi-generational households, working in public-facing jobs  rather than from any difference in treatment or their ethnicity alone.

Some ethnic-minority groups live longer and are less likely to be diagnosed with cancer than white people, despite living in more deprived communities.
The Kentucky Derby is referred to as the greatest two minutes in sports for a reason. The horse racing is exciting and allbut were willing to bet that the real reason people anticipate this two-minute event all spring long is the food. This year, were bringing out all the Southern and Southern-inspired stops for the tastiest viewing party imaginable on May 1. Heres the best Kentucky Derby food to whip up at home, from pimento cheese to Kentucky hot brown sandwiches.

RELATED: How to Make a Mint Julep, According to the Former Official Mixologist of the Kentucky Derby

1. Deviled Eggs, Three Ways

Aka the quintessential hors doeuvre for a Derby party. We spiced up the original with roasted garlic, crispy capers and spicy sriracha.

Get the recipe

2. Mini Chicken and Waffles

Set down a couple dozen of these toothpicked cuties and theyll vanish in 30 seconds flatthats the easy part. The hard part is choosing between hot sauce and syrup for dipping.

Get the recipe

3. Spring Crudites with Romesco Sauce

This stunning melange of seasonal produce would also taste divine with a side of benedictine spread, a dip that originated in Louisville thats made with cream cheese and cucumbers.

Get the recipe

4. Rodney Scotts Pimento Cheese

It doesnt get more authentically Southern than this spicy app, made from freshly shredded sharp cheddar cheese and diced pimiento peppers. Follow Scotts lead by serving them with pork skins and celery.

Get the recipe

5. Sweet Corn Spoonbread

Kentucky hosts an annual spoonbread festival every fall, and its no surprise why. Think of spoonbread as an airier, moister version of cornbread. (This recipe boasts three types of corn to boot.)

Get the recipe

6. Fried Green Tomatoes

Since green tomatoes are picked early, theyre firmer in texturemeaning they can hold their shape in a deep fryer. If youve never tried them, fried green tomatoes are tart and soft on the inside and crunchy and savory on the outside. Serve them with a zingy remoulade.

Story continues

Get the recipe

7. Sriracha Shrimp Skewers with Collard-Peach Salad

Trade cold shrimp salad for a sweet-and-spicy starter that celebrates Southern produce (and screams summer). Fire up the barbecue if its warm enough or use a grill pan on the stove instead.

Get the recipe

8. Easy Skillet Beer and Cheddar Fondue

Beer cheese is a Kentucky delicacy thats typically served with crackers and raw veggies. Honor the dish with this elevated fondue that only calls for three ingredients. (P.S.: Use a bottle of dark, flat beer for bolder flavor.)

Get the recipe

9. Everything Chicken Wings

Buffalo wings are delicious, but sticky, orange-tinted fingers definitely arent. Try this three-ingredient crowd pleaser on for size insteadbonus points for making your own everything bagel seasoning.

Get the recipe

10. Hush Puppies

Theyre basically little golden-brown morsels of fried cornbread. Need we say more?

Get the recipe

11. Kentucky Hot Brown

Invented at the historic Brown Hotel in Louisville, this open-faced sandwich is piled high with turkey breast, bacon and mornay sauce, which is basically a cheese-infused bechamel.

Get the recipe

12. Buttermilk-Battered Pan-Fried Fish Fillets

Whether you go with flounder, grouper or trout, one things for sure: Youll be needing a heck of a lot of homemade tartar sauce to go with it.

Get the recipe

13. Slow Cooker 13-Bean Burgoo Stew

In Kentucky, burgoo is usually a communal dish served at social events or fundraisers. Traditionally, each attendee brings an ingredient to contribute to the stew. While the meats and veggies can vary, this take stars chicken, okra, corn, potatoes and all the beans.

Get the recipe

14. Yogurt Biscuits with Honey Butter

Southern biscuits are usually all about the butter, but we traded it for tangy Greek yogurt, which will keep the dough incredibly moist. Dont worry though, theyre brushed with honey butter before baking for good measure.

Get the recipe

15. Shrimp Boil Skewers with Corn, Sausage and Potatoes

Not only do these ingenious skewers minimize the mess, but theyre also coated generously with spicy Cajun butter before being grilled.

Get the recipe

16. Sweet Tea Fried Chicken

Theres absolutely *nothing* wrong with regular ol fried chicken. But using sweet tea in the brine creates a delicious contrast between the sweet meat and salty breading.

Get the recipe

17. Grits

Any side that calls for a whole stick of butter is a side after our own heart. Serve the grits with shrimp, salmon croquettes or bacon and eggs at pre-race brunch.

Get the recipe

18. Julia Turshens Skillet Cornbread with Cheddar and Scallions

Buttermilk, sharp cheddar and spring scallions make this treat a no-brainer. The cast-iron skillet takes it over the top by creating the most drool-worthy crust on the breads bottom and sides.

Get the recipe

19. Peach Cobbler

A timeless Southern classic if there ever was one. Serve it warm with a scoop of vanilla ice cream (but were guessing you already knew that).

Get the recipe

20. Mini Caramel Pecan Pies with Cinnamon Roll Pie Crust

The only thing better than digging into an ooey-gooey slice of pie is having a bunch of mini pies all to yourself. Dont forget the whipped cream.

Get the recipe

RELATED: 28 Soul Food Recipes that Southerners Swear By (and Northerners Need to Try)
Chennai, April 3 : In a virulent attack on the opposition in Tamil Nadu, BJP President J.P. Nadda said on Saturday that DMK stands for 'dynasty, money and katta panchayat (kangaroo court)'.

Nadda also said that forcing an atheist like DMK President M.K. Stalin to hold a 'Vel', the weapon of Lord Murugan, was BJP's victory.

Addressing an election rally in Modakurichi in Tamil Nadu's Erode district, Nadda also launched a scathing attack on DMK's ally, the Congress, saying that the two parties are involved in 2G, 3G and 4G corruptions.

On the other hand, Nadda praised Prime Minister Narendra Modi for taking Tamil -- the oldest language with proper grammar -- to the global stage like in the United Nations, besides bringing various development projects to the southern state.

Attacking the DMK-Congress combine, Nadda said, "2G means two generations of Maran family corruption. 3G means three generations of Gandhi (Congress) family corruption and 4G means four generations of Stalin (DMK President M.K. Stalin) family corruption," Nadda said.

Pointing out that Stalin never condemned the Karuppar Koottam that denigrated Lord Murugan's prayer song 'Kanda Shasti Kavacham', Nadda said the DMK leader was forced to hold a Vel in his hands due to the BJP.

It is a victory for the BJP as an atheist like Stalin held the Vel, Nadda said.

The BJP alleged that DMK and its allies were behind the Karuppar Koottam incident.

According to Nadda, the DMK and the Congress are against regional aspirations and citied the ban on Jallikattu - Tamil Nadu's traditional bull taming sport - to substantiate his claim.

Nadda said it was the Congress government at the Centre that had banned Jallikattu, while the DMK was silent on the matter.

But it was Narendra Modi who understood the regional sentiments and allowed the resumption of Jallikattu, Nadda said.

The BJP President also said that the Central government has good representation from Tamil Nadu, citing the presence of Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman and External Affairs Minister S. Jaishankar, both of whom are from the southern state.

Nadda also said that the Central government has sanctioned several major projects like the Defence Corridor and others for Tamil Nadu.

Big leaders of DMK have spoken against women and Dalits and they have to be taught a lesson, he said.

Nadda also appealed to the voters to vote for the candidates of AIADMK, BJP and PMK to avoid the emergence of 'katta' panchayat, long power cuts and 'goonda raj'.

For a third time, the DMK-Congress combine will be rejected by the people in the Tamil Nadu Assembly polls slated for April 6, he said.

-- The story has been published from a wire feed without any modifications to the text
NORTHAMPTON  A 77-year-old Northampton man was released with conditions after he was arraigned on a single count of vehicular homicide by negligent operation in connection with the October death of a Huntington motorcyclist on Route 66 in Westhampton.

Thomas Hanley entered a not guilty plea during the virtual hearing in Northampton District Court Friday.

Mary Carey, spokesperson for the Northwestern district attorneys office, said Hanely was ordered by Judge Laurie MacLeod not to drive while the case is open.

Massachusetts State Police investigators allege that Hanley was driving his pickup truck on Main Road (Route 66) in Westhampton on the afternoon of Oct. 22 when he turned across the double-yellow line into the path of David Fosters motorcycle.

The truck and motorcycle collided, critically injuring Foster. He was transported by ambulance to the Baystate Medical Center but later died of his injuries.

Vehicular homicide by negligent operation is a misdemeanor charge in Massachusetts and carries a maximum sentence of 2 years in jail and a mandatory 15-year loss of license.

Hanley is due back in court on June 14 for a pretrial hearing.
The past week has seen a significant escalation of fighting between the Ukrainian army and Russian-backed separatists in the Donbass region. While the Western media is decrying an alleged Russian aggression, the military clashes have, in fact, taken place against the backdrop of a series of major provocations by the Ukrainian government which is calculating to receive NATO support in a potential war with Russia.

The level of tensions between Russia and Ukraine is greater now than at any time since a US-German-backed coup by far-right forces toppled the Yanukovich government in February 2014. The coup, part of a decades-long strategy by imperialism to encircle Russia, triggered the annexation of Crimea by the Kremlin and a civil war in the east of the country, which has claimed the lives of over 13,500 people.

A Ukrainian soldier, donning U.S. made equipment, takes his front line position at destroyed Butovka coal mine in the town of Avdiivka in the Donetsk region, Ukraine. (AP Photo/Vitali Komar)

Earlier in March, Kiev approved a strategy aimed at recovering Crimea. The peninsula in the Black Sea is of major geopolitical importance and and home to the naval base of Russias Black Sea fleet. Any move by Kiev to seize it would be tantamount to a declaration of war.

On March 25, Ukrainian president Volodymyr Zelensky approved a new military strategy which emphasizes the need to prepare for the mobilization of the entire population in a war against Russia that would be conducted on Ukrainian soil. The strategy acknowledged that no such war could be won without NATO support and mentions Ukraines planned accession to the military alliance no less than 19 times.

In a recent interview, the commander-in-chief of the Ukrainian armed forces, Colonel General Ruslan Khomchak, discussed a possible offensive to retake the separatist-controlled Donbass in East Ukraine. Acknowledging that such an offensive would require huge civilian casualties, Khomchak stressed that Zelensky has every power to give the command or take a decision.

At the same time, a hysterical anti-Russian atmosphere is being whipped up in Ukraine. Over the past months, Zelensky has cracked down on key outlets and TV channels of the pro-Russian faction of the Ukrainian oligarchy. The leader of the opposition, the billionaire Viktor Medvedchuk, who has close ties to the Kremlin, has been sanctioned. On Friday, the head of the Independent Miners Union, Mikhail Volyntsev, spoke in the Ukrainian Rada (parliament), accusing Russia of a supposed attack on Ukraines electrical grid.

This week, reports have emerged of significant Russian troop movements in Crimea and East Ukraine, involving infantry fighting vehicles and anti-tank missiles. Reports have also indicated that Belarusian troops are being mobilized on the border of Ukraine.

On Wednesday, the Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov has warned that Ukraine may take provocative actions which could lead to war. He accused the US of using Ukraine as a means to create conditions for war, stating, The West is preparing for nothing less than war with us. That same day, Russian president Vladimir Putin met with German Chancellor Angela Merkel and French president Emmanuel Macron to discuss the situation in Ukraine.

On Friday, US President Joe Biden spoke with Zelensky for the first time since he took office. Biden pledged unwavering support for Ukraine against Russia. Throughout the week, there were at least three high-level calls between the American and Ukrainian government, involving Secretary of State Antony Blinken, the Joint Chiefs Chairman General Mark Milley and Defense Secretary Lloyd Austin. The Wall Street Journal described the crisis as a test for the Biden administration.

Map of the Black Sea region

Since coming into office, the Biden administration has made clear that it would pursue an extremely aggressive course toward Russia. In one of his first foreign policy acts as president, Biden bombed an Iranian-backed Iraqi militia position on the Syria-Iraq border, a move that was targeted against not just Iran, but also Russia. At a NATO summit last week, the NATO powers launched a NATO 2030 effort to prepare for nuclear war against Russia and China. Just before the summit, Biden called Putin a killer without a soul in an interviewan extraordinary attack on the head of state of another countrytriggering a diplomatic crisis. Underlying the growing danger of war and the increasingly reckless moves of the imperialist powers and their allies is the profound crisis of the world capitalist system which has been significantly accelerated by the coronavirus pandemic.

In Ukraine, the social and political crisis is particularly sharp. Over a year into the pandemic, the coronavirus is ripping through the impoverished population completely unchecked. On April 1, 421 people died, and new daily infections hit the second highest number in the pandemic. Over 33,200 people have officially died from the virus, but the real number is likely much higher. With hospitals overwhelmed and some people reportedly taking medication meant for animals, an adviser to the Ukrainian health ministry recommended people who contracted COVID-19 to be prepared to die at home.

The same imperialist powers that have pumped billions of dollars into Ukraines far right and military to prepare for war against Russia have refused to provide any meaningful help with COVID-19 vaccine distribution. The Zelensky government has rejected the Russian Sputnik V vaccine, arguing that accepting it would mean a geopolitical blow. As a result, only 220,000 people out of a population of 44 million had received the first jab of a vaccine and only two individuals were fully vaccinated as of March 30. Millions of migrant workers have lost their jobs, while many more were laid off or experienced significant income losses. In the war zone in East Ukraine, millions of people lack access to drinking water, with some villages having no access to water at all, according to UNICEF. Like capitalist governments across the world, the Ukrainian government, far from doing anything to alleviate the social suffering, used the crisis to carry out further social attacks on the working class.

While the Ukrainian oligarchys reckless provocations are no doubt in part an effort to divert the enormous class tensions outward, the main driving force behind the conflict is the historic decline of US imperialism and its efforts to offset it by military means. Aiming to gain full control over the vast resources of the former Soviet Union, the US and NATO have systematically encircled Russia since 1991 and orchestrated numerous coups on its borders, including two in Ukraine, in 2004 and 2014.

A 2019 document by the RAND Corporation, one of the most important think tanks advising the US government, outlined a strategy of forcing Russia to overextend itself militarily in conflicts on its borders. The aim of this strategy is to weaken the Putin regime economically and politically while enabling the US to focus more directly on its main strategic rival: China. The military conflict in East Ukraine is a central part of that strategy.

The report noted, The Ukrainian military already is bleeding Russia in the Donbass region (and vice versa). Providing more U.S. military equipment and advice could lead Russia to increase its direct involvement in the conflict and the price it pays for it. It then warned that such a strategy could come at a significant cost to the US itself and was extremely risky, yet it is precisely this strategy that the US has been pursuing.

Over the past seven years, the US has spent hundreds of millions of dollars on the Ukrainian military, and US military advisers play a major role in training the Ukrainian army. The RAND Corporation acknowledged that all its proposed strategies involved the risk of an uncontrollable military escalation, including the deployment of nuclear weaponsrisks US imperialism is clearly prepared to take.

The working class is confronting the catastrophic consequences of the 1991 dissolution of the USSR by the Soviet bureaucracy, which grew out of the Stalinist betrayal of the socialist October revolution of 1917. As the ICFI wrote at the time, the dissolution of the USSR did not mark the end of socialism, much less a period of the triumph of capitalism. Rather, it opened up a new period of imperialist wars of plunder and social revolution. 30 years later, this assessment has been fully confirmed. The critical question now is the construction of a socialist anti-war movement in the working class, based on these historical lessons. For more on the dissolution of the Soviet Union, click here.
Police in St Louis County were called to a shopping mall in the city of Des Peres amid reports of a gun being fired, in an altercation between two groups.

Eric Hall, chief of Des Peres police, said: 'The center has been secured and there is no further threat to the community.'

No one was injured, according to local news channel KMOV.

Steve Stein, assistant director of security at the West County Mall, told DailyMail.com that gunshots rang out around 7:45pm.

He said the mall was due to close at 8pm, and there were 'a number of people' inside.

'Everybody is in lockdown, and there are police everywhere,' he told DailyMail.com

'The police are trying to secure the building. There are a number of people in lockdown, and we're just waiting for the all clear.'

The West County mall in St Louis, Missouri, is currently in lockdown, security sources said

The mall is located in Des Peres, a city in West St Louis County located around 15 miles from downtown St Louis and the Mississippi river.

Missouri Highway Patrol told KSDK News that the shooting was the result of an argument between two people.

They said one person is in custody.

Workers inside the mall said they heard gunshots.

Chad Pearson, who was shopping at the time, told KMOV4: 'We were going to stop at one more store, and all of a sudden, just a loud pop.

'I turned back and I see kids start running.

'Then three more. Pop. Pop. Pop.'
.......... .......... .......... .......... .......... .......... .......... .......... .......... .......... .......... .......... .......... .......... .......... .......... .......... ..........

Copyright  2021 Albuquerque Journal

CHIMAYO  They didnt cancel the crucifixion, said Eli Castellano of Albuquerque, one of hundreds who visited El Santuario de Chimayo on Good Friday, despite the Archdiocese of Santa Fe closing the sacred site in the days leading up to Easter.

State officials also urged people not to make the annual pilgrimages to Chimayo and Tome Hill in Valencia County due to the still lingering COVID-19 pandemic, but many still did.

Typically, tens of thousands of people walk to the 200-year-old sanctuary on Good Friday each year to ask for healing, seek blessings and say prayers of thanks. But this year, the numbers appeared to be only in the hundreds, due to precautions taken during the pandemic. The archdiocese announced the cancelation of the pilgrimages for the second year in a row in the interest of public safety.

But that didnt stop some.

ADVERTISEMENTSkip



................................................................

Ive been doing this all my life, said Diego Lucero, who was walking down N.M. 503 with his wife and four children. We listened to the governor last year, but this is tradition.

And because we want our kids to carry on the tradition, and our grandkids, added his wife, Anastasia.
Man who suffered horrific sexual abuse at the hands of foster dad speaks of how North Wales charity helped change his life

This article is old - Published: Saturday, Apr 3rd, 2021

A man has bravely spoken of how he overcame suicidal feelings and years of alcohol misuse after being sexually abused by his foster father at the age of 13.

Paul, now 42, said he owed his life to counsellors at the Rape and Sexual Abuse Support Centre (RASASC) North Wales who gave him one-to-one support to help him recover from his horrific childhood experiences and rebuild his life.

He was speaking after it was revealed RASASC NW  which receives funding from North Wales Police and Crime Commissioner Arfon Jones  has been awarded the Lime Culture Independent Accreditation Programme Quality Mark for achieving the Quality Standards for Services Supporting Male Victims/Survivors of Sexual Violence.

The centre, which offers therapy and support to anyone of any gender aged over three whose lives have been affected by child sexual abuse, rape, sexual abuse or any form of sexual violence, provides a service across all six North Wales counties.





Last year, the service saw its highest-ever number of referrals at 628  including 78 men who made up 14% of the total.

The survivor, whose identity we are protecting, said he had been sexually abused after entering foster care when he lost his mother.

The abuse had lasted for three years until he left and stayed with friends. He subsequently learned there had been other victims and the perpetrator later went to prison.

Paul said the abuse had a huge impact on the rest of his life and his mental health.

I couldnt talk to anyone, I felt ashamed and started drinking to try and forget what was happening, he said.

I was fighting and stealing alcohol, I got into trouble with the police. I was very depressed, the more depressed I felt the more I drank.

I was in a dark place and I started to think that suicide was the only way out. I became angry and fell out with friends and everyone around me, I felt alone and desperate and didnt know how to change things.

I drank to numb out the pain and things got so bad I woke up asleep on a pavement, I didnt know where I was and had no money. This was the turning point. I realised I was on a one way road to self-destruction, I knew I was going to die young if I didnt get help and change.

Paul finally opened up many years later to his social worker and was handed a leaflet on RASASC.

The charity was formed in 1984 as the Rape Crisis Line and has more than 36 years experience of supporting individuals in North Wales who have been subjected to sexual violence at any time in their lives.

As well as providing one-to-one counselling and support, the organisation delivers training and advice for other organisations in an effort to raise awareness of sexual violence and its long-term consequences and outreach work in schools and universities to prevent sexual violence.

I was so scared making that phone call, but its the best thing Ive done, said the survivor.

My counsellor was a lovely lady, she listened and she believed. She understood my pain. I wouldnt be here without her and RASASC NW.

Talking about how I felt about and what had happened, working on my anger issues, they helped me realise it was never my fault and that I could find healthier ways of coping. Ive stopped drinking, been sober for been months, Im really proud of myself and finally feeling positive about the future.

Commissioner Jones, a former police inspector, has pledged to tackle sexual violence and increase support for survivors across North Wales, making it one of his five key priorities in the North Wales Police and Crime Plan.

I am very proud of the efforts of RASASC NW and the huge difference counsellors make to victims lives, he said.

The Quality Mark accreditation is testament to the expertise, determination and skill of the RASASC team and is further reassurance to victims and survivors of the quality counselling services being offered, particularly in respect of male sexual violence.

While many more men are stepping forward for help, we know that these are just the tip of the iceberg and many more continue to suffer their emotional pain in silence. I hope the courageous actions of this survivor encourage many more men to seek help to move on from these horrific experiences.

Fflur Emlyn, operations manager for RASASC NW, said data suggested it took an average of 26 years for a male survivor to come forward for help.

That is significantly longer than for female survivors, she said.

We also find therapy takes longer on average for men than the average length of therapy for female survivors while suicide rates of male survivors are much higher than they are for females.

Self-harm rates are also high among male survivors. The symptoms of trauma are heightened with male survivors as they have the additional complexities of masculinity to process.

Between 15% and 25% of our referrals are male clients but we know thats not a true reflection of what is happening in Wales. We are not reaching every male survivor and opportunities like this to raise awareness and publicity really help.

Lime Culture accreditation is a long process and something we have been working towards for a year but we felt it necessary.

This Quality Mark demonstrates the commitment of RASASC North Wales to improving the quality of support for male victims/survivors. This is a fantastic achievement for which we are extremely proud of.

We are even more thrilled to have achieved these standards despite the pressures and stresses that have presented during COVID, demonstrating our commitment to offer high quality services to all sexual violence survivors in North Wales.

Many of our clients say if it wasnt for us they would not be alive and now they have a life again. The transformation is massive and the impact of therapy can be huge.

Without our core funds from the PCC and the Welsh Government, we would not be able to continue to offer this service to our clients. They would have nowhere else to go because there are no other organisations which work with people across Wales from the age of three.

The funding is much appreciated but we do provide a really good service to the people of North Wales.

Following RASASC NWs help, Paul is now planning to sign up for a course to help him get back into work and has made new friends. He has a strong message for other survivors who are reluctant to seek help.
Srinagar, April 3 : The anti-corruption bureau (ACB) arrested former chairman of J&K Bank, Parvez Ahmad Nengroo on Saturday in connection with a tender fraud case.

Sources said the ACB arrested Nengroo in connection with a case of awarding tenders of housekeeping to a Mumbai-based company by allegedly not following proper norms, thereby causing a loss of Rs. 6,29,56,575 to the bank.

"The case against Nengroo and four others was registered in October last year on the allegation that the officers of J&K Bank had awarded tenders of housekeeping to a Mumbai-based company by not following proper tendering norms and that has caused the bank a loss of Rs. 6,29,56,575.

"A team of ACB Kashmir raided Nengroo's residence in Srinagar today and arrested him in the case", sources said.
Yazmin Oukhellou proved she's enjoying her sunny new life in Dubai when she posed up a storm aboard a luxury yacht wearing a string bikini on Saturday.

Sharing a series of sizzling snaps on Instagram, the ex-TOWIE star, 26, flaunted her ample assets in a black two-piece before letting her hair down at a beach party.

Putting her toned physique on full display, Yazmin took to life at sea like a natural, looking back at the camera in a sultry snap.

Fun in the sun: Yazmin Oukhellou, 26, proved she's enjoying her sunny new life in Dubai when she posed up a storm aboard a luxury yacht wearing a string bikini on Saturday

In another photo, the former reality star lay on her front, captioning the cheeky photo: 'You made your bed.'

Yazmin later slipped into a plunging swimsuit and wore a full face of make-up as she rang in the Easter weekend eating sushi and drinking cocktails with her friends.

Sweeping her hair into a sleek ponytail for the sun-drenched festivities, Yazmin shared a clip of herself cradling an enormous bottle of vodka as she joked: 'Drinks anyone? Can I have a job? I'm the new waitress.'

The dark-haired beauty then showed off her group's impressive lunch spread, panning her camera over a table piled high with sushi platters, salads and chicken.

Stunning: Putting her toned physique on full display, the former TOWIE star took to life at sea like a natural in the sultry snaps

Yazmin - who teamed her black swimsuit with wedge wraparound heels - also posted a short video of herself giggling away with a friend, who declared to the camera: 'We're getting f**king tanked mate.'

The budding real estate mogul then proved she's fitting in well with the locals as she planted a kiss on a masked waitress' face, with the woman telling Yazmin's social media followers: 'She's the best.'

The festivities come after Yazmin 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'.

Party time: Yazmin later slipped into a plunging swimsuit and wore a full face of make-up as she rang in the Easter weekend eating sushi and drinking cocktails with her friends

New career? Sweeping her hair into a ponytail for the festivities, Yazmin shared a clip of herself cradling a bottle of vodka as she joked: 'Drinks anyone? Can I have a job?'

A spokesperson for TOWIE told The Sun: 'Yaz has decided to stay in Dubai to pursue a career in real estate so she won't 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.

Friends: Yazmin also posted a short video of herself giggling away with a friend, who declared to the camera: 'We're getting f**king tanked mate'

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.
STAMFORD  A person with untreated mental illness is 16 times more likely to die during a police encounter. If that individual happens to be a Black man, he is three times more likely to die than a white peer.

Thats according to a study from the nonprofit Treatment Advocacy Center and research from the Harvard T.H. Chan School of Public Health, respectively.

At the intersection of those two statistics sits the case of Steven Barrier, a 23-year-old Black man with schizophrenia, bipolar disorder and other disorders who died after suffering a heart attack while in police custody on Oct. 23, 2019  the day of his 23rd birthday.

Police were called by a family member when Barrier began experiencing a psychotic episode a night earlier, his family said. Though Barrier ran from police initially, he was arrested hours later upon returning home.

Barriers mother Valerie Jaddo said she watched helplessly as police officers physically overpowered her son, who she said was in desperate need of medical attention, and dragged him away in handcuffs.

That was the last time she saw Barrier alive.

Since that day, Jaddo has been fighting to ensure no one battling mental illness suffers the same fate as her son.

The only way to guarantee that, Jaddo claims, is to limit police involvement in the first place.

A model for the nation

As a part of a wrongful death lawsuit filed against Stamford, its police department and four individual officers last month, Jaddo and her co-plaintiff, the Connecticut Legal Rights Project (CLRP), are demanding multiple reforms aimed at aiding and protecting people like Barrier, who are undergoing mental health crises.

These proposed reforms, they hope, will provide a model of justice for people experiencing mental health crises not only in Stamford, but across the entire state and even nationally.

We cannot bring Steven back, but we hope that the injunctive relief we are calling for will ensure that no one else suffers the kind of mistreatment at the hands of the, in this case, Stamford Police Department, and hopefully this case will set an example for other towns and other police departments nationally, said attorney Alan Fuchsberg, who is overseeing the lawsuit.

The lawsuit asks the city to pay for the creation and maintenance of a a community-based mutual aid, peer-led system in Stamford that provides 24/7 availability to individuals dealing with mental health issues in the city.

Under the proposal, Stamford would need to provide this organization with a centrally located spot in Stamford that is readily reachable by public transit ... where people can seek respite.

The concept is not foreign to Stamford officials.

In fact, a city-led incident review panel  formed in the wake of the Barrier tragedy to ensure police are better equipped to deal with mental health situations  concluded that a safe house-type environment could be helpful for individuals to temporarily shelter when experiencing mental distress.

Kathy Flaherty, executive director for CLRP, said this peer-respite center would be managed by people with first-hand lived experience of extreme emotional distress and psychiatric disability, and it would provide confidential, individualized, non-medical support that would respect the dignity and autonomy of all program participants.

The goal, she said, is to treat those suffering from mental health conditions who would otherwise be vulnerable to mistreatment and arrest, with care and connection, not coercion and control.

When Barrier experienced mental health episodes, the family usually called one of three resources: the states 211 number, a helpline that connects people with human services and other resources; or urgent mental health centers like CT Renaissance or the F.S. Dubois Center.

When the crisis intervention center team comes, they talk to Steven and request his cooperation to accompany them to the hospital. They talk to Steven nicely, respectfully, and calm him down. They dont use force, his mother said.

But those mental health professionals werent available on that fateful night. Barriers final episode  much like others he experienced  happened in the evening, when those resources werent unavailable, and the only alternative was calling 911.

That lack of availability may have cost Steven his life, Jaddo said.

The problem, Flaherty said, is police responding to psych calls have different priories. Their mantra of take control quickly and get a hold of the situation by any means necessary often runs counter to what people experiencing mental health crises actually need at the time, she said.

This is not just a Stamford problem. This is not just a Connecticut problem. This is a United States of America problem. We need, and we deserve better, Flaherty said.

Instead of de-escalating the issue and speaking calmly to these individuals, Flaherty said police officers will try to assert their authority, inadvertently exacerbating the situation.

I would hope that police recognize that when we are saying that we dont want you responding to these calls, its because this is not what they do best. Society has been asking them to do this thing that they really arent trained for, she said. Its really unfair that we have placed this responsibility on police in the first place.

To remedy this, Flaherty has asked Stamford to fund a community-led mental health response team that would replace police as primary responders to psychiatric emergencies. The difference such a team would make in mental health emergencies could be a matter of life or death for people like Barrier, she said.

City, police officials say theyre making changes

City officials, however, believe police are still capable of handling mental health crises, provided the correct training and resources.

Stamford Police Chief Tim Shaw said the police department has already begun instituting some of the recommendations made by the city-organized incident review panel that recommended the safe house.

Since the Barrier incident, police have started responding to mental health calls in a different manner, Shaw said. This includes letting Emergency Medical Services act as the primary contact with the person experiencing the episode, instead of police, who have been delegated to a more background role, Shaw said.

We all know that when police show up, sometimes it can heighten their feelings of anxiety and things like that, so we dont go on those calls anymore, he said.

The chief said police are still in the area in case of emergency, but now they act as more of a last resort.

The department is also in the process of hiring a full-time social worker who will be embedded inside the department to assist officers on mental health calls. Shaw said this individual will act in a manner similar to what the CLRP is asking for with their mental health response team. This liaison will be responsible for follow-up calls, where they will try to link individuals with available resources throughout the community.

Were hoping that they can be that bridge were talking about, that in the future they can go out on calls with officers and give families the resources they need, Shaw said.

The department is also making a push to get all of its officers crisis intervention training. Shaw said the department currently has 100 officers certified but hopes that number will double by the end of the year.

Stamford Mayor David Martin called the departments recent initiatives a step in the right direction toward ensuring better outcomes for people.

Were taking the steps that we think will be constructive and will be positive, Martin said. Im moving down this line that I think is a responsible one that is good for all our citizens, especially the ones and their families that have this type of situation.

The solution or the problem?

But some, like Jaddo and the CLRP, believe the police industry just isnt equipped for the job. The solution, they claim, can only be found outside of the police force.

I dont think asking the police to figure out how to do this better is a viable solution, said Claudine Fox, public policy and advocacy director for American Civil Liberties Union of Connecticut.

Since 2001, Connecticut police officers have used deadly force and killed over 80 people, Fox said. She said while its difficult to quantify, from what the ACLU-CT has seen a large proportion of those people were either in mental health crisis or under the influence of substances.

There is a pattern, she said, of those people being met with some kind of violence.

Fox said this sort of handcuffs-and-guns methodology is not only ineffective, but actively harmful to the individuals experiencing these crises.

Instead of continuing to use police for these incidents, Fox supports the idea of a mobile crisis unit of trained public health professionals medical that would respond to situations where people are dealing with a mental health crisis.

Police arent trained to be mental health care workers. These people need help, and they dont need people showing up in this idea of de-escalating around locking someone up or the threat of violence, she said. Oftentimes, if people are in some kind of crisis, or are not in their normal state, small things can trigger a person, and having someone who is actually trained in de-escalation and bringing a person back down to their center or bringing them back to what is actually happening in the present is a better method.
BJP chief J P Nadda on Saturday targeted DMK leaders for allegedly using what he called 'foul language' against Dalits and dubbed the DMK and Congress as being 'synonymous' with corruption.

Accusing DMK leaders of using 'foul' language recently against Dalits, late AIADMK matriarch 'Amma' and women, he said it was very unfortunate.

One could understand what respect they have for Dalits and women, he said here, addressing a poll rally canvassing support for BJP's H Raja, who is contesting the April 6 Assembly polls from Karaikudi Assembly segment.

Such foul language was used while they were out of power and the way they would treat Dalits and women in the event of winning the polls is a 'million dollar question,' he said.

Earlier in Modakurichi, he said the statements of DMK leaders against Dalits and women were 'shameful' and the party has to be taught a lesson for it.

DMK Rajya Sabha MP R S Bharathi allegedly made derogatory comments against Scheduled Castes last year, following which a case was filed against him by police, he was arrested and got bail.

DMK's A Raja recently had spoken against Chief Minister K Palaniswami and over his 'birth', following which the Election Commission had taken his name off the list of that party's star campaigners and debarred him from campaigning for 48 hours.

Raja apologised,but claimed that his words were taken out of context and that he did not make any derogatory comments.

The DMK had strongly hit out at Jayalalithaa over various matters, including corruption issues in the past.

The top BJP leader said none should forget that both Congress and DMK are 'synonymous' with corruption.

Dynastic and corrupt parties, the DMK and Congress were defeated twice in polls and they should be drubbed for the third time too, he said.

While DMK lost the Assembly polls in 2011 and 2016, Congress was defeated in 2014 and 2019 Lok Sabha election, he noted.

Referring to the 'Karuppar Kootam' controversy of last year, he said it was his party and ally AIADMK that respected and took care of cultural values and people's sentiments.

Kootam is a fringe group that denigrated a spiritual hymn in praise of Lord Muruga and those involved were arrested.

Nadda said DMK chief M K Stalin never condemned that group, but following the success of his party's 'Vel yatra' last year, he was prompted to hold 'Vel' (weapon of Lord Muruga) and pose for pictures with it.

Hailing Tamil language,he said it is one of the oldest in the world. "It is a perfect language and has perfect grammar."



In 2019, Prime Minister Narendra Modi recited Tamil poet Kaniyan Poonkundranar's 'Yaadum Oorey' verses that denote unity.

Nadda accused the Congress of being 'opportunistic' and 'mentally bankrupt.'



In Kerala, Congress fought against the CPI(M), while in West Bengal, the grand old party and the Left were 'hand in glove' to oppose the BJP, he said.

"The same way the CPI(M) and Congress are fighting BJP in Assam. This is the mental bankruptcy and the ideological bankruptcy of the Congress party."



The saffron party leader lashed out at Congress for 'joining hands with communal forces,' but falsely terming the BJP as communal.

The Congress has an alliance with the Muslim League in Kerala, 'Abbas Siddiqui' (Indian Secular Front) in Bengal and 'Badruddin Ajmal' (All India United Democratic Front) in Assam, he said.

The 'corrupt' Congress party has to be eradicated 'lock, stock and barrel' in Tamil Nadu, he said.

The UPA 'crushed' regional aspirations and people's sentiments by banning the bull taming sport 'Jallikattu' in and Congress party's ally DMK 'kept quiet' and did not talk about people's aspirations at that time, he alleged.

During the United Progressive Alliance regime at the Centre, there was none to take care of Tamil fishermen. But after Narendra Modi became the Prime Minister, 'firing' incidents against fishermen totally stopped, which showed the government's 'courage.'



It was PM Modi who empathised with people's sentiments and gave 'permission' to facilitate conduct of the sport, he claimed.

Nadda recalled that Modi was the first Indian Prime Minister to visit Jaffna in Sri Lanka and he also facilitated welfare initiatives like housing for minority Tamils there.

Also, Father Alexis Premkumar from TN was freed from the clutches of terrorists in Afghanistan and brought home safely due to the intervention of the Prime Minister, he said.

Increased allocations were made by the Centre for and 11 new medical colleges, in addition to the All India Institute of Medical Sciences at Madurai, were coming up in the state, he said.

"PM Modi has taken care of TN to the maximum." Initiatives like the defence corridor would bring fresh job opportunities, he said.

Nadda later held a colourful roadshow in Kanyakumari to seek support for his party's Pon Radhakrishnan, who is contesting the bypoll to Kanyakumari Lok Sabha constituency and also for nominees for April 6 Assembly polls.

The bypoll will also be held the same day.
Sorry!

This content is not available in your region
The Election Commission of India (ECI) has decided to deploy 618 companies of central forces in the third phase of the scheduled to take place on April 6.

There are 89 companies already stationed in South 24 Parganas which pushes up the number of forces to 707, the highest deployment in this election so far.

In the third phase, 31 Assembly constituencies spread across the three districts of South 24 Parganas, Howrah and Hooghly will go to the polls.

Among the three districts, South 24 Parganas divided into three police districts -- Baruipur, Diamond Harbour and Sundarban -- has the highest deployment of with 396 companies of central paramilitary forces for its 5,544 booths with a concentration of approximately 5.1 personnel per booth.

According to ECI sources, of the 396 companies, 151 have been deployed in Baruipur, 113 in Diamond Harbour and 132 in Sundarban.

The Commission has already sent of which 21 and 68 companies to Baruipur PD and Sundarban PD respectively for maintaining pre-poll law and order.

The rest of the forces will reach on or before April 4.

"Keeping in mind the attack on BJP President J P Nadda in Diamond Harbour last December, the Commission didn't want to rely on the state police force and has made the maximum deployment so that no untoward incident happens during the election. The state force will be used mainly to manage the outer ring of the premises and maintain the law and order of the area. The 100-metre security ring in and around the booths will be managed by the central forces," a senior ECI official said.

Apart from that, another 166 companies will be deployed for the eight Assembly constituencies of Hooghly and 133 for seven constituencies of Howrah rural areas.

In Hooghly and Howrah, there are a total of 5,120 polling booths for which the Commission has allotted 298 companies.

Additionally, another 11 companies of central forces have been sanctioned for Howrah Police Commissionerate area and four for Kolkata to maintain law-and-order situation.

These two areas will vote in the later phases.

According to the ECI sources, there are presently 800 companies of central forces in the state and another 200 will arrive after April 8 taking the total count of forces to 1,000, the highest number of forces deployed in any kind of election in the state so far.

In the first phase where 30 assembly constituencies including some LWE affected constituencies went to the polls, 684 companies of central forces were used.

In the second phase where Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee contested from Nandigram, 636 companies of central forces were deployed.

--IANS

saibal/ksk/

(Only the headline and picture of this report may have been reworked by the Business Standard staff; the rest of the content is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.)
Rep. Chris Freeland's Legislative Update

By West Kentucky Star Staff

WESTERN KENTUCKY - House overrides Governors vetoes, passes election reform and important appropriationsRepresentative Chris FreelandDuring the 2020 election cycle, Kentuckians signaled loud and clear when they elected a Republican supermajority of 75 and 30. This week as we concluded the 2021 legislative session, we worked diligently to fulfill the will of our constituents and exercise our authority as the chief lawmaking body.The last two days of session we worked to override several bills previously vetoed by the Governor, concurred on legislation, and passed new legislation. During this time, we considered the Governors veto messages and heard from stakeholders. One veto we chose not to override is SB 63, which requires that no voting system be connected to the internet, and requires all votes to be cast on paper ballots and marked with a pen. While we agree this bill is a step towards increased confidence in the integrity of Kentucky elections, after hearing input from county clerks and other stake holders, we found some unintended consequences. Luckily, we dont have an election this year, so this is a measure we can revisit next session just in time for the next election cycle.As you know, COVID-19 changed everything from how our kids attend school, how we grocery shop, and even how we participated in the 2020 election. COVID-19 produced many obstacles regarding the 2020 general election and required local officials to adapt to the unprecedented public health risk. County officials took every obstacle in stride and as a result, in Kentucky we had a successful, safe and fair election.HB 574 retains some of the emergency procedures used during the 2020 general election cycle and builds on safeguards to maintain election integrity. This includes early in-person voting, which was widely popular during the general election. This provision is a great way to maintain flexibility for people who work on Election Day, but still value voting in-person. For those that prefer voting by absentee, this bill makes the process safer by mandating the use of monitored drop boxes.While HB 574 retains these popular procedures used in the 2020 election, it also provides safeguards to ensure election integrity. This measure removes the Governors ability to declare different election procedures during a state of emergency by executive order, and prohibits ballot harvesting by barring people from collecting mail-in absentee ballots. It also requires the state Board of Elections to remove a voter from the voter registration records once the board is notified from a local or state jurisdiction that the voter is registered in another state. While we know Kentucky conducted a fair and safe election, we are confident these provisions will strengthen our election laws for the future.With the end of session looming, legislators hustled to pass bills like HB 382, originally a simple appropriations bill that was amended in the Senate to include some general fund appropriations and appropriations of the funding received in the American Rescue Plan Act (ARPA). We appropriated $140 million of the general fund for full-day kindergarten which, if signed by the Governor, would help free up money from the education budget for other needs. This surplus could be used to increase SEEK funding by $175 per pupil, among other needs.As we passed the budget a couple weeks ago, we cited the need to brace for anticipated unemployment costs. Luckily, we were able to use some of the ARPA funds to pay off the $505 million owed towards interest and principal on the federal unemployment insurance trust fund. This is a pivotal step towards promoting economic recovery and reducing impending debt. Because of this, we are very glad to include this appropriation in the final version of HB 382.Finally, we appropriated $50 million of the ARPA funds for the deployment of broadband to go towards the unserved or underserved households, businesses and non-profits throughout the state. This extra $50 million will join the already appropriated $250 million Broadband Development Fund in HB 320. This funding is directly earmarked towards covering last mile infrastructure, and will go to the areas that need it most.As always, am grateful to serve this district and our communities. As we transition into the interim session, please feel free to contact me if you need help or assistance. I can be reached during the week from 8:30 a.m. until 4:30 p.m. (EST) through the toll-free message line at 1-800-372-7181. You can also contact me via e-mail at Chris.Freeland@lrc.ky.gov. You can keep track of interim committee meetings and potential legislation through the Kentucky Legislature Home Page at legislature.ky.gov
STORRS  The University of Connecticut has placed five student dorms under quarantine and restricted guests from other buildings on campus as COVID-19 cases have surged in recent days.

University officials say the outbreak may be related to large parties reported last weekend.

Over the past two days, 35 new cases were found on campus Dean of Students Eleanor JB Daugherty said Friday in a letter sent to the UConn community.

Those cases appear to be centralized in the North, Northwest, and Alumni dorm complexes, Daugherty wrote.

As of 4 p.m. Friday, the school is quarantining the Eddy, Middlesex, Windham, Rogers, and Russell dorms, Daugherty said.

Positive tests usually emerge within 3 to 5 days of exposure. This suggests that this spike in positives may be related to large off-campus gatherings that were reported this past weekend, Daugherty wrote.

State police said they responded to complaints about a large party off-campus in Mansfield last Saturday. When troopers arrived, they found more than 100 people inside the home, according to state police.

One of the homeowners was charged with violating the governors executive order on gathering size restrictions and allowing a minor to possess alcohol, state police said. A second attendee was arrested after she threw a can of an alcoholic beverage at police.

That same afternoon, state police responded to a report of a fight at a gathering at another home in Mansfield. By the time police arrived, they did not find anyone with injuries or who wished to make a complaint.

UConn officials have said they are investigating both incidents.

These gatherings increase the risk of exposure and spread, which is much more likely to occur when we dont follow universal precautions such as wearing masks and keeping physical distance, Daugherty said in her letter.

Students under quarantine can get meals from quarantine dining halls, but will be restricted to remote learning and cannot attend events in-person, Daugherty said.

The remaining 16 buildings in the three complexes have been restricted from having guests, Daugherty said.

The letter said the universitys Student Health and Wellness center will determine when the residential quarantines can be lifted.

However, the letter made it clear the quarantines will remain in place through next week, after which students will transition to remote-only classes. Students who want to go home early will be allowed to do so.

As we reach the end of the in-person period of instruction, I am sorry that these steps are necessary. As you know, it is our shared goal to keep this community healthy and safe, Daughertys letter said. Lets continue to care for one another by wearing masks, keeping physical distance, and reducing spread. Were almost there.
Facebook CEO Mark Zuckerberg's cell phone number is among the leaked personal data from 553 million users of the site posted online by hackers.

Zuckerberg's name, location and marriage information, date of birth and Facebook user ID were among the trove of stolen personal data published on a hacker forum on Saturday, cyber researcher Dave Walker confirmed.

Facebook co-founders Chris Hughes and Dustin Moskovitz also had similar personal details included in the leaked data.

A Facebook spokesman said in a statement to DailyMail.com: 'This is old data that was previously reported on in 2019. We found and fixed this issue in August 2019.'

The database appears to be the same set of numbers circulating in hacker circles at least since January, according to Alon Gal, co-founder of Israeli cybercrime intelligence firm Hudson Rock.

That data had been sold and resold among cybercriminals for some time, but Saturday's leak on the hacker forum now makes it available essentially for free.

Facebook CEO Mark Zuckerberg's cell phone number is among the leaked personal data from 553 million users of the site posted online by hackers

Zuckerberg's name, location and marriage information, date of birth and Facebook user ID were among the trove of stolen personal data

Facebook co-founders Chris Hughes (right) and Dustin Moskovitz also had similar personal details included in the leaked data

Personal information from users around the world is being offered for a few euros' worth of digital credit on a well-known site for digital hackers and Gal said he had verified the authenticity of the data.

Other journalists say they have also been able to match known phone numbers to the details in the data dump.

An attempt by Reuters to reach the leaker over the messaging service Telegram was not immediately successful.

The availability of the data set was first reported by Business Insider. According to that publication, it has information from 106 countries including phone numbers, Facebook IDs, full names, locations, birthdates, and email addresses.

Computer servers that store users' photos and other data are seen at the Facebook site in Prineville Oregon in a file photo. Details from more than 500 million Facebook users have been found available on a website for hackers

Facebook issued a full page ad in 2018 vowing better privacy protection after the Cambridge Analytica data harvesting scandal was revealed

Facebook has been grappling with data security issues for years.

In 2018, the social media giant disabled a feature that allowed users to search for one another via phone number following revelations that the political firm Cambridge Analytica had accessed information on up to 87 million Facebook users without their knowledge or consent.

In December 2019, a Ukrainian security researcher reported finding a database with the names, phone numbers and unique user IDs of more than 267 million Facebook users - nearly all U.S.-based - on the open internet. It is unclear if the current data dump is related to this database.

Facebook says that the newly revealed leak is believed to stem from an issue with the contact importer, which allowed people to find their friends though their phone numbers, and that the weakness was found and fixed in 2019.

Gal told Reuters that Facebook users should be alert to 'social engineering attacks' by people who may have obtained their phone numbers or other private data in the coming months.

The database appears to be the same set of numbers circulating in hacker circles since January, according to Alon Gal, co-founder of Israeli cybercrime intelligence firm Hudson Rock (file image)

In 2019, phone numbers linked to more than 400 million Facebook accounts were posted online.

According to TechCrunch, 133 million US accounts, more than 50 million in Vietnam, and 18 million in Britain were among 419 million records left in an open online server that was not secured with a password.

This includes, according to the person who unearthed the database, profiles and phone numbers of some celebrities.

Facebook confirmed the report, but said the total number is likely to be around half because of duplicate entries.

The issue was thought to be from publicly available information previously used to allow people to search for others by using their phone number, which was disabled in April 2018 in response to the Cambridge Analytica scandal.

In 2019, phone numbers linked to more than 400 million Facebook accounts were posted online (file image)

It is claimed that the server listed some accounts and their geographical locations, with a user's unique Facebook ID stored alongside their phone number, as well as their gender.

The haul meant people were exposed to potential fraud attempts including spam calls and SIM-swapping attacks where criminals try and get hold of more personal details by deceiving carrier firms.

The server was not password protected, meaning anyone could access the databases.
Hyderabad:

Stating that the first phase of the much-delayed Navi Mumbai airport project will "commence" by December 2019, Maharashtra Chief Minister Devendra Fadnavis on Saturday said his government would issue a letter of intent (LoI)as awarding the contract is a "matter of time" now.

He also said the pre-developmental works for the ambitious project will be completed by May next year.

The CM's statement assumes significance as award of the LoI is considered as an important step in taking the project forward, which is dogged by inordinate delays sinceits conception in 1997.

Infrastructure major GVK group had bagged the financial bid to build and operate the second international airport in the Mumbai metropolitan region at an investment of Rs 16,000 crore earlier this year, beating rival GMR group.

However, the project couldn't make any progress as the state government has not yet approved and finalised the finance deal won by the GVK.

Once the government gives its nod, a letter of award will be given to the contractor, after which a special purpose vehicle (SPV) can be set up to execute the project.

Also Read | Modi govt was sleeping when Dawoods wife visited Mumbai in 2016: Cong

"There are two phases of of Navi Mumbai airport. One phase is the pre-works in which you have to level the land,cut a hill and you have to change the course of the river. So these are the predevelopment works which we have awarded the contract and they have already started the work."

"So possibly the site with the pre-development works will be ready by May next year. The concessionaire for(the airport) is also nearly shortlisted. It is a matter oftime that we will award the contract. We will issue the letter of intent to the concessionaire and what is intended is that the first phase of the Navi Mumbai airport should commence by December 2019," Fadnavis told reporters on the sidelines of "ISB rpt ISB Leadership Summit" organised by the Indian School of Business.

The project has faced inordinate delays over the issues of environment and land acquisition since the state government approved it in 2007.

The project will be carried out on a public-private partnership (PPP) model and Cidco (City and IndustryDevelopment Corporation), a government authority for city planning, will incur pre-development work costs, which it willbe later recovered from GVK.

Interestingly, a CAPA Global Strategy Report forJuly-August, 2017, had recently stated that the airport is unlikely to commence operations before March 2024, assignificant earthworks need to be performed at the site, located in Raigad district adjoining Mumbai.

Meanwhile, replying to a query, Fadnavis said his government had requested the Centre to differentiate between smaller and bigger states in allotting the "ease of doingbusiness" ranking.

Also Read | SpiceJet accident: Over 180 flights cancelled at Mumbai airport

"What we have requested the DIPP (Department ofIndustrial Policy and Promotion) is to slightly differentiate between the large states and the small states. Having said that, we will aim that we should be a leading state (in theranking). That we will achieve this year," the CM said.

He said the new GST (Goods and Services Tax) regime could have some hiccups initially, but his government is capable of achieving the targets.

On the recent torrential rains that led to flooding of roads in Mumbai, the chief minister said the pumping network to flush out water into sea has begun and 60 per cent of the work has been completed.

He refused to take questions on the Shiv Sena, the belligerent partner of the ruling BJP which has recently indicated to pull out of the coalition government.

Earlier in his address to ISB students, Fadnavis underlined the need to shift people from agriculture to other sectors, as 50 per cent of people in Maharashtra are dependenton agriculture.

"Agriculture does not have the capacity to consume (to sustain) 50 per cent of people. We need to shift 15 to 20 percent of people to other sectors of economy..to service sector...to industries sector, and we have started doingthat," he said.

Also Read: Mumbai airport resumes main runway operations

Fadnavis said Maharashtra registered a 15.5 per cent growth in agriculture, which was on a downward spiral, after he took over as chief minister three years ago.
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.
Residents of Barndarrig are still without water seven weeks after a Do Not Consume Notice was issued.

Irish Water issued the notice to 213 customers supplied by Barndarrig Public Water Supply on Tuesday, February 9, after elevated levels of nitrate were found in the water supply.

Bottled water is being provided at the car park opposite Barndarrig Church, but locals are critical of Irish Water over the lack of consultation taking place with the local community over when it is hoped the problem will be resolved.

Barndarrig resident Theresa Byrne said: 'People are fed up by this stage. Anyone I have spoken to is completely browned off. At this moment it is beyond a joke. Having to provide people with bottled water is something you see in a third world country. One of our most basic rights is to be provided with clean and healthy water. At this stage things are absolutely and utterly ridiculous.'

The bottled water provided is left out in the open, which has led to further issues.

'It has been going on for so long now,' added Theresa.

'We are provided with large bottles of water in car park beside Barndarrig Church but the bottles are left out in the open at day and night. It's out all day in the sun, which has to have an effect on the water.

'There is also the risk of animals interfering with the bottles or urinating on them. The bottled water is also very bad for your kettles. So far I have gone through two electrical kettles since the notice was put in place.

'I'm fortunate in that I have a car so I have started getting my water from Aldi. You can't even get a decent cup of tea or coffee out of the bottled water being supplied.'

The water coming from taps in Barndarrig is not safe for consumption or the preparation of foods, but is safe for hygiene and use in washing machines and dishwashers.

It is especially important that mains drinking water is not given to bottle fed infants.

Theresa said: 'It's particularly difficult on elderly people who don't have cars. Members of the community are collecting the 5 litres water bottles and dropping it off to the homes of people who are more elderly, otherwise I don't know how they would get their water. It's also very difficult for families with young children or babies.

'I have run out of water late in the evening and have had to drive out to Aldi or elsewhere to get some bottled water. What are elderly residents without cars meant to do if they run out late in the evening or at night?.'

Irish Water have also been accused of failing to sufficiently update affected customers on the progress being made to rectify the situation.

Theresa said: 'Irish Water aren't keeping people properly informed. I rang Irish Water to ask when the problem would be fixed and I was told these things can sometimes take up to two to three months. When I asked what we were meant to do in the meantime, they just didn't want to know.

'There isn't enough being done to keep people updated. Instead, residents are ringing one another to see if they might know anything. It's simply not good enough.'

A spokesperson for Irish Water said efforts continue to be made to rectify the problem and thanked residents for their patience.

The spokesperson said, 'In relation to the Do Not Consume Notice impacting customers supplied by Barndarrig Public Water Supply, we cannot be conclusive about how long the notice will be in place at present but we would like to reassure our customers that Irish Water's drinking water compliance and operational experts are working to lift the notice as quickly and as safely as possible, in consultation with the HSE.

'Irish Water regrets the inconvenience caused by this notice and we would like to thank the community for their patience and cooperation. An alternative water supply continues to be in place to support impacted customers and bottled water is available at the car park opposite Barndarrig church and is being provided in accordance with current Level 5 Covid restrictions.'
MUSKEGON, MI  For nearly four decades, Margo DeHaan has been a friendly face, a listening ear and a helping hand to the Muskegon County community as a volunteer with Love INC.

The Christian ministry provides food and other assistance to those in need.

DeHaans involvement started when her best friend Doris Stearns asked her to volunteer at a Love INC free clothing store in 1982. The young mother of three initially committed to giving 30 minutes a week to the recently formed nonprofit organization.

Before I knew it, it was a whole weekevery day, she said.

DeHaan now spends 30 hours a week as the warehouse coordinator for Love INCs 11 food pantries around the county. Shes dedicated half her lifetime to serving the community because of her love for people.

Sometimes you need to sit there and just listen to their story, she said.

Its important to DeHaan that anyone who asks for help is treated with kindness and empathy.

Maybe you give them some encouragement, pray with them, and they feel better when they leave here, DeHaan said. They give you a hug, they smile and thats all about that.

Its the human stories and interactions over the years that stand out most to DeHaan.

About a decade ago, Love INC was giving away toys and meals during the Christmas holiday when two women showed up at the same time. The organization only had one turkey left, so DeHaan suggested they share a holiday dinner together.

And theyve been friends ever since, she said.

Margo DeHaan oversees the Love INC warehouse, which supplies food to 11 pantries across Muskegon County. (Photo by Rose White | MLive)

DeHaan has lived in Muskegon since she was 16, moving to the area from Mexico with her parents and nine siblings.

The people. Thats what makes a difference, she said about the community.

Love INC partners with area churches to run food and clothing pantries, offer counseling and donate furniture, bicycles and wheelchair ramps to members of the community. Five paid staff members and over 100 volunteers operate the organization.

Executive Director Mike Miller says Love INC would not survive without volunteers.

They all share the same kind of heart like Margo has for people and to help people when theyre in a tough spot, he said.

Miller has his own Margo story. Growing up in Muskegon, his family turned to Love INC for help one holiday season and DeHaan was the volunteer who served them.

Its full circle, she says.

Volunteering is a family affair for Margo DeHaan. Her husband, Dave DeHaan and her son-in-law, Angel Coira, dropped off food Thursday, April 1 at the Love INC warehouse. The food is then distributed to local food pantries. (Photo by Rose White | MLive)

Now 70, DeHaan spends her hours organizing and managing the Love INC warehouse, which is stocked with food, personal care items and baby products. She volunteers alongside her husband, Dave DeHaan, who does maintenance for the organization, and their three children and four grandchildren.

She has no plans to stop volunteering.

Not until they tell me I got to stay home, DeHaan said.

Love INCs food pantries are primarily supported by donations, including a double match event with Meijers Simply Give program on Saturday, April 3 at the Norton Shores location, 700 W. Norton Ave.

More on MLive:

Michigan expands food assistance benefits to college students

COVID-19 vaccine scheduling speeding up in Muskegon County along with supplies

Easter events adapt to another pandemic holiday, health officials say to gather safely
Lenovo today announced that the Legion 2 Pro arriving on April 8 will pack a 5,500 mAh battery, which is 500 mAh larger than what its predecessor Legion Pro ships with.

The company also revealed that the Legion 2 Pro's battery will support 90W charging, but it's yet to confirm if the implementation will be similar to what we've seen on the Legion Pro, which features two USB-C ports supporting up to 45W speeds, taking the total to 90W.

Lenovo is yet to detail the Legion 2 Pro's specs sheet, although the company has already confirmed that the gaming smartphone will come with a dual-turbo cooling system, Snapdragon 888 chip, and a 6.92" 144Hz FullHD+ AMOLED screen.

Geekbench revealed the Legion 2 Pro will run Android 11 out of the box and have 16GB RAM onboard. This particular model, according to the Master Lu benchmark, will come with 512GB storage. It also tells us the smartphone will have two more memory configurations - 12GB/128GB and 12GB/256GB.

Lenovo has promised to release a teaser each day leading to the April 8 event, so we'll definitely learn more about the smartphone before its official unveiling.

Source (in Chinese) | Via
Source: Xinhua| 2021-04-03 20:42:18|Editor: huaxia

Video Player Close

BANGKOK, April 3 (Xinhua) -- Five people were killed due to a blaze and collapse of a three-story house in Bangkok on Saturday.

A firefighter, three rescue workers and a resident of the gutted house were killed at the scene and six others were seriously injured, according to Bangkok Governor Aswin Kwanmuang, who scrambled to the scene alongside city officials.

The bodies of the deceased were dragged out by fellow rescue workers from the debris of the fire-engulfed, caved-in house.

Seven out of a group of eight people, who had lived in the house, managed to get out to safety, the governor said.

Police are to investigate the cause of the blaze at the house, which had been turned into a home office in Thawi Watthana district of Bangkok. Enditem
MEXICO CITY (Reuters) - Gunmen kidnapped a Haitian pastor and three others during a ceremony that was streamed live on Facebook, media reported on Friday, with the footage widely shared on social media in a country plagued by soaring violence.

In the video, two choir members can be seen singing a hymn before they suddenly drop their mics and cower by the side of the altar. As piano music continues to play, a man wielding a rifle enters the screen and is seen taking them away.

The incident, streamed on Facebook and YouTube on Thursday evening, took place at the Seventh-day Adventist Gospel Kreyol Ministry Church in Diquini on the outskirts of the capital Port-au-Prince, according to the Miami Herald newspaper.

Gregory M. Figaro, whose father, Greger Figaro, is the founder of the ministry, told the Miami Herald that eight to 10 gunmen arrived in two vehicles and kidnapped the pastor and three others, including a pianist.

"If this can happen, then anything is possible in the country because there is no respect for any institution, whether it's a church or school," Figaro said, according to the Miami Herald.

Haiti has been rocked by rising violence in recent years, especially by runaway kidnapping-for-ransom incidents which have paralyzed the economy and Haitian society.

(Writing by Drazen Jorgic; Editing by William Mallard)
For 13-year-old Laragh McTernan, this Easter Sunday will be like no other.

The Scoil Ui Mhuiri pupil and her family, from Dunleer, County Louth, have adopted a beautiful spring lamb, only days old, called Maggie.

When the wee lamb, the smallest of the litter, struggled after birth, Laragh and her family kindly agreed to nurse Maggie back to good health over the Easter period, to get her back into the field pronto, hopping around with her own family.

Speaking of how they came to acquire their new house guest, Laraghs mum Deirdre said: My eldest girl Samantha and her fiance, Greg, just got engaged a few weeks ago during lockdown - Gregs uncles are sheep farmers around Dunleer. We are blow-ins. Im from Dublin and my husband is from Sligo, but we settled in Dunleer.

For years Ive said Id just love to hand rear baby lamb. Laragh loves horse riding and she has no problem mucking out, but because of lockdown all of that has stopped. Recently Greg brought her down to his uncles farm, and they were watching the lambs being born.

They then came back to our house and Greg was saying he was going to get us a lamb to look after for a while. I thought he was joking at first, but I agreed. The pair of them went off again and Greg said he was away to get a lamb. I still thought he was joking, but they came back with Maggie!

Deirdre said Maggies primary carer, Laragh, has been going above and beyond to make sure the Easter lamb has, quite literally, got back on her feet

When we first got Maggie, Laragh stayed up until five oclock in the morning looking after her because she needs quite a lot of attention.

I came down from bed just before seven in the morning and Laragh had left Alexa on playing soothing music for Maggie!

Since then shes been jumping around all over the place, and our floor is destroyed!

Expand Close Laragh makes Maggie's formula / Facebook

Twitter

Email

Whatsapp Laragh makes Maggie's formula

Read More

Speaking of the challenge they faced in looking after little Maggie, given that it was touch-and-go when she was born, Deirdre said rearing her was similar to looking after a newborn child.

Its like having a baby in the house. Everyone is just sitting there looking at her waiting to see what shes going to do next.

Laragh makes up her formula, its the exact same way you would do it for a baby; it has to be heated up. She doesnt really bleat too much, she only really bleats when shes hungry. Laragh wants to leave school now and become a farmer, but shes 13 years old, its not going to happen!

She added: Maggie was quite poorly whenever she was born. We were told that she might die because she was so small, but since we first got her and today there has been a massive improvement in her.

Shes still only a few days old and shes tiny - she was actually one of the runts of the litter. She was one of triplets and the mother didnt have enough milk to feed all three of them. Because Maggie is so small, the bigger lambs were shoving her aside at the feeding reservoir.

We thought we would be looking after her for a few nights, but now it looks like well hang on to her for a few weeks, which will be just long enough to get her to go into the field.

Deirdre also revealed how she broke the news to Enda, her husband, a haulier, who was away with work when Maggie arrived at her new home.

I Facetimed Enda, and I started off by saying, youre looking very well.

He immediately said: What did you do? I was saying to him that whenever he comes home I might go and get him some nice beer. He responded: Now I really know youve done something!

When I told them we had a lamb in the house he just kept looking at me and shaking his head.

Expand Close Laragh and Maggie / Facebook

Twitter

Email

Whatsapp Laragh and Maggie

Having a small hungry farmyard animal living in your kitchen comes with its inevitable drawbacks - including the obvious!

Maggie does her business when and where she wants. Weve bought copious amounts of kitchen towels and spray for the floor.

The kids agreed between them that one was going to look after the wee and one was going to look after the poo. Thats falling apart now, and theres been murder!

Aspiring farmer Laragh also spoke of her delight at having her new adorable buddy kicking around the house with her.

She said: Maggie is a lot of work. Shes a bit like a dog really, shell kind of follow you around everywhere. Shes very hungry all the time as well, and will do things like suck your finger thinking its food!

With her being so young as well, you have to be really careful around the house. You could step on her and you wouldnt even know it.

We will have her for up to two weeks I think, its really nice to have a cute lamb over Easter and all my friends want to come and see her.

Laragh laughed: As we speak, I think she just peed on the kitchen floor!

Read More
The LYCRA Company, a global leader in developing innovative solutions for the textile, apparel, and personal care industries, announces the appointment of Yafu Qiu, chairman of The LYCRA Company, and Julien Born, chief commercial officer of The LYCRA Company, as co-chief executive officers, effective April 1, 2021, following the retirement of David Trerotola. The co-ceo structure is intended to better implement The LYCRA Companys new strategic development plan for the next five years and will bring greater operational focus and tap into each leaders experience and skills in the areas most beneficial to the company to solidify its industry-leading position and drive its long-term success.

Mr. Trerotola served as the companys chief executive officer since 2019, following the Ruyi Groups acquisition of the business. Mr. Trerotola retires after 20 years of dedicated service to The LYCRA Company and its predecessor companies. He began his career in 1994 with DuPont.

I want to thank Dave for his many contributions to The LYCRA Company, said Yafu Qiu, chairman of The LYCRA Company, the companys controlling shareholder. Daves passion for the business was evident to me from the beginning, and I wish him all the best in this next phase of his journey with his wife and family. At my request, Dave will support a smooth transition of leadership and will be working with me and Julien over the next 60 days.

Mr. Born, currently the companys chief commercial officer, will serve as co-ceo and lead the overall operations of the company and implement its ambitious growth vision. Mr. Born joined the business in 2007 and, since 2018, led the companys apparel business, where he managed the global commercial organization, helped strengthen R&D and innovation capabilities, and oversaw manufacturing assets. Mr. Born has also spent significant time in Asia, where he led that region over an eight-year period, with assignments in Shanghai and Hong Kong. Mr. Born has had a diverse 24-year career spent in the US, Europe and Asia, as both an executive in large multinational companies and as a business owner of a full-service corporate licensing agency. A native of Switzerland, Mr. Born holds a bachelors degree from Arizona State Universitys W.P. Carey School of Business and a Swiss baccalaureate degree.

The board has appointed Julien as The LYCRA Companys next ceo, said Mr. Qiu. I am confident that Julien understands the opportunities and challenges facing the business and we are fully committed to supporting him and the entire leadership team on the new developments and performance growth of The LYCRA Company to help The LYCRA Company realize its full potential in 2021 and beyond.

I am excited for the opportunity to lead a tremendous team of colleagues at The LYCRA Company who are focused every day on creating value in the industries we serve via our unique brand portfolio, high-quality products, unparalleled innovation capabilities, and our global network of partners, said Mr. Born. I look forward to a close partnership with Chairman Qiu and the Ruyi Group to further develop our manufacturing capacity and accelerate the growth of our business, especially in China.

Mr. Qiu, in addition to continuing as chairman of The LYCRA Company, will focus his co-ceo role on the companys relationships with key stakeholders, board governance matters, strategic planning, and capital structure adjustments, including the strategy and timing of an initial public offering.

The LYCRA Company is faced with many new challenges in a fast-developing world, concluded Mr. Qiu. We are taking this opportunity to appoint Mr. Born and other new management team members to work on a new strategy to further build our brand franchises, expand manufacturing capacity, develop more impactful innovations with our global value-chain partners, lead the industry in sustainability, and accelerate our digital transformation. I am confident that the new management team will be able to further strengthen the leadership role of The LYCRA Company in the apparel and personal care industries.

About The LYCRA Company

The LYCRA Company innovates and produces fiber and technology solutions for the apparel and personal care industries. Headquartered in Wilmington, Delaware, The LYCRA Company is recognized worldwide for its innovative products, technical expertise, and unmatched marketing support. The LYCRA Company owns leading consumer and trade brands: LYCRA, LYCRA HyFit, LYCRA T400, COOLMAX, THERMOLITE, ELASPAN, SUPPLEX, and TACTEL. The LYCRA Companys legacy stretches back to 1958 with the invention of the original spandex yarn, LYCRA fiber. Today, The LYCRA Company focuses on adding value to its customers products by developing unique innovations designed to meet the consumers need for comfort and lasting performance. For more information, visit www.thelycracompany.com.

View source version on businesswire.com: https://www.businesswire.com/news/home/20210401005877/en/
Justin Theroux jumped in front of the camera with the number one woman in his life - his beloved dog Kuma.

The 49-year-old actor was spotted doing a photoshoot with his rescue pup around Washington Square Park in New York City on Friday.

The suave star struck a variety poses while sporting a black turtleneck under a navy blue blazer, and black jeans with matching leather boots.

Photoshoot! Justin Theroux jumped in front of the camera with the number one woman in his life - his beloved dog Kuma. The 49-year-old actor was spotted doing a photoshoot with his rescue pup around Washington Square Park in New York City on Friday

The Charlie's Angels: Full Throttle performer had his hair perfectly coiffed and his beard expertly trimmed for the session.

He hit the Big Apple sidewalk as he posed in front of a 'no parking' sign to take the photos.

Kuma appeared less enthused about the assignment, facing the opposite direction from the camera.

She had on her best gold studded collars for the job, but seemed more interested in watching the traffic than showing off for the camera.

Model pup: The suave star struck a variety poses while sporting a black turtleneck under a navy blue blazer, and black jeans with matching leather boots. Kuma, meanwhile, appeared less enthused about the assignment, facing the opposite direction from the camera

The pet was far more excited as her loving owner took her for a stroll around the city once the work was finished.

Justin adopted the pit bull mix in 2018 from A Chance To Bloom Rescue in Conroe, Texas.

He was in Austin at the time and drove nearly three hours to see the dog in person.

It was clearly love at first sight, as he took the dog home and named her Kuma, which means 'bear' in Japanese.

Walk time: The loving pet, who had on her best gold studded collars for the outing, was far more excited as her loving owner took her for a stroll around the city once the work was finished

Adorable: Kuma looked far more focused on her job as a model in images shared on the star's Instagram account. He included an adorable black and white shot of the pair sitting patiently on a rundown staircase

The Mulholland Drive actor was able to get some great shots with his pup before heading out for the day.

Kuma looked far more focused on her job as a model in images shared on the star's Instagram account.

He included an adorable black and white shot of the pair sitting patiently on a rundown staircase.

Justin wore one of his best leather motorcycle jackets in the snap, while Kuma kept her eyes on the camera.

BFFs: Justin adopted the pit bull mix in 2018 from A Chance To Bloom Rescue in Conroe, Texas, and named her Kuma, which means 'bear' in Japanese. The BFFs are often seen making loving treks around Manhattan; seen here on different days in March

The BFFs are often seen making loving treks around Manhattan.

The shoot cane a week after Theroux joked about guest starring on his ex-wife Jennifer Aniston's hit Apple TV+ series The Morning Show.

During a virtual ET Online interview to promote his upcoming series The Mosquito Coast, debuting on the same streaming network, he said: 'Well listen, if they want to send me some pages.'

The pair were wed for two years but have remained friends since the end of their marriage.

Co-stars? The shoot came a week after Theroux joked about guest-starring on his ex-wife Jennifer Aniston's hit Apple TV+ series The Morning Show. 'Well listen, if they want to send me some pages,' he told ET Online

Former couple: The two were married from August 5, 2015 until they announced their separation on February 15, 2018, revealing they separated end of 2017; seen at the 2017 Vanity Fair Oscar Party

The handsome star was asked if Jennifer, 49, had given him any advice on working with the company: 'She's doing a totally different show. She's in Los Angeles obviously shooting her show there, so it's sort of apples and oranges as far as our production.'

Adding about their relationship now: 'But yeah we check in and I think we are both having fabulous experiences working with Apple Plus+.'

The Mosquito Coast was adapted from a novel penned by his uncle Paul Theroux. The drama series is set to debut on April 30.
Produced by filmmaker Tony Whelan, the film follows the journey of the Irish Whale and Dolphin Group which travelled to Iceland in May 2018 on a unique research expedition. (Netflix)

A documentary covering the expedition of a group of Irish explorers on a special research mission to Iceland is to be broadcast on RTE One this weekend.

Ireland to Iceland - On the Trail of the White Humpback Whale will be shown on the channel tomorrow at 6.30pm.

Produced by filmmaker Tony Whelan, the film follows the journey of the Irish Whale and Dolphin Group which travelled to Iceland in May 2018 on a unique research expedition.

Their primary ambition was to increase the knowledge of humpback whale movements between both countries, and in the process build connections and make friends.

During the month-long navigation of Iceland's coast, a revolving crew of volunteers visited remote coastal communities and also documented Humpback whales in abundance, as well as recording many other species including Blue whales and the critically endangered White-beaked dolphin.

The volunteers' extraordinary research was captured over seven weeks in the multi award-winning documentary.
.......... .......... .......... .......... .......... .......... .......... .......... .......... .......... .......... .......... .......... .......... .......... .......... .......... ..........

DENVER  Gregory Kellam Scott, the only Black justice to serve on the Colorado Supreme Court, died unexpectedly at his home in Indiana. He was 72.

Scott died Wednesday, the Denver Post reported.

He was sworn onto the court in 1993 after being appointed by Gov. Roy Romer. He served seven years before stepping down to become vice president and general counsel of Kaiser-Hill LLC, a private company contracted to clean up a former nuclear weapons facility in the Denver suburbs.

When announcing his retirement from the court, Scott said it had been an experience of a lifetime.

ADVERTISEMENTSkip



................................................................

Patty Powell, an adjunct faculty member at the University of Denver Sturm College of Law and one of Scotts friends, said Thursday that Scott was a giant and a role model for the states legal community.

He was such an intellectual giant. He loved the law. He was a good person, too, Powell said, recalling when he asked advice from friends on whether he should seek a seat on the court. All of those things added up to your needing to do that. And you would be the first Black justice on the Colorado Supreme Court and that diversity is needed.

Scott participated in about 1,000 opinions, including Hill v. Thomas in which the court upheld a state law that created an eight-foot buffer zone between protesters and people entering abortion clinics. The opinion survived a challenge before the U.S. Supreme Court.

Retired Denver County Judge Gary Jackson said Scott was active in the community before he joined the state Supreme Court and continued to participate in organizations after his appointments to the NAACP, Urban League and Sam Cary Bar Association.

He had a calling, Jackson said. He served as a role model for many, many diverse people of color who didnt think they had the opportunity to be corporate lawyers, security lawyers, law professors, judges.

Scott earned his law degree at Indiana University. He and his wife, Carolyn Scott, moved to Denver in 1977 when he became a trial attorney with the Securities and Exchange Commissions regional office. Carolyn Scott also was a lawyer, and the couple had two sons, Joshua and Elijah. Both sons died within a year of each other while in their late 30s.

Scott moved to Anderson, Indiana, later in life where he served as executive director of the Indiana Civil Rights Commission until a near-fatal car accident impacted his mobility and speech and forced him to retire.

Scott died the same day as retired Colorado Supreme Court Justice Mary Mullarkey, who was the first woman to serve as the states chief justice.

Funeral arrangements for Scott have not been set.
Egyptian coast guards patrol as a ship navigates the Suez Canal on 30 March 2021, a day after the Ever Given was dislodged from its banks. Photo: Tarek Wajeh / AFP via Getty Images

The last ships stranded by a blocked vessel in the Suez Canal, which held up movement from both sides for six days in one of the world's largest trading routes, have finally passed through.

According to the Suez Canal Authority (SCA) the shipping backlog caused by the traffic jam was now cleared.

On Saturday, it expected the remaining 85 ships to pass through the waterway. These included the last 61 ships out of more than 400 ships that were queuing when the Ever Given container vessel was dislodged earlier this week.

While the canal authority said that the Suez Canal is operating in full capacity and around the clock, the crisis saw 422 ships stranded in the Mediterranean and the Red Sea when the 200,000-tonne Ever Green, which is capable of carrying 20,000 shipping containers, became wedged across the Suez on 23 March.

Last weekend, 14 tugboats pulled and pushed the Ever Given at high tide to try to dislodge it and were able to move the ship "30 degrees from left and right." 

On Monday 29 March, after several attempts to refloat the vessel, the SCA said the ship had been "successfully refloated."

Chairman of the SCA, Osama Rabie added that an investigation into what caused the vessel to run aground, is due to wrap up soon. "The investigation is going well and will take two more days, then we will announce the results," Rabie said. The authority is expected to publish its findings next week.

On Thursday, Rabie announced Egypt is seeking over $1bn (723m) in compensation due to the ordeal. He warned that the ship and its some $3.5bn worth of cargo will not be allowed to leave the country if the issue goes to court.

However, he added that if the investigation goes smoothly and the issue of damages is agreed between the country and the ship's owners, then the vessel would be allowed to travel.

The Japanese owners Shoei Kisen Kaisha, or the Taiwanese firm Evergreen Marine Corp  who had charted the ship  are expected to be liable for the compensation. The money will cover the costs of the salvage operation, transit fees that were lost and the costs associated with stopping all traffic in the Suez Canal.

Story continues

READ MORE: Giant container ship freed after blocking trade for six days

Global supply chains have been crippled and the shipping industry thrown into disarray since the crisis started. Many companies and countries were forced to reconsider options, including rationing oil.

Efforts were also made after initial reports that the Panama-flagged ship could be stuck for weeks. This led to firms rerouting trade to sail around Africa's Cape of Good Hope, which costs more and typically adds around two weeks onto journeys.

The Suez Canal is an artificial sea-level waterway in Egypt connecting the Mediterranean Sea to the Red Sea.

Built in 1869, the Suez Canal is used by around 50 vessels per day, according to Panjiva, the supply chain research unit of S&P Global Market Intelligence.

Container ships accounted for 52.7% of the tonnage in 2019 transiting the canal including shipments from Asia to Europe and the US east coast as well as vice-versa.

An estimated $9.6bn (7bn) of goods were being held up by the ship each day as the blockage continued.

Oil prices were driven higher following the crisis, with (BZ=F) and Crude oil (CL=F) rising by as much as 4%.

WATCH: How was the Suez Canal ship freed?
The Monrovia City Mayor, Jefferson Koijee, has lauded the intervention of the Nigerian government which helped to end the civil war which rocked Liberia over 30 years ago.

He also said the Liberian authorities plan to build a memorial park in honour of those who lost their lives during the Liberia civil wars.

Mr Koijee said this during a visit to PREMIUM TIMES on Tuesday in Abuja.

He was accompanied by the ECOWAS (Economic Community of West African States) Commissioner for General Administration and Conferences, Vafolay Tulay, (a Liberian) and two other officials.

The official, who said Nigeria played a pivotal role in ending the bloody conflict, said the park would also document the supreme sacrifice nationals of other countries paid to ensure the West African nation navigated the challenging period and peace returned.

Bloody conflicts

The First Liberian Civil War, which claimed over 200,000 lives, and displaced over a million, started as an internal conflict in 1989 but spilled over to 1997.

Countries under the ECOWAS bloc and the United Nations had to intervene to restore peace. But the peace was shortlived as in 1999, the Second Liberian Civil War broke out with massive casualties and destruction.

In August 1990, the 16-member ECOWAS deployed a joint military intervention force, the Economic Community Monitoring Group (ECOMOG), which was led by a Nigerian contingent.

Non-ECOWAS countries, including Uganda and Tanzania, also joined the mission to broker ceasefire and restore stability in that country.

The troops helped establish an interim government, halted the bloodletting and allowed the evacuation of foreign nationals trapped in the conflict.

The Liberian civil wars are regarded as Africas bloodiest. During the potracted conflict, children soldiers were used in battles between armed groups. The wars also recorded one of the worst forms of human rights violations .

The Second Liberian Civil War began in 1999 and ended in October 2003.

ECOWAS intervened to stop a siege by rebels on Liberias capital, Monrovia. Relative peace returned when Liberian strongman, Charles Taylor, a major player in the war, was exiled to Nigeria until he was arrested in 2006 and taken to The Hague for trial.

By the end of the final war, more than 250,000 people had been killed and thousands displaced.

Memorial

Mr Koijee said Nigerias leadership role ending the war and assistance in the subsequent rebuilding process would forever be etched in the annals of Liberia.

He also said asides the memorial park, he is pushing for a day to be dedicated by the Liberian government to honour those who died in the war, including Nigerian troops who fought to protect the lives of Liberian citizens.

We plan to set aside a day for those men and women who lost their lives. I am working closely with the (Liberian) President to establish a park in their memory. These are Africans who paid the supreme price. We are keeping our history for generations yet unborn, Mr Koijee said.

He commended the efforts of Nigerians in Liberia who he said are now contributing to the nations economy. He said they are gradually becoming drivers of our economy.

ADVERTISEMENT

He also commended PREMIUM TIMES for the leadership role it has continued to play in the media terrain in Africa, noting that this was why it was pertinent for his team to pay a visit to its office to brief the newspaper of Liberias plans.

Meanwhile Mr Tulay said ECOWAS has plans is working hard to make the organisation truly a platform for the people of the subregion.

He also said EC0WAS remains a strong virile body whose operations continue to enjoy admiration by other global bodies including the UN.

Although, it is a parliament, leaders recognise themselves as one, he said. Decisions are not taken by voting but rather by consensus.

Commendations

Earlier, the Editor-in-Chief/Chief Operating Officer, PREMIUM TIMES, Musikilu Mojeed, who welcomed the team, said Liberia and Nigeria shared common traits, especially having both passed through civil wars and also rebuilt their lives and economies afterwards.

He said he was in Liberia in 2017 during the inauguration of the nations 23rd president, George Weah, and has since kept tabs on the countrys steady rebuilding process which bore similarities with Nigerias.

He commended the manner in which Liberians were able to navigate the traumatic period to emerge stronger.

He also said since the end of the war, many Liberians have settled in Nigeria and are contributing to the nations economy. As Africans, we are one. The relationship between both countries at present is much deeper than we are at times willing to admit, the official said.

He added that a considerable number of those who read PREMIUM TIMES are from Liberia. He, however, added that the newspaper was hoping to expand its coverage and readership in Liberia.

When we look at our metrics periodically, we always discover that we enjoy massive readership from Liberia that at times I wonder what they are reading, Mr Mojeed said, adding that the newspaper was hoping to leverage on this to build more partnerships with the country.

The partnerships will help us learn experiences from one another, to see worlds best practices that can be encouraged and to look at what we are doing and how to improve. We will also like to have that kind of relationship with the Government of Liberia and the city of Monrovia, Mr Mojeed said.

The team was received at PREMIUM TIMES headquarters in Abuja by Mr Mojeed, the paper Director of Business Development and Partnerships, Ifeyinwa Uzoka; the Head of Administration, Willie Obasi-Ota and the editor in charge of standards, Tosin Omoniyi.
Northern Irelands political leaders have appealed for calm after 15 PSNI officers were injured during rioting in Belfast which saw loyalist youths clash with police.

Eight people - two of them aged just 13 and 14 - were arrested following the disorder, which flared in the Shaftesbury Square area on Friday night.

Petrol bombs, bricks and fireworks were thrown at police lines with a crowd of up to 200 people involved in the disturbances, which followed a protest advertised on social media earlier in the day.

This afternoon Belfast District Commander Chief Superintendent Simon Walls said the injuries to officers included burns, head and leg injuries, and strongly condemned the appalling behaviour.

Expand Expand Expand Expand Expand Expand Previous Next Close Rioting erupts in the Sandyrow area of south Belfast on April 2, 2021 (Photo by Kevin Scott for Belfast Telegraph) Kevin Scott / Belfast Telegraph Rioting erupts in the Sandyrow area of south Belfast on April 2, 2021 (Photo by Kevin Scott for Belfast Telegraph) Kevin Scott / Belfast Telegraph Rioting erupts in the Sandyrow area of south Belfast on April 2, 2021 (Photo by Kevin Scott for Belfast Telegraph) Kevin Scott / Belfast Telegraph (Picture by Kevin Scott for Belfast Telegraph) Kevin Scott / Belfast Telegraph (Picture by Kevin Scott for Belfast Telegraph) Kevin Scott / Belfast Telegraph (Picture by Kevin Scott for Belfast Telegraph) Kevin Scott / Belfast Telegraph / Facebook

Twitter

Email

Whatsapp Rioting erupts in the Sandyrow area of south Belfast on April 2, 2021 (Photo by Kevin Scott for Belfast Telegraph)

Mr Walls said he recognised there were significant tensions and unease in some communities but appealed for calm.

The rioting comes amid growing anger within loyalism around post-Brexit trading arrangements, and controversy over a decision not to prosecute 24 Sinn Fein politicians for attending the Bobby Storey funeral during Covid-19 restrictions.

This is in no-one's best interests - not the officers dealing with it and not the mostly young people risking their futures by engaging in it.



It's incumbent on leaders to behave responsibly and dial down the inflammatory rhetoric over recent days.



Words have consequences. https://t.co/HueRap9JIg  Naomi Long MLA (@naomi_long) April 2, 2021

First Minister Arlene Foster warned young people not to get "drawn into disorder, an appeal echoed by Secretary of State Brandon Lewis, who said the violence was completely unacceptable.

Mrs Foster said: I know that many of our young people are hugely frustrated by the events of this last week but causing injury to police officers will not make things better.

"I appeal to our young people not to get drawn into disorder which will lead to them having criminal convictions and blighting their own lives.

Mr Lewis said: The unrest we saw last night is completely unacceptable. Violence is never the answer. There is no place for it in society. It is unwanted, unwarranted and I fully support the PSNI appeal for calm. My thoughts are with the officers injured.

The Police Federation for Northern Ireland said that "once again the outworkings of political flux in Northern Ireland results in our colleagues being attacked. It Tweeted: No excuse for violence, and condemnation across the political spectrum would be welcome.

In scenes reminiscent to the 2012 flag protests, loyalists gathered in a series of locations on Friday to hold mini demonstrations.

Sad to see disorder in Sandy Row. Usual suspects with no vision whip up tension for electoral gain, which they never use to improve life for those they pretend to represent. History repeats, people lose hope, kids get criminal records, communities pull apart. Thereas a better way  Claire Hanna (@ClaireHanna) April 2, 2021

The largest crowd was reported at the corner of Sandy Row and Shaftsbury Square in Belfast.

Police were forced to close off Shaftsbury Square and the Donegall Road to facilitate the protest, which soon turned violent.

Speaking this afternoon, Chief Superintendent Walls said what had started as a small local protest quickly developed into an attack on police.

He added: A total of 15 officers were injured after being subjected to a sustained attack by rioters who threw a number of objects at police, including heavy masonry, metal rods, fireworks and manhole covers. Their injuries include burns, head and leg injuries. As a result we now have four officers who cannot report for duty as a result of their injuries.

Mr Walls continued: The majority of those involved in the disorder last night were young people. In fact two of the eight people arrested were two young boys aged 13 and 14. By engaging in this type of behaviour they are not only risking their safety, they are also risking their futures.

Mr Walls concluded: I understand there are significant tensions and unease in some communities. My job is to keep people safe and I would ask that anyone who has any influence in communities  whether parents, guardians, community or elected representatives  please, use that influence to ensure young people are kept safe and away from harm.

Local communities deserve to live in safe and peaceful areas, free from rioting and violence.

Today politicians from all the main parties condemned the violent scenes.

Naomi Long, the Justice Minister, said: This is in no-one's best interests - not the officers dealing with it and not the mostly young people risking their futures by engaging in it.

It's incumbent on leaders to behave responsibly and dial down the inflammatory rhetoric over recent days. Words have consequences.

Profoundly disappointed and saddened by the scenes taking place in Belfast this evening.



And for what reason?



Some politicians in Northern Ireland should hang their head in shame for leading us to this.  Councillor Peter McReynolds (@cllr_petermcrey) April 2, 2021

DUP MLA Christopher Stalford, whose constituency office is in Sandy Row, said everyone must "abide by the law.

In a reference to controversy around Sinn Fein's Michelle O'Neill and her attendance at the funeral of senior IRA figure Bobby Storey last June, he said: Given the actions of the deputy First Minister, some folks may believe that they can break the rules. That is not the case - two wrongs don't make a right.

The vast majority of people involved in this incident were under the age of 18. I do not want to see young people, acting out of frustration at recent developments, landing themselves in trouble with the law and ending up with criminal records.

Steve Aiken, the UUP leader, pleaded for those involved to "please stop this violence.

He said: It will not achieve anything, and undermines the legitimate concerns that you have and is damaging our own communities.

UUP Policing Board member Mike Nesbitt said: That riot did not just happen. Someone planned it, someone encouraged people onto the streets.

I challenge them to explain a strategy that portrays loyalists and unionists as law-breakers, prepared to attack the PSNI, injure officers and frankly take the focus off Sinn Fein and the republican movement.

"The history of street violence is unambiguous. It does nothing to advance our cause. It is a huge mistake and should not be repeated.

South Belfast MP Claire Hanna said it was "sad to see disorder in Sandy Row, and blamed what she described as "usual suspects with no vision" for creating "tension for electoral gain.

"History repeats, people lose hope, kids get criminal records, communities pull apart. There's a better way," she said.

Expand Close (Picture by Kevin Scott for Belfast Telegraph) Kevin Scott / Belfast Telegraph / Facebook

Twitter

Email

Whatsapp (Picture by Kevin Scott for Belfast Telegraph)

Sinn Fein MP Paul Maskey also condemned the trouble.

This evening we have unfortunately seen running skirmishes between young people and the PSNI in the Sandy Row area following a protest that was organised by loyalists against the protocol," he said.

It is always sad to see young people being used by sinister elements to advance their regressive agenda.

It is also deeply concerning to see these types of incidents at the height of the Covid pandemic and as we are beginning to make good progress.

The DUP and political unionism are failing unionist working class communities through their dangerous and irresponsible rhetoric which has is continuing to lead to heightened tensions.

This is a time for calm heads and responsible leadership.

Alliance MLA Paula Bradshaw said responsible leadership was required from all quarters to stop a repeat of the violence in Sandy Row.

Those engaged in rioting last night have achieved nothing other than bringing misery upon their own area, including the potential for criminal records harming future prospects. There is no future in this type of behaviour, she said.

She added: Political leadership requires the right decisions, not the easy ones.

It often means taking people to places where they are uncomfortable for the sake of the greater good. We are seeing very little of that currently, and it is resulting in serious harm.

Earlier on Friday, there had been fears that a protest planned for a volatile North Belfast interface would end in violence. North Queen Street, which links the nationalist New Lodge to the loyalist Tigers Bay is a notorious flashpoint.

Read More

Despite being advertised by a loyalist Facebook page, there was no protest at the interface, however, police patrols were increased in the area.

Crowds of young people did clash at the Lanark Way interface in West Belfast with stones and bottles being thrown as local community workers tried to defuse the situation.

Protests were also advertised on Facebook to be held at a carpark in Ballymena, where several hundred people showed up. Police closed the road to traffic and observed the crowd.

Loyalist sources say the various protests were not organised by any one group and appeared to be driven by social media.

However, some expressed concerns that they were being promoted mainly by those who had previously been accused of orchestrating unrest in loyalist communities.

The sporadic calls for protest came after several nights of violence in the Waterside area of Derry.

Police were pelted with petrol bombs and masonry during disturbances in the area on Thursday night when a large group of youths gathered in the Rossdowney Road/Lincoln Court.

During the disorder a digger parked in the area was also set alight.

When police and the fire service responded they came under sustained attack.

Anti-PSNI graffiti has appeared in the area in recent days following the PPS decision not to prosecute any Sinn Fein representatives over their attendance at the funeral of Mr Storey.
FRANKFORT  A local community health center will receive more than $2 million to help staff deal with the COVID-19 pandemic.

"It will help increase the capacity of staff to be able to address the need to increase the response to COVID-19," said Gwen Williams, chief development officer for Northwest Michigan Health Services. "We've bumped up staff numbers and created local teams to get out in the community."

U.S. Sens. Debbie Stabenow (D-MI) and Gary Peters (D-MI) recently announced $17,383,500 in funding to help health centers in northern Michigan respond to the COVID-19 pandemic.

The funding can be used by health centers for staffing, personal protective equipment, screening, testing or other needs for fighting the coronavirus pandemic. This funding comes from the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services and was included in the American Rescue Plan that was signed into law on March 11.

While working on the relief package, I fought to increase funding for health centers to help them meet the needs of the communities they serve during this crisis," said Stabenow. "The nurses, doctors and health care providers in these centers are on the front lines of this public health crisis and have been challenged like never before. This funding will help meet the urgent need for personal protective equipment, test kits, and staffing in these centers. Im grateful for their work keeping Michigan families safe.

Northwest Michigan Health Services, which has offices in Benzie and Manistee counties, received $2,053,125.

Williams said the organization just heard he funds, and that it isn't allocated to anything specific yet.

"Typically, with COVID funds, we make a budget and submit it to the Health Resources and Services Administration," Williams said. "We have not created that budget yet, so I can't say exactly where that money will be going."

Northwest Michigan Health Services is "a federally qualified community health center  where all are welcome, regardless of insurance status or another limitation," according to its website. It offers dental, medical and behavioral health care.

Williams said in the past, funding was used to begin operations like testing for COVID-19 in 2020, with NMHS being one of the first places to allow asymptomatic testing. Now NMHS is working with the state to administer vaccines, and reaching out to communities and groups like migrant agricultural workers.

"Our efforts are shifting from testing to vaccination," Williams said. "Testing is more widely available now."

Other organizations receiving funding included:

 Alcona Citizens for Health, Inc.: $4,887,375;

 East Jordan Family Health Center: $1,666,500;

 Thunder Bay Community Health Service: $2,925,875;

 Sterling Area Health Center: $1,906,875;

 Traverse Health Clinic and Coalition: $1,109,000; and

 MidMichigan Health Services: $2,834,750.

As more Michiganders become eligible to receive COVID vaccines, it is critical that health care centers in underserved communities have the resources needed to accelerate vaccination efforts, said Peters. I am pleased that this robust funding  which I helped pass and enact as part of the American Rescue Plan  will help these centers increase vaccinations, bolster testing, expand treatment and provide preventive medical care to Michiganders at higher risk of infection. I will keep working to ensure Michigan has the resources and support needed to get through this crisis and beyond.
Together with Eastern European leaders, French President Emmanuel Macron co-signed a letter calling on the European Commission to include nuclear energy in its Green taxonomy. The letter was written on March 19th and was public after a European Council summit held on March 25th. The European taxonomy establishes an extensive list of sustainable activities which will help achieve the carbon neutrality target by 2050 and will benefit from targeted investments. In the framework of that classification, nuclear energy currently finds itself under the does not harm label, which doesnt make it eligible for investments with lower tax rates.

Stakes of including nuclear power into the taxonomy are quite high for France. The country will soon have to renew its nuclear fleet, as its reactors are reaching their lifetime limits. Capital costs of the new plants - the major components of nuclear LCOE - would be significantly reduced if nuclear managed to enter the privileged green category.

Technological neutrality

The letter, published on the website of the Polish government, urged the European Commission to respect the principle of technological neutrality in the implementation of climate-related policies. Reiterating the right of each country to choose their own energy mix, the signatories demanded to stop discriminating against nuclear power - which displays low-carbon emissions and might be put at the service of EU decarbonization goals.

The arguments presented in this plea included the creation of new jobs and the potential contribution of nuclear to hydrogen production - a promising technique consisting of electrolysis powered by a nuclear plant, already tested in the United States. And while the need for hydrogen investment seems to create consensus among MEPs, nuclear power struggles to be unanimously accepted.

Related: Is Russia About To Invade Ukraine?

Austria and Germany, in particular, oppose the initiative firmly, notably because of radioactive waste management issues. Since the project of the taxonomy started being discussed, the role of nuclear has been prone to controversy. Germany was fervently against it, while France made clear that it would not abandon its project. France will advocate for nuclear to be part of this green label, the French Minister of the Economy declared in 2019.

But the discussion was brought to a whole new level when the French online media Contexte revealed on March 26th a document in which experts from the Joint Research Center (an EU entity notably dealing with energy issues) were not opposed to the inclusion of nuclear power in the taxonomy. The JRC was charged in 2020 with assessing the risks that nuclear energy could present to human health and to the environment. And its conclusion was: Analyses did not reveal any scientific element proving that nuclear energy was more damageable to human health than other sources of electricity included in the taxonomy.

A strategic question for France

Although France is committed to reducing its share of nuclear and gradually replacing it with renewables, in the medium term, it still heavily relies on it. This share has been shrinking for the past year, notably due to the symbolic closure of the Fessenheim plant, and the planned one at Bugey.

The French nuclear fleet is approaching the end of its lifetime, and if it is not renewed, guaranteeing a baseload source of energy will be a major challenge. For the past ten years, France has been looking at this issue without taking any decision. Today, an urgency has come to react, as the countrys transmission operator RTE warned about risks of insufficiency in electric supply during winter brought by the decrease of nuclear power. At the same time, the loss of EDF know-how, demonstrated by the failures on the Flamanville plant, is casting doubt on the technical feasibility of this nuclear expansion.

Related: The Future Of U.S. LNG Hangs In The Balance



The debate in France was also influenced by an IEA report released in January, that opened the perspective for a 100% renewable energy mix by 2050 - leaving nuclear on the sideline.

Renewed European alliances

Europe has been split across the nuclear line for the past decade. But the French alliance with Eastern countries, materialized by the joint letter addressed to the European Commission, marks a major shift in this traditional divide.

While its neighbors - Austria, Belgium, Germany - are firmly taking the road of nuclear phase-out, France is looking at Eastern Europe as a potential investment destination for its European Power Reactors (EPR) - the new generation technology. In February 2020, Jean-Bernard Levy, the CEO of French EDF, traveled to Poland to negotiate a deal for the countrys nuclear plan. While Warsaw is still considering different options for the commissioning of its reactors, EDF said it would be able to cover the entire nuclear cycle.

Fourteen of the planned reactors construction are currently located in Eastern Europe. For Hungary, Poland, and the Czech Republic - heavily relying on coal - building nuclear reactors is an efficient bridge towards decarbonization targets, while guaranteeing stable electricity prices. Hungary already signed a deal with Russia for the construction of VVER reactors, while the Czech Republic is investing in ramping up nuclear capacity by 2040.

The claim for nuclear power inclusion into the taxonomy is also legitimized as the European Commission is reconsidering the status of natural gas - more polluting than nuclear, yet on its way to being included in the ranks of preferential investments.

By Tatiana Serova for Oilprice.com

More Top Reads From Oilprice.com:
Crowley  On April 2, 2021, shortly after 12:15 p.m., Troopers from Louisiana State Police Troop I responded to a two-vehicle fatal crash at the intersection of LA Hwy 92 and LA Hwy 13 in Acadia Parish. The crash claimed the life of 40-year-old Nicole Marie Susak of Abbeville and 54-year-old of Mary Lemaire of Abbeville.

The preliminary investigation revealed a 2005 Hyundai Tiburon, driven by Susak, was traveling north on LA 13. At the same time, the driver of a 2018 Honda Odyssey was traveling east on LA 92. The driver of the Honda failed to yield at the stop sign located on LA 92, entered the intersection, and was struck by the northbound Hyundai.

Susak, who was not restrained, sustained fatal injuries and was pronounced dead at the scene. Lemaire, the front seat passenger, was not restrained and sustained serious injuries. Lemaire was transported to a Lafayette area hospital where she succumbed to her injuries. The driver and the passenger of the Honda sustained minor injuries and were transported to an area hospital. Toxicology samples was obtained from the driver of the Honda and Susak and submitted for analysis. This crash remains under investigation.

Louisiana state law requires vehicle occupants to be properly restrained in all seating positions, day or night. Statistics show the chances of surviving a crash rise significantly when properly restrained but the decision not to wear a seat belt can have deadly consequences. Motorists are encouraged to make the smart choice and to always wear a seat belt.

Troop I has investigated 15 fatal crashes resulting in 18 deaths in 2021.
A total of 14 workers of two political parties were arrested for allegedly distributing cash to voters in two areas here on Saturday, police said.

Based on information, the police went to an area in Coimbatore south constituency where they caught 12 workers distributing the money to residents.

A sum of Rs 46,000 was seized from them and six two- wheelers were impounded, the police said.

In another incident, two workers were held for distributing money in an area coming under Coimbatore north constituency, they said.

A total of Rs 24,500 in cash was seized from their possession, they added.
NEW DELHI: Pakistani actress Saba Qamar, who shared the big screen alongside Irrfan Khan in the 2017 Bollywood film 'Hindi Medium' has called off her wedding to Azeem Khan. The actress took to social media and shared a post announcing her separation. Saba, who was all set to tie the knot with Azeem, has decided to call off the wedding due to some personal reasons.

It is to be noted that Azeem is a blogger and entrepreneur.

Sharing the news, Saba shared a note on Instagram, writing, "Hi everyone, I have a very important announcement to make, due to a lot of personal reasons I have decided to call it off with Azeem Khan, WE ARE NOT GETTING MARRIED NOW hope you guys will support my decision just like you all have been supporting me always, and I guess its never too late to realise the bitter realities! I also wanted to clear ONE IMPORTANT thing that is: "I have never Met Azeem Khan in my life we were only connected over the phone" Its a very hard time on me right now but as we all know 'THIS TOO SHALL PASS' Insha Allah Much love to you all! -Saba Qamar."

In his response to the post, Azeem too shared a note on Instagram stating that she deserves all the happiness. Moreover, he took full responsibility for the break-up and wrote, "Saba you have the most amazing soul and you deserve all the happiness in the universe. May God bless you with all the success and love. Difficult roads often led to beautiful destinations. And yes, I would like to take full responsibility of this breakdown."

While neither Saba nor Azeem mentioned the reason for their separation, it was reported some time ago, that a woman had accused the blogger of sexual harassment sometime back. Azeem had even addressed the allegations levelled on him in an Instagram video where he denied the accusations, but deleted it later.

Saba, who was seen as late actor Irrfan Khan's co-star in 'Hindi Medium', had paid tribute to the Bollywood star on his demise in a social media post. She'd written, "Deeply disturbed to hear about the passing of Irrfan Khan. I still cant absorb the news. It feels like yesterday coming back from the sets of Hindi Medium. You taught me a lot as an actor and a mentor. It is indeed a huge loss to the cinema world. Such a brilliant actor gone too soon. You left a huge irreplaceable void in Cinema Irfan. My heartfelt condolences to his family. May Allah give them strength to bear this loss. RIP Raj. Yours Only, Meeta."
Advertisement

New renderings show the cabin interior of the supersonic presidential jet designed by Exosonic that could fly at nearly twice the speed of sound and cut travel time in half.

Last year, it was revealed that the Pentagon had commissioned a prototype of a jet that could carry a variety of senior members of the executive branch - from cabinet officials to the First Lady.

The Air Force awarded a 24-month, $1million contract to Exosonic after it was impressed by the start-up aerospace company's concept for a jet that could fly at Mach 1.8 speeds 'supersonically overland and overwater with a muted sonic boom,' according to the firm's website.

The presidential plane is a 31-passenger version of the company's concept for a 70-passenger commercial jet and could theoretically reach speeds of 1,380mph.

Last year, it was revealed that the Pentagon had commissioned a prototype of a jet that could carry a variety of senior members of the executive branch

The Air Force awarded a 24-month, $1million contract to Exosonic after it was impressed by the start-up aerospace company's concept for a jet that could fly at Mach 1.8 speeds over land because of its low-boom technology

The presidential plane is a 31-passenger version of the company's concept for a 70-passenger commercial jet and could theoretically reach speeds of 1,380mph

The first of the business suites fits three passengers and includes the ability to video teleconference securely in-flight

A second suite for senior staffers and guests, fits eight passengers who can work collaboratively and rest. It has seats that lie flat to allow passengers to sleep on board

Stephanie Chahan, Exosonic's principal aircraft interior designer, said one of its key interior design strengths is its cabin flexibility to host a variety of different passengers - unlike Air Force One, the president's plane.

'It needs to be flexible enough to fit a number of different missions, if it was ever in service,' Chahan told DailyMail.com.

'So it has to be modular enough for the Secretary of Defense, fit the requirements of the First Lady - whatever their requirements may be - and those requirements can vary significantly.'

CNN Travel noted that the plane might primarily be used as Air Force Two - which carries the vice president.

The jet boasts two private suites and luxurious furnishings and materials including quartz counters, and flooring near its exits, as well as a wool-silk blend carpet - materials that 'are often not seen in business jets,' Chahan said.

The custom carpets come from American manufacturer Scott Group Studio based out of Michigan, which has previously manufactured rugs in the White House Oval Office for President Joe Biden as well as former Presidents Donald Trump and Barack Obama.

The first of the business suites fits three passengers and includes the ability to video teleconference securely in-flight.

A second suite for senior staffers and guests fits eight passengers who can work collaboratively and rest. It has seats that lie flat to allow passengers to sleep on board.

The plane also has 20 business class passenger seats, with two galleys and two bathrooms.

'With this concept we are planning to implement new technologies that are not available today or that you don't (yet) see on commercial or business aircraft,' Chahan told CNN Travel.

It was not immediately clear what those new technologies may include.

The plane also has 20 business class passenger seats, with two galleys and two bathrooms, Exosonic said

One of its key interior design strengths is its cabin flexibility to host a variety of different passengers - unlike Air Force One, the president's plane

Chahan told DailyMail.com that the cabin design and its blue-and-white coloring was inspired by the executive branch and the Peregrine Falcon - a bird renowned for its speed - making the cabin 'neutral and calming.'

The plane, which has a 5,000-nautical-mile range, is expected to fly by the mid-2030s.

Air Force One, the highly customized Boeing 747-200B series aircraft described as a three-level 'flying Oval Office,' is currently one of the fastest planes in the world. It can travel at a top speed of 600mph, which is almost the speed of sound.

During flight, Air Force One is capable of reaching a maximum altitude of 45,100 ft.

By comparison, a commercial airliner usually reaches about 30,000ft.

It is built to support the weight of up to 70 passengers as well as living quarters for the president, his senior advisers, Secret Service officers, reporters, and guests.

The current version of the plane also holds 4,000sq ft of space which includes a conference room, offices, and top-of-the-line electronics that enables the president to work in-flight.

Air Force One also holds two galleys for food preparation, a doctor on board every flight, and a medical operating room.

There are currently two Air Force One planes in service today. The aircraft carries the tail codes 28000 and 29000.

The current planes were purchased when Ronald Reagan was president. They were first introduced into service during the administration of Reagan's successor, George H.W. Bush.

Several years ago, Boeing decided to shut down production of the 747-200 series. Thus it became difficult to replace the aircraft's parts.

During Barack Obama's second term in office, he ordered a replacement fleet be built that would be modeled on the new 747-8 series.

In July 2018, Boeing received a $3.9billion contract to build two 747-8 aircraft for use as Air Force One by the president, due to be delivered by December 2024 and painted red, white and blue.

The Boeing 747-8s are designed to be an airborne White House able to fly in worst-case security scenarios, such as nuclear war, and are modified with military avionics, advanced communications and a self-defense system.
A Catholic mother in Texas is speaking out after being threatened with arrest for not wearing a mask during mass.

Deirdre Hairston, who recorded a video of the incident on her phone, told Catholic author and podcaster Taylor Marshall in an interview that she had just taken communion at Holy Trinity Catholic Church in Dallas and was kneeling down with her 1-year-old child when a police officer approached her and told her that the church didn't want her there and she was trespassing.

Hairston, who's also pregnant, said parish priest, Father Milton Ryan, contacted police to report that she wasn't wearing a mask, according to CBS' DFW affiliate.

When she defended herself, noting it wasn't a crime not to wear a mask in church, the police officer said the church had a mask mandate because it was considered a business. In an exchange with three police officers outside the church, Hairston's husband is seen in the video expressing his dismay and defending his wife, emphasizing that the church is not a business.

Source:The Christian Post
Jemulpo Harbor in the early 1900s / Robert Neff Collection



By Robert Neff



As evidenced by his articles published in the United States, Dr. Clarence E. Edwords, a physician and travel writer from San Francisco, knew how to tell a great story. He exclaimed there were so many things to see in Korea and he could write a great deal about his adventures in Seoul, but because of the amount of material he would concentrate only on the most "interesting incidents." Apparently Seoul wasn't exciting enough because he failed to publish any articles about the city, but he was not shy about sharing his adventures of the wild and dangerous interior of the peninsula.



According to our intrepid adventurer, he was invited by his friend (apparently this friend lived in Seoul) to leave Jemulpo (modern Incheon) and travel up the Han River for about 100 kilometers to the wild mountainous interior. Judging from the good doctor's accounts, nothing was wilder than his imagination.



On the first day, they traveled for many hours before stopping at a small village along the river. The villagers  "dressed in a most fantastic garb"  were hesitant to allow the Westerners to land as they feared these strangers would bring diseases amongst them. It was only with a great deal of persuasion by their kisu (guards) did the villagers acquiesce and allow the Americans to stop and look around for a short time before resuming their river travel.



Eventually they came to the mountainous region and were surprised to see the people there always traveled in large numbers and were heavily armed. At first, Edwords assumed this was because of "the constant savage warfare between the clans or tribes" battling for the scarce sources of food as "they raise[d] scarcely enough grain to keep them[selves] alive" but he later learned he was wrong. They traveled in large armed groups as protection from the monarchs of the darkness  tigers.





Isabella Bird Bishop's boat on the Han River in the mid-1890s / Robert Neff Collection



In his letter, Edwords explained that unlike tigers in other parts of the world that lurk in dense undergrowth and suddenly ambush their victims, the Korean tiger "stalks boldly forth and attacks man and beast." Its sheer size (twice the size of most tigers), blood-thirstiness and "little or no experience with fire arms," emboldened it to attack anything  man or beast  it encountered.



Of course, Edwords wasn't just relying upon the exaggerated accounts he heard from the Korean villagers; he had his own experience:



"[One night, as we were passing along the river], I was sleeping soundly when I was awakened by a sudden scrambling of men overhead and then the boat bumped up against the bank and almost threw me out of my bunk. Immediately there was a heavy thump on deck as if some large body had fallen. I arose and started for the deck when I was stopped by a terror stricken boatman who yelled something unintelligible at me in Korean. It was only when my friend came out and I learned that a tiger had taken possession of the boat. He had jumped from shore to the boat fortunately not striking any of the men and would remain there until he was satisfied he could get nothing.



"After a long time one of the boatmen ventured to peep out and said the tiger had gone away. The men cautiously crept out and got the boat under way again, and the rest of the night was devoid of further incident."





A Korean home in the countryside in the early 1900s / Robert Neff Collection



Edwords and his companions were lucky to have escaped with their lives but there were other dangers:



"In addition to tigers there are bears, ferocious leopards, and many poisonous serpents. Crocodiles infest the rivers, and sharks abound in the waters of the ocean. Taken altogether it is not a land where one could enjoy life to its utmost, for there is too much continual alarm over danger."



Edwords planned on spending several weeks in Korea but suddenly changed his plans and instead traveled to the Philippines. It wasn't the "continual alarm over danger" of the Korean interior that changed his plans, but the possibility of war between the United States and Japan for the Philippines.



On Sept. 20, 1907, Edwords left Jemulpo aboard a steamship bound for Manila. As far as I can ascertain, he never returned to Korea (assuming he was ever here).



Many of the good doctor's accounts seem to have been fabricated from information he gleaned in other countries  such as Japan and the Philippines  or from books. The descriptions of the Korean military read like those from the 1880s, tiger stories remained popular through the 1910s  albeit, his was the first I've heard of a Korean tiger attacking a boat  and his claims of crocodiles in the Han River seem as if they were taken from old European publications of Hamel's adventures in Korea in the mid-17th century.





A Korean tiger in the early 1900s / Diane Nars Collection



According to Vibeke Roeper and Boudewijn Walraven, the Dutch publisher G. J. Saeghman reprinted Hamel's journal in the early 1670s and tried to make it more appealing by adding "a number of illustrations of elephants and crocodiles taken from another book" as well as slipping in "an 'appropriate' passage about the presence of crocodiles in Korea."



It was fiction in the 1670s and it was fiction in 1907.



However, there is at least one other account of a crocodile (alligator) in a Korean river  unlike the others, it was not an intentional fraud. Roy Chapman Andrews, a famous explorer and naturalist (often referred to as the real Indiana Jones) who later became director of the American Museum of Natural History  traveled to Korea in the early 1910s and in 1929 published a book about his adventures. One of the pictures in the book is of a dead alligator that was mistakenly mislabeled as being in Korea.



It is a shame the book wasn't published prior to 1907; the good doctor could have used the image as proof of his Korean adventures.



My appreciation to Diane Nars for her invaluable assistance.





The mistaken image of the alligator on a Korean river / Robert Neff Collection
The Mission of the President of Ukraine in the Autonomous Republic of Crimea has condemned the actions of the Russian authorities in Crimea because of the "prosecution of editor-in-chief of the Qrm newspaper Bekir Mamutov for publishing a report of the UN Secretary General, which mentioned the Mejlis of the Crimean Tatar people," the krymr.com website (the project of the Ukrainian service of Radio Liberty) has reported.

"These actions are evidence of the continuation of the policy of persecution of both freedom of speech and the Mejlis of the Crimean Tatar people. The Mission calls for an end to the persecution of freedom of speech and the Mejlis of the Crimean Tatar people in the temporarily occupied Crimea, to implement the award of the International Court of Justice (ICJ) issued in 2017 in the Ukraine v. Russia case, which introduced provisional measures, in particular to refrain from limitations on the expression of interests of Crimean Tatars, including activities of the Mejlis and stop the persecution of the editor-in-chief of the Qrm newspaper Bekir Mamutov," the Mission said in a press release quoted by krymr.com.

The Russian-controlled Magistrate Court of Kyivsky District of Simferopol has begun hearing of an administrative offense case against Mamutov. In relation to Mamutov, a protocol was drawn up under Article 13.15 of the Administrative Offenses Code of Russia for the publication of the UN Secretary General's report, which referred to the Mejlis of the Crimean Tatar people.

In 2016, the so-called Supreme Court of Crimea recognized the Mejlis of the Crimean Tatar people as an extremist organization and banned its activities on Russian territory.

In 2017, Ukraine filed a lawsuit against Russia with the ICJ arguing that Russia violated the International Convention for the Suppression of the Financing of Terrorism (ICSFT) and the International Convention on the Elimination of All Forms of Racial Discrimination (CERD).
 Flash

A Chinese Foreign Ministry spokesperson on Friday called on the United States to abide by the one-China principle and stop all forms of official exchange with Taiwan.

"We urge the United States to fully understand the highly sensitive nature of the Taiwan question and adhere to the one-China principle and three China-U.S. joint communiques," spokesperson Hua Chunying said at a daily press briefing.

Hua made the comments in response to U.S. State Department spokesperson Ned Price's remarks that the United States will continue to consider "opportunities for visits to Washington and Taipei by senior-level authorities" to advance their unofficial relationship.

"We urge the U.S. side to stop the dangerous practice of challenging the bottom line and playing with fire as the previous administration did," Hua said. She called for prudently and properly handling the Taiwan question, and not sending wrong signals to separatist forces seeking "Taiwan independence," so as to avoid undermining China-U.S. ties as well as peace and stability across the Taiwan Strait.

Hua noted that the U.S. ambassador to Palau joined the delegation of Palau on a visit to Taiwan, and asked, "Does the United States really care about the people in Taiwan? Or is it using Taiwan as a pawn in its plot to contain China?"

There is only one China in the world and Taiwan is an inalienable part of Chinese territory, and the government of the People's Republic of China is the sole legal government representing the whole of China, Hua said, adding that this is a basic fact recognized by the international community.

"The Taiwan question is the most important and sensitive issue in China-U.S. ties, and the one-China principle is the political foundation of the China-U.S. relationship, a red line that should not be crossed," she said.








ANN ARBOR, MI  Hundreds of protesters, pot tourists and marijuana enthusiasts were at the University of Michigan Diag Saturday afternoon for a smoke-in protest in conjunction with the 50th Hash Bash rally.

The annual smoke-in was a protest of marijuana laws, including the prohibition against smoking in public, according to Adam Brook, a past organizer of Hash Bash. Current organizers are holding the event virtually for the second year in a row due to the COVID-19 pandemic.

Related: Ann Arbors 50th Hash Bash will be virtual, but smoke-in protest planned

Brook previously said he wouldnt sit out another year and planned the smoke-in protest at the Diag. A large crowd in the hundreds, if not the thousands were on the Diag, and many others were walking between the Diag and downtown Ann Arbor dispensaries.

This just shows that we still have a lot to fight for, Brook said. We moved the ball forward, but we still have a long way to go.

Michigan Attorney General Dana Nessel spoke during the virtual Hash Bash livestream and said while Michigan has made great strides on marijuana law reform, its long past time for the federal government to legalize marijuana nationally.

Cannabis reform is needed to ensure restorative justice, she said. Marijuana law reform would reduce the harm to people in communities of color who are disproportionately impacted by current cannabis laws, create jobs and economic opportunities as the legalization or regulation of marijuana would bring one of the largest cash crops under the rule of law, save taxpayer dollars and allow already scarce law enforcement resources to be better used to ensure safe communities while simultaneously reducing the burden on our courts and corrections system.

The first Hash Bash took place on the Diag in 1972  four months after John Lennon and others came to town to attend a freedom rally for imprisoned Ann Arbor poet and pot activist John Sinclair, who was serving a 10-year sentence for possessing two joints.

After Sinclair was freed and Michigans felony marijuana law declared unconstitutional, the first Hash Bash was held as a new state law with lesser penalties took effect.

Sinclair was in attendance for the protest Saturday, April 3. He said he was glad to see everyone come out.

Were not supposed to be here. They dont want anybody smoking weed on the campus  never have, never will, Sinclair said.

Openly smoking marijuana in public is not legal and is even less appropriate during a pandemic, Ann Arbor Police Chief Michael Cox said Friday. Both AAPD and UMs Division of Public Safety and Security (UMDPSS) were at the Diag Saturday to monitor the protest and crowd. Officers were telling those in attendance that they could not sell anything on the UM Diag.

Paul Kerry wasnt selling anything, but he was offering people hits from a device he created to making dabbing  inhaling vaporized cannabis concentrates through a heating method like a vaporizer  more efficient and last longer.

It was Kerrys first Hash Bash, and while he has known about the event for years, he never thought about going until this year.

Now that Im here, this is awesome, said Kerry, of Port Huron. Im around a group of my kind of people.

The state has COVID-19 orders in place through April 19 limiting non-residential outdoor gatherings to no more than 300 people, with face masks to be worn at all times unless eating or drinking while seated in a designated area in groups of no more than six people, spaced at least six feet apart, and no intermingling.

Related: Ann Arbor police chief has message for Hash Bash visitors: Were in the middle of a pandemic

UM DPSS Public Information Officer Melissa Overton said there were between 500 and 700 people at most on the Diag, but everything was peaceful, and no arrests were made as of 1:30 p.m.

The last in-person Hash Bash in April 2019  the first with marijuana legalized in Michigan  drew a record crowd of well over 10,000 people from around the state and beyond.

READ MORE:

Local Eats: Ann Arbors Jagged Fork features breakfast and boozy brunches

Ann Arbor planning group begins task of envisioning downtown central park

Women who sued Ann Arbor police for breaking down their door get $50K in settlement
Photo Illustration by The Daily Beast/Getty/handout

Higher ed is under attack, everywhere. We have grown to expect attacks on elite institutions, but now threats target regional and rural institutions, metastasizing. Conservatives are assaulting the very institutions that provide the surest access to higher education for their own constituents. A current case in point is what is happening at Northern Idaho College (NIC), a small, rural community college in Coeur DAlene.

Early on a very cold Friday morning this past January, NIC Board Chair Todd Banducci sent five rapid-fire emails to the institutions president, Nick MacLennan, giving the president his marching orders. Banducci was not happy. He demanded the president stifle student speech and change the colleges COVID-19 protocols. For good measure, he derided the presidents wife as a Hillary supporter. He directly threatened the presidents job.

Board chairs and presidents can often be at odds. But tension at NIC seems less about educational operations, outcomes, or fiscal responsibility. Instead, it seems to be pulling from the Trump political playbook. Schools like NIC that provide the bulk of the educational opportunities in this country get little attention and fewer resources. They train students for careers, focusing mainly on vocational outcomes, because jobs matter. In short, they are an unusual target for conservatives.

The Worlds Changing Fast. Heres How Higher Ed Can Keep Up.

This dust-up in Idaho is significant because whats happening there highlights what is happening everywhere. The cause seems to be the drastic shift in local politics, as The Chronicle of Higher Education put it: In Kootenai County [the county that NIC serves], as in counties across America, disdain for colleges is thriving among people on the right and far right. For years, locals have made bogeymen out of the faculty, characterizing them as radicals with leftist agendas, committed to indoctrinating students.

What we are seeing is much more than institutional distrust. As a recent letter writer to a Midwestern local newspaper said, We have far too many progressive liberals in non-political positions of power [at universities] that affect our daily lives, and that has to stop. Conservatives since the 1950s have seen elite colleges and universities as systems of indoctrination and ideology. In 1966, after all, Ronald Reagan ran for governor of California on a platform that centered on attacking the University of California at Berkeley as nothing more than a home for radicalisms.

Story continues

Starting in the 1980s, there was a push for colleges to become more vocationally focused, i.e. less elitist, which turned fire on the liberal arts as useless. This sentiment is expressed in the 2005 Commission on the Future of Higher Education, better known as the Spellings Commission. Formed by President George W. Bush to investigate the state of higher education, its report stressed a needed shift toward job training and readiness. What makes the current attacks so shocking is the hostile gaze is now aimed at what was seen by an earlier generation of conservatives and neoliberals (Clinton, Obama, and Biden?) as the solution.

Critics have continued to attack ethnic and gender studies, as well as the arts and humanities. If you want to take gender studies that's fine, said North Carolina GOP Governor Pat McCrory in 2013, go to a private school and take it... But I don't want to subsidize that... They blame critical race theory for ruining America and teaching students to hate their country. Now, vocationally focused institutions are rolled up into the assault. In the era of alternative facts, the devaluing of education should worry everyone as the damage done to our institutions of science and learning is dangerous, as COVID-19 revealed.

Unfolding right before our eyes is the next phase of the systematic dismantling of higher education. Higher education isnt perfect and everyone agrees it needs true change. It will no doubt try to respond to these new pressures, but all the paths seem blocked.

Maybe Joe Biden can try to restore confidence in higher education. His wife is, after all, a professor at a community college. He brought rollbacks of Trump/DeVos-era policies. Recently, we learned that the Biden administration plans to give the nations community colleges a huge shot in the arm (funding).

If he is successful, Biden seems poised to return to the past that sees higher education mainly as job training. And, while the infusions of money for these institutions is surely needed, it might come too late for schools like NIC, who are in a deathmatch for their lives. Higher education is hurting. Lost in the moment is the larger purpose of higher education, that universities can and should have twin goals: provide students with the skills and means for a good life and to be engaged in the world. One without the other is failure.

Demographics seem to be destiny. Much attention has been paid to national demographic trends. But, change is happening everywhere. In Idahos Kootenia county, BuzzFeed reported on the thousands of exLAPD officers, doomsday preppers, traditionalist Catholics, and far-right evangelicals whove flocked to the white, conservative utopia of North Idaho over the last 20 years, working to remake the Republican Party in their own image. It appears they succeeded.

In 2020, more than half of state Idaho Republican senators wrote a letter to Boise State University President Marlene Tromp, who was only on the job a few days, attacking the universitys diversity efforts, stating that this drive to create a diversified and inclusive culture becomes divisive and exclusionary because it separates and segregates students. The Idaho legislature then slashed the higher education budget. I think the problem is curriculum, and the bureaucracy that is moving that curriculum, said GOP state representative Vito Barberi. Were talking about equity and inclusion instead of reading, writing, and arithmetic. Why is it that university towns, every time theyre polled, show a socialist bent? He continues, It has to come from those that are teaching the curriculum. So the whole bureaucracy itself in my mind has already turned left.

Many conservatives see tenure as how the liberal establishment holds power. In Iowa, every year since 2017, the Republicans in the legislature have introduced bills to dissolve tenure in the state's public institutions. I wonder if the assault on free speech by some university professors is not related to the belief that theyre Teflon-coated and indestructible, said GOP Iowa Rep. Steve Holt, therefore, maybe we need to look at getting rid of tenure... There have been other states that have also moved in this direction, such as Wisconsin, Missouri, and Florida just to name just a few.

So it is through this larger framework that we need to see NICs issues. The Board Chair recently said he was battling the NIC deep state on an almost daily basis. Liberals, he continued, are quite deeply entrenched but we are registering victories, Referring to faculty and administrators as part of the deep state, viewing higher education as a liberal hoax. Sound familiar?

Seeing colleges and universities as factories for making Democrats and therefore enemies of the state results in the diminishment of the very institutions that can and should provide a pathway into the middle class and fulfillment of the American dream. It, therefore, seems counterintuitive that conservatives would attack the very institutions they should be holding most dear and defending.

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.
Dozens of couples are fighting to get their wedding prints from one of Australias top wedding photographers, with problems dating back at least five years.

Ryan Schembri, who won Australian Photographer of the Year in 2012 and was also a state winner in both NSW and Queensland, has left a string of disgruntled customers and business associates across three states.

Brendan and Andrea Oxford were married in August 2017 but it took them years to finally get what they paid for from the wedding photographer. Credit:Wolter Peeters

A wedding photography package that includes shooting the event, digital files, retouching selected images, enlargements and albums can cost thousands of dollars but many of Mr Schembris customers found they never got what they paid for, despite chasing him for years.

He has vowed to make things right and told The Sun-Herald he is working through a queue of about 30 customers who are still waiting for albums and enlargements dating back to 2016. Mr Schembri said he accepts the blame and regards this article and a recent Instagram page publishing negative reviews by customers as a wake-up call that will ensure he follows through.
"Internet-plus" connects better healthcare resources to remote areas

09:54, April 03, 2021 By He Linping, Jiang Xiaodan ( People's Daily

Wang Yulian, a doctor of a health center in Datang village, Yangshan County, south China's Guangdong Province, receives a patient. (Photo by Zhu Jian)

Eighty-year-old Zhu Qundi was sitting in her yard in Yangshan County, Qingyuan, south China's Guangdong Province, enjoying the warmth of the spring sunshine.

However, fears were still lingering on the mind of Zhu's son Zeng Si every time he recalled what happened in January last year.

"It was cold that day, and my mother felt dizzy after getting up. She almost fainted," Zeng said. Fortunately, doctor Huang Suying of the village arrived in time, who immediately tested blood pressure for the octogenarian and then consulted a "smart doctor" on a mobile application. After that, Huang contacted an expert with Guangdong Second Provincial General Hospital and medicines were soon prescribed.

"Over the past year, my mother's blood pressure has been well controlled, and she's in pretty good health conditions," Zeng told the People's Daily.

Yangshan County, located in the eastern part of Guangdong, is surrounded by mountains. Many townships and villages there had to suffer underdeveloped healthcare due to the geographical position. To see a doctor, local residents had to travel a long distance.

In recent years, thanks to the development of "internet plus"-driven health services, fellow villagers in the county are connected to high-quality medical resources.

"Internet plus" is also boosting the confidence of local village doctors.

"This is an AI device package distributed by provincial authorities. It has a whole bunch of equipment, such as an ECG monitor and a glucometer," said Huang, pointing to a bag on his hand. "It's way more advanced than the traditional echometers, sphygmomanometers and thermometers," he added.

Under the deployment of Guangdong's health commission, such packages were distributed to 2,277 impoverished villages in September 2019, with each village doctor holding one.

"All the devices in the package are connected to the internet, so the data and images can be uploaded to county- and provincial-level hospitals," Huang told the People's Daily.

Now, with the county being connected to better roads, and covered by phone and network services, health centers in its townships are getting busier, as telemedicine platforms are not only hospitals for residents living in remote areas, but also "classrooms" of further study for primary-level doctors.

Libu is a mountainous township in Yangshan County, where it's easy for riders to get hurt because of the winding mountain roads. However, the township hospital could only treat single fracture of lower limbs.

Fortunately, a branch of Yangshan County's telemedicine center was established in the township. It significantly benefited Yuan Xiaoming, an orthopedist of the township hospital. Now, weekly case discussion, on-demand online consultation and frequent telelearning have become a routine for him and his colleagues.

Now Yuan and his colleagues are more proficient. They are able to perform not only dearticulation and extra-articular surgeries, but also skin flap transplantation.

In recent three years, the county-level hospital of Yangshan has launched about 80 new businesses and technologies. Today, it is able to perform many kinds of surgeries that it dared not to handle in the past, and some of its techniques are even in a leading position in the province.

In the next five years, the county will invest more in the facilities and human resources of township- and village-level hospitals, and work together with Guangdong province to offer better medical resources for the people at their doorsteps, said Deng Fei, Party head of the county.

Enable Ginger Cannot connect to Ginger Check your internet connection

or reload the browser Disable in this text field Edit Edit in Ginger Edit in Ginger

(Web editor: Kou Jie, Bianji)
U.S. Capitol Police officer William Billy Evans, an 18-year veteran who was a member of the department's first responders unit, was killed on April 2, 2021. (U.S. Capitol Police via AP)

William Evans Identified as Police Officer Killed in Vehicle Attack on US Capitol

A U.S. Capitol Police officer who died on Friday after a vehicle attack was identified as William Billy Evans.

Evans is an 18-year veteran of the force who was a member of the departments first responders unit.

Please keep Officer Evans and his family in your thoughts and prayers, Capitol Police acting Chief Yogananda Pittman said in a statement.

Evans died from injuries he sustained after a man rammed a blue car into him and another officer at a barricade outside the U.S. Capitol just after 1 p.m. Video showed the driver of the crashed car then emerged from the vehicle holding a knife and running toward the pair of officers, Pittman told reporters on Friday.

U.S. Capitol Police officers near a car that crashed into a barrier on Capitol Hill in Washington on April 2, 2021. (J. Scott Applewhite/AP Photo)

U.S. Capitol police surround a blue car that rammed a police barricade outside the U.S. Capitol building on Capitol Hill in Washington on April 2, 2021. (Michael Weekes/Reuters)

Police had responded by firing on the suspect, who later died at the hospital.

It does not appear to be terrorism-related but obviously well continue to investigate, Robert Contee, acting chief of the Metropolitan Police Department of Washington, said in the immediate aftermath of the attack.

The suspect was later identified as 25-year-old Noah Green. Multiple outlets reported that social media accounts belonging to Green suggested he was a follower of the Nation of Islam and its leader, Louis Farrakhan.

Investigators were digging into Greens background and examining whether he had any history of mental health problems as they tried to discern a motive. They were working to obtain warrants to access his online accounts.

Facebook in a statement said it has taken down Greens profile under its Dangerous Individuals and Organizations policy and that it was working with law enforcement.

The other officer is in stable and non-threatening condition, Capitol Police announced.

President Joe Biden said in a statement that he has ordered the White House flag to be lowered to half-staff, and expressed condolences to Evanss family.

We know what a difficult time this has been for the Capitol, everyone who works there, and those who protect it, he said.

Larry Cosme, national president of the Federal Law Enforcement Officers Association, expressed condolences over Evanss death.

Our thoughts and prayer are with the Officer who passed and his family, Cosme said. He gave his life in dedication to protecting our nations democracy and should be treated as a national hero.

Our prayers also remain with the second officer battling injuries sustained in the attack. We hope for a swift recovery and commend both officers for their courageous actions, he added.

The Associated Press contributed to this report.
On March 22, 2021, a Pathao rider was assaulted by a taxi driver at Gongabu of Kathmandu claiming that the Pathao rider lured his customer away by offering a ride at a low fare. This clash has revived a controversy on the operation of ride-sharing apps such as Pathao and Tootle. The controversy, meanwhile, highlighted the urgent need for a law to regulate them.

This controversy started as soon as Tootle launched a ride-sharing service on motorcycles and taxis in December 2016. At that time, the government responded saying it was illegal to ferry passengers on private vehicles.

Not only the government officials, but transport entrepreneurs also tried to stop this service many times. But, with the widespread popularity of the apps among service users, the government has neither been able to shut down the service nor give it legitimacy. Due to that, there have been lingering problems in this business.

Legal issues

Not only the service-providing companies but also the passengers, riders, traffic police, and officials of the Department of Transport Management are confused as the ride-sharing service has not been brought into the legal framework for a long time.

Asheem Man Singh Basnyat, the regional director of Pathao, says many difficulties have arisen in the operation of the service as the government has not enacted a law to address this area.

Public transport expert Ashish Gajurel assumes if the issue about the use of technology in transport is not addressed on time by formulating a law, it will have negative impacts on other sectors of transportation.

Gajurel sees the governments indifference has created disputes among riders, passengers, transport entrepreneurs, ride-sharing companies and the government.

Further, he adds, The governments tendency to remain silent by not resolving immediate disputes has increased the risk of the service becoming ineffective, of poor quality and unsafe.

Gajurel also suggests it is not difficult to formulate the rules by studying its practice in neighbouring countries such as India and Bangladesh.

The legalisation bid

Companies such as Tootle and Pathao are registered with the Office of the Company Registrar and not with the Department of Transport Management. Therefore, these companies are not regulated by the department.

Also, the Department of Transportation has been saying time and again that it is illegal to use private vehicles to pick up passengers. It is also mentioned in articles 8 (1) and 12 of the Motor Vehicles and Transport Management Act, 1993.

Lok Nath Bhusal, the spokesperson of the department, says that in the draft of the Federal Motor Vehicles and Transport Management Bill, it has been proposed to make arrangements to take/ give passenger services from the ride-sharing app.

The draft has reached the ministry. Once it reaches the parliament and becomes law, we can regulate the ride-sharing service by issuing procedures, he mentions.

Authorities in dilemma

But, until that, the authorities are likely to be in dilemma.

Owing to the Motor Vehicles and Transport Management Act, the government had urged the companies to stop this service many times. Some riders were even taken into custody by traffic Police. However, every time the service recipients/ public massively protested against this move of the government. Following the protests, the government at the end had been directing to stop the action against the ride-sharing services.

Not only the government but the Patan High Court, while hearing a petition filed by an association of the taxi owners, had also ordered not to stop the ride-sharing service immediately and to make necessary laws after the public stood in the favour of ride-sharing services.

This issue was taken to court after the taxi operators picketed the Department of Transport Management against Tootle and Pathao on March 10, 2020. All of this has created a lot of confusion regarding this service.

Meanwhile, the service providers have also been resisting the government order to shut down the service. There has been a moral crisis on the governments part to ban such services as passengers are in favour of such services.

Meanwhile, the Bagmati provincial government has introduced legal provisions that allow private vehicles to operate for public purposes in the specified areas by taking a fixed fare. After the implementation of the 2015 constitution, the right of transport management has shifted from centre to provincial governments.

However, the provincial government has made neither the regulations to implement this act nor any procedure to register such companies.

Meanwhile, the transport entrepreneurs are also questioning the law of the province. According to them, the provincial law should not contradict the federal ones.

Transport entrepreneurs, who are operating at a loss due to Tootle and Pathao, have been protesting owing to the federal governments act. Saroj Sitaula, the general secretary of the Federation of Nepali National Transport Entrepreneurs, says the tendency of the government to remain silent even when private vehicles are ferrying passengers is a mockery of the rule of law.
Metro Manila (CNN Philippines, April 3)  The COVID-19 bed occupancy rate in Metro Manila could still be above 70% until the end of the month even if the enhanced community quarantine in Metro Manila, Rizal, Cavite, Bulacan, and Laguna or the NCR Plus will be extended for another week, according to an OCTA Research fellow.

"Because the R (reproduction number) is above 1 in our assumptions, what we expect is that the hospital occupancy will remain above 70% for the rest of April," Fr. Nicanor Austriaco told a briefing on Saturday. A lower reproduction number means fewer people are contracting the virus after being exposed to a COVID-19 case.

The projection is based on a scenario that the ECQ in NCR Plus is extended until April 11, he noted. It also rests on the assumption that the average number of days a coronavirus patient stays in the hospital is 27, he added, citing data from the Philippine General Hospital, a COVID-19 referral hospital.

OCTA fellow Dr. Guido David said in the same briefing the reproduction number in Metro Manila, the epicenter of the local coronavirus outbreak, is currently at 1.65. It may go down to 1.33 a week from now and further reduced to 1.09 by April 16 if the ECQ is extended for at least seven more days.

Austriaco said the reproduction number must drop to less than 1 for "several weeks" to lower the bed utilization rates.

Data from the Department of Health as of April 1 showed 6,165 or 67% of the 9,200 beds for COVID-19 patients in hospitals in the National Capital Region are occupied. Of the total, 813 are critical care beds. But over 636 or 78% of these ICU beds were being used. Meanwhile, over 71% or 3,329 of 4,666 isolation beds are occupied.

Some 51 hospitals in Metro Manila have also hit "critical" level, meaning over 85%, if not all of their beds for COVID-19 patients are occupied.

The DOH tracker also suggests 61 hospitals are at the "safe" level which means less than 60% are occupied, while 42% have occupancy rates between 60% and 85%, meaning they should all be able to accommodate patients.

But reports on social media in the past few days showed families of COVID-19 patients from Metro Manila have reached outlying provinces in search of medical attention.

Vice President Leni Robredo has called on the government to post real-time updates on hospital bed occupancy as several people struggle to look for medical facilities that still accept COVID-19 patients.

Related: Robredo seeks real-time updates on hospital capacity amid struggles of people seeking treatment

To address the issue, the DOH, the World Health Organization, and UNICEF are fast tracking the delivery and setting up of modular tents in hospitals across Metro Manila.

Eight facilities, namely Jose R. Reyes Memorial Medical Center, Jose N. Rodriguez Memorial Hospital and Sanitarium (Tala), Amang Rodriguez Memorial Medical Center, Tondo Medical Center, National Center for Mental Health, Lung Center of the Philippines, National Kidney and Transplant Institute, and San Lazaro Hospital, have requested for modular tents.

Extensions were also built for level 3 hospitals in coordination with the Department of Public Works and Highways. One of those that are set to be completed is a 110-bed capacity at JRRMMC expected to open on April 8.

In a virtual briefing on Saturday, Presidential spokesman Harry Roque assured the public that more facilities will be opened in the coming weeks, including additional 160 beds for moderate and severe patients, with the extension of the enhanced community quarantine in the Greater Manila area for another week.

However, the DOH is encouraging the public to first coordinate with barangay officials before heading to hospitals once they observe symptoms so they will be referred to the right facility. They may also use teleconsultation of their LGU or the department to avoid overcrowding in hospitals.

The department also said 42 initial volunteer healthcare workers from regions with level of infections are set for deployment in Metro Manila this coming week. Volunteers from the Visayas and Mindanao are also expected to be deployed in the following weeks, while military medical reserve forces were tapped to man temporary treatment and monitoring facilities, it said.

Meanwhile, the DOH said more hotels are also being tapped to cater to medical workers in need of quarantine and isolation facilities. It also continues to distribute personal protective equipment across the country. The release of salaries and benefits are also being expedited, the agency added.
The pandemic lockdowns changed consumer behavior, forcing Prosus to adapt in ways that Mr. van Dijk believes will be permanent. We dont have any reason to believe they will go away, he said, adding that the pandemic essentially brought the future forward by a few years.

In short, that means greater automation and less human contact.

In our e-commerce business, we already had drop-off lockers, Mr. van Dijk said. Thats become very, very prevalent. We figured that people like it. Its no-contact delivery.

Spurred by necessity, Prosus portfolio companies found other ways to wring efficiencies. We found that more of our business can be automated than we thought, he said. That was pushing us further down the curve of making a very smooth customer experience that has as few touch points as possible.

For example, its classifieds business, OLX, began asking customers to inspect the cars for sale themselves, reducing social contact.

When forced, you can think creatively, Mr. van Dijk said.

Food delivery, unsurprisingly, has been as strong a business for Prosus during lockdowns as it has been for Uber, DoorDash and others. But Prosus companies like Delivery Hero and iFood took steps to help preserve long-term good will with its partners at the expense of short-term profits. In Brazil, for example, we paid restaurants much quicker than we usually did, Mr. van Dijk said. From a cash-flow point of view, that was actually pretty important in keeping restaurants in their good graces, reducing potential tensions between restaurants struggling during the pandemic and online delivery apps seeing demand soar.

It was a similar story in India for classifieds. We reduced fees substantially, or we waived fees, he said. That allowed people to preserve cash. When things started to come back again, there was a lot of appreciation around that.
MUSKEGON, MI - Mercy Health is limiting the number of visitors at its hospitals and medical facilities due to a significant rise in COVID-19 cases, the health system announced Friday, April 2.

Under the new guidelines, non-COVID inpatients and outpatients will be allowed one visitor a day. Masks will be required at all times, even in hospital rooms, and visitors may not rotate.

Patients hospitalized with COVID-19 will not be allowed visitors unless they are receiving end of life care.

Pediatric patients under the age of 21 will be granted two parent or legal guardian visitors.

Maternity patients in labor are allowed one support person.

Other visitor restrictions and exceptions can be seen on Mercy Healths website.

The tightened restrictions come as Michigan reports a spike in COVID-19 cases. The seven-day average of daily cases jumped from 3,679 new cases last week to 5,128 cases.

Spectrum Health and Michigan Medicine also enacted temporary visitor policies this week.

More on MLive:

Michigan reports 5,498 coronavirus cases, 20 deaths Friday, April 2

COVID-19 cases on the rise again at Grand Valley State University

CDC says fully vaccinated people can travel safely in U.S.
John Aiken has shared some rare photos of his family enjoying a day out together.

On Saturday, the Married At First Sight relationship expert headed out to the Sydney Royal Easter Show with his wife and children.

In a series of photos shared to Instagram, John, 50, cuddled up to his wife of 14 years, Kelly Swanson-Roe.

Family! On Saturday, Married At First Sight relationship expert John Aiken headed out to the Sydney Royal Easter Show with his family. John is pictured with wife Kelly Swanson-Roe and their two children: son Aston, eight, and daughter Piper, five

Also posing with the couple were their two children: son Aston, eight, and daughter Piper, five.

John looked casually cool in his off-duty dad look, wearing a pair of sunglasses and cap with a simple black shirt.

His wife Kelly, absolutely beaming in the selfies, opted for a red polka-dot dress, sunglasses and caramel toned felt hat.

All smiles: His wife Kelly, absolutely beaming in the selfies, opted for a red polka-dot dress, sunglasses and caramel toned felt hat

Off duty: John looked casually cool in his off-duty dad look, wearing a pair of sunglasses and cap with a simple black shirt

John and Kelly recently celebrated their 14-year wedding anniversary.

He told 9Honey that the secret to their successful union was keeping his home and work lives completely separate.

'Right from the word go she said, "I don't want a therapist  cut the psychobabble,"' he said.

His marriage worked out! The couple recently celebrated their 14-year wedding anniversary

Aww! John first saw glamorous Kelly on television in New Zealand, where she worked as a newsreader

Love: 'She is a very resilient woman and quite inspiring to be around,' John said. 'Someone whom I look up to and whom I have a lot of respect for'

John first saw glamorous Kelly on television in New Zealand, where she worked as a newsreader.

When they met in person, the relationship developed slowly from a friendship.

'She is a very resilient woman and quite inspiring to be around,' John said. 'Someone whom I look up to and whom I have a lot of respect for.'
Leinster rugby head coach Leo Cullen  his team go through to the quarter-finals of the Champions Cup. Photo: Ramsey Cardy/Sportsfile

Players, management and officials from the RC Toulon rugby club travelled to Ireland from France on Thursday despite a member of the squad, who remained at home, testing positive for Covid-19 on Wednesday.

The unnamed player did not travel with his team-mates, but a number of members of the travelling party were subsequently identified as close contacts of the positive case which led to their match against Leinster at the RDS being cancelled yesterday.

As a result, Leinster are through to the quarter-finals of this years Heineken Champions Cup where they will face Exeter Chiefs or Lyon next weekend.

However, Toulon were left furious at the decision of organisers European Professional Club Rugby (EPCR) to call the match off and award the victory to the home team.

The club went through a round of PCR testing on Monday, but the second round of testing on Wednesday returned a positive and the tournament organisers were informed that evening.

Toulon were booked on a flight to Dublin on Thursday morning and decided to travel. Despite assertions from the French club that EPCR gave them permission, a spokesperson said: EPCR does not authorise travel for participants in its tournaments and therefore, was not in a position to either authorise RC Toulon to travel to Ireland or to prevent them from doing so.

All clubs in EPCRs tournaments are responsible for complying with the terms of the agreed Covid-19 tournament protocol and quarantine exemptions, including the requirement to conduct thorough contact tracing in the event of a positive test result for Covid-19.

On Thursday, EPCR reviewed footage of Toulons training session and established there are a number of close contacts in the travelling party.

Toulon have confirmed that it was an unnamed member of their front-row who tested positive and as many of six of their front-row players were deemed close contacts.

The French club carried out a full round of tests at their hotel in Stillorgan and they all came back negative.

However, at a fraught meeting of EPCRs Match Day Medical Risk Assessment Committee, which comprises medical leads from the participating unions, leagues and both clubs, it was decided that it was not safe to play the match yesterday.

Toulon were offered the chance to play on Sunday if they could find replacements, but deemed it a sporting impossibility.

The French club are furious about the decision and are threatening to boycott European rugby competitions in future, while the saga raises questions about how Toulon were able to travel to Ireland with six close contacts of a positive case.

Toulon are not happy with the turn of events and club president Bernard Lemaitre described it as a scandal.

Its sickening, the player tested positive on Wednesday and immediately isolated, he told RugbyRama.
A mass shooting at a house party in North Carolina has left three people dead and at least another four injured, police have said.

Police were alerted to gunshots inside a home in Wilmington just after midnight and arrived at the scene to find that a gunfight had erupted and seven people had been struck.

The police said they would not release the identity of the victims until family members have been notified.

The four injured victims are being treated at New Hanover Regional Medical Center, although their conditions are not known at this time.

A mass shooting occurred at a house party in a residential area of Wilmington, North Carolina, last night, leaving three dead and another four injured

In a news release, Wilmington Police said: 'Our hearts go out to all affected by this senseless violence, and we ask that anyone with information surrounding this incident please come forward so that we may find justice.'

No motive has been determined and investigators are working at the scene to identify suspects. Lt. Irving, a Wilmington police watch commander, said at least one person suspected of firing shots is believed to have fled.

'There was a house party that was taking place inside of a house,' Police Chief Donny Williams told WECT-TV. 'At least seven people inside were shot and three are deceased.

No motive has been determined in the shooting and investigators are working at the scene to identify suspects, with at least one thought to have fled the scene

Photos taken at the scene show the area cordoned off with police cars stationed in the vicinity

'They are not being identified until the next of kin has been notified. We don't feel that the public is in any danger at the moment and are working to get suspects '

'In my more than two decades as a prosecutor this is one of the worst crimes we have ever had in the Port City,' district attorney Ben David added.

'The community's unimaginable grief must be met with an equal commitment to get justice for all of the victims in this case.'

The shooting occurred at at 7th and Kidder Streets in a residential area of Wilmington

Photos taken at the scene at at 7th and Kidder Streets show the area cordoned off with several police cars stationed in the vicinity.

The incident is the fourth mass shooting in the United States in less than three weeks, leaving 25 people dead. On March 16, Robert Aaron Long, 21, gunned down eight people in a series of attacks at three Atlanta spas, with six of the victims Asian women.

The following Tuesday, gunman Ahmad Alissa shot dead ten people including a police officer, in a supermarket in Boulder, Colorado, and on Wednesday a shooting at a Southern California office building left four people dead, including a child.
President Joe Biden's Infrastructure Plan, said experts, are not beneficial for many reasons. Many don't agree that raising taxes will benefit everyone, as the White House promotes it.

Experts of the administration say that adverse effects will be counterbalanced. Like the $1 trillion COVID-19 Bill, this bill will meet resistance from the GOP.

Biden's Infrastructure Plan

The White House promoted its ambitious infrastructure package with significant tax increases inclusive of the proposal. One major part is taxing U.S. corporations to cover the massive $2 trillion price tag. This initiative will come in two installments, as reported by the Epoch Times.

The president described it as one of the most significant job-generating investments in recent times. He began promoting it in an address at Pittsburgh last March 31.

According to the plan, the government is spending a huge amount on infrastructure to give everyone jobs. One more goal is to make the U.S. more competitive versus China.

This initiative will be done in eight years, and a hefty tax on U.S. companies is to be imposed in over 15 years. The federal corporate tax rate was at 21% during Trump's term. This administration made it a whopping 28% which raised eyebrows for those affected by the tax hike.

Joe Biden's $2 Trillion Infrastructure Plan Comes in Two Parts

Sources say that the Congressional Budget Office (CBO) has made studies that show an opposite effect on the White House claims. These benefits will not lead to ambitious investments.

The current administration has emerging barriers that don't support the tax increases under the proposal, according to Scott Hedge of the conservative Tax Foundation. He stressed that the proposal causes more economic harm.

One of the proposal's shortcomings is that Federal investment supported by debt or taxes will not work out in the long run. An effect of federal borrowing and a massive tax hike is lessening private investment, said Hodge.

A way to keep the economy healthy is by financing federal investments and spending on essential programs. This proposal by the administration has too many items that could be under scrutiny.

Based on the CBO models, the Democrat proposal should do a tax hike that won't lower economic output and personal consumption. Biden's proposal has yet to be considered if passed.

If the corporate tax is 28%, that will lead to a federal-state combined tax rate of 32.34% that will do more economic harm. Should it be passed by the Senate, that will lessen U.S. competitiveness very negatively.

Jen Psaki remarked on April 1 that the tax hike is not as high in the last 70 years. As a defense to questions about the increased corporate tax, she cited that Fortune 500 companies paid nothing in 2018.

She then said it was not fair, making it a justification for Biden's infrastructure plan. On the Republican side, Senate Minority Leader Mitch McConnell (R-Ky.) said they would fight it in the Senate.

President Joe Biden's Tax Hike: Not Advisable, Reverses Trump Era Gains Says Rep. Meuser

Joe Biden's $3 Trillion Package to Come Next After Stimulus Bill

Biden Approves $1.9 Trillion Stimulus Bill Ready for Rollout

@ 2021 HNGN, All rights reserved. Do not reproduce without permission.
An Ngoc Ha (L) and Nguyen Duc Tai stand before the An Giang People's Court, April 1, 2021. Photo by Tien Phong Newspaper.

Two men were sentenced to death in An Giang Province for trafficking around 40 kg of meth from Cambodia to Vietnam.

The provincial court on Thursday found An Ngoc Ha, 36, and Nguyen Duc Tai, 21, guilty of illegally transporting narcotic substances.

On May 8, 2020, An Giang border guards found Ha, Tai and another man coming into Vietnam from Cambodia on a boat, carrying black plastic bags, local media reported.

As the guards approached them, the men got on waiting motorbikes and later took a car to the provinces An Phu District.

They got out of the car on reaching a market, leaving the plastic bags behind. Authorities in pursuit managed to capture Ha and Tai, but the third man escaped.

In the car were several plastic bags containing around 40 kg of meth. Ha and Tai admitted to illegally trafficking the drugs for the third man from Cambodia to HCMC.

Vietnam has some of the worlds toughest drug laws. Those convicted of possessing or smuggling more than 600 grams of heroin or over 2.5 kilograms of methamphetamine face death.
(@ChaudhryMAli88)

UN Secretary-General Antonio Guterres has welcomed the decision of US President Joe Biden to repeal sanctions on top officials of the International Criminal Court (ICC) that were introduced by his predecessor, Donald Trump, Spokesperson Stephane Dujarric said in a statement on Saturday

MOSCOW (UrduPoint News / Sputnik - 03rd April, 2021) UN Secretary-General Antonio Guterres has welcomed the decision of US President Joe Biden to repeal sanctions on top officials of the International Criminal Court (ICC) that were introduced by his predecessor, Donald Trump, Spokesperson Stephane Dujarric said in a statement on Saturday.

On Friday, the Biden administration announced that an executive order imposing economic sanctions and visa restrictions on ICC prosecutor Fatou Bensouda and her top aide, Phakiso Mochochoko, had been revoked.

"The Secretary-General welcomes the revocation by the United States of the Executive Order on Blocking Property of Certain Persons Associated with the International Criminal Court of 11 June 2020," Dujarrick said.

The spokesperson noted that the ICC plays an important role in holding to account those responsible for international crimes.

The two ICC officials were sanctioned by the Trump administration in September after the court gave the green light to a probe into war crimes committed in Afghanistan after the United States sent troops there in 2001. Trump also issued an executive order in June that allowed authorities to freeze bank accounts and deny entry to any ICC personnel on national security grounds.
Facing its latest wrath the Swedish multinational clothing-retail brand H&M has agreed to change a problematic map online following Chinese government criticism and backlash. The ruling Communist Party in China has heavily down on brands after the United States, the European Union, Britain and Canada imposed travel and financial sanctions.

The ruling Communist Party in China has heavily down on brands after the United States, the European Union, Britain and Canada imposed travel and financial sanctions on officials accused of abuses in Xinjiang in Chinas northwest. In recent developments China lashed out at H&M, Nike and among other brands over its policies in its Xinjiang region. Reports of arbitrary detention, ill-treatment, sexual violence and forced labor in Xinjiang have been coming out to public knowledge which calls for a necessitated thorough and independent assessment.

However earlier too H&M was heavily put down upon by Chinas Youth League when the clothing giant claimed in March 2020 it would no longer buy cotton from Xinjiang. After coming under fire in China, the company had published a statement saying it hoped to regain the trust of customers in China .Earlier US has banned cotton imports from an influential Chinese producer citing that it says uses the forced labour of detained Uyghur Muslims. Foreign researchers and governments say more than 1 million people from predominantly Muslim ethnic minorities are held in detention camps there. According to the U.S.-based Human Rights Watch (HRW), the government used an expansive data collection project to arbitrarily detain Uighurs in the region. United Nations experts and advocates say at least 1 million ethnic Uighurs, who are mostly Muslim and speak a Turkic language, have been detained at some point in Xinjiang internment camps.

Facing its latest wrath the Swedish multinational clothing-retail brand H&M has agreed to change a problematic map online following Chinese government criticism and backlash. International firms like H&M had again to bow down near the communist China while several Taiwanese nationals have pointed out that H&M has put out wrong information by using the wrong map that shows Spratly and Parcel islands owned by China, which is factually incorrect and has been a burning topic between two countries to save the brands face at the said country.

UN has been in negotiations with Beijing without restrictions to Xinjiang to see how the Uighur minority is being treated. At least one million Uyghurs have been held at concentration camps, according to the US and Australian right groups who have accused Chinese authorities of forcibly sterilizing women and imposing forced labour.

Though Shanghais Fridays announcement gave no such details, but most of the travel, clothing and other brands have been pressured to change how Taiwan which Beijing claims as part of its territory, and other sensitive areas are depicted on their websites. The Chinese govt maintained that Internet users reported to management of H&Ms website that there existed a problematic map of China. After being summoned to meet with regulators and left with no choice, H&M managers corrected the error as soon as possible.

China has stoop down this low several times using its great expansionist influence and huge market shares and resources and often lashed out at international firms who refused to carry out the Chinese narratives and claims. Bowing to such pressures and left with no choice China, often bullies such brands which makes it more than crucial for the International community about an alternative worlds shift of order and possible solutions to check and balance Chinas ever increasing economic and expansionist prowess.

H&M has posted information that violates international law and Vietnamese law. Ask H&M to remove the illegal 9-dash road map  China's claim in the East Sea! Paracel Islands and Spratly Islands belong to #Vietnam  #EastSea #BoycottHM #HoangSaTruongSabelongtoVietNam pic.twitter.com/Xqq9BENMTa  Linh Nguyen (@nphlinh7799) April 2, 2021

H&M has put out wrong information by using the wrong map has Sprartly and Parcel islands ownned by China, which is factually incorrect and has been a burning topic between two countries to save the brand's face at the said country+#Apologize_To_VietNam pic.twitter.com/fn0WBbERr1  () . (@xattafaen) April 3, 2021

Fashion brand H&M is insulting the territory of Vietnam. You are doing business in Vietnam but accept the illegal territorial sea map of China. You don't respect VN, get out of here!#HMGetOutOfVietnam#TaychayHM#Apologize_To_VietNam#HoangSaTruongSabelongtoVietNam#BoycottHM pic.twitter.com/ZdyeWZUDF7  Truong Thien    (@ZhangPian1) April 3, 2021

H&M, if you desire to, you can be a slave of China to grow your markets or whatever. At the same time, as you betray Vietnam, we kick you out of our country. #Apologize_To_VietNam #HMgetoutofVietNam #TaychayHM #HoangSaTruongSabelongtoVietNam #HoangsatruongsalacuaVietNam pic.twitter.com/oL3rZdDyWL  HSooooo (@NhQuyn5) April 3, 2021

Also Read: US Capitol Attack: VP Kamala Harris condemn inexplicable violence; Capitol on lockdown following security breach
The Ministry of Natural Resources and Environment in an official document has required Hanoi authority to response to residents report of the unusual water color in the local West Lake.

Earlier, residents of Hanoi have witnessed the West Lake, Hanois biggest freshwater reservoir, turning moss green.

Algae will spawn on the lakes surface as soon as it gets hot or the weather is changing. Floating dead fish are also seen regularly, said Toan, a resident on Thuy Khue Street near the West Lake.

According to the ministry, recent test results of West Lake water found traces of contamination, many of which surpassed the safety threshold as prescribed in Vietnams national standards.

For this reason, the environmental authority issued an official letter to the Hanoi Peoples Committee to prompt solutions for water quality of the West Lake, as well as ensuring ecological balance in the environs.

A corner of the West Lake in Hanoi, Vietnam. Photo: H.Q. / Tuoi Tre

Specifically, Hanoi authorities are required to increase regular water quality examination, as well as checkups in case of seeing abnormalities.

They are also advised to keep tabs on environmental parameters in the real-time report system, specifically in areas at high risk of wastewater invasion during rainy days.

Relevant agencies must track down the sources of wastewater leaking into the West Lake, including businesses and households in the nearby area. Violations of the environmental protection laws must be handled accordingly.

The ministry also requested that Hanoi City devise a plan to replenish water to maintain ecological balance for the lake during the dry month, as well as sediment dredging to clean the bed and improve the water storage capacity of the lake.

Like us on Facebook or follow us on Twitter to get the latest news about Vietnam!
Tin House Books and Microcosm Publishing, both based in Portland, Ore., saw gains in 2020, despite the many challenges of the pandemic. I was so inspired by the members of our communitybooksellers, librarians, authors, agents, indie presseswho all came together and did an amazing job leaning on each other, said Craig Popelars, publisher of Tin House.

Popelars said that, though the year proved incredibly challenging, Tin House sales grew 25% over 2019, a result of increased title output, more emphasis on consumer-facing marketing, and greater retail engagement and support for its books. Tin House also benefitted from significant award recognition in 2020: Morgan Parkers Magical Negro won the NBCC award for poetry and Jenn Shaplands My Autobiography of Carson McCullers was shortlisted for the National Book Award.

Our poetry program found great traction last year, Popelars said. We launched collections by Khadijah Queen, Destiny O. Birdsong, Megan Fernandes, and Jenny Zhang, which all garnered great energy and support, and we went back to press on backlist mainstays by writers like Morgan Parker, Hanif Abdurraqib, Ariana Reines, and Tommy Pico.

Popelars emphasized that independent bookstores were integral to Tin Houses sales success and noted that it created a series of virtual events catering to the community. We adapted quickly to virtual author events and found great stores to partner with, he added. Our social media efforts and engagement really helped to bring out the crowds and engage with readers in inventive and lasting ways. Several of our 2020 authors live abroad, so it was such an advantage to bring them over for virtual tours.

Among the titles highlighted by Popelars as having benefitted from virtual events were Jennifer Nansubuga Makumbis A Girl Is a Body of Water, Ruth Gilligans The Butchers Blessing, Paraic ODonnells The House on Vesper Sands, and Eman Quotahs Bride of the Sea.

Tin House plans to leverage its use of social media platforms and a growing consumer e-newsletter to host more virtual, consumer-facing preview events to promote books at bookstores.

Microcosm had a great 2020, with sales up 56% over 2019 and up 154% over 2018 , according to publisher Joe Biel. The gains were led by several titles, including How to Resist Amazon and Why by Danny Caine, which was released in November and has sold more than 30,000 copies to date, and Unfuck Your Brain by Faith Harper, which has sold more than 120,000 copies and remains very popular five years after publication. Harpers follow-up, Unfuck Your Body, will be published April 29 and has the potential to be another bestseller.

Still, the lockdowns that kept many bookstores closed last year had a significant impact on Microcosm. The trade channel, which is 99% indie, was our biggest growth channel in 2019, Biel said. So understandably we saw a 93% drop in 2020. However, specialty was up 34%, and gift was up 256% in 2020, through the pandemic.

One company that had no impact on Biels bottom line was Amazon. Prior to 2019, Amazon was 1%9% of our business, so their terms just werent worth it for such a dismal account, he explained. We began ignoring Amazon as a sales channel on Jan. 1, 2019. However, they did not ignore us and quickly pivoted to sourcing our books through Baker & Taylor and Ingram.

Biel emphasizes that direct-to-consumer marketing has been a key to Microcosms success, with D2C mail order up 384% for the yearwhich made up for lost revenue from events that had to be canceled and from closing the companys storefront in Portland. Honestly, D2C is no longer a dirty word in publishing, said Biel, who added that with all the consolidation in the industry, it may be the best hope smaller presses have for gaining market share.

Biel admits that Microcosm made some missteps early in the pandemic. We took a wait-and-see approach, he said. Shifting our budget to protect our staff, we implemented a 47-day moratorium on reprints and new titles, which quickly proved to be a mistake as we became part of the supply chain problems seen across the industry. We ran out of books we desperately needed as demand for older titles about police and racial justice suddenly grew. We have been weeks behind and struggling to keep up since July.

Another upside of the challenging year was that Microcosm got to put its proprietary database, WorkingLit, through its paces. The software helps organize data, invoicing, royalties, inventory, reprints, and accounting and has been in development since 2001. In 2020 it was really tested and we had to add tons of features, Biel said. Ironically, we were poised to make this available for other publishers to use last year, but our sales explosion was so intense that we were just trying to hold on. Still, he added, the plan is to make the software available to other publishers soon, so that they arent dependent on corporate partners.
The loss of hundreds of thousands of international students to Australias strict border closures will punch an $18 billion hole in the economy, as the Morrison government warns universities to be less reliant on foreign fees in the wake of COVID-19.

Research commissioned by The Sunday Age has shed fresh light on the devastating economic impact of coronavirus, particularly in Melbournes CBD  which has lost almost half of its student population since December 2019  and in education hubs in the outer suburbs such as Clayton, Box Hill and Springvale.

Universities are reeling over the loss of international students due to Australias strict border closures Credit:The Age

The figures come as the sector faces its biggest crisis in decades. Universities have slashed courses and subjects, and at least 17,300 higher education jobs have been lost nationally following the slump in revenue caused by the collapse in enrolments of international students, who pay high up-front fees.

There are now widespread calls for a rethink of higher education funding, which comes in part from the federal government but increasingly from international student fees.
Eyepix/NurPhoto/Shutterstock / Eyepix/NurPhoto/Shutterstock

When coronavirus vaccines first came available to the public on January 25, there was a mad scramble.

Weigh In: Should the COVID-19 Vaccine Be Required? Take Our Poll

Eligible people and their tech-adept relatives scrambled to find vaccines and make appointments. A new volunteer role  vaccine whisperer  emerged to help people line up shots within reasonable distance to their home.

Two months later, most vulnerable populations have been able to access the vaccine, and states are gradually opening appointments to people age 16 and over, regardless of underlying health conditions or occupation. Nebraska is now open to everyone over age 18 thanks to the Federal Retail Pharmacy Program.

Your Opinion Matters: Proof of Vaccination Is a Major Debate  What Do You Think?

And, as vaccines become more widespread, more people will need to prove that they have them. Digital vaccine passports have the potential to become a multi-million dollar business. Employers have the right to require vaccinations, and service providers ranging from restaurants to airlines are looking into whether and how to ask for proof of vaccination. The Washington Post reports that the federal government and the European Union are looking into vaccine passport that people can use to prove their status.

Many vaccination sites are handing out cards from the Centers for Disease Control to record shots. Not all sites use these, and counterfeits abound. Dont throw your masks away yet.

More from GOBankingRates

Last updated: March 30, 2021

This article originally appeared on GOBankingRates.com: Should the COVID-19 Vaccine Be Required? Take Our Poll
Guest Column Russia's Gamble in Post-Coup Myanmar

This screengrab taken from a broadcast by Myanmar Radio and Television shows Russia's Deputy Defense Minister Alexander Fomin, left, receiving a medal from Myanmar armed forces chief Senior General Min Aung Hlaing in Naypyitaw. / AFP

Moscow is becoming the most prominent supporter of the military junta in Naypyitaw. While the international community has strongly condemned the juntas two months of atrocities against peaceful protesters, last week Russia was bold enough to say that it wanted to increase military cooperation with Myanmar.

While major players such as the US, China, the EU and ASEAN are showing mixed reactions and reluctance to apply either all-out sanctions or full recognition after the seizure of power on Feb. 1, Russia has openly endorsed the junta under the leadership of Senior General Min Aung Hlaing, both verbally and through action. Russia is seizing an opportunity to situate itself in the middle of the Indo-Pacific region, despite its constant denial of such geographic designs. It is a godsend strategic window for Moscow that could yield early results and it will not want to miss out on it.

Russian Deputy Defense Minister Alexander Fominwho was in Myanmar for a two-day visit and attended the Armed Forces Day parade on Mar. 27made the first high profile visit there by a foreign official after the coup. China, India, Pakistan, Bangladesh, Thailand, Laos and Vietnam also sent military attaches, while the rest of the diplomatic community boycotted the celebration. In previous years, diplomats from some 30 countries attended, including representatives of armed ethnic groups that are part of the peace process.

Fomin minced no words in saying that Russia wants to strengthen military ties with Myanmar as it considered the country a reliable ally and strategic partner in Asia. He received a medal and a ceremonial sword from Senior General Min Aung Hlaing as a sign of appreciation. Moscow called the military power seizure purely a domestic affair of a sovereign state. His visit came after another high-level stopover by Russian Defense Minister Sergei Shoigu two weeks before the coup. He signed a deal with Myanmar to supply the formidable Pansire-S1 air defense system, Orlan-10E surveillance drones and radar equipment, according to The Moscow Times.

Since the early 2000s, The Irrawaddy reported, Myanmar has bought 30 Russian jet trainers, 10 Mi-24 and Mi-35P helicopters, and eight Pechora-2M anti-aircraft missile systems. Myanmar has also signed a contract to purchase six Su-30 warplanes.

According to a 2019 study by the Stockholm International Peace Research Institute, Russia is a major arms supplier to Myanmar, accounting for 16 percent of its procurement from 2014-19. Myanmar spent US$2.4 billion on weapons from 2010-19 including $807 million on Russian-made arms.

It is well known that Russia and China are strong supporters of Myanmar at the UN Security Council (UNSC) and on the ground. Both countries have on various occasions blocked the councils resolutions to condemn the military regime in Myanmar throughout the past three decades. During the crisis in Rakhine State in 2017, Moscow and China blocked a UNSC resolution that condemned Naypyitaw. In 2007, they vetoed a UN resolution on the situation in Myanmar, when peaceful protesters and monks were slaughtered by the Tatmadaw (Myanmars military). Recently, both countries helped to water down the councils joint statement on the Feb. 1 coup, which expressed concern over the coup and called for a return to democracy.

Myanmar-Russia ties have always been cordial without any mishaps due to a one dimensional policy approach focusing on military-related cooperation. Both countries will celebrate their 73-year-old relationship this year. Unlike the widely reported strained ties between China and the Tatmadaw, the Russian ties have been very solid and faithful. Throughout the Putin years, Myanmar has been considered a gateway to ASEAN. With Myanmars growing integration with the regional economy, Russias economic sphere would also benefit. Putin has been pushing his brainchild, the Eurasia Economic Union (EAEU), in Southeast Asia. Russia, which is a strategic partner of ASEAN, is wooing the blocs members to link up with the EAEU. Thailand and Vietnam have expressed interested in this free trade agreement.

With Myanmars long isolation and its non-aligned diplomacy, its ties with Russia have special characteristics. When Myanmar was targeted in the 1980s and 1990s with international sanctions, Russia was generous in providing military assistance and training for military officials and students. Nearly two thousand military officials received training in Russia in various fields including nuclear science. According to the Russian Embassy in Yangon, in 2016 alone, Russia provided more than 300 scholarships to Myanmar students.

Although Moscow and Beijing are considered allies when it comes to defending their common core interests around the world, they often differ in their approaches to key major challenges. China does not have the kind of intermediary role in the Middle East that Russia does. Today, Russias high diplomatic profile in Syria, Libya, Belarus as well as in the recent conflict between Armenia and Azerbaijan, has raised its international status as a key broker. Obviously, if Russia decides to dig deep in Myanmar, it could become one of the big catalysts in the Southeast Asian nation. Akin to the regions Indochina war three decades ago, lest we forget, the settlement of the Cambodian conflict was possible partly due to former Soviet leader Mikhail Gorbachevs pullout plan from regional quagmires.

In normal circumstances, Russia often takes a backseat to China on issues relating to Southeast Asia. However, this time around, Russia might want to go solo and take advantage of Chinas more careful approach regarding the current situation in Myanmar, which Beijing has referred to as something that China would not want to see. Such a move could, in the near term, counter the Biden administrations broader strategy towards Russia and Southeast Asia. Joe Bidens diplomacy, which zeroes in on human rights and democratic norms, would hamper the strengthening of ties with the region due to its mixed governance records.

At this juncture, Myanmar is Russias strongest link, while it is the weakest link for the US. Sooner or later, it will become a pebble inside Bidens shoe. The US and Russia will again contest with each other in mainland Southeast Asia. During the Obama years, US engagement with Myanmar was partly driven by Washingtons desire to distance Yangon from Pyongyangs nuclear ambitions. North Korea was eager to export its nuclear and missile technology to Myanmar. Today, the US is focusing on Chinas ascent in this part of the world.

In the past few years, Russia has been trying to diversify its cooperation with Myanmar to include economic, cultural and scientific fields. Although Russia does not have big investments in Myanmar yet, its future interests in oil and gas exploration would increase its investment portfolio. However, given the current geostrategic shift in the region, Moscow will ramp up its influence and presence in the center of the Indo-Pacific for good.

Kavi Chongkittavorn is a veteran journalist on regional affairs.

This article first appeared in The Bangkok Post.

You may also like these stories:

US Sanctions Pose Huge Risks for Myanmar Businesses

Who Failed Myanmar?

MyanmarYesterday, Today and a New Tomorrow
Lindsey Graham has blasted Dr. Anthony Fauci for refusing to speak out about the migrant crisis at the southern border, claiming that the thousands of new arrivals present a health risk to Americans amid the ongoing COVID-19 pandemic.

The South Carolina senator made the claim Friday, after the infectious diseases expert - who serves as Joe Biden's chief medical advisor - criticized some southern states for completely reopening.

'Paging Dr. Fauci: You need to go to the southern border and witness in person the biggest super spreader event in the nation  President @JoeBiden's immigration policies,' Graham tartly tweeted.

'Thousands of migrants from Central America are coming into the country with a 10 percent COVID-positive rate. They have 900 people staying in a room built for 80  overcrowded by more 1,000 percent'.

Graham continued in a separate tweet: 'Migrants in these facilities are intermingled and on top of each other. After being around COVID-positives, they are dumped off in Texas and taken to other parts of the country furthering the spread.'

Lindsey Graham has blasted Dr. Anthony Fauci for refusing to speak out about the migrant crisis at the southern border, claiming that the thousands of new arrivals present a health risk to Americans amid the ongoing COVID-19 pandemic

Republicans toured this migrant holding facility in Donna, Texas last week. It is more than 700 percent full and several detainees have tested positive for COVID-19

The South Carolina senator made the claim Friday, after the infectious diseases expert - who serves as Joe Biden's chief medical advisor - criticized some southern states for completely reopening

He then directly told he doctor: 'If you are worried about the spread of COVID, you should be gravely concerned about what is happening at our southern border. There is no end in sight on this super-spreader event until these policies are changed.'

Fauci has not spoken out about the crisis at the border, despite strongly critiquing Republican governors who have lifted restrictions in Texas and Mississippi.

Graham is just one among a number of politicians - both Republican and Democrat - who have expressed concerns that overcrowded migrant detention facilities could be fueling the spread of the coronavirus,

More than 170,000 migrants were apprehended at the southern border in March - the highest number in 15 years.

That is also significantly up from the 100,000 taken into custody in February.

Graham joined 18 other Republican senators on a tour of the southern border and the packed migrant facilities last week

Graham is just one among a number of politicians - both Republican and Democrat - who have expressed concerns that overcrowded migrant detention facilities could be fueling the spread of the coronavirus

Photos taken from inside the overcrowded Donna border facility last week

More than 170,000 migrants were apprehended at the southern border in March - the highest number in 15 years

Officials from the Biden administration have said that their more 'humane' approach to immigration policy has fueled the soaring number of border crossings.

Since taking office, Biden lifted the Trump policy that forced migrants to remain in Mexico while going through the legal process to enter the US, narrowed the ICE's criteria for arrests and deportations and stopped the building of Trump's border wall.

However, the administration failed to properly prepare the resources and infrastructure need to cope with the expected surge.

Speaking last week, Biden refused to call the situation a crisis, despite human rights lawyers claiming migrant children were going hungry and showering only intermittently.

Biden defended his policies at his first formal White House press conference o, saying he would not apologize for rolling back Trump's policies.

He told reporters that 'I guess I should be flattered people are coming because I'm the nice guy'.

Graham joined 18 other Republican senators on a tour of the southern border and the packed migrant facilities last week.
.......... .......... .......... .......... .......... .......... .......... .......... .......... .......... .......... .......... .......... .......... .......... .......... .......... ..........

Copyright  2021 Albuquerque Journal

SPRINGER  The people of Springer, a rural ranching town near the New Mexico-Colorado border, are worried about the towns future.

They aired those concerns this week when officials from around Colfax County attended a town hall with New Mexico Corrections Secretary Alisha Tafoya Lucero.

Tafoya Lucero announced March 26 the department would begin preliminary planning to close the Springer Correctional Center, one of the main sources of jobs in the region.

ADVERTISEMENTSkip



................................................................

At the often-tense town hall meeting Thursday at the Springer High School gymnasium, Tafoya Lucero told a group of around 15 local public officials that population decline at the womens prison has been a concern for years. The Corrections Department has said the facility is currently at 50% capacity.

I have to figure out whats best for the agency as a whole, knowing that were going to continue to see this decline in the population, she said.

She also said the facility, first constructed in 1909, is in need of numerous infrastructure upgrades that would cost millions of dollars. She added the department will maintain normal operations and continue hiring to fill the prisons 14 vacancies.

But residents argued the closure could have a catastrophic economic impact in a region already in the midst of decline.

The corrections facility has always been the lifeblood of this community, Colfax County Commissioner Bob LeDoux said.

Colfax Countys population peaked at around 21,000 a century ago, but the closure of major industries has reduced that to just under 12,000 today, according to U.S. Census records.

Much of the northeastern part of the state has seen similar population declines as well. Some school districts in the region have as few as 60 students in all grades.

Many fear closing the prison could make matters even worse.

Rural communities continue to get hurt by acts like this, County Commissioner Bret Wier said during the meeting. Im glad youre finding jobs for people, but that doesnt help this community.

Small business owners are also worried about the impact they may face if the prison were to close.

Jenell Ross, whose family owns a grocery store and several gas stations in the area, said theyre already anticipating having to cut hours for employees. Some of her stations, she said, serve prison employees on their morning commute, but that revenue is expected to dry up completely.

It just devastates the entire northeast region, Ross said. I dont know who will stay open, actually.

Some questioned the inmate population decline at the prison, arguing the COVID-19 pandemic led to a decrease in prison populations and numbers could rise again.

Tafoya Lucero told the Journal the decline in inmate population had been occurring before the pandemic and that the department expects the number to keep dropping. She said department officials had been discussing options on Springer a month prior to the announcement.

As it stands, there is no timeline for the facilitys closure and nothings off the table, Tafoya Lucero said. She said the department is considering if the prison can be converted into a behavioral health center facility or something else.

The secretary also said future meetings with community members would take place, but she didnt provide a timeline.

Springer Mayor Boe Lopez told the Journal he left the meeting feeling disappointed. The fears of residents were not eased, he added.

Were talking generations of families that have worked out there, he said. The tone that I got from the meeting is the decision is made  its just coming over here to try to ease the pain for us.

The prison has frequently come under fire from advocates for allegedly substandard conditions and poor treatment of inmates. Several lawsuits have been filed alleging a pattern of sexual assault and harassment by prison staff against inmates. A former guard has been charged with raping two inmates.

However, Tafoya Lucero said allegations of sexual assault did not factor into any decision to close the facility.

Lopez said he believes issues with the prison stem from negligence by the state  and the region  for years.

Theyve taken everything from us and left us with nothing (except) to be reliant on this facility, he said.

Journal staff writer Isabella Alves contributed to this report.
Jordan said Sunday it had foiled a plot against the kingdom involving a half-brother of King Abdullah II, arresting at least 16 suspects it accused of "sedition" and alleging foreign complicity.

Hamzah bin Hussein -- a former crown prince stripped of that title by Abdullah in 2004 -- and the others had worked with foreign parties to "undermine the security" of Jordan, Deputy Prime Minister Ayman Safadi said.

Washington, Gulf allies and the Arab League were quick to stress their support for Abdullah's pro-Western government, seen as an anchor of stability in the Middle East.

Egyptian President Abdel Fattah al-Sisi called the monarch to affirm Cairo's "full solidarity" with Jordan and express "complete support of the recent decisions (he) has taken to ensure the stability and security of the kingdom", according to a presidency statement.

Hamzah, 41, had Saturday released a video message via the BBC in which he accused Jordan's rulers of nepotism and corruption and charged that he had been placed under house arrest.

He lashed out at Jordan's "ruling system", saying several of his friends had been arrested, his security detail removed and his internet and phone lines cut.

He denied being part of "any conspiracy or nefarious organisation", but said the country of 10 million people had "become stymied in corruption, in nepotism and in misrule" and that no one was allowed to criticise the authorities.

State-run news agency Petra said among those arrested for "security reasons" were former close aide to the royal family Bassem Awadallah, chief of the royal court in 2007-08, and Sherif Hassan bin Zaid.

Safadi, who is also foreign minister, said another 14 to 16 suspects had been arrested.

Security services monitored "contacts with foreign parties aiming to destabilise Jordan's security," including an alleged offer to spirit Hamzah's wife out of the country, he said.

Story continues

Safadi declined to identify the alleged foreign parties or say what the charges were, but said authorities acted because the alleged conspirators were "talking about timing".

"This sedition was nipped in the bud," Safadi said.

- US closely watching -

Hamzah's mother, American-born Queen Noor, defended her son and the others, tweeting that she was "praying that truth and justice will prevail for all the innocent victims of this wicked slander."

Hamzah is the eldest son of Queen Noor and the late king Hussein.

Abdullah had appointed Hamzah, a popular figure close to tribal leaders, crown prince in 1999 in line with Hussein's dying wishes, but stripped him of the title in 2004 and gave it to his eldest son Hussein.

A Jordanian analyst, who declined to be named, said Hamzah had recently "stepped up his criticism of what he described as corruption within the government in front of his circle of friends.

"There is certainly resentment on his part, because he has never digested losing his title of crown prince."

Jordan's Joint Chiefs of Staff head Major General Yousef Huneiti said Hamzah had not been detained, but "asked to stop some activities that could be used to shake the stability and security of Jordan".

The Washington Post had first reported that the former crown prince was "placed under restriction" as part of a probe into an alleged plot to unseat the king.

It "included at least one other Jordanian royal as well as tribal leaders and members of the country's security establishment."

- Upcoming centenary -

Parliament speaker Abdul Monem Odat said "Jordan has firmly and resolutely stopped any attempt to undermine its security and stability and sent a clear message to those who King Abdullah II describes as the opponents of Jordanian policies".

The US State Department said Washington was "closely following" the events, stressing that key partner Abdullah "has our full support".

Saudi Arabia's King Salman and Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman both phoned Jordan's king to express their support, Saudi state media said.

Israel's Defense Minister Benny Gantz said "Jordan is a neighbour and strategic ally with whom we have peaceful relations. We need to do everything necessary to maintain that alliance."

Awadallah, a US-educated former finance and planning minister, was close to the king but has also been a controversial figure in Jordan. Before becoming royal court chief in 2007, he was head of the king's cabinet.

He played a key role pushing for economic reforms before he resigned in 2008 amid criticism over alleged interference in sensitive political and economic issues.

Saturday's security sweep came as Jordan prepares to mark 100 years since the new kingdom, then named Transjordan, was established alongside Palestine under British mandate. It declared independence in 1946.

But Barah Mikail, an academic at Saint Louis University Madrid and director of consulting firm Stractegia, said the country "would come off well in the face of a plot hatched against it, particularly as the kingdom's anniversary approaches".

Jordan "is very well structured in terms of intelligence and national networks, and tight control, in particular of individuals suspected of being able to harm the monarchy, is a fact," he said.

burs/fz/lg/hkb/gd/tgb/rbu/rma
Web series like Aashram offer more honest and rooted representations of Dalit communities, but not entirely without a Savarna gaze.

Mainstream popular culture has usually endorsed and furthered the cultural interests of the social elites only. Consequently, the representation of the DalitBahujan communities in cinema and television has often been stereotypical. Thanks to online streaming platforms, this pattern is now seeing a slow but visible change with stories that depict realities of caste-based social relationships.

Prakash Jhas Aashram (2020) foregrounds a promising set of Dalit characters, offering a critical narrative about a religious cult, exploring the conflicting social and political battles woven around it. It presents the life of godman Baba Nirala with an uncanny resemblance to the controversial spiritual leader Gurmeet Ram Rahim Singh. Despite being from a dominant caste, Rahim and his organisation Dera Sacha Sauda had a significant following among Dalit and other marginalised communities. Through welfare initiatives and populist methods, he had become an influential figure in the social and political life of Haryana and Punjab. Aashram, clearly inspired by this context, keeps the godman at the centre of the narrative, weaving parallel narratives that showcase the complex social actualities of our times.
CONTACT: Pamela D. Wilson 303-810-1816

Email: Inquiry_For_Pamela@pameladwilson.com

Golden, Colorado  April 3, 2021

The Caring Generation Moving Home to Care for a Sick Parent

Golden CO- Caregiving expert Pamela D. Wilson hosts The Caring Generation podcast show for caregivers and aging adults. This coming Wednesday, April 7, 2021, the topic is Moving Home to Care for a Sick Parent.

Wilson releases a new podcast in The Caring Generation series every Wednesday, sharing tips and conversations about aging, caregiving, and family relationships to help caregiving families plan for what's ahead. The podcasts are available on Wilson's website and all major podcast sites.

Moving Home to Care for a Sick Parent

Working adult children often find their lives interrupted by caregiving responsibilities for elderly parents. When children and parents live in the same city, the idea of moving home to care for a sick parent is less relevanteven though many families move in together for the sake of time and convenience.

But what happens when an adult child lives in a different city, state, or another country? Is the decision to move home to care for a sick parent the only decision, or are there other options? On this program, Wilson discusses how there are more options today for children who live at a distance who might be evaluating options for moving home to care for a sick parent.

Also discussed is the idea of how caregiving relationships differ by the role as a son, daughter, or spouse. Differences in culture, religion, personal beliefs, and conflicts early in life that are not resolved can have a significant impact on the quality of the caregiving relationship.

In parental relationships that are autocratic in nature, less opportunity exists for balance in the relationship between an aging parent and an adult child who becomes the caregiver. Spousal relationships are affected by the closeness of the husband and wife. Caregiving is more challenging when relationships are less like a partnership and more of a one-way relationship where the caregiver feels like he or she is giving up their life for caregiving responsibilities.

While the pandemic has made travel potentially challenging, other aspects like low-cost flights, remote working, and flexibility may delay or reduce the need for children to give up jobs or careers to care for aging parents. There are many options to help parents remain independent at home and reduce caregiver stress.

Interview with Dr. Catherine Riffin of Weill Cornell Medicine

Catherine Riffin, Ph.D., is an Assistant Professor of Psychology in Medicine in the Division of Geriatrics and Palliative Medicine at Weill Cornell Medicine. Her research examines how older adults and their family caregivers manage chronic illness, with a specific focus on caregivers' interactions with the health care system.

Dr. Riffin shares information from a research article, Caregiver Needs Assessment in Primary Care: Views of Clinicians, Staff, Patients, and Caregivers. The interview with Wilson highlights the potential benefits of supporting family caregivers who attend medical appointments with older family members. Results from a caregiver assessment are also shared that lend insights into areas of beneficial support.

Wilson works with caregiving organizations and corporations worldwide to educate about the role strain that caregivers experience and how to be proactive to plan ahead for health and aging issues. More about Wilson's online courses for elderly care: How to Get Guardianship of a Parent and Taking Care of Elderly Parents, caregiver support, webinars, speaking engagements, and caregiver consultations are on her website www.pameladwilson.com. Pamela may also be contacted at 303-810-1816 or through the Contact Me page on her website.

#
HUDSONVILLE, MI -- A woman taking part in a motorcycle training class was injured when she lost control of a motorcycle in a parking lot, police said.

Rescuers responded about 8:10 a.m. Saturday, April 3 to the area of Corporate Grove and Corporate Exchange drives for the mishap.

The area is near the Grand Rapids Harley-Davidson dealership.

Ottawa County sheriffs deputies said the 31-year-old Grand Rapids woman lost control of a motorcycle in a parking area and it went into a grassy area. Police did not give other details about the incident, but said the woman was injured.

She was taken to Spectrum Health Butterworth hospital in Grand Rapids for injuries not considered life-threatening.

She was wearing a helmet.

More from MLive

Truck hauling sugar overturns on U.S. 31 near Grand Haven, driver injured

One dead after shooting in Walker

Annas House and 2 former workers settle lawsuit claiming workplace discrimination
Dr. Rachel Rubin, co-lead of the Cook County Department of Public Health that guides COVID-19 response in most of the suburbs, sounded the alarm in a call with reporters following a rising caseload that began in March. As a result, suburban Cook County might again see an indoor dining ban or the gathering limit curtailed from the current cap at 50% capacity or 50 people, whichever is fewer, Rubin said.
Somerset County prisons toured in wake of COVID

A media tour was held Wednesday at both Somerset County prisons to show how officials have adapted to COVID-19.
RICHMOND, Va.  Tom Farrell, who led Dominion Energy for more than a decade and was a powerful force in Virginia business and politics, died April 2, one day after stepping down from as executive chairman. He was 66.

The utility said Farrell, who was the company's chairman, president and chief executive officer from 2007 to 2020 and engineered the buyout of Cayce-based SCANA Corp. and South Carolina Electric & Gas two years ago, had been battling cancer, which took a sudden turn in recent weeks.

"Tom was a peerless mentor and outstanding leader who sought to find innovative solutions to challenges at Dominion Energy, in the utility industry and in the community he called home," said Robert M. Blue, who succeeded Farrell as board chairman. "In his tenure at the company, Tom oversaw an era of prosperity and growth, and a long-term transformation that will have a lasting impact on clean energy development and on the health of the environment."

Farrell spent more than 15 years practicing law before joining Dominion Energy as general counsel in 1995. Over the next nine years, he served in several senior management positions at the company. Farrell was named president and chief operating officer in 2004, and president and CEO in 2006. He was elected chairman in 2007, a post he held until Thursday.

Farrell became a frequent figure around the halls of power in Columbia starting in January 2018, when Dominion offered to buy SCANA and its SCE&G subsidiary  the companies were teetering after the failed expansion of the V.C. Summer nuclear plant five months earlier  in a $14.6 billion deal that would be among the largest business deals in South Carolina history.

He then spent much of the next year convincing state lawmakers and regulators to agree to the sale, which closed in January 2019 after Dominion froze electric rates for two years and made other concessions.

More recently, Farrell helped lead the utility's acquisition of Consolidated Natural Gas in 2000. Farrell in recent years also focused on building solar and wind energy facilities and working toward emissions with a commitment to net zero emissions.

Dominion serves 7 million customers in 16 states and is a Fortune 500 company based in Richmond, Va.

In 2014, the company partnered with Charlotte-based Duke Energy to launch the Atlantic Coast Pipeline project, a 600-mile natural gas pipeline designed to cross West Virginia and Virginia into North Carolina. The massive infrastructure project drew fierce opposition from many landowners, activists and environmental advocates, who said it would damage pristine landscapes and harm wildlife.

Sign up for our new business newsletter We're starting a weekly newsletter about the business stories that are shaping Charleston and South Carolina. Get ahead with us - it's free. Email

Sign Up!

Dominion canceled the $8 billion project last July, as legal battles had mounted, construction fell behind schedule and the cost had ballooned. Opponents questioned whether there was sufficient need for the gas it would carry and said it would further encourage the use of a fossil fuel at a time when climate change makes a shift to renewable energy imperative.

Gov. Ralph Northam said Farrell set the standard for business leaders serving the community.

"He was devoted to his faith and family above all, and his quiet, calm work made Virginia better. My thoughts are with Anne, Peter, Stuart, and all who loved him," Northam said.

U.S. Sen. Tim Kaine said Farrell "had a major influence on Richmond, our Commonwealth, and his beloved UVA," a reference to Farrell's alma mater, the University of Virginia, from which he received his undergraduate and law degrees.

Richmond Mayor Levar Stoney said Farrell's leadership in the city's business and philanthropic circles deserves respect.

"It's hard to think of an individual who has had a greater impact on the growth and success of our city in the 21st century more than Tom Farrell," Stoney said.

Farrell had served as the chairman of Altria Group, Inc., the parent company of Philip Morris USA.

Dominion said he also was chairman of the Colonial Williamsburg Foundation's board of trustees and was appointed to the Board of Visitors at the University of Virginia. He also served as a member of the board of trustees of the Virginia Museum of Fine Arts.

"We are heartbroken," said Richard Cullen, former chairman of the law firm McGuireWoods and Farrell's brother-in-law. "This is an incredible loss of a remarkable man."
In 1959, Gordon Reid started what is now known as the Brimfield Flea Market on Auction Acres. Its the same field where Mark Marinos family started their journey as vendors at Brimfield Flea Market in 1973.

Since then, both of Marinos parents have passed, and hes taken over the business, Seacoast Antiques and Estates Services. But he always returns to Brimfield Flea Market, sometimes just on different fields. The only year the Marino family has missed was last year, when the market didnt open due to the pandemic.

Although this year the Brimfield Flea Market will look remarkably different due to the COVID pandemic, theres a little bit of sweetness to it for Marino  hell be returning to Auction Acres, also sometimes known as J&J.

This has been a tradition for four decades, Marino said. Its been quite a journey, and it feels like coming back to Auction Acres is like coming back home again.

While a trip to Brimfield Flea Market is a bucket-list destination for some, this might not be the year for that kind of attendance.

The Brimfield Auction Acres and Brimfield Barn are the only two locations that will be operating during the May show, which is scheduled for May 11 to May 16. Nineteen other field operators decided not to open, even after being given permission by the state and local board of selectmen.

The show is under strict regulations due to the pandemic, including wearing face covers and limiting its crowds to just over 300 people per acre.

Some of the regulations come with additional issues for field operators, such as creating fencing or barriers to help control crowd sizes on the fields.

It would be impossible to conduct a successful show for either our vendors or our shoppers under the current regulations, wrote Klia Ververidis, field operator and spokesperson for the Brimfield Show Promoters Association.

Those who opted out are looking forward to the July and September shows, Ververidis said.

Still, the show must go on  at least for Brimfield Auction Acres and Brimfield Barn.

Many of the field operators had decided during a meeting on Monday but town officials said they had until Friday to officially decide.

Nicholas Burns and his family had hoped to reopen this year after losing out on $150,000 last year. But in the end it logistically doesnt make sense, Burns said.

Eric Schultz, whose family owns the Brimfield Barn, knew he had to reopen in some capacity, even before the vote on Monday.

We cant afford to stay closed anymore, Schultz said before the association meeting.

The barn wont have vendors like usual but there will be many antiques and items to purchase inside the store.

We have lots of stuff thats been waiting a year, he said.

Schultz, however, is taking extra precautions because he has a newborn at home.

To stay safe, hell be wearing two masks and use hand sanitizer. Hes also planning on moving the checkouts to outside the barn.

You dont ever know when youre going to get it, he said.

Rusty Corriveau, field owner of Brimfield Auction Acres, has already been contacting a number of vendors for the May show and figuring out specifics for how it will operate within the states guidelines.

Its just me dealing with the states guidelines, Corriveau said. And its gonna be some work but I believe that we owe it to the dealers

His field is 30 acres, which allows for a lot of space to social distance. Originally the guidelines were set up to be standard for retailers  but Brimfield isnt set up like Home Depot, something field operators were concerned about.

It has been very confusing and exhausting, Ververidis, one of the field operators, previously told MassLive. The flea market is unique because it is 20-plus separate individual businesses that happen to open at the same time 3 weeks a year. On the one hand, we are retail, on the other, we are an event.

During a call in March with the Massachusetts Department of Labor Standards, field operators and others involved in the show, the group was able to discuss some of the limitations. The state then came back and changed some of the original requirements.

In the beginning they were trying to restrict us to with the guidelines of 110 people per acre. They opened it up to 325, said Corriveau. The tents dont have to be six feet apart because the way they set up the tents, people will automatically be six feet apart.

The changes werent enough for all the fields but they were enough for Corriveau.

His field allows for people to enter in one direction and to cross a bridge to leave in a different direction.

Were going to try our best to keep everybody flowing in one way and well have lanes marked, he said. So, we will be counting everybody thats coming in and well track whos leaving, so we stay under that number.

He does expect there to be extra costs associated with the protocols but hes hoping to offset those. Theyve also decided to open Wednesday through Saturday, which is extending the time they are usually open.

But, he said, its all worth it when he hears from the vendors.

Our phones have been going crazy, he said. [They] are just very grateful and happy that they can hopefully make some money and sell some of their antiques.

The area is known for their quality antiques, which come at a higher price point than some at the flea market, Corriveau said. And that wont be changing this year.

We have a very high standard for antiques, he said.

So, although the other fields not being open might not attract the same number of people as the typical Brimfield Flea Market show, Corriveau believes that those serious about buying antiques will still show up.

Marino is now one of the vendors getting ready for the May show. Hes spent the past year making house calls for people still looking to buy from him, where he can be reached at (781) 789-8706. But hes ready to return to his love of Brimfield.

Im very privileged and happy to be able to come back and do this show in May, he said.

Hes looking forward to providing a service to those that attend the show and sharing his love for the profession. He even hopes to soon find one or two people he can mentor to share his knowledge in the field.

This business has been the core by being and the love of my life, Marino said. I want to see other people succeed as well. I dont consider it a competition. I only have to be better than me every day, I dont have to be better than anybody else. And thats the way to keep the business fun.

Related Content:
The news last month that Anton Du Beke is on the list of professional dancers for this autumns series of Strictly Come Dancing means well be treated to a 19th year of seeing the King of Ballroom in action. And hes set his sights on the Glitterball Trophy, with plans to go one better than his runner-up spot in 2019.

If youve always wanted to meet Anton and see him perform live, heres another chance to join him and Erin Boag, his long-term dance partner and fellow Strictly favourite, on an exclusive eight-day Danube river cruise.

After flying to Budapest, youll travel on a stylish Emerald Cruises Star-Ship, with stops at Linz in Austria and the Unesco World Heritage-listed town of Cesky Krumlov in the Czech Republic. Youll sail past terraced vineyards and apricot orchards en route to Melk and Durnstein in Austria, after visiting three of Europes great capitals: Vienna, Bratislava and Budapest. You will watch Anton and Erin perform at an intimate and historic venue in the Austrian capital, and the pair will take part in a special interactive dance masterclass aboard ship.

After flying to Budapest (pictured), youll travel on a stylish Emerald Cruises Star-Ship

OUR SPECIAL GUESTS Perfect partnership: Anton Du Beke and Erin Boag Anton Du Beke and Erin Boag have been dancing together for 20 years and are two of the nations all-time favourite ballroom stars. Their charisma, chemistry and dazzling choreography have wowed audiences around the world. Anton, known as the King of Ballroom, is the longest-serving professional dancer on Strictly Come Dancing. Advertisement

Anton and Erin will also host an entertaining question-and-answer session, during which you can ask them about their lives and careers and find out what really goes on behind the scenes on Strictly.

One reader said of our previous trip: Its been such a wonderful experience seeing Anton and Erin perform. I cannot imagine anything better.

REASONS TO BOOK

Sail in style: Youll travel on an elegant Emerald Star-Ship which has an indoor pool with retractable roof, an open-air terrace, a cinema and a putting green as well as beautiful staterooms and suites and indoor and outdoor dining. Your cruise will include EmeraldPLUS and EmeraldACTIVE excursions in each city, such as a Hungarian folklore show in Budapest or a guided biking tour from Melk.

See Anton and Erin dance: Anton Du Beke and Erin Boag will give an unforgettable one-off performance in the unique setting of Vienna, home of the Viennese waltz. You will also join the stars for a cocktail reception and a photo opportunity.

Join a dance masterclass: Work on your waltz and finesse your foxtrot during a fun dance class with Anton and Erin aboard Emerald Destiny. You will also have the opportunity to hear them talk about their long-term partnership and love of dance during a private Q&A session.

The best of the Danube: Enjoy guided tours of Budapest and the Old Town in Bratislava, and savour the glorious Wachau Valley in Austria.
New Delhi, April 3 : The UK variant of coronavirus found in Punjab is a potential threat due to its efficiency in spreading, while the double mutant found in Maharashtra is a matter of concern, but not a cause to create panic, suggested CSIR-CCMB Director Rakesh Mishra.

Speaking with IANS, Mishra said the UK variant has contributed to the surge in cases in Punjab.

"Somebody had travelled from the UK to Punjab, possibly in a group, and then people from this group would have gone to several places in Punjab, which has contributed to the surge," said Mishra.

When asked why the UK variant has not been found majorly in cases in the neighbouring states of Himanchal Pradesh, Haryana and Delhi, Mishra said that may be those infected with the UK variant in Punjab have not travelled to places outside the state, or there has not been a super spreader event so far.

However, it is a matter of time and there is a possibility that cases may show up later, Mishra noted.

The double mutant found in Maharashtra in 15-20 per cent Covid samples sent for genome sequencing is a combination of two mutations -- E484Q and L452R -- the CSIR-CCMB Director said.

The L452R was found in patients in California, where experts believed that it led to higher spread of Covid-19 as it was a more infectious strain, while the E484Q has been found in Maharashtra.

Also, the E484Q shares similarities with the variants found in Brazil and South Africa and it has resistance to vaccines from Johnson & Johnson and AstraZeneca.

Mishra said the double mutant found in Maharashtra is certainly a matter of concern, but there should not be any panic now.

He added that 452R was found in California and it was considered to be more infectious, but we do not know what changes it has undergone so far. Also, the E484Q has not been studied well in India.

He clarified that, for example, if double mutant is found in 50 per cent of cases in some pockets, then what is the cause for the other 50 per cent cases in the same pockets? "At this stage, we cannot link double mutant to the surge in cases in Maharashtra," said Mishra.

He added that both vaccines, AstraZeneca and Covaxin, are working well against the Punjab variant and the double mutant found in Maharashtra.

Mishra emphasised that people should continue to follow Covid appropriate behaviour -- wearing masks, social distancing and hand sanitisation -- to control the spread of the virus.

(Sumit Saxena can contacted at sumit.s@ians.in)
Rep. Matt Gaetz (R-Fla.) speaks during a hearing on Capitol Hill in Washington, on July 29, 2020. (Graeme Jennings/Pool via Reuters)

Rep. Gaetz Says Hes Not Stepping Down as Communications Director Resigns

Rep. Matt Gaetz (R-Fla.) said Friday he will not step down as he deals with allegations about paying a minor for sex.

Gaetz told The Hill that any rumors he plans to resign are false, adding that it is very safe to say he does not intend to leave his seat.

Of course not, the member added to The Wall Street Journal when asked if he was stepping down.

Gaetzs lawyer also said he was not resigning.

The Florida representatives chief of staff didnt immediately respond to a request for comment.

Luke Ball, Gaetzs communications director, resigned this week.

The Office of Congressman Matt Gaetz and Luke Ball have agreed that it would be best to part ways, Gaetzs office said in a statement to news outlets. We thank him for his time in our office, and we wish him the best moving forward.

Ball didnt respond to an inquiry.

Gaetz, 38, is dealing with anonymously sourced reports that hes under investigation for paying a minor girl for sex. He has vehemently denied the allegations, while asserting his family was victimized by an extortion attempt.

Documents published this week outline the apparent attempt, which revolved around trying to strongarm Gaetzs father to pay $25 million that would be used to try to secure the release of former FBI agent Robert Levinson, who vanished in Iran over a decade ago and who is presumed dead.

The FBI declined to comment when reached by The Epoch Times, while the Department of Justice didnt return an inquiry. Gaetzs lawyer declined to comment.

The man Gaetz accused of orchestrating the extortion scheme, Florida attorney Don McGee, has denied the accusations.

Rep. Kevin McCarthy (R-Calif.), the top Republican in the House of Representatives, said that Gaetz could lose his seat if the allegations prove to be true.

If in fact these allegations are true, of course, being removed from the Judiciary Committee is the least that could be done. But again, I think, from what weve heard so far, this would be a matter for the Ethics Committee, House Speaker Nancy Pelosi (D-Calif.) added during a press call this week.
STRATFORD  Road work will begin Monday on a portion of the towns reconstruction work on West Broad Street.

Town Engineer John Casey said in an email that the latest part of the project, beginning April 5, will target removal of asphalt from Interstate 95 to California Street.

The asphalt removal is scheduled to be finished by the end of the week.

The contractor will also be performing installation and re-grading of the road sub-base following the removal of pavement, Casey said.

Access will be maintained for local traffic, but periodically closed, especially from Railroad to California streets.

The contractor will ramp up to each driveway so that it is accessible during the reconstruction, Casey said.

Paving is tentatively slated to start April 29.

The West Broad Street project has been under way since July 2019.
Seventy-two Black executives signed an open letter Wednesday in response to a Georgia election law that they say would limit Black peoples access to the vote.

The letter, published as a full-page ad in the New York Times, calls on business leaders across the country to support voting rights and oppose legislation similar to the Georgia law passed last week.

Several current and former chief executives from large companies signed the letter, including [hotlink]Merck[/hotlink] CEO Kenneth Frazier, former [hotlink]American Express[/hotlink] chief Kenneth Chenault, and Mellody Hobson, Starbucks chairwoman and co-CEO of Ariel Investments.

This is a nonpartisan issue; this is a moral issue, Chenault told the Wall Street Journal. This is not a Georgia issue, he said.

The controversial legislation was signed into law last week by Republican Gov. Brian Kemp. An uproar immediately followed, with proponents saying the law is needed to preserve election integrity and critics insisting it will curtail voting rights for Black people and other minorities.

The new law limits the number of drop boxes for absentee ballots, requires voters to provide state identification to get absentee ballots, and prohibits unauthorized people from offering food or water to voters waiting in line.

Emphasizing the nations history with the civil rights movement and the disenfranchisement of Black people, the letter said many absentee voters in the 2020 election were Black or other minorities whose voting rights will be negatively affected by the Georgia law.

The letter, titled Memo to Corporate America: The Fierce Urgency Is Now, said corporate leaders should protest the Georgia election law and others like it.

As Black business leaders, we cannot sit silently in the face of this gathering threat to our nations democratic values and allow the fundamental right of Americans, to cast their votes for whomever they choose, to be trampled upon yet again, the letter said.

In a January special election, Georgia flipped two Senate seats from Republican to Democratic control and in 2020 voted for President Biden after years as a Republican stronghold. Since then, several states including Florida, Texas, and Arizona have proposed bills that would alter voting, such as requiring a drivers license or other ID for an absentee ballot or prohibiting the use of absentee drop boxes.

This story was originally featured on Fortune.com
Union Home Minister campaigned for party's candidate actor-turned-politician Khushbu Sundar here on Saturday.

Sundar who had joined the BJP recently is contesting from the Thousand Lights constituency here. Her main opponent is DMK candidate N. Ezhilan.

Shah, standing on an open vehicle, waved at the people and sought their support for Sundar and the alliance party candidates.

He will travel to Tirunelveli in Tamil Nadu and address a public rally in the afternoon.

Campaigning for the April 6 Tamil Nadu Assembly elections comes to an end on Sunday.

--IANS

vj/skp/

(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.)
Wedding retailers have pulled together to make services available to couples planning their nuptials in lockdown.

Brides and grooms-to-be are now looking to move ahead with wedding plans despite the inability of bridal boutiques and jewellers to fully reopen due to coronavirus restrictions.

Rebecca Bryson, the owner of Curvy Chic Bridal in Belfast, is addressing the problem by offering virtual appointments, at-home try-on services and sale dresses on her website.

"It's not the exact same experience but we try to make it as nice as possible," she said.

It is a similar situation with other retailers.

Jewellery designer Mairi Burrow is also offering an at-home wedding ring service for couples getting married.

Couples contact her via her website to organise a Zoom consultation and are sent one of five ring boxes with ring sizers, 3D printed nylon ring samples, magnifying tweezers and archive books to go through, along with a price list.

"I've had very positive feedback so far and the Zoom consultation helps solidify any query," Mairi said. "It's admin-intensive organising for the box to be posted out and for everything to be sanitised - before, I would just see people on Saturday. Now we have to organise Zooms and post the box and everything that goes along with it."

Try before you buy is essential when making a jewellery purchase, Mairi said.

She added: "You need to try on widths and thicknesses with your engagement ring so it's not something you can blindly buy. Seeing the nylon sample on your hand is crucial to making your decision."

Wedding ring orders can be fulfilled quickly but she advised couples not to leave it until the last minute.

"I usually take people with a 10-week turnaround time. Plain bands can be quite quick but you need to factor that you will receive it a few weeks before your wedding," Mairi added.

"I've had a few people who thought they could hold off until we meet in person but nobody knows when that will be.

"There's so much uncertainty there but I have clients in Scotland and London for whom the ring box is a bonus. Now it can be sent throughout the whole of the UK and Ireland."

Rebecca Bryson said that for her appointments, she goes by wedding date when deciding which brides to prioritise.

"The people who are under the most pressure are getting their appointments first," she said.

"The people who are in the summer months and feeling very stressed have the at-home service where they can try on five dresses after a Zoom call where we narrow down some choices. We also send a tape measure and clamps."

The service, which is being offered across Northern Ireland, is also helping to offload dress stocks which had built up over the course of the pandemic.

"People are able to get a dress in a short time-frame," she explained.

Rebecca said she has found the lack of information on restrictions "exhausting".

She added: "Brides will message us and ask do we know when we're reopening. We get our information from the news and there's no insider info.

"Every time the dates have moved we've been rescheduling brides who are starting to panic.

"There are people who are getting married in November or December and have now realised they have less time than they thought."

It is recommended that her brides pick a dress around 12 months before their wedding - but a series of factors have caused issues.

Rebecca explained: "There are delays in shipping, partly due to Covid and now because of Brexit.

"The shipping aspect is taking longer than it used to for things coming from outside the UK. What would normally have taken days is taking weeks.

"We're fortunate that our designers are ready to go and know they need to hit the ground running and get dresses out as fast as they can."

The most urgent cases come via brides who had planned to wait to choose a dress when shops reopened and now need to find something in time for the summer.

"We just see what we can do with the at-home service. We've put a lot of dresses in our online sale that are brand new and that we have to release because people don't have time," she said.

Rebecca sought to reassure brides-to-be, advising them: "Don't panic."

She added: "I think a lot of brides coming to us at the end of the year and the start of next year are starting to wonder will they be able to get a dress. We are prepared for this and it's not our first rodeo after last year.

"Elody in Newry, Petticoat Lane in Hillsborough and La Boda Bridal in Banbridge are also offering try-at-home so you can chat to them about what you want - even if you try something on, it can help put your mind at ease."
The Pan-Yoruba socio-political group, Afenifere, has reacted to the death of its National Publicity Secretary, Yinka Odumakin, who died in Lagos on Saturday morning.

His death comes after his long battle with diabetes and recent COVID-19 complications. One of his associates earlier told PREMIUM TIMES that Mr Odumakin had in the last two weeks told journalists that he would not be able to pick his calls due to failing health.

A terrible blow

Speaking on his death, the Afenifere said the public affairs analysts death came as a shock to the country.

The Secretary-General of Afenifere, Sehinde Arogbofa, said its a terrible blow. A terrible blow to me as a person because weve been so intimate.

Hes been my right-hand man in Afenifere management. Its terrible. Yinka should not have gone at this time. Its a terrible blow to Afenifere and Nigeria. Weve lost a brilliant chap with intelligent and brilliant ideas, he told Nigerian Tribune.

One death too many  Gani Adams

The Aare Onakakanfo of Yorubaland, Gani Adams, on Saturday said the death of Yinka Odumakin, Spokesman of Pan Yoruba Socio-Cultural group, Afenifere, depleted Yoruba gems, gifted souls and dependable allies.

Mr Adams, in a statement in Lagos by his Media Aide, Kehinde Aderemi, described Mr Odumakins demise on Saturday as one death too many.

Mr Adams said he received the news of the Mr Odumakins death with shock and trepidations, describing it as a big loss to the Yoruba nation.

Death has dealt the Yoruba nation a big blow, leaving in its wake, sad memories of the loss of a brother, a friend and dependable ally, Mr Adams said.

He described the late Odumakin as a true Yoruba son, a committed fellow, and the voice of the people, especially, the downtrodden.

We will all miss his voice. We will miss his commitment, we will miss is bravery because the late Yinka Odumakins fearless image loomed larger than what we can easily forget in a hurry.

He was a phenomenon that spoke truth to power. He cut a picture of an all-rounder, a media personage, an analyst and public commentator that had warmed himself to the hearts of many people

His exit had left a big vacuum in the social and political space and Nigerians will always remember him for who he was, because in his life, the late Odumakin was truly one of the few gifted soul of our race.

The extent of the shocking news for me has been inexplicable. It will take a very long time for me to accept the realities of his death, the Aare said.

Mr Adams said that late Odumakin and himself were in the struggle together, saying that they both shared so many memories together.

He said: I am very close to the family. So, for me, it was a personal loss and I wish my sister, his wife, Dr Joe Okei-Odumakin and the deceased relatives well, especially at this trying moments.

For the Yoruba nation, and Afenifere as a whole, Odumakins imprints will always be in the book of history.

As much as his death was so rude and shocking, we are consoled that the man died, though, very young, he will be remembered for his invaluable contributions to the development of Nigeria and the Yoruba nation in particular.

ADVERTISEMENT

Widespread sadness

Also, different rights activists and friends of the deceased have expressed their sadness over the ugly development on Twitter.

Some of those who have reacted to Mr Odumakins death include Publisher of Sahara Reporters, Omoyele Sowore; Ovation Magazine founder, Dele Momodu; and ex-Ekiti State governor, Ayodele Fayose among others.

See reactions gathered by PREMIUM TIMES below:

Shocked and saddened but with total submission to the will of God. Yinka Odumakin lived a life of justice, fighting for justice and equity for all.

He was a man in total defense of justice and fairness for all. He had a life well spent, not how far, but how well.  Peter Ayodele Fayose (@GovAyoFayose) April 3, 2021

So, Yinka Odumakin is gone  so fast and so quickly. That is the way of all mortals because it is an end that must come  we are all going through that departure Hall of Fame, The Guru inclusive.

Adieu Yinkus!  Godwin Etakibuebu (@godwin_buebu) April 3, 2021

Vintage Yinka Odumakin

Rest in peace pic.twitter.com/YkYDy00mrD  Akintunde Akinloye Y (@trailblazer2204) April 3, 2021

We just recieved the news of the death of a great Patriot and spokesman of Afenifere, Mr Yinka Odumakin. Yinka lived his life fighting for the betterment of our country Nigeria. We pray God to console his family, his loved ones and the entire Afenifere. -Prof G. Obiozor (PG) pic.twitter.com/59yYineCP2  Ohanaezendigboworldwide (@Ohanaezendigboo) April 3, 2021

So devastated to hear about the demise of Yinka Odumakin.

May you soul rest in peace.

I pray that our gracious God give @DrJoeOdumakin and the family the fortitude to bear this loss. pic.twitter.com/k4jDSSAZj9  Runcie C.W. Chidebe (@runciecwc) April 3, 2021

I received with shock and grief, the news of the sudden demise of Yinka Odumakin. He was a human activist per excellence. He fought tirelessly for the restoration of democracy and fought for it sustenance. On behalf of the people of Ondo East/West, I sympathise with his family. pic.twitter.com/Cwaef8cqqL  Biola Makinde (HAM) (@BiolaMakinde) April 3, 2021

Death is a necessary end! Sad to announce this passing of a friend and fighter, Yinka Odumakin. Rest in Power, Senior Comrade! pic.twitter.com/ubasBReDuP  Omoyele Sowore (@YeleSowore) April 3, 2021

Just confirmed from JK Agbaje that we've lost Egbon Yinka Odumakin  a sad loss not just for the Yorubas but also the Nigerian polity. Egbon exemplified the truth of being a good ethnic person in order to be a great National figure in the context of Nigeria's configuration.  Demola Olarewaju (@DemolaRewaju) April 3, 2021

I slept about 5.30am this morning and had to switch off my phones, something I rarely do Unknown to me TOKUNBO AFIKUYOMI, a mutual friend of YINKA ODUMAKIN and I was trying frantically to reach me Then I woke up and my first phone froze bec of endless messages. pic.twitter.com/lEbYKVCtfH  Dele Momodu Ovation (@DeleMomodu) April 3, 2021

Yinka Odumakin actually lived

He stood for what he believed in till the very end. Huge loss to the Yoruba, and Nigeria at large. We will miss the fearless Patriot. pic.twitter.com/G6oAyNSTtE  Premier (@SodiqTade) April 3, 2021

Yinka Odumakin! A great democrat is gone. This death is too painful and unbearable. An irreplaceable loss to the nation. May his soul rest well. pic.twitter.com/xLkkPlfrfk  FESTUS OGUN (@mrfestusogun) April 3, 2021

Rest In Peace Uncle Yinka Odumakin pic.twitter.com/wIcn15S271  Dr PamPam | Omo Iya Ologi (@UnclePamilerin) April 3, 2021

I got the distressing news just now that my Egbon, Mr. Yinka Odumakin, a human rights advocate & a powerful Yoruba voice, passed on early this morning. My heart goes out to his humanist wife, Mrs. Joy Okei-Odumakin. May his soul find eternal rest in the bosom of the Lord. pic.twitter.com/VMzirRy7hK  Babatunde Olalere Gbadamosi (@BOGbadamosi) April 3, 2021

Rest in peace Yinka Odumakin. Love and prayers of strength to his family, friends and comrades. pic.twitter.com/ZehFaeaihp  JJ. Omojuwa (@Omojuwa) April 3, 2021

Yinka Odumakin was part of the earliest people who saw Tinubu for the scam that he is and he was resolute till the end. A fine man with high level of discipline, Yinka Odumakin could have become a Billionaire by worshipping Tinubu. He refused to!  Tosin #ENDSARS (@Donteewrites) April 3, 2021

Rest in peace Comrade Yinka Odumakin. You followed the path you believed with courage and tenacity. As an activist, you were never afraid of speaking truth to power. Your role as the spokesman of Afenefere will not be forgotten. My heartfelt condolences to Dr. Joe Okei-Odumakin. pic.twitter.com/dFygl07GsZ  Inibehe Effiong (@InibeheEffiong) April 3, 2021

https://twitter.com/AbassOyeyemi/status/1378278922169769990?s=19

So sad, Yinka Odumakin is dead. Join the procession to pay respects to his body at LASUTH now.

Our days shall come!  Kunle Wizeman Ajayi (@AjayiWizeman) April 3, 2021
Mumbai, April 3 : For the third straight consecutive day, Covid-19 played havoc with both Maharashtra and Mumbai reporting record highs of infections and deaths, health officials said here on Saturday.

Chief Minister Uddhav Thackeray, who has warned of stringent norms to be announced shortly, reviewed the situation again on Saturday amid speculation of tighter measures likely to be announced on Sunday.

The state recorded its highest 49,447, 47,827 new infections, up from the previous high of 47,827 new cases registered on April 2, and the tally increased from 29,04,076 on Friday to 29,53,523 on Saturday.

Four days after the death toll crossed the 54K-mark (March 28), the state added 277 fatalities on Saturday, compared with 481 notched on Friday (comprising the April 2 toll of 202 plus 279 old deaths), taking the toll from 55,379 to 55,656, again the worst in the country.

Over 2.20 million people are in quarantine, either at home or in institutions, as the state grapples to control the infection.

The state recovery rate continued to drop further, from 84.62 per cent on Friday to 84.49 per cent, while the death rate worsened from 1.91 per cent a day earlier to 1.88 per cent, and the number of active cases crossed the 4-lakh mark, jumping up from 389,832 to 401,172.

Mumbai, Pune, Nashik and Nagpur circles remained major concern areas due to the galloping figures of new cases and deaths, followed by Latur, Akola, Aurangabad and Kolhapur circles.

The country's commercial capital, Mumbai has recorded its newest peak of 9,108 infections, up from 8,844 on April 2, taking up the tally from 432,367 to 441,475, besides 27 deaths which pulled up the total fatalities to 11,754.

The Mumbai Circle - comprising Mumbai, Thane, Palghar and Raigad districts - notched its highest 15,989 - up from 15,321 (April 2) - new daily cases, taking the total up from 919,382 to 935,371, with deaths shooting up from 20,520 to 20,578.

As cases continued to soar in the glamour capital, the BrihanMumbai Municipal Corporation (BMC) has sealed a whopping 681 buildings, besides 70 slums/chawls across the city, to curb the spread of the virus.

Of the day's 277 fatalities, Pune led the state with 52 deaths, 35 in Nagpur, 32 in Aurangabad, 27 in Mumbai, 24 in Thane, 21 in Nashik, 18 in Nanded, in the higher range.

There were nine deaths in Latur, seven in Raigad, six in Yavatmal, five each in Beed, Akola and Amravati, four each in Satara and Sangli, three each in Solapur, Hingoli and Wardha, two each in Dhule, Jalgaon, Nandurbar, Sindhudurg and Osmanabad, one each in Ahmednagar, Buldhana, Bhandara and Chandrapur, in the lower range.

Meanwhile, the number of people sent to home isolation shot up from 21,01,999 to 21,57,135, while those shunted to institutional quarantine increased from 19,237 to 18,994 on Saturday.
Steve Bannon could be facing further legal problems despite his presidential pardon after federal prosecutors urged a judge to be very precise with her closure of his fraud case.

Bannon, 67, was charged in August with fraud and money laundering in connection with a scheme to crowdfund the wall along the border with Mexico. More than $25 million was raised in donations, yet prosecutors alleged that Bannon spent at least $1 million of that on his own expenses.

Bannon was pardoned by Donald Trump in January, but three others charged along with Bannon were not - meaning they will still face trial in May.

Trump's pardon means that Bannon cannot be tried for the specific charges in this case, and his indictment will either be thrown out or the docket closed administratively.

Bannon's lawyers want the indictment dismissed, but prosecutors are trying to keep their options open.

Bannon was charged, with Brian Kolfage (above) and two others, with defrauding donors to their border wall building campaign. The pair are seen on the U.S.-Mexico border at a fundraiser

Bannon was a Goldman Sachs banker and a Hollywood producer before entering politics

Bannon, Trump's former campaign manager, seen in 2017, was pardoned by him in January

They want District Judge Analisa Torres to administratively close the case, but not strike it from the docket.

On Thursday night, according to Law&Crime, they offered a third possible avenue: dismissing the case, as Bannon's team want, but with language that strictly adheres to the wording of Trump's pardon.

Legal experts said the prosecution's unusual attention to the details suggest they could be trying to find a way to file further charges.

Nicolas Roos, assistant U.S. attorney, wrote in a letter to Judge Torres: 'If the court is inclined to dismiss the indictment as to Bannon, the government respectfully submits that any order of dismissal should conform to the language and scope of the pardon.'

Bannon is seen leaving Manhattan federal court in August 2020, after pleading not guilty

Bannon was arrested on a yacht off the Connecticut coast, owned by a Chinese billionaire

He continued: 'The Government respectfully submits that there is neither a need for an order dismissing the Indictment nor any authority mandating such an outcome on these facts.

'Instead, the government submits that the court can and should direct the clerk of court to terminate Bannon as a defendant in this case and have the docket sheet reflect the pardon as the disposition of his charges.'

Jennifer Rodgers, who spent more than a decade as a prosecutor in the Southern District of New York, told the Law&Crime podcast Objections last month that prosecutors could be looking for a shortcut in filing new charges.

'It is possible that they want that indictment to stand so that they don't have to go back and put in all the evidence against him to charge him with new offenses,' she said.

Bannon led Breitbart News before heading up the final months of Trump's campaign

Bannon's lawyers said that their client wanted 'finality' in his case, but prosecutors emphasized that there were limits to the scope of Trump's pardon.

'As Bannon's motion states, the pardon itself both creates and defines the scope of any 'finality' as to which the defendant is entitled,' prosecutors wrote.

Bannon pleaded not guilty to the charges, and insisted that he would be cleared.

Benjamin Harnwell, who with Bannon launched an institute in Italy to train future populists, called the indictment 'spurious' and evidence that the 'forces of darkness' would stop at nothing to destroy the combative Bannon.

A voice of nationalist, outsider conservatism, Bannon led the conservative Breitbart News before being tapped to serve as chief executive officer of Trump's campaign in its critical final months.

He later served as chief strategist during the turbulent early days of Trump's administration and was at the forefront of many of its most contentious policies, including its travel ban on several majority-Muslim countries.

Prosecutors claim Bannon spent $1million collected from donors for the Mexico-US border wall on himself

But Bannon, who clashed with other top advisers, especially Jared Kushner and Ivanka Trump, was pushed out after less than a year.

His split with Trump deepened after he was quoted in a 2018 book making critical remarks about some of Trump's adult children. Bannon apologized and soon stepped down as chairman of Breitbart.

Bannon, who served in the Navy and worked as an investment banker at Goldman Sachs and as a Hollywood producer before turning to politics, now hosts a pro-Trump podcast called 'War Room,' which began during the president's impeachment proceedings and has continued during the pandemic.

The show was banned by YouTube following the Capitol riot, amid concerns of incitement.
Anthony Blunt gave his Russian spymasters a collection of Royal letters so compromising, it could have been used to blackmail the Windsors, according to a leading figure in the KGB.

Written by the Queen's uncles, the Dukes of Windsor and Kent, to their German relatives, the correspondence is likely to show the depth of their Nazi sympathies and would have proved hugely embarrassing had it been released in the Cold War years.

Blunt, a highly respected Surveyor of The Queen's Pictures, was only publicly exposed as a spy in 1979.

Channel 4 documentary confirmed Blunt (pictured with the Queen) passed letters to the KGB

He had always insisted the information he passed to the Russians was 'almost exclusively about German intelligence services'.

But a Channel 4 documentary has now confirmed that Blunt also made copies of Royal correspondence and passed it directly to the KGB.

It is likely that the Kremlin still holds copies of the letters today.

The betrayal was revealed by Russian spymaster Yuri Modin, formerly controller for the Cambridge spy ring, which included Blunt.

Recalling his meetings with Modin, writer and historian Roland Perry tells the programme: 'I said to him, 'Could you have blackmailed the Royals?' and he said, 'Yes. Yes, we could have done that but we would not.' '

As a distant cousin of the Queen Mother, Blunt was a trusted member of the Household after joining the Palace in 1945. He was also an MI5 agent.

Written by the Queen's uncles, the Dukes of Windsor and Kent (pictured left and right) to their German relatives, the correspondence is likely to show the depth of their Nazi sympathies and would have proved hugely embarrassing had it been released in the Cold War years.

As the war came to an end, King George VI, the Queen's father, personally asked Blunt, who spoke German, to accompany Royal librarian Owen Morshead on a secret mission.

They were tasked with retrieving nearly 4,000 letters written by Queen Victoria to her dowager daughter Empress Victoria, which were stored at the latter's former home, Friedrichshof Castle, near Frankfurt  then occupied by the Americans.

Other correspondence kept at the property included letters between the Dukes of Windsor and Kent and Prince Philipp of Hesse, the grandson of Empress Victoria and one of Hitler's most powerful aristocratic henchmen.

The King knew that, in the wrong hands, the letters could prove highly damaging. Prince George, the Duke of Kent, was killed in an air crash in 1942.

According to the documentary, Blunt microfilmed the letters written by the Dukes of Windsor and Kent to their German relatives, and sent them to Moscow in a diplomatic bag

Clive Irving, author of The Last Queen, told the programme: 'Churchill sanctioned this mission, as well as George VI, because they both understood the threat potentially caused by knowledge of how far back this sympathy with the Nazis ran through the Royal Family. If this comes out, the monarchy would be very, very jeopardised.

'What's amazing about this to me is that Anthony Blunt knew exactly where to go. Blunt assigned two soldiers to go into the place and locate these documents.'

What the King and Churchill could not have known was that, by then, Blunt was already a double agent for the Soviets.

According to the documentary, he microfilmed the letters and sent them to Moscow in a diplomatic bag.

Blunt was interviewed 11 times by MI5 between 1951 and 1964, when the American FBI told their British colleagues they had identified him as a spy.

But instead of being hauled off to jail, the double-agent was offered immunity and continued to work at the Palace  even receiving a knighthood in 1956. It wasn't until 1979, when he was outed by Thatcher, that he lost both job and knighthood.

He died in 1983 at the age of 75.

Queen Elizabeth And The Spy In The Palace airs on Channel 4 at 9pm on Sunday.
IRS Announces Third Batch of Stimulus Checks, Including Large Set to Social Security Beneficiaries

The Internal Revenue Service (IRS) said federal agencies have started disbursing a third batch of stimulus checks, with a large set of payments this time around going to Social Security and other federal beneficiaries, after reports that some people in this category experienced delays.

The IRS, along with the Treasury Department and the Bureau of Fiscal Service, said in a release that the third batch will provide more than $10 billion in more than 4 million payments, including around 2 million in direct deposit and 2 million in paper checks. When all the funds in this batch have been doled out, it will bring the total disbursed so far under the most recent relief billthe American Rescue Actto more than 130 million payments worth around $335 billion.

The agency pointed out that, starting April 2, a large set of payments will begin going to Social Security retirement, survivor or disability (SSDI), Supplemental Security Income (SSI), and Railroad Retirement Board (RRB) beneficiaries. The IRS expects that most of these payments will be sent electronically and will be received on April 7.

The note about the large batch of payments going to Social Security and other federal beneficiaries comes after reports of delayed payments and on the heels of a pressure campaign by congressional lawmakers to get the money out to these groups faster.

We were alarmed to learn recently that most Social Security, SSI, RRB, and VA beneficiaries who are not required to file a tax return have not yet received their payments and that the IRS is unable to provide an expected timeline for these payments, House Ways and Means Committee Chairman Richard Neal (D-Mass.) and Reps. Bill Pascrell (D-N.J.), John Larson (D-Conn.), and Danny K. Davis (D-Ill.) wrote in a March 24 letter to IRS Commissioner Charles P. Rettig and Social Security Administration (SSA) Commissioner Andrew Saul (pdf).

The people need their money now, the House Ways and Means Committee wrote on Twitter, blaming the holdup on poor inter-agency coordination.

The $1.9 trillion American Rescue Plan authorizes individuals earning less than $75,000 per yearand married joint filers making less than $150,000to receive the full $1,400 payment. The checks then ramp down to zero for individuals earning $80,000 or above and for joint filers making $160,000 or more.

Treasury Secretary Janet Yellen, in a recent video statement, said that more than 85 percent of American households will be getting the checks under this round of relief. Well be working hard over the next few days and weeks to get this money out to you, she said.

The IRS has an online Get My Payment tool that people can use to see if their payment has been scheduled.

The IRS continues to send the third round of stimulus payments in record time, Rettig said in an earlier statement. Since this new set of payments will include more mailed payments, we urge people to carefully watch their mail for a check or debit card in the coming weeks.

Rettig cautioned people to keep an eye out because many payments under this round will be delivered by mail, and in precious relief rounds, some people threw checks away, thinking they were junk mail.

If, for some reason, eligible recipients dont receive a third-round payment at all, then they can claim the stimulus money that they should have received as a Recovery Rebate credit on their 2021 income tax return, which wont be filed until next year.
Major consumers including America and India have been calling on OPEC+ to keep prices under control.

A telephone call from the new US administration to Saudi Arabia to keep oil prices affordable is seen to have played a role in softening the hawkish stand of the cartel. The US call on the eve of the meeting is also a continuation of the Trump era practice to have a say in the oil markets.

India, which is the third largest importer of crude in the world, has in fact sounded the Gulf countries that it would look for alternative sources for crude supplies if prices are not reduced.

U.S. Energy Secretary Jennifer Granholm held a telephone conversation with Saudi energy minister Prince Abdulaziz bin Salman to reaffirm the importance of international cooperation to ensure affordable and reliable energy for consumers, she said on Twitter.

Indian Oil Minister Dharmendra Pradhan had also held a video conference with the US Energy Secretary in the run-up to the OPEC+ meeting. Both countries are worried as surging oil prices hurt the economic revival process as countries struggle to reverse the devastating impact of Covid-19.

While India has increased imports from the US and Africa in recent months it is still dependent on Gulf crude for a major chunk of its requirement for which it has signed long term contracts.

The fact that shipping costs work out much lower from the Gulf, is being fully exploited by these oil producers.

Pradhan has also held a meeting with United Arab Emirates' minister of state and chief executive of Abu Dhabi National Oil Co (ADNOC), Sultan Ahmed Al Jaber on the issue.

The minister recently said African nations could play a central role in India's oil diversification plan. The country is looking at signing long-term oil supply deal with Guyana and exploring options to raise imports from Russia as well.

Iran could emerge as another source, if the US sanctions are eased, India has been buying crude at a concessional price from Iran and the imposition of sanctions by the Trump administration had come as a major setback.

Now with the Biden administration gearing up for talks on the nuclear issue again, the status quo ante may be restored in the coming months.

India imports more than 80% of its crude requirement and domestic prices of fuels shoot up when international prices rise. The government is also heavily dependent on taxes that it levies on petroleum goods such as petrol and diesel to mobilise resources for the social welfare of the poor and healthcare schemes. However, the flip side is that these levies add to the price spiral.

A few days before Thursday's talks, OPEC+ delegates had said the group would likely keep most existing cuts in place, given uncertainty about the demand outlook. So the decision to increase output has come as a welcome relief.

(This content is being carried under an arrangement with indianarrative.com)

--indianarrative/
The State Bureau of Investigation (SBI) has opened a criminal proceeding on high treason of MPs Viktor Medvedchuk and Taras Kozak (the Opposition Platform - For Life parliamentary faction), MP Oleksiy Honcharenko (the European Solidarity faction) has said.

"I received this information from the Prosecutor General's Office in response to my statement about the commission of actions by Medvedchuk and Kozak falling under Article 111 of the Criminal Code of Ukraine (high treason). My statement was attached to the materials of criminal proceedings that are already being conducted by the State Bureau of Investigations (SBI)," Honcharenko wrote in his Telegram channel, attaching a screenshot of the letter signed by First Deputy Prosecutor General Roman Hovda.

The MP recalled that his statement "concerns the statements of Medvedchuk (including in combination with the actions committed by his party member Taras Kozak) in an interview with the Russian propaganda RT TV channel. There, Medvedchuk commented on issues related to the introduction of NSDC sanctions against Kozak, as well as the cancellation of licenses of 112 Ukraine, ZIK and NewsOne. Then he made a number of statements that can be interpreted as high treason," Honcharenko wrote.

As reported, on February 2, 2021, President of Ukraine Volodymyr Zelensky signed a decree on the introduction of sanctions against MP of Ukraine from the Opposition Platform - For Life faction Taras Kozak, as well as eight limited liability companies. The sanctions in fact locked operations of three TV channels  112 Ukraine, NewsOne and ZIK affiliated with one of the leaders of the Opposition Platform - For Life Viktor Medvedchuk.
The goal of the Covid-19 vaccination push is to achieve herd immunity so everyone can live safely. However, it's possible to actually lose herd immunity, too. Repeatedly. Here's what you need to know to Get Up to Speed and On with Your Day.

(You can also get "5 Things You Need to Know Today" delivered to your inbox daily. Sign up here.)

1. Coronavirus

The World Health Organization harshly criticized Europe's coronavirus response, calling the region's vaccine rollout "unacceptably slow" as new variants threaten to wipe out progress. Many European nations have struggled to carry out effective vaccination programs as drug companies have repeatedly under-delivered on scheduled shipments. WHO says the region has vaccinated only 10% of its population with one shot in a two-dose regimen. In the US, health experts are pleading with people to wait until their second vaccine shot to resume normal activities. A fourth surge, concentrated among young people, could be on the horizon if people aren't careful. And with surges come new restrictions, like in Ontario, where a jump in ICU admissions has forced the province to issue an "emergency brake" shutdown beginning this weekend.

2. Immigration

A Republican and a Democrat in the House have introduced a bill that would provide $1 billion in a fund to handle the migration influx at the southern border. To access the fund, the Department of Homeland Security and other federal agencies would need to develop a plan to respond to increases in US-Mexico border crossings. The US is on track to encounter more than 2 million migrants at the border -- which would be a record -- by the end of the fiscal year. Meanwhile, a new watchdog report revealed violations at an Arizona ICE facility in 2020 threatened the health, safety and rights of detainees there. One cancer patient ran out of leukemia medicine when facility staff forgot to order a refill, and facility employees sprayed detainees with chemical agents and pepper spray when they held a peaceful protest because they felt the facility was not doing enough to prevent the spread of Covid-19.

3. Capitol riots

The United States Capitol Police's Inspector General has issued a scathing preliminary report about the department's "deficiencies" leading up to the January 6 Capitol riot. Inspector General Michael Bolton found that the department didn't send out intelligence they had that warned the planned January 6 demonstrations could become violent. Bolton also criticized the department for failing to pass along information from others, such as the now-widely reported FBI Norfolk memo, sent the day before the riots, that warned for potential violence and a "war" at the Capitol. While this is the most complete review so far into what happened before and during the insurrection, it's not the final report on the matter. Five people died in the January 6 violence, and nearly 140 law enforcement officers were injured.

4. Nuclear deal

Could the US rejoin the Iran nuclear deal soon? Representatives from Iran, China, Russia and Europe will meet today to discuss the United States' possible return to the deal, which former President Donald Trump walked away from in 2018. The Biden administration says it wants to rejoin the deal, known as the Joint Commission of the Joint Comprehensive Plan of Action, but only when Tehran returns to full compliance with the pact's restrictions on nuclear development. Remember, the whole premise of the deal is that Iran reins in its nuclear development in exchange for relief from international sanctions.

5. Myanmar

Myanmar's military junta has cut all wireless internet services in the country, and leveled the most serious charges yet against ousted civilian leader Aung San Suu Kyi. She has been charged with violating the official secrets act, which could result in a 14-year prison sentence. Suu Kyi, whose party won a landslide in the November 2020 elections, has not been seen in public since she and others were detained at the beginning of the military coup in February. Yesterday, the United Nations Security Council issued a statement condemning the "use of violence" against protestors, who have been filling the streets of Myanmar to demonstrate against the junta's suppressive tactics.

BREAKFAST BROWSE

Meet the designer behind Birkenstock's new bed

You'll be delighted to know she really did model the bed after a pair of Birkenstocks.

Sales of Bentleys and Lamborghinis are booming because rich people are bored

Can't go on trips or promenade amongst the plebeians like usual? Sinking six figures into a new road monster should take the edge off.

Peeps are making their comeback with Peeps lattes, Peeps cereal and other marshmallow chick goodness

It is their time to SHINE, baby!

New York legalizing weed could mean big things for the future of the cannabis industry

Everyone's seeing green.

A man returned from shopping and found 15,000 bees in his car

Sorry, that car belongs to the bees now.

We have a podcast!

We're serving up your favorite news fix twice a day so you'll always know what's happening. We'll start your morning smart with the top headlines, and in the evening, let 5 Things be your evening commute home -- even when that commute is just to the next room .

You can listen on CNN.com, Spotify, iTunes or wherever you get your podcasts. Or, ask your smart home device to "Play CNN's 5 Things podcast." We know you'll love it!

TODAY'S NUMBER

4.7 million

That's how many Americans initiated gun background checks in March, marking a 36% increase over February. New guns purchased in March made it the second highest month on record for firearms sales

TODAY'S QUOTE

"There is this cycle of taking a patient to a hospital and then the hearse comes to fetch another body. It hurts too much. Those looking from the outside don't understand or can't even imagine what we are going through."

Luis, a health care worker in Brazil who told CNN it's hard to describe how overwhelmed, overworked and devastated medical professionals are as coronavirus terrorizes the country.

TODAY'S WEATHER

Check your local forecast here>>>

AND FINALLY

How big can it get?!

Easter is right around the corner. So ... here's what a giant Peep looks like in a vacuum chamber. (Click here to view)
A male robber killed the owner of the house that he was trying to thieve and hid her body in a water tank after the woman had discovered his intrusion in the northern Vietnamese province of Lao Cai on Friday.

Police in Lao Cai said on Saturday that they had arrested Chao Ong Khe, a 28-year-old man from the provinces Sa Pa Town, for the investigation of murder and robbery.

According to the police, having been released from prison in October 2020, Khe worked as a day laborer specializing in rock drilling in Sa Pa Town and Bat Xat District.

Due to his addiction for gambling and video games, Khe was heavily indebted.

He thus had an intention to steal properties to pay off his debts.

At around 9:45 am on Friday, Khe broke into the residence of V.T.C., a 65-year-old local woman in Lang Moi Village in Muong Vi Commune in Bat Xat.

As C. discovered Khes presence in the house, Khe knocked her down before using a wooden stick to hit her in the nape.

Seeing the victim lying motionless, Khe carried and put her body into a water tank in C.s kitchen.

After that, Khe went to C.s room and opened a cabinet, from which he got more than VND13 million (US$564) and then escaped from the scene.

Later on the same morning, C.s family members came home from work and discovered the incident.

Determining this is a serious case of murder and robbery, the Lao Cai police checked and blocked border gateways in case the suspect wanted to flee abroad.

It was until 10:00 pm on the same day that Khe was arrested while hiding in Sa Pa Town.

Like us on Facebook or follow us on Twitter to get the latest news about Vietnam!
The Boohoo group is selling the same coat for four different prices across its various stores, FEMAIL can reveal.

The multi-billion pound brand, which owns Debenhams, Dorothy Perkins, Warehouse, Oasis, and Karen Millen among others, faced questions yesterday after an identical mushroom coat was found on sale at 89 in upmarket retailer Coast but just 65 at Dorothy Perkins.

And now it appears the coat isn't the only item with a price disparity across the Boohoo brands, with the group selling a black coat in Warehouse for 18, while it was 150 per cent more expensive in Oasis at 27.

The same coat is also listed in Dorothy Perkins for 20, while Debenhams list the coat online as a Dorothy Perkins item for just 18.

Yesterday the Boohoo group revealed they were launching a probe after an investigation revealed their brands were selling identical items for vastly different prices. And it appears the coat isn't the only item with a price disparity across the Boohoo brands, with the group selling a black coat in Warehouse for 18, while it was 150 per cent more expensive in Oasis at 27.

At Warehouse, an identical coat was only 18, 150 per cent less than in Oasis

All the items were on sale, with their original prices also vastly different.

In Debenhams and Dorothy Perkins, the coat was originally 65, while in Warehouse and Oasis it was 89.

FEMAIL has contacted Boohoo for comment.

It comes as the fast fashion group launched a probe after a BBC investigation found a mushroom luxe coat was priced at 89 at Oasis, but was selling for 65 at Dorothy Perkins and 30 at Warehouse.

The coat is listed on Debenham's website as an item from Dorothy Perkins, where it cost 18, reduced from 65

But on the Dorothy Perkins website itself, the coat is 20, despite being identical to the one sold for 18 and 27 in other Boohoo-owned brands

What brands do Boohoo own? Burton Debenhams Dorothy Perkins Warehouse Oasis Karen Millen Coast Wallis Advertisement

Another identical coat cost 34 more in Coast than it was listed on the Dorothy Perkins website.

In pictures that have raised questions for the retailer, it appears the Dorothy Perkins branding was also cut off from the label of the product sold to Coast customers.

The retailer said they're investigating the differences across the Boohoo-owned brands and say that the error was 'not intentional'.

Boohoo told the BBC the 'miscommunication was not intentional' adding: 'All Boohoo group brands work independently, and so this miscommunication was not intentional as teams are not privy to what's being bought and sold across the other group brands.'

'Our internal investigation continues and we will be re-pricing all the crossover stock to be aligned.'

Fashion giant Boohoo owns several different brands after buying up businesses when their owners fell into administration.

In February they announced a 25.2million deal to buy Dorothy Perkins, Wallis and Burton after Sir Philip Green's Arcadia empire collapsed amid the pandemic.

The online retailer said they would be buying the brands and stock but would shut all 214 physical stores, concessions or franchises with 2,450 job losses.

Fast fashion giant Boohoo, which is owned by billionaire Mahmud Kamani, also owns Karen Millen, Coast and the Warehouse and Oasis brands.

The retailer is no stranger to controversy.

The BBC investigation found a padded coat was originally sold for 89 at Oasis but was retailing for 65 at Dorothy Perkins

The same coat was in the sale for 30 in Warehouse and 66.75 in Coast

Investigations over the past five years revealed concerns over low pay and poor working conditions at their Leicester clothes factories.

The working conditions at the factories were further highligted when there was an outbreak of Covid amongst the workers at the start of the pandemic.

A damning report released last year also indicated directors were aware of questions over its supply chain much earlier after reporters and politicians raised the issue.

Boohoo was founded by British businessman Mahmud Kamani, 55, who before launching the company started his business selling handbags at a traders' stall in Manchester.

He spotted the potential of internet sales and set up his online retailer in 2006 with the aim of delivering their own-branded fashion at rock bottom prices.

It since became synonymous with the wildly popular, yet equally controversial, fast-fashion phenomenon.

Its sales topped 850 million in 2019, propelling Mr Kamani to 131st place on The Sunday Times Rich List, with a family fortune of 1.16 billion.

Boohoo was contacted by Mail Online for comment.
London (United Kingdom), April 01, 2021 (SPS) - The British non-governmental organization Western Sahara Campaign asked the United Nations Security Council to set a date for the referendum in Western Sahara, criticizing the failure of the highest body to comply with the 1991 peace plan as well as the unwillingness to support the UN Secretary in appointing a new Special Envoy since the resumption of the war in Western Sahara.

In a letter sent to the Security Council, the British NGO emphasized that the absence of urgent and practical measures by the Council will continue to empty the UN Mission for the Referendum in Western Sahara (MINURSO) of its content, particularly having taking into account the escalation of repression in the occupied territories and the continuous looting of natural resources.

Western Sahara Campaign also highlighted that, to advance in the process of resolving the conflict in Western Sahara, it is necessary to focus on efforts to organize a fair and transparent self-determination referendum for the Saharawi people, setting a predetermined date to celebrate it in a democratic . SPS

125/090/TRA
Being told that you just won $1 million is the best feeling, but not on April Fools' Day as it is the worst day possible when people are pranking each other. And with the broad access of the web in the modern era, any news of a big thing makes someone have second thoughts.

That was the case for Kasper Andersen, a 20-year-old YouTuber who posted a video about Nvidia recently releasing its new Nvidia RTX 4090 graphics card. The massive GPU has 12 fans in it, 1,000 watts of power, and 48GB of RAM. However, it is part of his April Fools' prank to troll people.

Fake Nvidia RTX 4090 Specs by Kasper Andersen

According to Cnet, Andersen is a Danish hardware enthusiast who loves building homemade replicas of retro graphics cards. The Nvidia RTX 4090 looks like four RTX 3090s attached to form this giant GPU that the Danish prankster has presented on the video.

Andersen stated on the April Fools' video that the Nvidia RTX 4090 has features like 18,000 CUDA cores, which is a 70 percent growth from the Nvidia RTX 3090, a 2.16Hz boost clock speeds, and 48GB of RAM. If that were true, then games and crypto miners could easily make that GPU its baby and charge it into the retail stores' gates just to buy one.

Also Read: Nvidia RTX 3080 Restock: Tracker Notifies Stocks on Amazon, GameStop and More!

In the April Fool's video, Andersen added that Nvidia just released a brand new RTX 4000 series GPU and noted that the company claimed that it has produced 21 units of the chipset. The Verge reported that the prankster made the fake GPU with hardware laying around his house, with two power cords, RGB lighting, and the ridiculous benchmark scoring that recorded 23,000 frames per second. The publication's favorite moment is when the PC was booting up and the whole table wobbled with the Pepsi can tumbling around.

In the video, Andersen also managed to build another GPU with the inclusion of the Nvidia RTX 4090 Ti that was way past the expectations of the people watching. The Ti variant was too big to be called a GPU anymore and takes the whole tablespace.

More About Kasper Anderson's April Fools' Prank Videos

Gizmodo reported that Andersen has been keeping the April Fool's tradition for five years straight and continues to build more prank videos online like the Nvidia RTX 4090 processor. The first video he uploaded was a Bitchin'Fast 3D 2000, based on an old joke ad for the Maximum PC from 1999 with a complete reference from the 90s cartoon "Beavis and Butthead."

The following April Fool's video prank was a 32-way SLI Voodoo5 9000 one, from the 3dfx Interactive that it is a real company which Nvidia acquired in 2000.

From there, Andersen started to get really creative and uploaded tons of videos, from the RTX 2090, Intel's currently unreleased Xe gaming GPU, and more from the Danish prankster.

We recommend watching the videos from Kasper Andersen as he is full of enthusiasm, combining his sense of humor for his love of hardware building that gets the geek out of his viewers. You can check his YouTube channel Captain Workspace.



Related Article: Rumour Suggests That Nvidia May Skip RTX 3060 12GB Founders Edition
The Food Safety Authority of Ireland (FSAI) has issued a product recall for a batch of turkey crown over cooking safety fears due to the incorrect weight declaration on the package.

The alert was issued on Thursday by the FSAI and the product is sold in Dunnes Stores outlets across Ireland.

The recall applies specifically to 1.5kg packs of Dunnes Stores Irish Turkey Breast Crown with Prime Wings, with a best before date of April 5, 2021 and approval number IE 807 EC.

"Dunnes Stores is recalling the above batch of its Dunnes Stores Irish Turkey Breast Crown with Prime Wings as the product may be inadequately cooked due to the incorrect weight declaration on the package," reads a notice published on the FSAI website.

"Point-of-sale recall notices will be displayed in stores supplied with the implicated batch."

Nature Of Danger:

If the cooking instructions are followed based on the weight declared on the label, the product may not be adequately cooked, therefore would be unsafe for customers to eat.

Consumers are advised not to eat the implicated batch.
New Delhi:

Hours after Puducherry Chief Minister V Narayanasamy accused L-G Kiran Bedi of making derogatory statements against him on Saturday, she alleged that the CM was threatening her. Bedi accused Narayanasamy for alleged medical admission scam.

Calling Bedis claims baseless and derogatory, Narayanasamy said that a decision on filing a defamation suit against her will be taken after consulting legal experts.

Prior to festivities we clean our homes... The CBI has done this for Puducherry this year... the L-G had said to the reporters in a WhatsApp message. She has been at loggerheads with the Congress government on several issues.

The CBI had registered an FIR and named six officers of the Puducherry government as prime accused, she said.

It is quite strange that a constitutional position of a Lt Governor is being threatened (by CM), she said.

ALSO READ: Kiran Bedis midnight ride gives more than enough ammo to Twitterati to have field day

Instead of seeking an explanation from Chief Secretary as to why this (irregularity in admission) had happened, the CM is threatening the L-G and the media for doing its duty, the former IPS officer said.

Six officers of the government, two IAS officers, senior officials and a director and three others (now under the CBI scanner) are bound to be a cause of embarrassment to the Chief Minister, she added.

The registration of a case by the CBI and raids by the agency prior to the lodging of the FIR recently indicate that there is a prima facie case (against the officers), she said.

Why not accept this as a reality of the current situation and request the media to remain objective in their reporting for truth to prevail.

She said the people of Puducherry are interested in justice and not intimidation.

(With PTI inputs)

ALSO READ | Kiran Bedi: The Medical Council of India rescinds admission of 95 students in PG courses

For all the Latest India News, Download News Nation Android and iOS Mobile Apps.
Source: Xinhua| 2021-04-02 22:13:11|Editor: huaxia

Video Player Close

NEW DELHI, April 2 (Xinhua) -- Chief Minister of Delhi Arvind Kejriwal said on Friday that the Indian capital city region will not go in lockdown again in wake of the surge in COVID-19 cases.

The announcement was made by Kejriwal following a meeting with top officials over a huge spike in COVID-19 cases.

"Cases are spreading fast. This is concerning but there is nothing to panic about. We (government) are keeping a very close eye on the developments," he said. "As of now, there is no plan to implement a lockdown. Should there be a need in future, we will discuss with the people and take a necessary decision. But as of now, no lockdown."

The chief minister said the ongoing wave of COVID-19 is the fourth in Delhi and was less serious than previous ones.

"In October, when daily cases were around 3,000-4,000 like it is now, there were many patients in ICU. There were many deaths as well. But this wave is less serious than the previous ones. More people are under home isolation," he said.

"The difference between the first few and the fourth wave is that lots are getting treated in home quarantine itself."

Kejriwal had called the urgent meeting with the local health minister and other officials on Thursday as the city reported 2,790 new COVID-19 cases, its highest daily figure this year, along with nine deaths.

The chief minister emphasized on testing, tracking and isolating, and urged people to wear masks again.

"I am urging with folded hands to bring back masks," he said. Enditem
A spoof campervan advert posted on social media by several YT Industries athletes suggests the German direct sales brand are firing up the hype machine for something new.So, what makes us think its going to be a Capra? Well, there are definitely some not-too-subtle clues to decipher. The big giveaway is that in the outro of the video, we see a silhouette of a figure that looks suspiciously like the Goat Man character created for the launch of the previous Capra.Other clues highlighted in the comments in the video include that the phone number 6-0-4-7 could be read as G-O-A-T and that CAmPeRvAn contains all the letters of Capra. The current Capra was released in 2018 and we highlighted it as a bike due for a refresh earlier in the year . Although a number of special edition specs have been released, including aluminium versions , the core platform has remained unchanged for the past three years. With the recent explosion of long travel, single crown, freeride bikes, a new Capra would slot right into current trends, albeit with some stiff competition.Well be keeping an eye on YTs latest marketing campaign and will update you with any actual details of the bike as they become available.
New Delhi:

An assistant professor of Delhi University landed into controversy by writing obscene words about Hindu goddess Durga in a Facebook post.

The Akhil Bharatiya Vidyarthi Parishad (ABVP) quickly condemned the act of professor. ABVP also demanded immediate suspension of the professor.

Police complaint was filed against Mr Kedar Kumar Mandal of Dayal Singh College for his act. The National Democratic Teachers Front (NDTF), a BJP-affiliated teacher's body, filed a complaint on Saturday at the Lodhi Colony police station.

Case was registered under section 153A & 295A IPC against Kedar Mandal, Assistant Professor at Dyal Singh College in Delhi University for making objectionable statement on Goddess Durga.

Mandal had posted the controversial Facebook update at 07:43 pm on Friday and later deleted it.

We demand his suspension and we request the student community to boycott his classes. Mandal has provoked sentiments during a festival time of Hindu - Navratri, ABVPs Dayal Singh College unit said in a statement.

If allowed to continue as a teacher he will only spread hatred among students.

With PTI inputs

For all the Latest India News, Download News Nation Android and iOS Mobile Apps.
By securing 101 seats in the 126-member Assam Assembly, the Congress led 'Mahajot' would form the government on May 5 and in the first session of the Vidhan Sabha, it would initiate the process of implementing its 'five guarantees' for the state, AICC General Secretary Randeep Singh Surjewala claimed here on Friday.

Surjewala said that after the first two phases of polling in Assam on March 27 and April 1, it has become evident that the Congress-led 'Mahajot (grand alliance) would win 101 seats and the state would welcome a new Chief Minister after May 2, when the results will be declared.

"The people of Assam have gone in the right direction in the first two phases of polling and will show BJP the door this time. The people tested the so-called 'double-engine' government for five years and found that the ruling BJP has not only deprived Assam of any tangible development, but it also destroyed its socio-cultural fabric," Surjewala told the media.

"Assam Congress' 'five guarantees' will prove to be a milestone for the state," he said.

The Congress leader also said that the BJP government has continuously tried to portray itself as a winning political party.

"Whereas the truth is the complete opposite. After the 2014 elections, the BJP has not won big in any of the major state elections, apart from Uttar Pradesh," he said.

"Whether it is Chhattisgarh, Rajasthan, Punjab, West Bengal, Tamil Nadu, Kerela, Jharkhand, Madhya Pradesh, Odisha, Tamil Nadu, Maharashtra, Karnataka, or from Manipur to Goa, despite not garnering a majority in some states, the BJP has managed to muscle its way to power," he claimed.

The AICC General Secretary said that the BJP was on the verge of defeat in Gujarat, while it formed the government "on crutches in Bihar and resorted to buying MLAs in Madhya Pradesh".

"It is clear from the facts that wherever the BJP has formed the government, it is on crutches, while the rest of the states have completely rejected them. The situation in Uttarakhand and Himachal Pradesh are not hidden from anyone," Surjewala said, sharing electoral statistics.

He alleged that the BJP only means one thing - "blackmailing opponents, jeopardising democracy and plundering".

"The people of Assam now understand the dirty tricks being employed by the BJP -- how it is breaching the trust of the people and demeaning their mandate," he said.
Paris: France's top diplomat spoke with his Iranian counterpart Saturday and urged Iran to be 'constructive' and avoid further nuclear escalation ahead of talks next week aimed at trying to salvage a global accord curbing the Iranian nuclear programme.

The United States and Iran said Friday they will begin indirect negotiations next week, in one of the first signs of progress in efforts to try to get both countries back into compliance with the 2015 accord. Then-President Donald Trump pulled the US out of the accord in 2018, and Iran has been steadily violating its restrictions ever since.

Diplomats from Britain, China, France, Germany, Russia and Iran will take part in Tuesday's EU-brokered talks in Vienna. Those six countries have remained in the accord, known as the Joint Comprehensive Plan of Action, which bound Iran to nuclear restrictions in return for relief from US and international sanctions.

French Foreign Minister Jean-Yves Le Drian spoke Saturday with Iranian Foreign Minister Jawad Zarif to prepare for the talks.

"I encouraged Iran to be constructive," Le Drian said in a statement. "I called on Iran to abstain from any further violation of its current commitments in the nuclear domain that could threaten the movement toward resumed discussions." Iran insists it is not seeking to make nuclear bombs.

President Joe Biden came into office saying that getting back into the nuclear accord and getting Iran's nuclear programme back under international restrictions was a priority for his US administration. Iran wants sanctions to be lifted first.
 Flash

The United States confirmed on Friday that it would attend a meeting in Austria next week on the Iran nuclear deal, saying it remains "open to" direct talks with Tehran.

"We have agreed to participate in talks with our European, Russian, and Chinese partners to identify the issues involved in a mutual return to compliance with the JCPOA (the Joint Comprehensive Plan of Action) with Iran," State Department Spokesperson Ned Price said in a statement.

"These remain early days, and we don't anticipate an immediate breakthrough as there will be difficult discussions ahead. But we believe this is a healthy step forward," he added.

He said that the primary issues to be discussed in the meeting scheduled to begin on Tuesday in Austria "are the nuclear steps that Iran would need to take in order to return to compliance with the terms of the JCPOA, and the sanctions relief steps that the United States would need to take in order to return to compliance as well."

"We do not anticipate presently that there will be direct talks between the United States and Iran through this process, though the United States remains open to them," he said.

The European Union said earlier in the day that parties to the Iran nuclear deal will convene in Vienna, Austria next week to discuss the possibility of lifting sanctions on Iran and the country's responsibility for further implementing the agreement.

Washington withdrew from the 2015 Iran nuclear deal, formally named the JCPOA, in 2018 and tightened sanctions on Iran under former President Donald Trump. In response to the U.S. moves, Iran suspended the implementation of parts of its obligations under the deal.
VP Kamala Harris mourned the death of officer killed and condemned 'inexplicable' violence at Capitol. The US Capitol went into lockdown over security breach after a car rammed into a security barrier outside the iconic building, which resulted in one officer being stabbed and another fighting for his life.

The US Capitol went into lockdown over security breach after a car rammed into a security barrier outside the iconic building, which resulted in two officers being injured, with one of them being stabbed by the driver of the vehicle. According to local media reports, William Billy Evans, an 18-year US Capitol Police veteran was killed on the deadly afternoon. US President Joe Biden said he and first lady Jill Biden were heartbroken and said it has been difficult time for Capitol, including everyone who worked and protected it.

The White House flag was lowered to half-staff in order to commemorate US Capitol Police veterans death. Chief Robert Contee of the Washington Metropolitan Police Department told media that it does not appear to be terrorism-related but are investigating to see if there is some type of nexus along those lines. VP Kamala Harris mourned the death of officer killed and condemned inexplicable violence at Capitol.

According to the statement of the US Capitol Police after 1 pm a man in a blue sedan rammed his vehicle into the North Barricade striking 2 USCP officers following which the Department immediately locked down the Capitol Campus. This incident followed months after pro-Trump rioters stormed the building on January 6. The suspect in the death of a Capitol Police officer described himself on Facebook as a follower of Louis Farrakhan, the leader of the Nation of Islam, who has repeatedly promoted anti-Semitism.

Doug and I are grateful for the Capitol Police, the National Guard Immediate Response Force, and all who responded swiftly to the attack. We continue to be proud of the courageous men and women who defend the Capitol, especially during this challenging period.  Vice President Kamala Harris (@VP) April 2, 2021

UPDATE: Here is the latest information. pic.twitter.com/GOVaMv8EXk  U.S. Capitol Police (@CapitolPolice) April 2, 2021

Also Read: Alabama bans Yoga fearing promotion of Hinduism; Whos peddling the sham of yoga being a Hindu ritual?
Source: Xinhua| 2021-04-03 12:11:47|Editor: huaxia

Video Player Close

WASHINGTON, April 2 (Xinhua) -- Senior national security officials of the United States, Japan, and South Korea met on Friday to discuss U.S. policy review on the Democratic People's Republic of Korea (DPRK) and other regional issues, the White House said in a statement.

The national security advisors shared their concerns about the DPRK's "nuclear and ballistic missile programs" and "reaffirmed their commitment to address and resolve these issues through concerted trilateral cooperation towards denuclearization," the statement said.

"They agreed on the imperative for full implementation of relevant UN Security Council resolutions by the international community .... preventing proliferation, and cooperating to strengthen deterrence and maintain peace and stability on the Korean Peninsula," the statement added.

The dialogue also covered issues of the pandemic, climate change, and the situation in Myanmar, said the statement.

U.S. President Joe Biden last week warned the DPRK not to escalate the situation after the latter launched two "newly-developed" tactical guided missiles.

Ri Pyong Chol, secretary of the Central Committee of the Workers' Party of Korea, responded that "such remarks from the U.S. president are an undisguised encroachment on our state's right to self-defense and provocation to it." Enditem
Members of the European Parliament issued a statement increased tensions over Russia's military build-up in eastern Ukraine, in which they condemned the actions of the Russian Federation and called on Moscow to respect the ceasefire in eastern Ukraine.

"It is with great concern that we witness the ongoing build-up of Russian military forces and provocations in eastern Ukraine and close to Ukraine. We deeply deplore the continuous loss of life and other damage inflicted on Ukraine. We call on full adherence to the text and spirit of the Minsk agreements and the agreed ceasefire," members of the European Parliament said in a document released on Friday.

The parliamentarians also call on Russia to take active steps to reduce tensions by ending its military buildup in and close to Ukraine, ceasing its military provocations and intimidation against Ukraine.

"We also appeal to the international community and leaders of democratic countries to express their concern and strong disapproval to the actions of the Russian authorities. We will continue to closely monitor the situation in eastern Ukraine in order to deescalate tensions and eventually reinstate the territorial integrity of Ukraine," the European Parliament said.

The document was signed by 18 European parliamentarians from Poland, Germany, Lithuania, Latvia, Estonia, Bulgaria, Denmark, Slovakia, Romania and France.
Prosecutors Seek Life Term for Would-Be NYC Suicide Bomber

NEW YORKA Bangladeshi immigrant who set off a pipe bomb attached to his chest in New York Citys busiest subway station should spend the rest of his life behind bars for a premeditated and vicious terror attack committed on behalf of ISIS terrorist group, prosecutors said Thursday.

In papers filed in federal court in Manhattan, the government argued that Akayed Ullah has never taken proper responsibility for the December 2017 attempted suicide bombing in a pedestrian tunnel beneath Times Square and the Port Authority bus terminal.

After growing angry at American foreign policy in the Middle East, Ullah grew consumed by online ISIS propaganda glorifying brutally violent stabbings, shootings, and bombings targeting Americans, prosecutors told a judge in a sentencing memo. He ultimately answered ISISs call for its supporters to carry out lone-wolf terrorist attacks in the United States. Ullahs attack was premeditated and vicious.

The papers cited evidence that after surviving the bombing, Ullah proudly declared to law enforcement that he carried out the bombing for ISIS. While in jail, he told a guard, You started this war, we will finish it. More is coming, youll see, the papers said.

NYPD officers stand guard inside the New York Port Authority Bus Terminal after an explosion in New York City, on Dec. 11, 2017. (Drew Angerer/Getty Images)

Prosecutors called a life sentence necessary and appropriate to reflect the abhorrent nature and extreme seriousness of Ullahs terrorist bombing.

The governments request comes a week after lawyers for Ullah argued in their own papers that a mandatory 35-year prison term is punishment enough because his attack was an aberration from an otherwise peaceful life. Hes scheduled to be sentenced on April 8.

Ullah, 31, was arrested after his bomb failed to fully explode, leaving him with serious burns. The blast spread panic but caused only minor injuries to those near him.

At trial, prosecutors showed jurors Ullahs post-arrest statements and social media comments, including when he taunted then-President Donald Trump on Facebook before the attack.

Hours after Ullahs bombing attempt, Trump derided the immigration system that had allowed Ullahand multitudes of law-abiding Bangladeshisto enter the United States.

Ullah got an entry visa in 2011 because he had an uncle who was already a U.S. citizen. Trump said allowing foreigners to follow relatives to the United States was incompatible with national security.

By Tom Hays
Double murderer Robyn Lindholm, who twice convinced her lovers to kill her ex-partners and bragged about it, is still a 'beautiful soul'.

That's according to Robyn Lindholm's 82-year-old mother Dorothy who vigorously defended her ex-stripper daughter - who was later nicknamed the 'Black Widow'.

In 2013 she was found guilty of murdering Melbourne gym owner Wayne Amey, whose body was found on Mount Korong in central Victoria stabbed, choked and bashed.

Double murderer Robyn Lindholm (pictured), who twice convinced her lovers to kill her ex-partners and bragged about it, is still a 'beautiful soul'

Robyn Lindholm arrives at the Supreme Court of Victoria in Melbourne before her 2019 trial over the disappearance of George Teazis. She will be 71 before she is eligible for parole

Robyn Lindholm was known as Colette when she worked as a stripper in Melbourne.

Torsten Trabert, Lindholm's lover in 2013, and John Ryan attacked and stabbed Amey and were also found guilty and sentenced to 28 and 31 years in jail.

Then in 2019, Lindholm was found guilty by a jury of nine men and three women of murdering her previous boyfriend, George Teazis (aka George Templeton).

Wayne Amey was in a property dispute with Robyn Lindholm over a farm they had owned when she decided he had to die

He went missing in 2005.

The court heard Lindholm convinced Amey to kill Teazis, whose body was never found.

Little did Amey know the same fate awaited him eight years later.

Now Lindholm's mother Dorothy claims her daughter was justified in killing Mr Amey.

'You don't know how my daughter was hung over the balcony 12 storeys up,' Dorothy told The Herald-Sun.

'Wayne Amey was going to kill her,' Dorothy added - before saying her daughter 'knows nothing' about Mr Teazis's death.

Lindholm was a colleague of fellow stripper, Shari Davison, who disappeared in 1995 after a night at Crown Casino.

It is understood Mr Teazis was a suspect in her disappearance.

A $1 million reward remains for information leading to a conviction in Ms Davison's case.

Ms Davison and Lindholm worked together at the Simply Irrestible stripper agency around the time that Lindholm dated the notorious Melbourne criminal Alphonse Gangitano.

Known as the 'Black Prince of Lygon Street, Gangitano was shot dead at home in Templestowe in 1998.

During the 2019 trial over Teazis's death, the court heard claims that Lindholm confessed to his murder to several inmates while in jail, The Age reported.

Police put out a photo of George Templeton in 2005 when he went 'missing'. His partner Robyn Lindholm put on a display when questioned that was reportedly worthy of a Logie

Robyn Lindholm and Wayne Amey in happier times. She would have him killed years after he did her dirty work on George Teazis

One said Lindholm sometimes sang about Mr Teazis swimming with the fish and that he had been violent in their relationship and raped her.

Another prisoner claimed Lindholm said she stabbed Mr Teazis during sex, saying: 'I slit his f**king throat as he came, it was the best orgasm I ever had.'

Although his body was never found, blood spatters were found in Teazis's home on the sofa and in the lounge.

Lindholm is serving her sentences at Dame Phyllis Frost Centre maximum security prison at Deer Park.
Four people have been shot dead in two separate shootings in Maryland overnight.

A woman was fatally shot while sitting inside a car in Rogers Heights, northwest of Washington DC, around 7pm on Friday.

Police responded to find the female victim suffering from 'gunshot trauma'. She was pronounced dead at the scene.

Just eight hours later, at 3am on Saturday, three others were killed in a separate car shooting just six miles away.

Two male victims were shot while sitting inside a car, while a female victim was discovered dead at the side of the vehicle.

In a Twitter update Saturday morning, the Prince George's County Police Department stated: 'Preliminarily, detectives don't believe this is a random crime. We are on the scene working to establish suspect(s) and motive in this case.'

Officers are now working to determine whether the two shooting incidents are linked.

The names and ages of the victims have not yet been released to the public.
New research led by investigators at Massachusetts General Hospital (MGH) provides insights on why people with red hair exhibit altered sensitivity to certain kinds of pain. The findings are published in Science Advances.

In people with red hair (as in numerous other species of animals with red fur), the pigment-producing cells of the skin--called melanocytes--contain a variant form of the melanocortin 1 receptor. This receptor sits on the cell surface, and if it becomes activated by circulating hormones called melanocortins, it causes the melanocyte to switch from generating yellow/red melanin pigment to producing brown/black melanin pigment.

Earlier work by David E. Fisher, MD, PhD, director of the Mass General Cancer Center's Melanoma Program and director of MGH's Cutaneous Biology Research Center, demonstrated that the inability of red-haired individuals to tan or darken their skin pigment is traced to inactive variants of this receptor.

To investigate the mechanisms behind different pain thresholds in red-haired individuals, Fisher and his colleagues studied a strain of red-haired mice that (as in humans) contains a variant that lacks melanocortin 1 receptor function and also exhibits higher pain thresholds.

The team found that loss of melanocortin 1 receptor function in the red-haired mice caused the animals' melanocytes to secrete lower levels of a molecule called POMC (proopiomelanocortin) that is subsequently cut into different hormones including one that sensitizes to pain and one that blocks pain. The presence of these hormones maintains a balance between opioid receptors that inhibit pain and melanocortin 4 receptors that enhance perception of pain.

In red-haired mice (and therefore, possibly humans), having both hormones at low levels would seemingly cancel each other out. However, the body also produces additional, non-melanocyte-related factors that activate opioid receptors involved in blocking pain. Therefore, the net effect of lower levels of the melanocyte-related hormones is more opioid signals, which elevates the threshold for pain.

These findings describe the mechanistic basis behind earlier evidence suggesting varied pain thresholds in different pigmentation backgrounds. Understanding this mechanism provides validation of this earlier evidence and a valuable recognition for medical personnel when caring for patients whose pain sensitivities may vary." David E. Fisher, MD, PhD, Director, Mass General Cancer Center's Melanoma Program and Director of MGH's Cutaneous Biology Research Center

Fisher adds that the results suggest new ways to manipulate the body's natural processes that control pain perception--for example, by designing new medications that inhibit melanocortin 4 receptors involved in sensing pain.

"Our ongoing work is focused on elucidating how additional skin-derived signals regulate pain and opioid signaling," adds co-lead author Lajos V. Kemeny, MD, PhD, a research fellow in Dermatology at MGH. "Understanding these pathways in depth may lead to the identification of novel pain-modulating strategies."
Sydney councils have embarked on an outdoor gym building frenzy with dozens of fitness stations installed across the city, but there are concerns the unmonitored facilities could injure newcomers.

Luke Del Vecchio, a lecturer in sport and exercise science at Southern Cross University, said outdoor gyms may encourage older adults and women to exercise but there was no clear consensus among researchers and the benefits were limited without guidance on how to use the equipment properly.

Tamaramas outdoor gym will be getting an upgrade alongside the new one at Varna Park: the seventh along Waverley Councils coastal walk. Credit:Louie Douvis

Waverley Council plans to build a new workout space as part of its upgrade of Waverleys Varna Park that will include a stationary exercise bike, lat pulldown and chest press, elliptical trainer and equipment for cardio, strength and stretching exercises.

A council spokeswoman said most residents who responded to a survey supported the installation of the outdoor gym and council believes that this level of support strongly reflects the desires of the local community.
Galveston, TX (77553)

Today

Rain showers in the morning with thunderstorms developing for the afternoon. High near 80F. Winds SE at 10 to 15 mph. Chance of rain 80%..

Tonight

Scattered thunderstorms early, then mainly cloudy overnight with thunderstorms likely. Low 76F. Winds SSE at 10 to 15 mph. Chance of rain 60%.
New Delhi, April 3 : President Ram Nath Kovind has been shifted from the ICU to a special room in the All India Institute of Medical Sciences (AIIMS) on Saturday and his health is improving continuously since his bypass surgery, the Rashtrapati Bhavan said.

The president on March 26 was rushed to the Indian Army's Research and Referral Hospital after he complained of chest discomfort, following which he was shifted to AIIMS a day later and underwent cardiac bypass surgery on March 30.

"President Kovind was shifted from the ICU to a special room in the AIIMS today. His health has been improving continuously. Doctors are constantly monitoring his condition and have advised him to take rest," Rashtrapati Bhavan said in a statement.

On April 1, the President said that he has been recovering well after the bypass surgery and thanked doctors and caregivers for their amazing dedication.

"I'm touched by messages, from citizens and leaders from India and abroad, wishing me speedy recovery. It's difficult to express in words my gratitude to you all!" he stated in a tweet.

-- The story has been published from a wire feed without any modifications to the text
Drug Charge For Juvenile in Lyon County

By West Kentucky Star Staff

LYON COUNTY - A juvenile in Lyon County was cited on a drug charge on Monday.Lyon County deputies assisted the Kentucky State Police with a traffic safety checkpoint at the Livingston-Lyon County line.As a car approached the checkpoint, deputies allegedly smelled marijuana coming from the vehicle. A search of the car reportedly uncovered suspected marijuana in a 16-year-old juvenile's bag.The juvenile received a court citation and was released to family.
Map showing the location of the RIC barracks, Furlongs shop and the tree from behind which the bomb was thrown

The site of the attack as it looks today with the Oak Tree (right) formally Furlongs, and the tree (left) from behind which the bomb was thrown

Regarded as perhaps one of the most formative and vital periods in Irish History, we are currently in the midst of marking the centenary of the events of the War of Independence (1919 - 1921). Local archaeologist Barry Lacey from Ballycarney has been looking at some of the key events in Co Wexford, in particular ambushes, raids, the burning of police barracks and other activities.

On this occasion, Barry looks at an attack on four RIC constables, which saw one of them injured when a bomb was thrown at them while entering the shop in Foulksmills. For more stories from Wexford's War of Independence, visit wexfordwarofindependence.com

Foulksmills attack

Shortly before 9 p.m. on March 19, 1921, four RIC constables left the safety of their barracks in Foulksmills to pick up a few necessities from Furlong's, the village grocers. Situated just a short walk from the barracks, the group were just entering the shop when chaos ensued. From behind a large tree which stood in the centre of the village, a bomb was thrown which went off.

The last of the constables to enter the shop, Galway native Dermot J Dunne, was just outside when the device exploded with a deafening bang. He was wounded in the right shoulder and the calf of his right leg. Despite this, he managed to stagger into the safety of the shop, while another constable closed the door behind him.

Just then, shotgun fire rang out with some of the pellets penetrating the door. With 20 or so customers said to be in the shop at the time, it was extremely fortunate that nobody was harmed. This was largely attributed to the fact that one half of the double door was closed at the time of the explosion, absorbing many of the splinters, some of which embedded themselves in the wall outside. Mrs Furlong herself had a lucky escape as she was holding the open half at the time of the explosion.

Expand Close Historian and archaeologist Barry Lacey / Facebook

Twitter

Email

Whatsapp Historian and archaeologist Barry Lacey

The attackers fired several more shots before they made off in different directions and the wounded constable was taken back to the safety of the barracks.

After the attack, rockets and verey lights (flares) sent up from the barracks lit up the night sky and called for assistance. It was reported that the rockets could be heard five miles away in Taghmon and were visible 14 miles away in Wexford town.

Upon seeing the commotion, parish priest Fr Michael Hickey of Clongeen hurried to the barracks to tend to the wounded man. That Sunday morning he would denounce the attack from the pulpit at Mass in Clongeen. At 11 p.m. military back-up arrived from New Ross and a doctor provided treatment for Constable Dunne, who was later removed to hospital in Dublin.

Earlier in December of 1920, a large scale attack took place on the barracks in Foulksmills and it was regularly sniped or shot at in the six months prior to the truce from January to June 1921.

The ambush was undertaken by members of D company (Adamstown) 1st Battalion; Thomas Furlong, James Furlong, Peter Jordon, M. McDonald. Today the Oak Tree pub occupies the premises which was Furlongs and amazingly the tree from behind which the IRA threw the bomb still stands to this day, a direct physical link to the event.
In the days since his music festival was cancelled by order of the NSW state government, Bluesfest promoter Peter Noble has resisted the urge to curl up in a ball and cry.

I havent had time to have an emotional reaction, he says. You have to immediately act, to contact your team, speak to people, get press releases out. Im still working through it. I have no idea when it will hit. It may not.

In half a century working in the industry, Noble - who has been involved in the Byron Bay-based event since 1994 and has owned it since 2008 - has seen a lot of things, including a cancellation last year as the first wave of the COVID-19 pandemic swept through Australia.

Bluesfest promoter Peter Noble said insurance for Bluesfest this year cost him three times as much as it did for 2020. Credit:Tao Jones/taojonesphotographer.com

This years all-Australian event was billed as the first major music festival in the country, perhaps the world. It was to have been a COVID-safe festival, with capacity capped at 16,500 people per day, around half that of a normal year. But on Wednesday afternoon, following the positive result for a local man who was at the Byron Beach Hotel at the same time as the bachelorette party at the heart of one of Brisbanes clusters, the pin was pulled.
Fifteen more petitions have been approved for signatures by the Chamber's petition commission.

The petitions can be found on the new dedicated website.

The topics covered by the latest batch of petitions cover everything from schooling to animal welfare, by way of vaccines.

One requests that secondary schools begin classes at 10am rather than 8am, while another suggests replacing exams and tests with coursework portfolios or projects.

Another petition calls for a ban on the slaughter of Luxembourg cattle in non-EU-certified slaughterhouses, while a fourth petitioner wants the government to purchase the recently-sold Birtrange Castle, or another similar structure, to house single-parent families.

Finally, the Covid crisis is still weighing heavily on petitioners' minds: one has called for a vote of no confidence against the government, while another demands the vaccine campaign be accelerated. Another has asked for the Russian Sputnik V vaccine to be distributed in Luxembourg.
Source: Xinhua| 2021-04-03 05:00:20|Editor: huaxia

Video Player Close

Fatou Bensouda (front), chief prosecutor of the International Criminal Court (ICC), briefs the Security Council on the situation in Libya at the United Nations headquarters in New York, Nov. 2, 2018. (Xinhua/Li Muzi)

Secretary of State Antony Blinken said that President Joe Biden had revoked an executive order against certain persons of the ICC, ending the threat and imposition of economic sanctions and visa restrictions in connection with the court.



WASHINGTON, April 2 (Xinhua) -- The United States on Friday lifted sanctions against senior officials of the International Criminal Court (ICC) that imposed by the administration of former President Donald Trump.

Secretary of State Antony Blinken said in a statement that President Joe Biden had revoked an executive order against certain persons of the ICC, ending the threat and imposition of economic sanctions and visa restrictions in connection with the court.

"As a result, the sanctions imposed by the previous administration against ICC Prosecutor Fatou Bensouda and Phakiso Mochochoko, the Head of the Jurisdiction, Complementarity and Cooperation Division of the Office of the Prosecutor, have been lifted," he said.

The Department of State also terminated a separate 2019 policy on visa restrictions on certain ICC personnel, he added. "These decisions reflect our assessment that the measures adopted were inappropriate and ineffective."

Blinken, however, highlighted the disagreement between Washington and The Hague-based international tribunal.

"We continue to disagree strongly with the ICC's actions relating to the Afghanistan and Palestinian situations. We maintain our longstanding objection to the Court's efforts to assert jurisdiction over personnel of non-States Parties such as the United States and Israel," he noted.

The United States has not ratified the Rome Statute of the ICC and rejected the ICC's jurisdiction over U.S. persons.

The ICC in March last year authorized an investigation into possible war crimes in Afghanistan, including those that may have been committed by the U.S. military and the CIA, which could lead to the indictment of U.S. military and intelligence personnel.

Trump last June authorized economic sanctions against ICC officials engaged in an investigation into U.S. personnel, which drew criticism from the international community and some U.S. allies.

The ICC was established when the Rome Statute took effect in 2002. It prosecutes crimes of genocide, war crimes, crimes against humanity, and the crime of aggression. 
Questo comunicato e stato pubblicato piu di 30 giorni fa. Le informazioni su questa pagina potrebbero non essere attendibili.

A detailed analysis report of the Global Tyre Market has been covered in the report coupled with a thorough description of each company profile with information on the H.Q, future capabilities, key mergers & acquisitions, financial outline, partnerships and new product launches and developments.

The comprehensive value chain analysis of the market will assist in attaining better product differentiation, along with detailed understanding of the core competency of each activity involved. The market attractiveness analysis provided in the report aptly measures the potential value of the market providing business strategists with the latest growth opportunities.

The report classifies the market into different segments based on design, tire type and vehicle type. These segments are studied in detail incorporating the market estimates and forecasts at regional and country level. The segment analysis is useful in understanding the growth areas and probable opportunities of the market.

Final Report will cover the COVID-19 Impact and Recovery on this industry.

Browse the complete Global Tyre Market Research Report  Industry Analysis, Size, Share, Growth, Trends and Forecast Till 2027 @ https://www.decisiondatabases.com/ip/680-tyre-industry-market-report

The report also covers the complete competitive landscape of the global Tyre market with company profiles of key players such as:

Michelin

Bridgestone

Continental

Goodyear

Sumitomo

Pirelli

Yokohama

Hankook

Toyo

Kumho

A detailed description of each has been included, with information in terms of H.Q, future capacities, key mergers & acquisitions, financial overview, partnerships, collaborations, new product launches, new product developments and other latest industrial developments.

SEGMENTATIONS IN THE REPORT:

By Design

Radial

Bias

By Tire Type

Tubeless

Tube Tire

By Vehicle Type

Passenger Cars

Light Commercial Vehicles

Medium and Heavy Commercial Vehicles

Two Wheelers

Three Wheelers

By Geography:

North America (NA)  US, Canada, and Mexico

Europe (EU)  UK, Germany, France, Italy, Russia, Spain & Rest of Europe

Asia-Pacific (APAC)  China, India, Japan, South Korea, Australia & Rest of APAC

Latin America (LA)  Brazil, Argentina, Peru, Chile & Rest of Latin America

Middle East and Africa (MEA)  Saudi Arabia, UAE, Israel, South Africa

Download Free Sample Report of Global Tyre Market @ https://www.decisiondatabases.com/contact/download-sample-680

The Global Tyre Market has been exhibited in detail in the following chapters 

Chapter 1 Tyre Market Preface

Chapter 2 Executive Summary

Chapter 3 Tyre Industry Analysis

Chapter 4 Tyre Market Value Chain Analysis

Chapter 5 Tyre Market Analysis By Design

Chapter 6 Tyre Market Analysis By Tire Type

Chapter 7 Tyre Market Analysis By Vehicle Type

Chapter 8 Tyre Market Analysis By Geography

Chapter 9 Competitive Landscape Of Tyre Companies

Chapter 10 Company Profiles Of Tyre Industry

Purchase the complete Global Tyre Market Research Report @ https://www.decisiondatabases.com/contact/buy-now-680

Other Reports by DecisionDatabases.com:

Global Agriculture Tyres Market Research Report  Industry Analysis, Size, Share, Growth, Trends and Forecast Till 2026

About-Us:

DecisionDatabases.com is a global business research reports provider, enriching decision makers and strategists with qualitative statistics. DecisionDatabases.com is proficient in providing syndicated research report, customized research reports, company profiles and industry databases across multiple domains.

Our expert research analysts have been trained to map clients research requirements to the correct research resource leading to a distinctive edge over its competitors. We provide intellectual, precise and meaningful data at a lightning speed.

For more details:

DecisionDatabases.com

E-Mail: sales@decisiondatabases.com

Phone: +91 9028057900

Web: https://www.decisiondatabases.com/

News Source  https://www.industrynewsengine.com/2020/11/25/tyre-market-2020-global-industry-research-report-till-2027/
Priest calls cops on maskless pregnant mom holding baby at mass; police threaten arrest

Email Print Img No-img Menu Whatsapp Google Reddit Digg Stumbleupon Linkedin Comment

A Catholic mother in Texas is speaking out after being threatened with arrest for not wearing a mask during mass.

Deirdre Hairston, who recorded a video of the incident on her phone, told Catholic author and podcaster Taylor Marshall in an interview that she had just taken communion at Holy Trinity Catholic Church in Dallas and was kneeling down with her 1-year-old child when a police officer approached her and told her that the church didn't want her there and she was trespassing.

Hairston, who's also pregnant, said parish priest, Father Milton Ryan, contacted police to report that she wasn't wearing a mask, according to CBS' DFW affiliate.

When she defended herself, noting it wasn't a crime not to wear a mask in church, the police officer said the church had a mask mandate because it was considered a business. In an exchange with three police officers outside the church, Hairston's husband is seen in the video expressing his dismay and defending his wife, emphasizing that the church is not a business.

On March 2, Texas Gov. Greg Abbott lifted the statewide mask mandate. While houses of worship were never required to impose mask requirements on congregants during religious services, places of worship have the option to require the wearing of masks.

Our own government is more lenient at this point than our church, and thats a problem, Hairston told Marshall.

Youre more likely to get treated with Christian charity and grace at a Taco Bell than you are at church, unfortunately. Because if you dont wear the mask and they allow you not to wear the mask, they still treat you like a leper. They still treat you like youre a bandit. And Im not a bandit. I may be a sinner, but Im not a bandit.

Video footage Hairston took of the incident shows a female police officer attempting to lift her up out of her seat to escort her off the premises. Once Hairston steps outside the sanctuary, the officer can be heard warning that she will put her in handcuffs if she refuses to leave and then asks for her ID.

Hairston further recounted that an usher at the church ran to her car to take pictures of the license plate. The video also shows the officer writing her a citation.



Though no fine was levied against her, Hairston said she's no longer allowed back on the church's property and the officers made it clear that she would be arrested if she returned.



In response to the incident, the Diocese of Dallas released a statement saying that canon law grants pastors jurisdiction over their parishes, and while the bishop has not mandated masks for every parish, he has left specific details to the pastors of the Diocese, adding that he expects the faithful to wear masks out of charity and concern for others.



We recognize that not everyone can wear masks, but that those who can, should.

Hairston was neither arrested nor ticketed, the diocese added, but she was issued a trespass warning.



Hairston told Marshall that the episode has convinced her that the posture of the church is about making a political statement regarding compliance and not about public health.
Issues such as transportation barriers, food insecurity, and fear of deportation create significant obstacles to optimal health for the MENA community. Credit: Jacob Dwyer

Within southeast Michigan's Middle Eastern and North African community, those who worry about deportation or believe they've been treated unfairly are likely to face more adverse conditions associated with poor health, including food insecurity and financial distress.

The MENA people who face several of these barriers are also more likely to report chronic illness and mental health issues as well as worse overall health.

That's according to a new study by the University of Michigan Rogel Cancer Center, the University of Michigan School of Public Health, and the Arab Community Center for Economic and Social Services.

"There are numerous health disparities for the MENA community that are not that different from other racial and ethnic groups where we're trying to close the gap," says Minal R. Patel, Ph.D., M.P.H., an associate professor of health behavior and health education at the U-M School of Public Health and a member of the Rogel Cancer Center. "The data show us that this is an important population where we should be focusing our efforts to address health needs."

This is the latest in a series of papers based on data from an extensive survey designed to better understand the population within one of the geographic areas the Rogel Cancer Center aims to serve. The researchers paid special attention to MENA people because metro Detroit is home to one of the United States' largest MENA communities, with about 210,000 residents hailing from Lebanon, Egypt, Syria, Iraq, Yemen and other Arab countries.

Previous state surveys had revealed significant health disparities for the MENA population, similar to what Michigan's African-American and Hispanic groups experience. However, Patel and her research team knew more specific data was needed to determine MENA people's unmet health needs as well as the impact that discrimination has on their health.

Through questionnaires distributed in community venuesincluding grocery stores, mosques, and health care clinicsto about 400 people who identified as MENA, researchers found that almost 60% of respondents felt they had experienced discrimination. Close to half did not believe the government was trying to improve life for Arab-Americans. Although fewer people worried about deportation or thought they had been treated unfairly, those who did often faced more adverse conditions associated with poor health, such as food insecurity.

More unmet health needs were also found among people who were not born in the United States (58% of the study's sample); who had lived in America for fewer years; who spoke Arabic at home; and who were from Egypt, Syria, or Yemencountries with unstable political environments and high poverty rates.

Public health researchers and media outlets alike have previously called attention to the physical and mental toll of immigration-related concerns on Latino immigrants. Patel says this data illustrates how the MENA people fit into that discussion.

"We were able to highlight that even though we don't share a border with a Middle Eastern country, we still have a sizeable population right next door to us that have concerns about immigration," Patel says. "This is another community where we can bring in that national conversation and think about how it is specifically impacting health."

Among risk factors that limit optimal health in the MENA population, transportation issues for health care visits, food insecurity, and financial strain were the most common, followed by unemployment and unstable housing.

Patel said she was surprised at the prevalence of food insecurity in particular given the number of grocery stores and restaurants in areas with large concentrations of the MENA population.

"When you drive through Dearborn, where much of the survey took place, it doesn't look like the makeup of your typical food desert," Patel says. "So we need to unpack that. Food insecurity is multidimensional, and the availability of food is only one component."

Overall, experiencing more risk factors for poor health, e.g., food insecurity and unemployment and unstable housing, was linked with more chronic diseases, including cancer, diabetes, high blood pressure, depression and heart conditions. In addition, mental health and general health were poorer for the people who faced multiple societal conditions that limit optimal health.

This survey was conducted in 2019, and Patel says all the issues discussed have likely worsened for the MENA community since then due to the increased stressors of the pandemic.

Explore further Social needs linked to low health-related quality of life among African American cancer survivors

More information: Minal R. Patel et al, A Snapshot of Social Risk Factors and Associations with Health Outcomes in a Community Sample of Middle Eastern and North African (MENA) People in the U.S., Journal of Immigrant and Minority Health (2021). Minal R. Patel et al, A Snapshot of Social Risk Factors and Associations with Health Outcomes in a Community Sample of Middle Eastern and North African (MENA) People in the U.S.,(2021). DOI: 10.1007/s10903-021-01176-w
WASHINGTON: The United States, Japan and South Korea have vowed concerted trilateral cooperation towards the denuclearisation of North Korea.

Senior national security officials of these counties held a meeting during which they discuss American policy review on North Korea and other regional issues, the White House said in a statement.

Jake Sullivan, President Joe Bidens national security adviser, held a rare in-person meeting with his counterparts from South Korea and Japan, Suh Hoon and Shigeru Kitamura, at the US Naval Academy in Annapolis, Maryland.

On Friday, the national security advisors shared their concerns about North Korea's "nuclear and ballistic missile programs" and "reaffirmed their commitment to address and resolve these issues through concerted trilateral cooperation towards denuclearisation", as per Xinhua news.

"They agreed on the imperative for full implementation of relevant UN Security Council resolutions by the international community preventing proliferation, and cooperating to strengthen deterrence and maintain peace and stability on the Korean Peninsula," the White House added.

The meeting came as a review by the Biden administration on how to deal with North Korea was in its final stages, following Donald Trumps unusually personal diplomacy with strongman Kim Jong-un.

Egypt weighs UAE mediation initiative to discuss Nile dam crisis

AstraZeneca Vax: Netherlands temporarily halts AstraZeneca vaccine for under-60s

Covid-19 Updates Kuwait, UK: Kuwait city reports 1,233 new cases, 234,754 in total
Its been a week of good news on the vaccine front, and if were reading between the lines that means were likely to soon see a lot more maskless faces again inside Houstons businesses.

The region is alive with kinetic energy. Traffic is back, people are packing businesses again and were starting to see people confidently go maskless, assuring people, Dont worry. Im vaccinated.

Its a bold move, to be sure, but the information coming out of the Centers for Disease Control doesnt necessarily dispute it. The CDC said last week that vaccinated people are 90 percent less likely to catch COVID, and what you dont catch you cant as easily give to others.

Houstonians are accustomed to freak accidents and weather-related dangers, and the city is the largest in the nation without a mask mandate, so were likely to be on the cutting edge of the cultural shift away from masks.

On HoustonChronicle.com: Houston traffic is back, and that's a good sign for the economy

The front lines of this social experiment will be retailers and restaurants. Some have already scrambled over the last month, for the safety of their staff, to vaccinate whole teams and inoculate themselves against the potential for maskless masses. (The number of people on waiting lists for vaccinations spiked after Gov. Greg Abbott announced hed be rolling back his statewide mask mandate.)

Lindsay Rae Burleson, owner of Two Headed Dog in Midtown, told me two weeks ago that some resourceful members of Houstons restaurant community crowdsourced vaccination information, and so her bars staff was fully vaccinated. After that, she and her team decided to remove the Plexiglas shield between bartenders and customers.

Beyond staff safety, now its a selling point for consumer-facing businesses to have vaccinated employees. The CDC said it was safe to gather indoors with other vaccinated people. The question is whether restaurants and retailers now advertise, signs and all, that their teams are fully vaccinated so vaccinated customers can enter without need for a mask.

Maskless life should be a boon for them: Who wants to wear a mask while trying on clothes, going to the gym or having a drink at the bar?

On HoustonChronicle.com: Texas gyms try new approaches as mask rules loosen

But while all this vaccine news is good news, there are still plenty of people who havent been able to score appointments. Just a third of Harris County residents have been vaccinated, and cases were on the rise again last week in whats being referred to as the fourth wave.

Its still not easy to find a vaccination appointment, especially for those working long hours in restaurants and grocery stores who cant as easily click away on their computers for hours until they find a place with an available slot  and theyre arguably the ones who need it most.

Theres no centralized location for people to sign up, and many may put their names on one waitlist and not realize others may be available to them, Jay Malone, the Texas Gulf Coast Area Labor Federations political and communications director, told me last week.

Thats why the federation and workers advocates are urging more employers to seek out institutional partners and host company-wide vaccination clinics to make it easier for their employees, especially those exposed to hundreds of customers per day. Doing so might just be good for business.

amanda.drane@chron.com

Twitter.com/amandadrane


Delhi's prestigious St. Stephen's college At least 13 students and two non-academic staff of Delhi's prestigious St. Stephen's college have tested positive for Covid-19. This group of students had gone on a trip to Dalhousie recently, where they might have contracted the virus. Many of them were staying in the college hostel. After returning from the trip, these students were found to be positive for Covid-19. The college administration while taking all necessary precautions has stopped all activities in the college campus for the time being. It also said the Dean of the residence has been informed and all Covid protocols are followed.




(CNN)  Hungary has recorded its deadliest day of the pandemic so far, struggling to contain the latest surge of new coronavirus cases even as its vaccine rollout speeds up.

The government announced Wednesday that 302 people died in a single day, bringing the country's total death toll to 20,737. The government said in a statement that most of those who died had been elderly or chronically ill.

The record toll came just days after Prime Minister Viktor Orban said he had no doubt Hungary would have a "free summer" thanks to the number of vaccine doses it was administering.

The country is well ahead of most other European Union member states when it comes to vaccination rates, trailing only the tiny island nation of Malta. According to data from the European Centre for Disease Prevention and Control (ECDC), 23.7% of adults in Hungary have received their first dose of the vaccine as of Wednesday, while 8.6% have been fully vaccinated with two doses.

One reason for the speedy rollout is the government's decision to authorize two coronavirus vaccines from Russia and China even though they have not yet been approved by the European Medicines Agency. Hungary became the first EU country to approve Russia's Sputnik V vaccine in January, followed by China's Sinopharm vaccine in February.

That means that while the rest of the EU has been struggling with supply issues as it relies on the BioNTech/Pfizer and AstraZeneca vaccines, Hungary has been using the AstraZeneca as well as the Russian and Chinese vaccines since the last week of February.

Earlier this month, it gave emergency approval to two more vaccines, China's Cansino Biologics Covid-19 shot and CoviShield, the version of the AstraZeneca vaccine made by the Serum Institute of India. It also ordered the Pfizer-BioNTech and Moderna vaccines through the EU, bringing the total number of vaccines it will have at its disposal to seven.

The country's chief medical officer said Wednesday that the Johnson & Johnson vaccine would also become available in the second half of April.

The worst wave yet

But Hungary's relatively successful vaccine rollout has failed to prevent the country from spiraling into a new crisis. The central European nation has seen its worst days both in terms of the number of new cases and deaths in the past week. It has the world's second-highest coronavirus death rate per capita -- 209 deaths per 100,000 people, according to data tracked by CNN. Among countries of any significant size, only the Czech Republic has a higher rate of coronavirus deaths.

Some have expressed concerns about the situation in Hungary's hospitals. Several independent news outlets have written an open letter to the government asking for access to hospitals, Covid ICUs and vaccination centers. Government spokesperson Zoltan Kovacs responded by saying "in hospitals, we should cure patients instead of filming them with cameras." He went on to accuse "left-leaning websites" of "spreading fake news."

Kovacs told CNN the reason for the record number of deaths was the new, more contagious variant of the virus first identified in the United Kingdom, which he said was causing "relatively more hospitalizations and fatalities."

Asked why the country was seeing such a high death rate, he said: "All health care capacities, treatments, medicines etc are available. So it's not the shortage of equipment/personnel."

The country went into lockdown on March 8, closing non-essential stores and shifting schools to remote learning. The closure of stores lasted until March 22, while nurseries and primary schools are due to remain closed until April 7.

Hungary is not the only European country battling to contain the new wave of the pandemic. Others have also struggled, blaming the surge in cases on new mutations.

The B.1.1.7 variant is more contagious, may cause more severe disease and is rapidly infecting younger populations, epidemiologist Michael Osterholm told CNN on Tuesday night. Recent research suggests the strain may also be more deadly. The variant has become the dominant strain of the virus in France, Germany, Italy and the Czech Republic -- and experts are warning the same could soon happen in the United States.

This story was first published on CNN.com Hungary records the deadliest day of the pandemic, despite its leading vaccine rollout
BAMAKO, Mali (AP)  Four United Nations peacekeepers from Chad were killed in an attack by jihadists on their camp in Aguelhok in northern Mali and 19 others were injured, U.N. officials said Friday.

The U.N. mission in Mali said helicopters were dispatched to the scene to evacuate the wounded from the camp, which houses mostly Chadian peacekeepers.

The mission said that the attackers suffered heavy losses and had abandoned several of their dead at the site of the attack.

U.N. Secretary-General Guterres condemned the attack by armed elements in the strongest terms and commended the courage and bravery of the peacekeepers who robustly repelled the attack, U.N. spokesman Stephane Dujarric said.

Guterres reiterated that attacks targeting peacekeepers may constitute war crimes under international law and that sanctions can be applied against those responsible, Dujarric said.

The U.N. chief called on Malian authorities to spare no effort in identifying and promptly holding to account the perpetrators of this heinous attack, the spokesman said.

The Secretary-General reiterates the solidarity of the United Nations with the people and government of the Republic of Mali in their quest for peace, Dujarric said.

Mali has been trying to contain an Islamic extremist insurgency since 2012.

Islamic extremist rebels were forced from power in Malis northern cities with the help of a 2013 French-led military operation. However, the insurgents quickly regrouped in the desert and began launching frequent attacks on the Malian army and its allies fighting the insurgency.

The extremists have expanded their reach well into central Mali, where their presence has inflamed tensions between ethnic groups in the area.
POTTSVILLE  A Shenandoah man is headed to state prison after a Schuylkill County judge sentenced him Thursday for drug and traffic crimes.

Carl Kostowskie, 48, must serve eight to 24 months in a state correctional institution, Judge James P. Goodman decided. The judge made the sentence consecutive to the one Kostowskie already is serving.

When youre in the state prison system, you might as well take advantage of the programs they have, Goodman told Kostowskie.

Goodman imposed the sentence after revoking Kostowskies probation and parole, which he ruled the defendant violated by not reporting to his supervising officer and possessing drugs.

When youre under supervision, you need to comply with those terms, Goodman said.

Kostowskie originally pleaded guilty on May 23, 2019, to habitual offenders, driving under the influence, possession of a controlled substance and DUI while suspended. Prosecutors withdrew charges of possession of drug paraphernalia and driving under suspension.

At that time, Goodman sentenced Kostowskie to serve six months to five years in prison and pay costs, $2,000 in fines and a $50 bench warrant fee.

Shenandoah police alleged Kostowskie was DUI on Sept. 26, 2016, in the borough.

Kostkowskie already is an inmate at the county prison, and Goodman conducted the hearing by videoconference.

In another Thursday case, Goodman revoked the probation of Alexander J. Faust, 28, of Saint Clair, and sentenced him to spend four to 12 months in prison and an additional 12 months on probation.

I hope youre serious about addressing your drug problem, or youre going to be in that prison a lot, Goodman told Faust.

Faust admitted violating his probation by not reporting to his supervising officer, moving without permission, incurring new criminal charges, failing a drug test, possessing drug paraphernalia and not making payments on his court-ordered costs and fees.

He originally pleaded guilty on Nov. 15, 2017, to two counts of possession of a controlled substance. Prosecutors withdrew one count of possession of drug paraphernalia and three additional counts of possession of a controlled substance.

At that time, Judge John E. Domalakes placed him on probation for 24 months, and also sentenced him to pay costs, $200 to the Substance Abuse Education Fund, $100 to the Criminal Justice Enhancement Account and $982 restitution to the state police crime laboratory in Bethlehem.

Pottsville police charged Faust with possessing drugs in the city on Sept. 12, 2016, and again on May 3, 2017.

Faust already is an inmate at the county prison, and Goodman conducted the hearing by videoconference.
AS Covid-19 deaths show little sign of abating, good news has come to Trinidad and Tobago of a vaccine gift from the United States.

According to Shante Moore, Charge dAffaires at the US Embassy in Trinidad and Tobago, this gift comes with no hidden conditions and imposing conditions as other countries are doing.
Chris Bray died tragically 25 years ago, but none of his immediate family members knew he had fathered a daughter, Kateri, seven years before his death.

Allison Bray is looking forward to meeting her niece Kateri in Canada, when it is safe to travel. Photo: Steve Humphreys

It was 25 years ago this month that I got the worst phone call of my life. My aunt Margaret, who was like a grandmother to me, was sobbing when she rang to tell me that Chris, my only immediate sibling, had died suddenly and unexpectedly in hospital following what we thought was a routine exploratory operation to find out why he was losing breath to the point of unconsciousness.

Despite being a non-smoker and an otherwise fit and healthy type, his skin looked grey and he had aged considerably when I saw him a few months earlier. I even joked that his clean living wasnt doing him any favours, never realising that would be the last time I would see him.

He was just 36 and had only been married a few months when he succumbed to what the subsequent post-mortem examination revealed was an extremely rare congenital condition that attacked his lungs and would eventually destroy his other organs. There was no cure.

And while he died a cruel and premature death at the prime of his life, I considered it a blessing at the time that he didnt orphan any children. We had both endured the heartache of losing a parent after our mother Jean died of cancer, aged just 54, when we were still teenagers.

Chriss death, less than 20 years later, was tragic and took me a long time to accept. And while I, like aunt Margaret, never regretted not having children of my own, it did sadden me to realise that I would never have a niece or nephew and, ultimately, I would be the end of the line of my immediate family.

Or so I thought.

Fast forward to last November, when I was scrolling through my work emails and an unfamiliar name popped up under the heading unusual question.

I didnt pay much attention at first, since its not unusual for journalists to get random emails out of the blue. But this one sent a shiver down my spine.





Read More

The writer, from my native Canada, asked if I was related to Christopher Ian Bray. I was immediately suspicious, thinking it was a sick joke or some kind of online phishing scam. After I responded with a wary email asking why, she replied: I am looking for family history on my father. His obituary read that he had a sister named Allison Bray and at the time of his death she was in Winnipeg.

Expand Close Chris Bray died tragically 25 years ago, but none of his immediate family members knew he had fathered a daughter, Kateri, seven years before his death. / Facebook

Twitter

Email

Whatsapp Chris Bray died tragically 25 years ago, but none of his immediate family members knew he had fathered a daughter, Kateri, seven years before his death.

I almost collapsed. I had lived in Winnipeg, Canada before I moved to Ireland at the start of the new millennium to begin a new life.

My head was swimming. Like myself, Chris was ambivalent about having children and never even mentioned wanting to start a family, so the thought that he had fathered a child, let alone out of wedlock, never even occurred to me.

But when she emailed an old photo of him from the late 1980s, when he was dating her mother while on a military training course at a Canadian Forces base in Ontario, I knew it had the ring of truth.

This was way before people used email routinely, let alone social media, and as far as I know, there are no photos of him anywhere out there in cyberspace.

She then sent photos of herself as an adult and a child and the family resemblance was eerie. I compared baby pictures of her with those of my brother at the same age and they looked almost identical. I also noticed she has the same eyebrows that both my brother and myself inherited from my mother.

I barely slept that night. The thought that my late brother had left a daughter as his legacy had me equally shocked and delighted, knowing a part of him is still alive and that I might have a niece after all.

Still, I wasnt proud of the fact that he had walked away from his pregnant girlfriend and left her to raise Kateri, now a 32-year-old woman, on her own, even though he was young and perhaps just chose to bury his head in the sand. And as far as I know, perhaps he went to his grave not knowing he had a child.

Still, I was sceptical. While Im not rich, its not unheard of for scam artists to target people over the internet. So I was wary, despite her being adamant about not looking for money. But once the shock wore off, we arranged a telephone chat a couple of days later and spoke for hours like we were old friends.

While I have no problem chatting to total strangers  its my job, after all  my first impression was that she was either an incredibly convincing con woman or someone who was genuinely interested in getting to know her fathers history and side of the family. If nothing else, I reasoned, she wanted to learn about the familys medical history, should she have children or for her own health reasons.

I chose to believe the latter and after subsequent phone chats and email exchanges, I was convinced she was genuine.

But was she really my niece?

Expand Close Allison Bray when she was a similar age to her niece Kateri. / Facebook

Twitter

Email

Whatsapp Allison Bray when she was a similar age to her niece Kateri.

I arranged for us to take a DNA test, insisting that I send out the swabs to prevent them from being doctored. She had no problem with this, another good sign.

I sent the sample out in November but due to Covid mail delays, it didnt arrive in Canada until the day before what would have been Chriss birthday in late January.

We decided to celebrate his birthday doing our swabs. In the meantime, we exchanged more photos, including a recent one of her taken in Canada and one of me at the Winnipeg Folk Festival when I was around the same age.

I sent them on to friends and they were shocked to see how much we look alike. One friend said he even thought she was me.

Were both tall, we both have the same hair, long legs and arms and piano-player fingers, as well as other physical traits and similar interests. Like my aunt Margaret and myself, we had an uncanny intuitive connection between us that I jokingly call my Braydar.

We were on tenterhooks for months. Then the results came back stating a 97.7pc probability of a match.

We are now looking forward to meeting up in Canada once we can travel freely again. If all goes well, I hope to have the same close relationship with Kateri as I had with my aunt Margaret, who lived to be almost 100.

But unaware to me or anyone else in my family at the time, Kateri had been seeking out her father for a long time.

She was actually able to track me down thanks to a photo of me in the Irish Independent, accompanying a story I had written about car insurance hikes.

I had always known that I had a dad out there somewhere, she said.

I had a picture, stories from my mom, a name and a birthday. It was not much but it was something. A large part of me hoped that it would just be a matter of clicking a button or asking around and all of a sudden I would have the missing pieces to my life. The answers to the questions that no one else could answer.

She starting searching online in 2018 for clues but came up blank.

I started to think again about the list of possibilities that I had come up with the year before, she said. After a lot of self-reassurance that even if the worst happened I would be OK, it was worth it to take a shot. Even if he had an entire life that he did not want to share with me, I will know my answers.

She eventually found an online reference to his obituary.

My heart sank as I read the words because even though it is only a glimpse into the life that he lived, I had learned enough from stories from my mom to know that this was him. My dad passed away when I was seven and I never got to know him or learn if he wanted to know me, she said.

Part of me was a little relieved knowing now that there was nothing I could have done at an earlier age to try and build a relationship with Chris, to find Dad. A part of me was disappointed for the same reasons and more.

I still felt incomplete. I had thought that knowing I would never be able to speak to him would have given me a sense of peace, acceptance or understanding.

I could not have been further from the truth. I grieved. Although that might sound silly since I never knew him, I did. I had to mourn the loss of decades of hopes, the loss of a dream. Worst of all, I had to relive learning that not only had I never had a dad, but I never would.

Then the pandemic hit and changed everything.

Chris came up in conversation a lot during the summer of 2020, full of reminders of what is important to you and what you have to lose and miss out on if you do not follow your heart.

Kateri eventually came across the photo of me in the Irish Independent and could not let go of the feeling that you were my connection.

Expand Close Allison Bray is looking forward to meeting her niece Kateri in Canada, when it is safe to travel. Photo: Steve Humphreys / Facebook

Twitter

Email

Whatsapp Allison Bray is looking forward to meeting her niece Kateri in Canada, when it is safe to travel. Photo: Steve Humphreys

She was spurred on to investigate further.

I got up the courage the next morning at work after more self-reassurance, telling myself the worst that would happen is that I hit another dead end.

My pieces are falling in place and my questions and hopes are no longer lost. I have found something more than just a part of me. Thanks to a picture, a name and a birthday.

But the story doesnt end there.

When Kateri began her intrepid search, little did she know that she would not only track down an aunt in Ireland, but an uncle in the UK.

That uncle is my half-brother, Stewart, from my fathers previous marriage before he emigrated to Canada from England after the second world war.

While I will never know why my father kept his son a secret from us kids for so long, I was determined to meet him after Chris died and arranged a visit while I was backpacking around Europe.

He rang me in Canada to say hed be delighted to meet. Then the following day, a year to the day after Chriss death, my father Ian died so my first phone call to Stewart was to break the bad news.

But we still met. It was like seeing a ghost when he met me at the train station in Kent, looking like my father did 20 years earlier.

But Im happy to say we have now made up for lost time and Stewart, his wife, Alison (whose name she recently learned was spelled the same as mine on her birth certificate  another weird twist), their son and daughter have welcomed me into the fold. They are just as over the moon to have a new addition to the family as I am.

As the saying goes, God doesnt close a door without opening a window.
Art by Laoise Patterson, who was selected as a runner up in the competition

Talented young artists from Wicklow have been named among the winners of a prestigious art competition.

The winners of the Credit Union 'Imagine More' Art Competition were announced during a special virtual ceremony broadcast last Wednesday.

Now in its 37th year, the competition is one of the longest-running competitions of its type. The theme for this year's competition was 'Imagine More' and it encouraged participants to think past their current situation and use their imagination to dream about what life will be like when restrictions aren't a large part of our world. This theme also aimed to reflect and display just how important the arts are in Irish society.

Sadbh Agnew was selected as a runner up in the eight to ten years old category. In the category of people with additional needs, Laoise Patterson was chosen as a runner up in the eight to ten years age group. Both submitted artwork through Baltinglass Credit Union.

Aoibhinn Kinsella was named runner up in the 18 years and older category with her work submitted by Altura Credit Union.

Over 30,000 entries were received for this year's competition. Lockdown restrictions resulted in a slight delay to the announcement of the winners. A special virtual ceremony, hosted by broadcaster Marty Whelan, was streamed on the Irish League of Credit Union (ILCU)'s social media channels for finalists and their family, friends and credit unions to tune into. Marty ran through all of the finalists' works and also spoke to the three art competition judges to get their thoughts on this year's winning entries.

Expand Close Drawing by Sadbh Agnew, a runner up in the competition / Facebook

Twitter

Email

Whatsapp Drawing by Sadbh Agnew, a runner up in the competition

Speaking at the awards ceremony, ILCU Head of Communications Paul Bailey said, 'This year, despite restrictions, credit unions have created a space where budding artists can express their creative skills while allowing them to dream of a bigger brighter world. While this competition is a huge part of life on the island of Ireland, this year it opened up a whole new way of thinking for participants. The immense talent on display shows the hope and imagination of brighter days to come. We are once again blown away by the truly amazing submissions and we wish to congratulate all the entrants, without whom our competition couldn't go ahead'.
KYODO NEWS - Apr 3, 2021 - 23:02 | All, Japan, World

The traffic jam that caused hundreds of ships to wait to enter or complete their journey through the Suez Canal finally ended Saturday, days after a massive container ship that had blocked the vital international waterway was dislodged.

Osama Rabie, head of Suez Canal Authority, said the same day that all 422 ships stranded in the canal and nearby waters had passed through the waterway, one of the world's heaviest shipping lanes, after the 400-meter-long 220,000-ton Ever Given became wedged in it in late March.

The Panama-flagged vessel, owned by Japanese ship-leasing company Shoei Kisen Kaisha Ltd. and operated by Taiwan's Evergreen Marine Corp., became wedged on March 23, causing disruption in global traffic, before it was finally freed six days later.

The authority has said it will take three or four days for ship traffic to return to normal after resumption.

An investigation has started into why the vessel became stuck in the canal connecting the Mediterranean and the Red Sea, with attention now shifting to compensation. The blockage cost the authority between $12 million to $15 million daily, Rabie has said

The blockage had also forced other vessels to reroute.

The effort had involved dredging efforts and refloating the boat at high tide with the help of a Dutch company.

The ship was on its way to Rotterdam in the Netherlands from China.

Related coverage:

Ship's owner to handle Suez Canal blockage "in line with int'l law"

Container ship blocking Suez Canal dislodged after nearly a week

Efforts to dislodge ship blocking Suez Canal enter 6th day
Heres another Easter passing by, and I still havent fulfilled an ambition to walk the Camino pilgrimage, those 780km across Spain to Santiago de Compostela. This year, Im blaming it on the restrictions imposed by Covid, rather than admit that the notion of setting off on such an April trek is probably beyond my capability.

Yet, its fascinating that in an increasingly secular world, the challenge of a pilgrimage is not only still practiced, but  until the wretched virus intervened  had been growing steadily. Perhaps because pilgrimage is about going on a journey, both inside and outside of yourself. It can be about spirituality  43pc of pilgrims who walk the Camino have a faith motive, according to Peter Stanfords new book Pilgrimage, but that means 57pc do not.

A pilgrimage can be about intersecting with the companionship of others. It can be walking with a purpose. It can be exploring history  the idea that people have been doing this for a thousand years lends pilgrimage a meaningful sense of heritage. It can be seeking healing, either for an illness or disability, or for recovering from some great loss  the actor Martin Sheen walked the Camino after the death of his adult son, and the film he made about the Camino, The Way, in 2010, greatly boosted knowledge and interest in Compostela. (In the late 1970s, only a handful of pilgrims embarked on the walk; by 2018, numbers had reached a record 325,378.) The Camino has its own logo  the cockleshell of St James  found, even from ancient times, along the pilgrims pathway.

There are pilgrimages everywhere. Rome  always among the top 10 of world pilgrim sites  would normally be welcoming millions right now. Some still walk there, like Brian Mooney, who, in 2010 and aged 60, walked from St Pauls Cathedral in London  via the pathways of France and Italy  to get to Rome in 76 days. York, amazingly, attracts a quarter of a million pilgrims a year, even if not many walk to it. Britain has a surprising 600 sites of ancient pilgrimage, including a very successful North Wales Pilgrims Way, marking coastal monasteries of Celtic Christianity. Internationally, Jerusalem, Mecca, the Buddha trail in India and Kumbh Mela, also in India, attract many millions. Pilgrimage and tourism have been closely intertwined, a point which has been evident ever since Chaucers Canterbury Tales, in which the joys of travel werent restricted to the sacred. I see nothing wrong with the marketisation of pilgrimage sites  trade can help to enhance and embellish the experience. One of the most stunning journeys  a mini-pilgrimage  I ever made was to Mont St Michel in Brittany. It is absolutely transcendental when you reach the top, where Mass is celebrated in the chapel: yet the pathway was full of little shops and boutiques selling souvenirs both sacred and secular, which I thought cheerful. Pilgrimage is such a universal experience  and popular aspiration  that I feel sure it will return once the tourist industry gets back to some kind of normal. Ireland is studded with sites for pilgrimage, so many of which echo back to the great monastic period, when the Irish monks laid the basis of European civilisation. More could be made of the heritage value of pilgrim locations, like Clonmacnoise in Co Offaly, founded by St Ciaran in 544, or Clonfert in Co Galway, where the Church of Ireland cathedral dates from 1180, but the monastic traditions go back to St Brendan in the 6th century. Before lockdown halted activity, there was a steady stream of pilgrims to Clonfert, says Bryn Coldrick, a heritage consultant in Co Offaly. The nearby Catholic Church has a 14th-century statue, Our Lady of Clonfert, which every May, was attracting many hundreds of pilgrims. Those coming on a pilgrim visit would also be drawn to the rich deposit of history and archaeology in the area all around. Knock, Lough Derg and Croagh Patrick have traditionally attracted pilgrims focused on a religious experience, but holy places have increasingly seen visitors with a broader agenda. According to Peter Stanford, Lourdes has been experiencing an increase in visitors who are not necessarily Catholic, but are drawn to the mystique. Lourdes, in recent years, had also been attracting more visitors from Asia. It should be mentioned that Aer Lingus was a true pioneer in enabling pilgrimages to Lourdes, having been the first airline to establish special flights back in 1954, with its inaugural aircraft, the St Colmcille (the price was 29 and eight shillings return  at a time when a good wage would be a fiver a week). It became a terrifically successful route, and by 1972, the Irish airline was Lourdes best customer  flying in some 50,000 people a year. Aer Lingus was also the first airline to make special provision for the sick and disabled. Pilgrimage is about stepping outside the ordinary, and the experience of the sacred, but it can also be a boost for trade, for development, and for the appreciation of history and culture. Next year in Jerusalem, maybe?
Despite appearances  toothy grin, leaping on to planes to sunny summits, doing comedy vids with Catherine Tate  it turns out that Tony Blair wasnt living the dream during his 10 years as prime minister after all. Now he tells us!

According to the man the Tories enviously knew and studied as The Master, and who dominated the political stage for so long: I dont think I did enjoy the job because the responsibility is so huge ... Every day youre making decisions and every day youre under massive scrutiny, as is your family. So I didnt know if I enjoyed it.

Actually he also always used to say that he hated being leader of the opposition, so Blairs personal odyssey of pain goes all the way back to 1994. Maybe he wants compensation for hurt feelings and loss of earnings (compared to what he might have got as a barrister, though itd be hard to press that case too far, given his proven money-spinning abilities since he quit Downing Street in 2007).
Despite the ongoing pandemic, the 2021 trout fishing season got off to a relatively normal start on Saturday.

Temperatures at the 8 a.m. opener were a bit chilly, just a few degrees below freezing. Skies were clear and sun filled. Streams were full, but not overflowing their banks.

Angler crowds were out in force, but started thinning within a couple hours, right on schedule.

After the initial bite, the trout seemed a bit sluggish in many spots but still came steadily to the hook.

All in all, a normal opening day to trout season. And, yet it was the second opener to a trout season during the pandemic. That was decidedly not normal.

Because of the pandemic and the ongoing need for social distancing, the Pennsylvania Fish and Boat Commission this year cut back to just one opening day rather than a regional opening day in the southeastern and southcentral parts of the state and a later opener for the rest of Pennsylvania.

What a great day, said Ronald Miller, of Jonestown, as he cast a Roostertail lure into Conewago Creek near Lawn. I had really gotten used to having 2 opening days, one somewhere around here, close to home, and then the second one, up north, usually at Poe Valley State Park.

But, you know, this is good too. Its great to be out here and to just forget about whats going on in the world right now for a couple hours.

At a crowded Marquette Lake at Fort Indiantown Gap, Christine Reilly and her 5-year-old son Davey, of Lebanon, were pulling their stringer of 3 trout out of the water and leaving the water for home.

Pretty good morning. Right, buddy? she asked, adding when he didnt respond, Hes ready to call it quits for today. Were going to get home and make these guys into lunch.

Davey added, I really like trout.

She looked back over her shoulder, pulled down her mask and mouthed the words, Hes never had trout.

At nearby Indiantown Run, Tyler Denner, of Harrisburg, was casting into a boulder-strewn pool a few dozen yards upstream from another pool at the Lake Road bridge, where it was still shoulder-to-shoulder fishing.

I havent seen it this crowded here for a bunch of years, he noted. Thats why I come here for the first day. There were places to get to the stream, but down at the bridge its been crazy all morning. They must have spilled a couple extra buckets (of stocked trout) there. I guess thats normal for most spots this morning.
In the first two months of this year, Vietnams aquatic export activities was affected by a shortage of ships and containers and increasing freight charges, particularly in terms of freight to the US and EU.

At the same time, China also tightened its control of COVID-19 pandemic regarding imported aquatic products, causing difficulties for Vietnamese aquatic exports.

The shortage of containers has improved and Chinaloosened its controls on imported goods from mid-March, thus, aquatic exports in March saw better results.

According to the VASEP, the export of shrimp and tra fish to China will bounce back again in April and the coming months as China gradually handles congestion at its seaports and loosened procedures on COVID-19 control on imported aquatic products.

In the meantime, Vietnams aquatic exports to the US market are also expected to see positive growth in the next few months thanks to the increasing export of trafish. However, the export of shrimp to this market may not maintain as strong level of growth as in previous years.

With positive signals from the Chinese market, the VASEP predicts that Vietnams aquatic exports will reach US$680 million in April, an increase of 10% over the previous month, bringing total aquatic exports in the first four months of this year to US$2.32 billion, up 4% over the same period in 2020.
is reportedly shutting down its dedicated Wifi app for managing its routers and rolling that functionality over to the Home app to help users control and manage all their connected products in one place.

The switchover to the Google Home app will come in two phases -- first, Google will disable most of the functionality of the Google Wifi app on May 25, The Verge reported on Friday.

Starting then, users will only be able to view the current status of their networks, but any changes, including adding new routers or access points, will have to be done in the Google Home app.

Then, Google will remove the Wifi app from the Play Store and iOS App Store, funneling all users to exclusively use the Google Home app in June, the report said.

Google has been working on this change since 2019, when it launched the Nest Wifi routers, which could only be configured in the Google Home app.

Google points out that migrating existing Wifi setups to the Google Home app will offer some new benefits, including the ability to use Google Assistant for things like pausing the Wi-Fi connection, testing your current internet speed, and showing a guest Wi-Fi password on a Google Nest Hub or Nest Hub Max display.

Migrating a network setup seems to be a relatively simple process, although Google's how-to warns that once a user switch over to the Google Home app, they can't go back.

--IANS

vc/ksk/

(Only the headline and picture of this report may have been reworked by the Business Standard staff; the rest of the content is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.)
A man who needs treatment at the Central Mental Hospital while he awaits trial for an alleged murder will remain in prison until a bed becomes available, the Court of Appeal has ruled.

Lawyers for the 26-year-old, who can't be named by order of the High Court, had argued that his detention in prison was unlawful given that consultant psychiatrist Dr Conor O'Neill has said that the only appropriate place to treat him is at the Central Mental Hospital (CMH). Due to a shortage of beds he is being held in Cloverhill Prison, the court heard.

Ms Justice Niamh Hyland at the High Court had previously rejected an application for release and President of the Court of Appeal Mr Justice George Birmingham on Thursday affirmed her decision on behalf of the three-judge appeal court.

Mr Justice Birmingham said the man's lawyers had sought their client's release under Article 40 of the Constitution, but it was clear that, "the desired outcome would be transfer to the Central Mental Hospital." He described the application as a "resources case" requiring a consideration of whether his detention is made unlawful by the failure to provide adequate medical treatment.

The judge said that release would require an "egregious breach of his fundamental rights" and that this case "could not conceivably result in the conclusion that his detention is unlawful."

He pointed out that while the CMH is the appropriate place for the man to be treated, his immediate needs are being met at Cloverhill. He is under the care of a psychiatrist from the CMH and psychiatric nurses. He is also being offered the same medication he would be given if he were at the CMH. Mr Justice Birmingham added that the evidence provided "goes nowhere near what is required to make an order under Article 40." He pointed out that the man's condition would be worsened if released and he would find it more difficult to get a bed in the CMH.

He added that the depiction of the man as "languishing in prison" is not justified as "everything that can be done is being done." He also pointed out that the State is preparing to open a new facility at Portrane in north Dublin which will provide more beds for people in the applicant's position.

Ms Justice Isobel Kennedy and Mr Justice Patrick McCarthy said they agree with the president.
Published on:

24 March 2021



A woman wearing a face covering in front of a Brazilian flag A woman wearing a face covering in front of a Brazilian flag

As many as twelve COVID-19 vaccines have been approved and are currently being used worldwide, but while immunisation campaigns are gaining pace in richer parts of the world, many LMICs are struggling to get their vaccination programmes off the ground.

Their comparatively lesser ability to pay and lack of manufacturing capacity, are the explanations typically given for such delays, together with the hiccups experienced by Covax  the international facility set up to procure and distribute vaccines in poorer parts of the world.

But Brazil should be different, as the country has a National Healthcare System free at the point of use, a long-standing record of successful large-scale immunisation campaigns, domestic production of vaccines, and a reputation for threatening to break pharmaceutical patents for past public health emergencies. However, global and local factors are holding back its COVID-19 vaccination efforts. Understanding the nature of Brazils delays is critical to get vaccinations efforts off the ground in many LMICs.

COVID-19 and vaccines in Brazil

Brazil has made the COVID-19 international headlines for all the wrong reasons. The country has recorded more than 280,000 deaths and 11.2 million cases since the pandemic began. New, more infectious COVID-19 variants are now established in 17 of the 27 Brazilian states, threatening particularly Brazils most vulnerable indigenous states, and bringing its national health care services to the brink of collapse. The political response to the crisis has been far from commendable; three health ministers have been sacked since the start of the epidemics; the federal government has failed to agree nation-wide public health policies to suppress the contagion, leaving individual states to decide and implement lockdown measures.

Interestingly, the country has a long history of fighting infectious diseases through its extensive national healthcare system, network of community workers, and bold public health campaigns. Brazil has also through the years invested in the development of public pharmaceutical laboratories - such as Butantan in Sao Paulo, and Fiocruz in Rio de Janeiro, that have been instrumental in the past to implement its vaccination campaigns and reduce the price of patented medicines, particularly for HIV/AIDs. But until mid-March, only 8 million people had received at least one dose of any of the two vaccines (4% of the total population).

Global supply factors hampering access to vaccines in Brazil

Like other LMICs, since the beginning of the epidemic Brazil has bet on the success of the vaccines tested in phase III trials in the country, and logistically easier to manage vaccines such as the Oxford/Astra Zeneca and the Sinovac CoronaVac. The first doses were received on 18 January, but until the end of March, only 20 million doses had been received by the Ministry of Health. Approximately half of those are imported directly from India and China, and half are produced by domestic laboratories. Despite having pre-ordered 42 million doses of vaccine from the Covax facility, no shipment is expected from that channel before the end of the year, as the facility has only recently started to provide vaccines to cover for just 20% of LMICs populations.

Like other medicines, vaccines can either be imported or produced domestically, if the original inventor agrees to share its patent to increase production. But this domestic production needs qualification, as very few countries will have the capacity to manufacture from scratch such complex products. Once granted permission to produce a patented vaccine, most middle-income countries  including Brazil  will need to import key Active Pharmaceutical Ingredients (APIs) from the world industrial giants like India and China. And if finished products have been difficult to come by because of global competition, APIs have not been forthcoming either.

Local factors hampering the roll-out

Despite the undisputed global barriers to vaccines acquisition, any Brazilian will point out that domestic determinants are amplifying delays, as COVID-19 vaccines have never enjoyed unequivocal political support, and an opaque vaccination plan has been put belatedly in place. Since the onset, President Bolsonaro has consistently minimised the gravity of the epidemic, in an attempt to avoid strict lockdown measures, keep the economy going, and boost his administrations chances for re-election.

More recently, the president questioned the efficacy of Coronavac, the vaccine developed through a partnership between Chinese Sinovac and the Sao Paulo States administration headed by one of his political opponents. Against the backdrop of Brazils volatile political environment, there are signs Bolsonaro may be changing his stance on vaccines to fend off the attacks of his archenemy and once again potential presidential candidate Lula. As a result, Brazil lacks a consistent National Vaccination Plan spelling out clear vaccination targets and transparent priority groups.

The latest version of the vaccination plan has been criticised for failing to consider adequate vaccinations targets among priority groups, and unequal across rich and poor Brazilian states. The original priority groups for vaccinations have been changed repeatedly because of political pressure, and the current list includes as many as 29 vulnerable and essential workers groups, for an estimated total of 77 million people. Such uncertainty has created opportunities for some citizens to jump the inoculation cue and bred fears of nepotism in access to vaccines.

Although a large proportion of the population still appears to be willing to get vaccinated, there are signs that the shambolic handling of supplies is eroding confidence in vaccines, a sentiment fuelled by conspiracy theories by evangelical groups close to President Bolsonaro in the Amazonas region.

Where do we go from here?

The political economy of national COVID-19 vaccinations deserves greater attention if LMICs are to avoid being caught between unsurmountable macro barriers and intractable local politics.

The global supply of pharmaceuticals is, in fact, much more inflexible than one might think, and an argument can still be made that countries should invest in developing their own production capacity for vaccines security.

Brazil's telling case shows that, while progress in pharmaceutical research and design is critical, global and national factors may conspire to derail COVID-19 vaccination plans in LMICs.
Welcome Guest! You Are Here:
In 1960, then-Col. Harry Goldsworthy and his team were given the near-impossible task of getting an intercontinental ballistic missile site up and running in roughly two years' time. There was little confidence they would succeed.

The Air Force Ballistic Missile Committee, reporting to the Office of the Secretary of Defense, had just approved Malmstrom Air Force Base, Montana, to host the first Minuteman I nuclear missile silo and launch site.

Political pressure was mounting. Silo, launch control and support facility projects across the U.S. to host Minuteman, Atlas and Titan ICBMs were six months behind schedule, even as the Soviet Union had already flown the world's first ICBM powerful enough to launch a nuclear warhead.

So Gen. Curtis LeMay, the Air Force vice chief of staff at the time, tasked Goldsworthy, who had been chosen to oversee Malmstrom, and 17 other men to get the ICBM site project back on track.

Read Next: Fort Sill Army Trainers Suspended Amid Allegations of Trainee's Sexual Assault

They formed what was known as a site activation task force, or SATAF, under the Ballistic Missiles Center of Air Materiel Command, today known as the Space and Missile Systems Center at Los Angeles Air Force Base, California.

"It hadn't been done before, and we were building the silos before they even fired a missile [from the] silo test program," Goldsworthy said Thursday in a phone interview with Military.com.

"The whole program was a little overwhelming, but it was one that gave me a great satisfaction of getting it done."

In a ceremony at Malmstrom AFB, Colonel Harry E. Goldsworthy, SATAF commander, accepts a symbol of the first completed Minuteman operational silo from Army Area Engineer Colonel Arthur H. Lahlum, Nov. 13, 1961. (U.S. Air Force)

The first operational silo was completed at Malmstrom in 1961; construction of all 150 sites at the base was completed in 1963.

It's one of the many milestones Goldsworthy noted from his 33-year career in the service. This month, he is celebrating a new landmark: On Saturday, Goldsworthy turns 107 years old. He is believed to be the oldest living retired Air Force general in the world.

"It was a wonderful career, and I've had a great life," said Goldsworthy, who retired in 1973 as a lieutenant general. "I'm just looking forward to surviving, I guess."

Pilot Service in World War II

Goldsworthy wanted his life to be about service. The Spokane, Washington, native was convinced by a college buddy to join up in 1936, taking a reserve commission as an infantryman in the Army. He served at Fort George Wright, near his home.

The Army Air Corps accepted him for flight training in 1939. A year later, he earned his wings at flight school at Kelly Field in Texas. Eventually, Goldsworthy would be hunting German U-boats in the Caribbean from a B-18 heavy bomber retrofitted with radars to detect submarines. He patrolled near Puerto Rico and Trinidad until 1943.

The mission was to prevent U-boats from surfacing and using their periscopes to search for nearby targets. Goldsworthy, who put in more than 2,000 flight hours on that mission, said he saw "maybe one" submarine surface.

He recalled dropping anti-submarine depth charges, but not a single one hit. "That was that submarine's lucky day," he said.

Goldsworthy was reassigned to a B-25 Mitchell bomber replacement training unit in South Carolina, then headed off to the South Pacific in 1945. Stationed in the Philippines, he flew seven combat missions and a number of patrol flights against Japanese forces in Balikpapan on the Southeast Asian island of Borneo in support of Australian landings on the island.

"We got there very late," he said of the campaign.

During his last flight in July 1945 to support the U.S. Army over the Philippine island of Luzon, his B-25 sustained damage from ground fire. He and his crew had to bail out, landing in the jungle. He still has some of his parachute gear from that day.

"We all felt a little uneasy on that one," he said. The crew was scattered across the island, but after a couple hours, he was picked up by Philippine scouts supporting the Army.

"I was going down the trail trying to to work my way north, and there was a little man with a big gun. And he put his gun down and he pulled out an ID and had the same kind of ID that I did, so I knew he was working for the Army. And then we went for a long walk through the jungle," Goldsworthy said.

Days later, the United States detonated two atomic weapons over the Japanese cities of Hiroshima and Nagasaki, leading to Japan's surrender.

Following an occupational duty at Itami Air Base in Japan, Goldsworthy returned stateside, where he was assigned to fly the B-29 Superfortress followed by the B-36 Peacemaker. He became the commander of the 11th Bombardment Group at Carswell Air Force Base, Texas, in 1948 -- a year after the formation of the U.S. Air Force as a separate service.

The Century Series Supervisor

Goldsworthy, who said he never saw himself in a role at the Pentagon, was called up to Washington, D.C., in July 1949 when he was transferred to the newly formed "weapons system evaluation group" under the Joint Chiefs of Staff.

"I enjoyed the Pentagon, but it was a complicated place to work. We were evaluating the capabilities of the services to perform their missions.  My wife loved it because she got to see a lot and participate in a lot of functions in Washington."

He'd return to the Pentagon two more times, in 1963 as the director of production and programming for the Air Force's deputy chief of staff of systems and logistics, and for his last assignment in 1969 as the service's deputy chief of staff for systems and logistics.

"It's hard to get anything done. You have to go through so many channels to get approvals or money, through different people. It's a big bureaucracy," Goldsworthy said. "I bet you I could go to my old office in the Pentagon, reach into a drawer [and pull out a file] and see they have the same problems that I was working on."

His tours at the Pentagon bookended his SATAF role at Malmstrom and his position as deputy chief of staff of operations for the Air Proving Ground Command at Eglin Air Force Base, Florida, to test new aircraft.

"It was the 100-series airplanes that came out," he said, referring to the Air Force's "Century Series" aircraft initiative, which debuted in the 1950s and produced fighter-bomber or interceptor variants such as the F-100 Super Sabre, F-102 Delta Dagger and F-105 Thunderchief.

Goldsworthy was part of a team that conducted suitability tests between 1953 and 1956, signing off that the aircraft could perform their roles.

"It's hard to pick out an airplane that was more exciting than others. I enjoyed the B-47 [Stratojet]," he said. "It was a six-engine bomber; it was just a nice airplane to fly. We got the seventh [B-52 Stratofortress] bomber off the production line, and we tested that too."

Goldsworthy said his favorite assignment was at Wright-Patterson Air Force Base, Ohio. In 1967, he became the commander of the Aeronautical Systems Division, which was in charge of detailing specifications and awarding program contracts to get aircraft, missiles and other equipment produced.

He said he felt there was an initiative to "get stuff done" there. Goldsworthy even drew up the specifications for the F-15 Eagle fighter jet.

"It makes me feel old to see those airplanes that I worked so hard being put down in Arizona," he said, referring to the aircraft boneyard. "But I look at some of these new airplanes like the [F-16 Fighting Falcon] and the [F-35 Joint Strike Fighter] and they're so complicated, I'm not sure I'd be able to fly them."

The Big 107

Over his career, Goldsworthy flew in more than 30 different types of aircraft, either as the pilot or in the backseat for testing purposes. He received the Air Force Distinguished Service Medal, the Legion of Merit and the Air Medal with four oak leaf clusters.

"I just worked hard," he said.

Goldsworthy had a consulting job for Boeing Co. in Seattle after retiring from the Air Force in 1973. Later, he and his wife, Edith, moved into Air Force Village West in Riverside, California, for the community aspect, he said. His wife died in 2010, but Goldsworthy still calls the retirement center, renamed the Westmont village, his home.

Harry Edgar Goldsworthy (left) with his great grandson, along with Col. Claude Horne (right) and unidentified woman. (Courtesy of Art Newman)

He spends his days mostly reading "nonsense fiction," he said. He's spent the last year "living a lot like a hermit" due to the COVID-19 pandemic. His two sons were finally able to visit him last month for the first time since it began, he said. He talks to his great-nephews -- one an F-35 pilot, the other a chaplain in the Army -- from time to time.

"All my Air Force buddies are long gone. That's one of the penalties to living to be 107," Goldsworthy said.

According to Patch.com, Riverside Mayor Patricia Lock-Dawson will present Goldsworthy with an award Saturday. The Patriot Guard Riders, a veteran motorcyclist group, will attend for a flag ceremony, along with a few personnel from March Air Reserve Base who will present Goldsworthy with a certificate of achievement for his service.

He said he feels humble knowing he may be one of the oldest living Air Force officers still around. "I didn't aspire to be the oldest," he added.

"As my one son said, 'You've been through 106 [birthdays], so you shouldn't be too excited about another one.'"

-- Oriana Pawlyk can be reached at oriana.pawlyk@military.com. Follow her on Twitter at @oriana0214.

Related: Tuskegee Airmen Recall History-making Service, Missions
CHESHIRE  Cox Communications has reached out to help the towns food pantry.

Throughout the course of the pandemic, the James M. Cox foundation has donated $50,000 to the Cheshire Food Pantry.

The pandemic has exacerbated hardships for many residents, and the stress of fighting the deadly COVID-19 virus and surviving the economic downturn it caused has forced many families to turn to the Food Pantry for groceries and other essentials.

We have seen an increase in need day after day from local families, explained Food Pantry Executive Director Kerry Walsh. When we learned Cox had donated the first amount of $25,000, we were so grateful. When I saw the second check a few weeks later, honestly, my jaw dropped.

The James M. Cox Foundation had originally set out to donate $25,000 to community feeding organizations all over Connecticut, including the Cheshire Food Pantry, Enfield Loaves, and the Wethersfield Food and Clothing Bank.

We decided to give the second round of funding, which we understood was a bit unusual for us, because of the need we knew was in the communities we were in, said Jeff Lavery, Cox Foundation public relations manager. Peter (Talbot) informed us of the need that the local food bank was in, so we knew it would be going to the right place.

Talbot, who also serves on the Cheshire Town Council, works full time for Cox Communications as government affairs manager.

The Cheshire Food Pantry always has such a tremendous need, but the cash donation really is helpful and allows them to target the funds for whatever they might need, Talbot said.

Walsh and the rest of the Food Pantry team can now use the funds to provide even more items to local families in need.

We can now include cheese as a part of our dairy options, which we couldnt before, she said. That makes a difference for families with kids who need snacks for school, or with growing teenage boys who we know consume a lot of food.

State Rep. LIz Linehans office announced the second wave of funds from the Cox Foundation.

The Cheshire Community Food Pantry is a pillar of our close-knit community, and we are deeply grateful to receive this support from the James M. Cox Foundation, which has already done much to ensure our residents continue to receive the nutritional support they seek, said Linehan, a Democrat who represents the 103rd district.

This donation comes at such an important time, the governor is looking to decrease money for the diaper bank and other important funds that many of my constituents utilize regularly, she continued.
The police cruiser of officer Eric Talley has almost been swallowed by the flowers and sentiments left at the Boulder Public Safety Center. Talley was among the 10 people who were killed in a shooting at a King Soopers on Monday afternoon. Talley, 51, had been with the department since 2010 and was the first officer to arrive at the scene at 3600 Table Mesa Drive, where he was fatally shot.
Share

Tweet

Pin 71 shares

Note all articles are independently researched and written by myself. However, if you buy via one of the links it may be an affiliate and I may earn a small commission.

Looking for somewhere cool for your TV? Have a look at my 10 of the best retro television and media units, all doing the job with style.

To be honest, I could have gone to 40 and I might well do that in the near future. Once upon a time, your TV tended to sit on some non-descript little table in the corner of the room, function over style.

But times have changed and makes big and small are looking to add the style back in. Particularly when it comes to midcentury modern design. Ok, you can stick your TV on the wall these days, but why would you when there are all these cool options out there, many offering added storage for your audio/visual essentials too.

As I said, Ill bump the number over time, but here is your starter for 30

1. Mid-Century Media Console at West Elm

Lets start with a big one. Both in terms of size and price.

West Elm does smaller versions, but this Media Console is my favourite. Unashamedly midcentury modern in inspiration, it has a lovely wood construction, bronze-finished hardware, tapered legs and adjustable storage inside, courtesy of the cupboards and drawers. Plenty of room for your TV too.

1,799 isnt cheap, but this is a statement piece.

Find out more at the West Elm website

2. Wingrove retro media and shelving unit at Made

Looking for something more than just a place for the TV? This one offers storage aplenty too  and for less than half the price of the one above.

More midcentury modern styling, a lighter wood and room for your TV, accessories and cables. But this one also has the upper storage too, which is ideal for books and decorative items and making full use of the wall space. Nice.

799 for this one. Possibly cheaper as Made runs a lot of deals. See the website for any new ones.

Find out more at the Made website

3. Grayson midcentury modern TV stand sideboard at John Lewis

Dont get too hung up on the colour as this is available in both a light and dark wood finish.

Part of a larger Grayson range, this is good to hold a TV up to a 60-inch model, with plenty of space behind its sliding doors (it looks particularly impressive shut) for your media devices and consoles. It also has two adjustable glass shelves and cables holes to keep things nice and tidy.

If you like midcentury modern with a Scandinavian vibe, this is yours for 450.

Find out more at the John Lewis website

4. Ruark R7 audiovisual mount

This is something of a curveball. Its a media unit. In fact, possibly more of a media unit than any of the others.

At its heart is one of my favourite retro designs, the Ruark Audio R7 MKIII radiogram. Its the perfect marriage of style and substance, offering great sound and a cool retro look. But it offers something extra.

You can buy a mount for it that takes anything up to a 50-inch TV, as well as throwing in a shelf for a set-top box. The unit costs 299, but youll have to spend around 2,300 on the R7 first.

Find out more at the John Lewis website

5. Carnany retro TV unit at Wayfair

Something more affordable? Have a look at this one at Wayfair.

Of course, you make compromises. It takes a TV up to 39-inch rather than the huge TVs and it doesnt have as much storage as some of the others out there. But if space and budget are tight, this one should do the job and still has drawer and shelf storage below.

That price? Just 159.99.

Find out more at the Wayfair website

6. Portobello retro solid oak vintage TV unit at Maisons Du Monde



You dont have to have a vintage TV for this one. But thered no denying it looks great with one.

But it takes much bigger TVs if you want to go modern. Love the shape, the golden oak finish, the tapered legs and the storage options below. Ideal for a compact space. If you want something bigger, read on down this rundown.

But if you want this, the TV unit here is available for 432.

Find out more at the Maisons Du Monde website

7. Handmade midcentury modern TV stand by Moutinho Store

Plenty of options from small makers on Etsy, but I am drawn to this one. Purely because of the versatility.

Yes, its a TV stand, but it could also be a coffee table or side table. But it will take a TV and that simple/stylish design also leaves room for your media accessories below too. Less is more with this one.

For a handmade item, well priced at 242.72 as well. Note that you can choose your wood finish as well. Also, do check out the companys other designs too.

Find out more at the Moutinho Store Etsy website

8. Fjord retro two-door TV unit at Maisons Du Monde

There are a couple of finishes available for this one, which should take a bigger TV than the one shown in the pictures.

Part of a larger Scandi-inspired Fjord range, this is a modest-sized retro unit that does its job whilst looking good. The latter thanks mainly to the splashes of colour on the doors.

Space for your TV, added space for accessories and cupboard space too. It offers a lot within its most footprint. 270 for this.

Find out more at the Maisons Du Monde website

9. Quilda retro TV storage unit with sliding doors

Another thats part of a larger range. But it works as a standalone unit too  and its in the sale right now.

The Quilda range is one of my favourites and you can find out about it here. Basically, great for kitting a house out in a mid-20th century style.

Or just have a look at this, which has tapered legs, storage for a TV, storage behind those sliding doors and holes for your cables. As I said, in the sale and now just 262.50.

Find out more at the La Redoute website

10. Midcentury modern teak TV unit at Tikamoon

Frustratingly, this isnt pictured with a TV on top. But that is its purpose.

Of course, it could double up as a sideboard and if you are in the market for one with a 1950s Scandinavian vibe, this is the sideboard for you.

But it is a TV unit with a strong look, thanks to the clean lines and skinny legs. Also present are three drawers for magazines, remote controllers and other small objects plus a large cupboard space enclosed by two sliding doors to accommodate routers, consoles and DVD players for example. TV on top of course.

649 is the price of this one.

Find out more at the Tikamoon website

11. Barcelona media cabinet at Olivias

A premium piece with a midcentury modern vibe. Very appealing.

The unit is all about the wood finish and the matching wood legs. If you love wood, youll love this.

As for functionality, there are two doors for storage and the centre section for media appliances. Oh, lets not forget the marble top, which makes the unit look like a pricey piece. Not that its a cheap one. You can get this for 605.

Find out more at the Olivias website

12. Portobello solid oak midcentury modern TV unit at Maisons Du Monde



This is a thing of beauty and something with a big presence too. Yes, a bigger version of the unit a few places above.

As well as offering a designated area for your screen, the Portobello has so many other options for storage too. Darers for your media (or anything in fact) as well as plenty of shelves for display. All with a strong midcentury modern vibe. Like all of the Portobello range.

811 seems reasonable considering the size of this thing.

Find out more at the Maisons Du Monde website

13. Atlas TV stand by Corrigan Studio

This one looks rather like the West Elm unit at the top of the listing. Except it happens to be a little smaller and a lot cheaper.

Different colours for this one, but all are capable of holding a Tv up to 55 inches in size. Of course, it also works as a standalone piece of midcentury modern furniture, either as a cabinet or compact sideboard, complete with three drawers, a side cabinet and adjustable shelving, along with cable management slots.

355.99 for this.

Find out more at the Wayfair website

14. Topim vintage TV unit at La Redoute

You might recall this one as a sideboard/cocktail cabinet. But it also comes as a TV unit too.

If you want something with a 1950s vibe and something a little more interesting than your average unit, this could be for you. A curved, colourful body, a wooden top, storage inside and those metallic angled legs for support.

All for 440.

Find out more at the La Redoute website

15. Jenson TV stand at Made

Available in light or dark wood and also as part of a larger midcentury modern furniture range. But Im looking right now at the design here.

I prefer the dark finish, but have a look at the light wood if thats more your thing. Oh yes, theres also a corner unit too if you need that. But this one has the look, the space for a TV, storage underneath and cable management space.

399 is the price.

Find out more at the Made website

16. Twist vintage TV stand at Maisons Du Monde

I know a lot of you love a hairpin leg. so this design might well appeal.

Very much in the affordable category, this one is a fairly lengthy unit with open storage below, as well as a couple of cupboard behind those colourful doors. The hairpin legs are a nice finishing touch.

183 looks good value.

Find out more at the Maisons Du Monde website

17. Petter retro TV media unit at Dunelm

Looking for something even cheaper? This is your budget option.

Ok, it might not have the look of some of the other units, but it has the midcentury modern vibe and angled legs, as well as cable management and internal storage.

All for a reasonable 129.

Find out more at the Dunelm website

18. Handmade retro media unit by Kube Designs

A lovely oak cabinet that is available in various sizes.

The design is consistent throughout as you would expect. But if you need more width/storage, then up the size. If your space needs are most, go small.

The one pictured here has three large drawers, an open storage space, plenty of room for your TV and angled legs for support. Prices start at 800.

Find out more at the Kube Designs Etsy website

19. Nordmood 1960s-style TV stand

The maker does so many variations on this theme in terms of dimensions and colours. So do have a browse if the idea of one of these grabs you.

I can see why it would. Understated and stylish, it has a modest footprint, a black and copper colour scheme and legs that match up perfectly with the upper shades. A storage area both on top and inside.

369.05 for the one pictured here.

Find out more at the Nordmood Etsy website

20. Midcentury modern wide TV stand by The Urban Editions

More hairpin goodness, courtesy of these good-looking piece.

Working as a TV stand or a coffee table (versatility is always good), this unit is made from solid dark stained ash, which really does set it off. And as a nice finishing touch, check out the brass-plated hairpin legs too.

Lots of space on top, plenty underneath and a price tag of 750.

Find out more at The Urban Editions Etsy website

21. Watson midcentury modern TV stand at Swoon

This retailer has plenty of options, but I like ether Watson personally.

Its a classic midcentury modern design, made of mango wood and with a lovely grain too. On top of that, the low-lying unit has storage underneath, cable space and angled/tapered legs supporting it.

299 gets you one for your home.

Find out more at the Swoon website

22. Nowell TV Stand by Hykkon at Wayfair

A similar wood look, but something more substantial for your TV.

Another midcentury modern design with a turned leg, but this one says higher, hosts TVs up to 60 inches and has cupboard space, drawers, open storage and holes for your cables.

349.99 for this unit.

Find out more at the Wayfair website

23. Staveley retro TV stand at Wayfair

This one is available in white, blue or the wood finish you see here.

I like the blue one personally, but Im showing the wood here because it better show off how the stand looks with s TV in place. Have a look at the retailers site to see and compare all three colour options.

An affordable option too. This wooden unit has support from the long, tapered legs, with the cabinet itself having two shelves plus a sliding partition to hide away the clutter. Talking of keeping today, holes of cables of course. 189.99 for this one.

Find out more at the Wayfair website

24. John Lewis and Partners Recap walnut TV stand

Something classy and classic, this stand is designed by Danish design studio Says Who.

A good option if you want something substantial in a dark wood, it is made from veneered walnut wood and with a capsule shape, finished with contrasting slatted detail on either end. Plenty of storage options thanks to internal shelving and open shelving at the sides. plus cable management holes and long steel legs.

A lovely thing and yours for 599.

Find out more at the John Lewis and Partners website

25. Cato budget TV stand at Habitat

Price your main concern? Have a look at this new arrival at Habitat.

Yes, its small and perhaps not as stylised as some out there. But it does the job, has a good look and some wood legs contrasting the white body as well as a shelf and a drawer for storage.

Just 80 for this one.

Find out more at the Habitat website

26. Otto TV unit in grey by Noa and Nani

Something a little different. Not least because of the grey finish.

That might be a selling point if it works with your colour scheme. But the design itself works as well. A good size, it has two pullout drawers, two storage shelves and the vintage-style legs as a nice finishing touch.

Just 149 too.

Find out more at the Noa and Nani website

27. Hooper TV stand at Made

Something curvy and minimal, courtesy of the Hooper stand at Made.

Minimal is the key factor here. This one looks good without doing a great deal. Its all about that curved walnut finish, with open storage and the skinny chrome legs supporting the unit. I do like this one and it should work in most interiors.

249 for this.

Find out more at the Made website

28. Auden Apartment Media Console at Joybird

There is a bigger version of this, but the compact Auden appeals to me personally.

I think its because Im conscious of space. I dont have a lot and I guess many of you dont either. So this is a better unit than the long one. But have a look at that if you have a wider area to fill.

Love the angled legs on this one, the 1960s look, the cupboard space and the open area for storing things as well. A good surface area as well, despite the size. As I write, this is also discounted. Currently, it is $1,595.

Find out more at the Joybird website

29. Jimi Vintage corner TV unit at La Redoute

Something small in size and small in price too.

Thats a good thing on both counts. First off, the corner unit makes life a lot easier if you have modest space and a corner for your TV to sit in. The Jimi, based on the popular coffee table, has a white surface, a shelf and some long wooden legs for support. it does the job without dominating the space in your home.

And at 152 its a reasonable price too.

Find out more at the La Redoute website

Or if none of the 10 of the best retro television units and stands works for you, just get the legs

30. Handmade midcentury modern TV legs by JALG

This is a great solution if you want minimalism. Legs for your existing TV in a midcentury modern style.

Available for different sizes of TV as well as in different colours for the legs, they offer stylish tapered support using the VESA mounting holes in your existing TV. The end result is very cool, especially if you dont have lots of boxes connected up.

284.60 for the one pictured, but some come in a little cheaper.

Find out more at the JALG Etsy website
Dancehall hardcore deejay Sharrie is promoting her latest single, Danger in Your Eyes, featuring Gyptian. Released on the Voiceful Records imprint last year, the song has been steadily gaining favour with disc jockeys and has popped up on a lot of reggae street mixes recently.

The song just suddenly caught momentum is playing a lot on IRIE FM, RJR and Suncity Radio, on stations as far away as Europe, Gambia, Ghana and Nigeria. I am just overwhelmed at all the support and want to thank Gyptian for giving me this opportunity, the artiste whose real name is Tamara Laoe, said.

The song is currently available for download on iTunes, Spotify, and all major music outlets. The song is the first track from her debut EP which will be released this Summer, and which feature a number of collaborations with artistes such as Half Pint, and others.

She will be doing a video for the Danger in Your Eyes song in April.

In the meantime, Sharrie remains devastated by the murder of 20-year-old Khanice Jackson and the rash of violent acts committed against women in the recent days. She wants the Government to enact stricter legislation and dedicate more resources to protect the countrys women and girls.

She believes it is high time for law enforcers to give greater attention to sex crimes.

I am a woman, so every time a woman or young girl is killed or hurt by a rapist, or paedophile, it cuts me deep, Sharrie said.

Jamaican society doesnt support rape, but there are predators from every sector of society that walk among us. So I have to big up all the dancehall and reggae artistes and producers who are using their platforms to condemn the acts and raise awareness around the killings. Violence against women must stop now.

Her comments come against a backdrop of heightened advocacy against violence meted out to women, especially high profile murders of women, and a rash of disappearances involving young girls. On March 24, Khanice Jackson left her home in Independence City, Portmore, St Catherine, for work and two days later her body was found in the vicinity of Dyke Road. A 50-year-old man Robert Fowler was arrested.

Interestingly, the number of cases of rape reported to the police has been declining steadily over the last decade, but womens advocate are concerned that the official figures do not reflect the reality on the ground.

The Ministry of National Securitys Research Evaluation Unit has compiled official figures which show rape leading a decrease in most serious crimes since 2013, with murders and shooting being the exceptions. The number of rape cases reported declined from a high of 863 in 2013 to 442 in 2017. The decline has continued steadily, and this year, there has been a 48.4 per cent decline in the reported incidents of rape in the first three months of the year, according to statistics recorded between January 1 to March 20, 2021.

There have been 82 rapes reported, a decline of 48.4 per cent when compared with the corresponding period of 2020 when there were 159 rapes reported. The St. Mary police division reported no cases of rape, while St. Andrew Central had only two rapes reported, a decline of 84.6 per cent.

Only three police divisions, Manchester, St. Catherine North and Kingston West showed marginal increases in rapes, with St. Catherine North leading the way with 14.

I still feel that the number of reports of rape, incest and paedophilia is under-reported, especially with COVID-19 with a lot of girls, boys and women stuck at home with their rapists and abusers. The schools are closed, there is no safety valve. CISOCA needs more resources, a hotline, something, Khanice was an extreme case, but a lot of other abuses are happening, Sharrie said.

Sharrie grew up in the tough Park Lane area of Red Hills Road, St Andrew and attended St. Andrew Technical High where her musical talent began to blossom. Upon graduating, she voiced her first single, Champion Lover, in 2008 for Voiceful Records, and since that time, she has been building a steady social media following, penning songs that tap into the gritty vibe of dancehall music.

Look out for Sharrie, I am the danger in your eyes, she said.
They say that brand recognition goes a long way towards building the desire to purchase something, and its only natural for luxury automakers to dip their toes into just about everything from cufflinks to power banks. Thats precisely what Bentley is doing with the spring update of its accessories collection, which now adds many new set pieces.Besides owning one of their prized automotive possessions, Bently also offers a carefully curated selection of lifestyle accessories made from the finest materials, inspired by the craftsmanship and distinctive design of their cars. And nothing is too small for the automakers seal of quality, be it cufflinks, reusable coffee cups, keyrings, notebooks, lanyards, leather accessories, fragrances, pens, charging cables, or luxury audio products.Since spring is not only a time of rejuvenation but also an important season for gifts (not just for the significant other but also of the indulgent self-purchase type), Easter or Fathers Day wish lists might be a little easier to handle thanks to the companys Spring 2021 arrivals.When its time to travel, one might find it practical to use the Italian-made Beluga black with green and white stripes bags or the new Heritage Washbag. All of these accessories can be kept safe with help from the Luggage Tag, a pebble-grain Italian leather tag that brims with Bentley styling in Black, Portland or carbon-fiber effects inspired by successful car interiors.These will all be available from June, though, which is kind of summer in our calendar. Anyways, gadget fans can opt for the new Heritage Tech Case, which should bode well for anyone looking to create a classic collection along with the Heritage Washbag, Weekender, or Backpack.Inside, one can fit not just the laptop but also countless little things , from the new but incredibly meager 800-mAh Charging Power Bank to Reusable Cups, Travel Flasks, Cardholders, Cufflinks, or a Notebook (of the paper variety, we believe). Prices arent exactly daunting, though, as they kick off at just 10 British pounds, which is less than $14 at the current exchange rates.
Victorias conservation watchdog is seeking information about two men who were filmed allegedly illegally killing wildlife, including the endangered powerful owl, in a state forest near Melbourne.

On Thursday, February 11 the first man, aged in his late twenties to early thirties, was recorded on a camera that a community member had set up at Pauls Range State Forest, about 50 kilometres north-east of Melbourne.

He carried a rifle and two dead birds, believed to be a large parrot and a powerful owl, Australias largest owl species.

The Conservation Regulator is seeking information about two men allegedly involved in killing wildlife. This man was in possession of two bird species and a rifle and was aged in his late twenties to early thirties. Credit:Office of the Conservation Regulator

A week later, on Thursday, February 18, a man aged in his forties or fifties was recorded at the same location, carrying a rifle and black backpack.
CLEVELAND, Ohio -- Speculation on if Mayor Frank Jackson will hop in or out of the next Cleveland mayor race intensified this week when a contractors group leader claimed Jackson would seek his fifth term. Whether the validity of the claim is hollow or solid remained undetermined when Mayor Jackson would neither confirm or deny he would run again.

Norm Edwards, president of the Black Contractors Group, sent out an email saying the organization, which promotes minority construction job contracts, is very excited and proud to endorse Mayor Frank G. Jackson for an unprecedented 5th term as Cleveland mayor.

Edwards had talked to Mayor Jackson Tuesday, saying he came away convinced Jackson had decided to run again.

He definitely told me that hes definitely told me that hes definitely running... I wouldnt put false rumors out there, said Edwards, who quoted Jackson as telling him. Im not running till I say Im not running.

However in a Wednesday interview with Cleveland.com and The Plain Dealer, the mayor said he had not yet decided to run, reported Robert Higgs.

When I make my decision, it will be a decision that will be fully expressed to the people. I have not yet decided for the reasons I have said in the past.

Jackson has been saying hes not ready to say if hell seek re-election or step away, seeing either as no-win situation for him moving his agenda. He wants to avoid being perceived as either a lame duck or just making political/re-election motivated decisions.

The general presumption that Jackson would not be seeking an unprecedented 5th term possibly has motived a number of candidates to formally declare they will run for mayor, or file paperwork to do so, including current Cleveland City Council President Kevin Kelly and former Cleveland Mayor, U.S. Representative and Presidential candidate Dennis Kucinich.
Iran's Foreign Ministry rejects any "step-by-step" lifting of sanctions imposed against it, the state-funded Press TV quoted the ministry's spokesman as saying on April 3.

"The definitive policy of the Islamic Republic of Iran is the lifting of all U.S. sanctions," Foreign Ministry spokesman Saeed Khatibzadeh said in an interview with Press TV.

U.S. State Department deputy spokeswoman Jalina Porter said on April 2 that talks next week in Vienna on reviving the 2015 nuclear deal will focus on "the nuclear steps that Iran would need to take in order to return to compliance" with that agreement.

The United States unilaterally pulled out of the nuclear agreement in 2018 under former President Donald Trump, who reimposed crippling economic sanctions on Tehran.

Iran reacted by gradually reducing its commitments under the deal, including higher uranium enrichment.

U.S. President Joe Biden has signaled his readiness to revive the accord but his administration says Iran must first return to its nuclear commitments.

The head of Iran's Atomic Energy Organization, Ali Akbar Salehi, said on April 2 that Tehran was optimistic about the course of the negotiations in Vienna on April 6, during which Tehran and Washington will negotiate indirectly.

"We are about to get out of the impasse," Salehi said in a conversation on the social-media app Clubhouse.

Earlier, U.S. State Department spokesman Ned Price called the resumption of negotiations, scheduled in Vienna, "a healthy step forward."

But Price added, "These remain early days, and we don't anticipate an immediate breakthrough as there will be difficult discussions ahead."

Price said next week's talks will be structured around working groups that the European Union was forming with the remaining participants in the accord, including Iran.

The United States, like Iran, said it did not anticipate direct talks between the two nations now. Price said the United States remains open to that idea.

"This is a first step," Biden Iran envoy Rob Malley said on Twitter on April 2. He said diplomats were now "on the right path."

French Foreign Minister Jean-Yves Le Drian said in a statement on April 3 that he has called on Iran to show a constructive stance in next week's talks in Vienna.

Following a call with his Iranian counterpart,Mohammad Javad Zarif, Le Drian said in a statement that he had asked Iran to refrain from further violations of current nuclear commitments to aid discussions.

"I encouraged Iran to be constructive in the discussions that are set to take place," Le Drian said. "They are meant to help identify in the coming weeks the steps that will be needed in order to return to full compliance with the nuclear deal."

With reporting by Reuters, AP, Press TV, and dpa
Questo comunicato e stato pubblicato piu di 30 giorni fa. Le informazioni su questa pagina potrebbero non essere attendibili.

A detailed analysis report of the Global Karting Market has been covered in the report coupled with a thorough description of each company profile with information on the H.Q, future capabilities, key mergers & acquisitions, financial outline, partnerships and new product launches and developments.

The comprehensive value chain analysis of the market will assist in attaining better product differentiation, along with detailed understanding of the core competency of each activity involved. The market attractiveness analysis provided in the report aptly measures the potential value of the market providing business strategists with the latest growth opportunities.

The report classifies the market into different segments based on type and applications.These segments are studied in detail incorporating the market estimates and forecasts at regional and country level. The segment analysis is useful in understanding the growth areas and probable opportunities of the market.

Final Report will cover the COVID-19 Impact and Recovery on this industry.

Browse the complete Global Karting Market Research Report  Industry Analysis, Size, Share, Growth, Trends and Forecast Till 2027 @ https://www.decisiondatabases.com/ip/23594-karting-industry-market-report

The report also covers the complete competitive landscape of the global Karting market with company profiles of key players such as:

Carter Brothers

Roketa

Runmaster

Thunder Motorsports

BIZ Karts

Alpha Karting

Gillard

Barlotti

Bowman Automotive

Anderson Racing Karts

Margay Products Inc.

PVP Karting Frame

Rotax

Tal-Ko

Bizkarts

American SportWorks

Baja Motorsports

A detailed description of each has been included, with information in terms of H.Q, future capacities, key mergers & acquisitions, financial overview, partnerships, collaborations, new product launches, new product developments and other latest industrial developments.

SEGMENTATIONS IN THE REPORT:

By Type

Outdoor Karting

Indoor Karting

By Applications

Rental

Racing

By Geography:

North America (NA)  US, Canada, and Mexico

Europe (EU)  UK, Germany, France, Italy, Russia, Spain & Rest of Europe

Asia-Pacific (APAC)  China, India, Japan, South Korea, Australia & Rest of APAC

Latin America (LA)  Brazil, Argentina, Peru, Chile & Rest of Latin America

Middle East and Africa (MEA)  Saudi Arabia, UAE, Israel, South Africa

Download Free Sample Report of Global Karting Market @ https://www.decisiondatabases.com/contact/download-sample-23594

The Global Karting Market has been exhibited in detail in the following chapters 

Chapter 1 Karting Market Preface

Chapter 2 Executive Summary

Chapter 3 Karting Industry Analysis

Chapter 4 Karting Market Value Chain Analysis

Chapter 5 Karting Market Analysis By Type

Chapter 6 Karting Market Analysis By Applications

Chapter 7 Karting Market Analysis By Geography

Chapter 8 Competitive Landscape Of Karting Companies

Chapter 9 Company Profiles Of Karting Industry

Purchase the complete Global Karting Market Research Report @ https://www.decisiondatabases.com/contact/buy-now-23594

Other Reports by DecisionDatabases.com:

Global Indoor Karting Market Research Report  Industry Analysis, Size, Share, Growth, Trends and Forecast Till 2027

About-Us:

DecisionDatabases.com is a global business research reports provider, enriching decision makers and strategists with qualitative statistics. DecisionDatabases.com is proficient in providing syndicated research report, customized research reports, company profiles and industry databases across multiple domains.

Our expert research analysts have been trained to map clients research requirements to the correct research resource leading to a distinctive edge over its competitors. We provide intellectual, precise and meaningful data at a lightning speed.

For more details:

DecisionDatabases.com

E-Mail: sales@decisiondatabases.com

Phone: +91 9028057900

Web: https://www.decisiondatabases.com/

News Source  https://www.industrynewsengine.com/2020/11/25/karting-market-2020-global-industry-research-report-till-2027/
A consortium of leading nuclear engineering and management firms that operate the Canadian Nuclear Laboratories is announcing an $80,000 donation to North Forge East to support economic development in Pinawa.

A consortium of leading nuclear engineering and management firms that operate the Canadian Nuclear Laboratories is announcing an $80,000 donation to North Forge East to support economic development in Pinawa.

The small town in Manitoba, located 110 kilometres northeast of Winnipeg, is home to CNLs Whiteshell Laboratories.

According to North Forge, the new funding from the Canadian National Energy Alliance will be used to stimulate the local economy in Eastern Manitoba and support ongoing operational costs. In total, the consortium has donated $400,000 over the past five years to help support entrepreneurial initiatives in the region.

"With the decommissioning of the Whiteshell Laboratories site scheduled for completion in 2027, we recognize that we have an opportunity to help ensure that the future of the eastern Manitoba economy is bright," the energy alliances chairman Jack Craig told the Free Press.

"We also understand that the COVID-19 pandemic has led to unprecedented challenges for businesses across Canada. Against this backdrop, it is our hope that this much-needed funding can be put to good use in Pinawa and surrounding communities."

To date, North Forge East has worked with over 40 companies in eastern Manitoba and is "the only innovation-based, business incubator and accelerator" in the region, said Shane Li, president of the non-profit and Pinawas municipal economic development officer.

North Forge is also currently working on a new program  supported by all three levels of government  to attract global talent and foreign investments in the province, by providing an expedited route towards immigration for overseas businesses interested in setting up a Canadian subsidiary or expanding to access North American markets.

"Economic development requires a collaborative approach, and this partnership offers a way to further place Manitoba on the map as an international destination to live and work," said Wayne Ewasko, Manitobas minister of advanced education, skills and immigration, in a statement.

"Its no secret that Pinawa is an entrepreneurial community. For decades, our community has attracted some of the best and brightest minds to live and work here," said Pinawas mayor Blair Skinner. "This will play a key role in our communitys long-term economic growth."

temur.durrani@freepress.mb.ca

Twitter: @temurdur
The United States law enforcement agents encountered more than 171,000 migrants at the U.S.-Mexico border in March, the highest number in 15 years, based on the preliminary data released by Customs and Border Protection (CBP).

Despite the current count, the administration's top officials and President Joe Biden have still refused to call the situation a crisis. The Washington Post reported that the March figures represent the highest monthly total since 2006.

CBP also reported having taken more than 18,800 unaccompanied minors last month, which is a 99 percent increase from February and a figure way above the previous one-month high in May 2019.

In May 2019, the highest month of arrests during that year's crisis stood at 11,861.

"These numbers suggest a new level of challenge for the administration as they look for a sensible border strategy, particularly given the rise in the number of families," Andrew Selee, president of the nonpartisan Migration Policy Institute, said as reported by The Post.

Selee added that the administration is facing a set of hard options for trying to manage the flow in a way consistent with their aim of humanitarian treatment and yet discourages people from crossing the border.

Biden has downplayed the numbers of migrants crossing during his first news conference last week. The President went on to say that nothing has changed, adding that there is a significant increase in the number of people coming to the border during the winter months. He claimed that the current situation happens every year.

The Sun reported that the March figures also showed a 178 percent increase in the number of migrant families caught at the border than last month.

The total includes about 19,000 unaccompanied migrant children and 53,000 family members traveling together, while single adults accounted for about 99,000 of the total number.

A top U.S. border official said he expects more than a million migrants to arrive at the U.S.-Mexico border this year.

"We're already starting to see some higher days of 6,000-plus apprehensions," Raul Ortiz, deputy chief of the U.S. Border Patrol, said on Tuesday.

RELATED ARTICLE: Biden "Limits" Sharing of Info About Migrant Surge, Officials Claim

Shelters for Migrants

U.S. officials have been struggling in recent weeks to open emergency shelters, including sites at convention centers in Dallas and San Diego.

Many unaccompanied teenagers and children were held in crowded conditions for far longer than what the law allows while waiting for bed space to open at emergency shelters managed by the Department of Health and Human Services.

CBP announced on Friday said they intend to open a new 90,000-square-foot tent facility near Eagle Pass, Texas. A similar site is also under consideration in Arizona.

Many migrants from the Central American countries attributed their border crossing to physical threats and poor economic conditions in their home countries.

White House Press Secretary Jen Psaki said they are not naive about the challenges. But they are focusing on solutions and actions to help unaccompanied minors at the border, Daily Mail reported.

Central American and Mexican migrants have accounted for the bulk of arrivals at the southern border in recent months. Biden said the administration is working to place the children with legal and educational services while being detained.

His administration has continued to impose the Title 42 public-health order set by former President Donald Trump to quickly send most adult migrants to Mexico.

READ MORE: Texas Gov. Abbott Places Troops in Borders Amid Immigration Crisis

WATCH: Migrant Crossings Rise Along U.S.-Mexico Border - From Associated Press




Sorry, no valid subscriptions were found for this Publication. Please select from an option below to start a subscription.

SUBSCRIBE TODAY!

24 Hour Access
Industrial tycoon Sanjeev Gupta has drafted in a 'barrage' of lawyers to defend his steel empire as a crisis at its biggest lender threatens to engulf him.

Gupta's GFG Alliance, which owns Liberty Steel in the UK, is holding emergency talks to secure new financing and save 5,000 British jobs after the collapse of Greensill Capital.

Credit Suisse, the Swiss bank that provided $10billion in funding to Greensill, has petitioned a winding-up order on GFG's commodities trading business.

But Gupta  who last week admitted he owes billions  has delivered a pugilistic response, saying from his home in Dubai: 'We have our legal defences ready. There is a barrage of lawyers who are readying up all their guns to fight this off.'

Tough talk: Sanjeev Gupta said lenders risked hurting their own interests by calling in loans before the financing was complete

Gupta said lenders risked hurting their own interests by calling in loans before the financing was complete. He added: 'Damaging the business is not in the interest of anybody, especially not the lenders.

'What they are doing is not logical and the arguments were made to them very robustly that they are damaging their own stakeholders, their own recovery prospects.'

Supply chain finance firm Greensill, which counted former Prime Minister David Cameron as an adviser, fell into administration last month. Gupta has been scrambling to refinance the billions Liberty Steel owed Greensill.

Concerns have been raised that Gupta's sprawling empire is opaque and would be difficult to rescue in its current form.

But the Indian-born British businessman, educated at Trinity College Cambridge, said in an interview with The Weekend Australian newspaper: 'There is a lot of interest in refinancing, given the strength of our businesses and the strength of the market. But given the noise on top of that and the surrounding situation, things need to settle down and we need a little time to get that refinancing organised.'

He added: 'My UK steel initiative has always been a labour of love. The UK industry has been decimated over the last few decades. Every single plant I bought was closed or closing.'

Gupta's comments came as GFG prepares to reopen its UK steel plants this week after pausing production at some sites last month. He has publicly vowed plants will not close under his watch. 'It is my commitment to my people. I repeated that very clearly, that I would not let them down, they don't have to worry about their futures,' he said.

Gupta has pointed to a 14-year high in steel prices. But there are other pressures on the industry.

Exclusive research for The Mail on Sunday by UK Steel reveals that exports from Britain to the EU have plunged 34 per cent in the last three months, following Brexit and the introduction of new quotas.

Steel exports were just under 420,000 tons in the first quarter compared with an historic average of 630,000 tons.

Sources told this newspaper last week that the Government is ready to protect the business should it fall into insolvency, effectively ousting Gupta while a new owner is found.

Separately, it has emerged that Greensill Capital tried to tap up private equity giants for new funding last year. The firm, founded by Australian Lex Greensill in 2011, is understood to have held talks with firms including Apollo and Blackstone.

One source said Greensill was seeking new funds around the time the pandemic took hold, but the market had 'tightened up'.

But the source also said he did not feel Greensill Capital had sufficiently answered his questions over its operations and financing  and the source said his company took these responses as 'a warning signal to stay away'.

Greensill, facilitated speedy payment for suppliers  in exchange for a small fee. It came under pressure after its insurer, part of Tokio Marine, made the decision in July last year not to extend its cover. Then last month Credit Suisse froze $10billion of funds connected to Greensill.

Greensill was also on the hunt for investors last autumn to help bridge a path to a $7billion (5billion) stock market flotation slated for the second half of this year.

Another private equity source said Greensill Capital was 'opaque' and that conversations about the capital raising were only 'very early stage'.

Greensill had also held talks this year with a subsidiary of Apollo about acquiring Greensill assets, which ultimately fell through.

Apollo, Blackstone and Greensill declined to comment.
Batavia, NY (14020)

Today

Sunshine and clouds mixed. A stray shower or thunderstorm is possible. High 77F. Winds WSW at 10 to 20 mph..

Tonight

Mainly clear. Low 66F. Winds SW at 10 to 20 mph.
A youth-led rally against anti-Asian bigotry drew roughly 200 people on an energetic march from Oakland City Hall through the citys Chinatown district to the Lake Merritt Amphitheater on Friday afternoon.

A recent wave of anti-Asian violence has sparked several demonstrations across the Bay Area in support of the Asian community. Fridays Oakland-set rally was led entirely by teenage girls.

The lead organizers were Lucia Moratinos Chu and Abby Lamoreaux,gr two 16-year-old juniors at Berkeley High School. They planned the march through group messaging two weeks ago, compelled by the March 16 mass shootings at Atlanta-area spas that killed eight people, including six women of Asian descent.

Im half-Chinese, so I felt very impacted in my own community, Lamoreaux told The Chronicle. As youth we are often told we dont have as much platform as adults do, and we wanted to show that that isnt the case. Look how many people are out here.

Despite the heavy subject matter, the mood was as sunny as the weather, with the predominantly young marchers stopping for dance breaks, blasting Kendrick Lamar from bike speakers and yelling anti-racist chants over thrumming beats.

Seated in the bed of a moving truck, Lamoreaux waved her arms and urged on the crowd.

I need to hear yall! Lamoreaux yelled into a megaphone, eliciting cheers over the booming music.

The event finale by the lakeshore, where attendees shared snacks and watched performances from the local Destiny Arts collective, resembled a picnic.

The festive atmosphere, Chu said, was intentional: Yeah, we want change, and we want it now, but we also want to have fun. Its not just what were going through and the losses and violence, its also about uniting.

Lamoreaux and Chu have been best friends since they met their freshman year in Mandarin class. So when Chu texted her friend after the tragic shootings asking if she wanted to organize something, Lamoreaux said her immediate response was, Yes!

The first thing on my mind [after the shooting] is call Abby, then I proposed we do something about it, and she was completely down, Chu recalled. It happened super quick  the day after, we started a group chat with a bunch of youth organizers who wanted to join. The whole event happened within two weeks.

By promoting their Instagram page @BayAreaAAPI, which now has over 900 followers, the teen organizers let word of their rally spread organically through social media. They successfully crowdsourced more than $1,000 to put on the event, promising at the rally to transfer excess donations to Oakland-based Asian businesses.

Before the march set off outside of City Hall, participants Jessica Wong, Emme Birkholz and Bahia Washington, all 16, sat in a circle and used Sharpies to color a shared protest sign reading, Protect Asian Lives. Wong heard of the protest through Instagram, while Washington heard about it through friends. Despite their age, none of the girls are first-time protesters; Birkholz estimated shes already attended four, while Washington counted six. Young people are drawn to protesting, Washington said, because they cant yet vote.

A lot of young people feel like its all we can do, Washington added.

Birkholz said that, for young people, and especially over the pandemic, social media has emerged as a powerful tool for organizing and spreading awareness about social issues, including international ones like the military coup in Myanmar.

Im on TikTok and there are a lot of POC talking about their life perspectives and sharing very helpful information, and local stories too, she said. A movement I wouldnt have known about without TikTok is whats happening in Myanmar. It definitely makes information more accessible.

Mexica Greco, 17, who ran the events successful GoFundMe campaign, said that digital community-building was at the heart of the campaign. Young organizers of color across the Bay Area are extremely networked, she explained. She and others were recruited by Chu through a group chat for the local BIPOC Student Support Committee. Other recruits, Chu said, came from the same Mandarin class.

We got a lot of support from people on all of our Instagrams, Greco said. The first thing we did as young organizers was share it to our Instagram story. And by 12 hours wed already passed our goal of a thousand dollars. Then I asked my parents to share it with their coworkers.

She added, People are spending more time on social media now because they kinda have nothing else to do. Making sure the message gets out on social media translates into how many people get out here.

The young leaders started with varying levels of political experience, but share a strong sense of organizing savvy. Lamoreaux said she previously worked on Al Grosss 2020 Senate run in Alaska, while Chu has worked with Destiny Arts anti-racist collective.

This is the first protest Ive planned, Chu told The Chronicle. We were just being resourceful. We were creating Linktrees, GoFundMes. I think youth are known for coming together, and  can I swear? Well, getting sh done.

Malavika Kannan is a San Francisco Chronicle staff writer. Email: malavika.kannan@sfchronicle.com Twitter: @malavikawrites
Bangladesh has taken a tough decision in view of the increasing cases of Coronavirus. Indeed, Bangladesh has declared a lockdown across the country. You all must know that in the last one month, the case of covid-19 has increased here and due to this decision has been taken. The Bangladeshi government says the one-week lockdown will come into effect from the coming Monday.

Road Transport and Bridges Minister here Obedul Qadir today said on Saturday that 'the government is ready to impose a lockdown to stop the new wave of Corona virus'. With this, Qadir, the general secretary of the ruling party Awami League, made this announcement during a regular press conference from his residence this morning. It has been said that there will be a lockdown in the country for seven days from April 5. At the same time, all offices and courts will remain closed. Apart from this, industries and mills will continue to work on the rotation policy. In response to the question of exempting industries and mills, the minister said that "if we close the mills, the employees will be forced to return to their homes".

Let us also tell you that Bangladesh is the first South Asian country that has decided to put a lockdown again. Last week, the Prime Minister's Office issued 18 point guidelines. The gathering of any kind of crowd at these points was banned. Apart from this, in the notification issued by the government, the gathering of people was banned in any social, political, or religious event.

Also Read:

This famous Bollywood actor will be seen in the Hindi remake of 'Master'!

Bengal: Fire breaks out at BJP office after voting, BJP blames TMC goons

Rajasthan govt to create online registration for students studying at various coaching centres
SCAM artists conning people out of money in Germany are sending the money to bank accounts in Ireland.

There have been a number of scams across Germany in recent months where con-artists have defrauded victims of sometimes tens of thousands of euro at a time and sent the money to bank accounts here.

The Irish-based people who received the money are now likely to be questioned by gardai.

Police in Straubing in Bavaria issued a warning about a scam where criminals have been calling people pretending to arrange Covid-19 vaccinations by phone.

Read More

They asked their victims for personal details, including bank account details. Police said one woman lost thousands in the scam and they have traced the money to a bank account in Ireland.

Police in Lower Bavaria say they have been aware of numerous people falling victim to the same scam and told the Sunday World there have also been other scams in the region recently in which money was also transferred to Ireland.

One was a fake shop scam where websites pretending to sell goods are set up to dupe people into giving their bank details.

There were isolated cases of fraud involving so-called fake shops and Irish target accounts, the Sunday World was told.

Other German regions are also seeing scam artists transfer money to Ireland.

In recent weeks a criminal posing as an employee of Microsoft was able to take thousands from a 34-year-old victim in Dornhan in the Black Forest region. Police said the criminal pretended to be able to remove a virus and conned his victim into installing software that allowed remote access to the victims laptop.

Several thousands of euro were transferred to an Irish bank account.

Another victim in Goslar in Lower Saxony lost tens of thousands of euro in a cryptocurrency trading scam.

The victim thought he was investing his cash with a legitimate business but was being scammed out his money, which was sent to bank accounts in Ireland and China.

The various scams show how globalised fraud has become in recent years and the role money mules play in the international network.

A money mule is a person who allows their bank account to be used by criminals to transfer money into.

Gardai warned last month how they identified over 700 money mules in Ireland over the past year with arrests made every day as fraud has dramatically increased during the pandemic.

Young people are usually targeted by the fraudsters with the average age of those identified in Ireland being 19. They are promised a payment for allowing their account to be used but because the money mules are easily identifiable to gardai they are caught.

In the past people used to fly into Ireland from other countries to set up bank accounts, making them harder to track down, but due to Covid travel restrictions Irish-based money mules are being increasingly used.

Gardai identified 53 money mules as part of one ongoing operation and found that 1.5m passed through their accounts.

The majority have already been arrested while others will be arrested soon.

Gardai have warned of long-lasting consequences for money mules including prison sentences of up to 14 years, problems getting foreign visas, the potential to be placed on terror watch lists as well as issues securing credit.

Read More




Spring Tour of Home

This stunning, new large acreage community is being offered for sale at an incredible value, making your dream of owning a beautiful piece of property in the scenic and peaceful Hill Country an attainable reality for your family. We offer dozens of floorplans to choose from that range from 2,400sqft.  4,100sqft. The design of our homes is inspired by the enduring beauty of the Texas Hill Country using the most advanced building practices and exceptional construction materials. Do you already own land elsewhere? We would love to meet you! We also offer our Build on Your Land program in our Belle Oaks Model Home. Visit with Evette today to learn more about living in Belle Oaks and/or our BOYL program!

Monticello Homes has become an industry-recognized and respected home builder that remains true to its initial goal of providing a clear and seamless process for customers to realize their dream of owning a custom home regardless of price point or design. Currently, Monticello Homes builds in San Antonio, Austin, and their surrounding areas in a number of master planned developments that are considered to be the some of the best in the area. Monticello Homes has built nearly 1,000 homes in and around the San Antonio metro area. Click here for more info: Elkhorn Ridge
Biden says $2 trillion jobs plan rivals the space race in its ambition

U.S. President Joe Biden speaks about his $2 trillion infrastructure plan during an event to tout the plan at Carpenters Pittsburgh Training Center (Photo : REUTERS/Jonathan Ernst)

President Joe Biden on Wednesday called for a sweeping use of government power to reshape the world's largest economy and counter China's rise in a $2 trillion-plus proposal that was met with swift Republican resistance.



The president's "American Jobs Plan" would put corporate America on the hook for the tab as the government creates millions of jobs building infrastructure, such as roads, tackles climate change and boosts human services like care for the elderly.



Advertisement

"It's a once-in-a-generation investment in America, unlike anything we've seen or done since we built the interstate highway system and the space race decades ago," Biden said in unveiling the program in Pittsburgh.



He said he had no problem asking companies to foot the bill and is "gonna put an end" to Amazon.com Inc and other major companies paying little to nothing in federal taxes.



Biden's second multitrillion-dollar legislative proposal in two months in office sets the stage for a partisan clash in the U.S. Congress, where members largely agree that investments are needed but are divided on the total size and inclusion of programs traditionally seen as social services.



Another economic proposal Biden will release in April could add a further $2 trillion to the total price tag.



Coupled with his recently enacted $1.9 trillion coronavirus relief package, Biden's infrastructure initiative would give the federal government a bigger role in the U.S. economy than it has had in generations, accounting for 20% or more of annual output.



Biden's team believes a government-directed effort to strengthen the economy is the best way to provide support to an economy walloped by the coronavirus pandemic and contend with increased competition and a national security threat posed by China.



The proposal was greeted icily by conservatives and major business groups.



Republican Senator Mitch McConnell said the proposal was "another Trojan horse for far-left demands" one day after Biden called to brief the minority leader on the proposal. McConnell said raising taxes would be "killing jobs and slowing wage growth when workers need a fast recovery."



PAYING FOR IT



Biden is ignoring a campaign promise to raise taxes on wealthy individuals, at least for now.



The plan would instead increase the corporate tax rate to 28% from 21% and change the tax code to close loopholes that allow companies to move profits overseas, according to a 25-page briefing paper released by the White House.



Biden said the goal was not to "target" businesses but to address divisions and inequality worsened by the pandemic.



The plan would spread the cost for projects over an eight-year period and aims to pay for it all over 15 years, without adding to the country's long-term debt, the White House said.



Neil Bradley, chief policy officer at the nation's largest trade group, the U.S. Chamber of Commerce, said while the organization shares Biden's sense of urgency on infrastructure, his plan is "dangerously misguided."



"We strongly oppose the general tax increases proposed by the administration which will slow the economic recovery and make the U.S. less competitive globally," Bradley said.



The plan includes $621 billion to rebuild infrastructure, such as bridges, highways and ports, and a historic $174 billion investment in the electric vehicle market that sets a goal of building a nationwide charging network by 2030.



The program's focus on union-represented jobs and projects to mitigate climate change would deliver long-sought liberal goals.



Administration officials also said they hoped to address economic inequality created by racial discrimination, for instance cutting air pollution that affects Black and Hispanic communities near ports or power plants.



Congress will be asked to invest $400 billion in expanding access to affordable community-based care for aging Americans and people with disabilities. It is aimed at low-wage workers in that industry, who are disproportionately women of color.



There is $213 billion included to build and retrofit environmentally sustainable homes along with hundreds of billions to support U.S. manufacturing, bolster the nation's electric grid, enact nationwide high-speed broadband and revamp the nation's drinking water systems.



ANOTHER PROPOSAL COMING



Biden is moving forward with the economic plan while attempting to deliver on promises to provide enough COVID-19 vaccines for all American adults by the end of May. The White House is also dealing with a rise in the number of migrants at the southern border and fallout from back-to-back mass shootings.



The plan forms one part of the "Build Back Better" agenda that the administration aims to introduce. A second legislative package being marketed as helping families is due within weeks.



That package is expected to include the expansion of health insurance coverage and child tax benefits, as well as paid family and medical leave.



House of Representatives Speaker Nancy Pelosi has signaled she hopes to pass the infrastructure plan by July 4, although that time line could easily slip as Democrats with narrow majorities in both the House and Senate race to strike a deal on the details.



The jockeying has already begun. Moderate Democrats have said the package should be more targeted to traditional infrastructure projects to attract Republican votes. Liberal lawmakers want to tackle climate change and economic inequality with resources that reflect the size of those challenges.



Representative Pramila Jayapal, a leading liberal Democrat, said on Tuesday that the proposal Biden laid out as a presidential candidate was between $6.5 trillion and $11 trillion over 10 years.



"We'd like to see a plan that goes big," Jayapal said.


The Transportation Security Administration screened nearly 1.6 million travelers on Friday and Saturday marking the highest number of flyers in the United States since the start of the COVID-19 pandemic.

Mark Howell, a TSA spokesperson, told Axios that the increase happened largely because of spring breakers who have been pictured packing destinations like Miami Beach in Florida.

The agency screened 1,562,239 people on Friday and 1,580,785 people on Saturday, according to TSA data.

The TSA had screened 124,021 people on April 1 and 129,763 on April 2 of last year while the disease spread and travel largely halted.

The Transportation Security Administration screened nearly 1.6 million travelers on Friday and Saturday

Mark Howell, a TSA spokesperson, has attributed that increase largely to spring breakers who have been pictured packing destinations like Miami Beach

However, those numbers are still down from 2019 when 2,411,500 travelled on April 1 and 2,476,884 people traveled on April 2.

CBS News noted that the TSA has screened more than a million people a day for 17 days in a row since March 11.

'That's significant because it hasn't happened at any point, even during the holidays, during the past year,' CBS News travel correspondent Errol Barnett told the outlet.

Howell told Axios that the TSA is getting ready to screen more travelers in the summer after the agency said in February that it was looking to hire 6,000 new officers.

Despite the decline in air travel, Simply Flying noted that it appears as if the TSA offered some early retirements at the start of the pandemic but was able to avoid large-scale layoffs.

The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention announced on Friday that Americans who are fully vaccinated can travel domestically and internationally and that vaccinated people who arrive in the United States from other countries do not have to quarantine.

However, CDC Director Rochelle Walensky said the agency is continuing to discourage travel because of a continued increase in the seven-day average of cases and hospitalizations, NPR noted.

'And while we believe that fully vaccinated people can travel at low risk to themselves, CDC is not recommending travel at this time due to the rising number of cases,' Walensky said in a press briefing by White House COVID-19 Response Team.

Spring breakers stroll along Ocean Drive in Miami Beach on March 31 after Miami-Dade County began a countywide curfew

The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention announced on Friday that Americans who are fully vaccinated can travel domestically and internationally

Jeffrey Zients, the head of President Joe Biden's coronavirus response team, said during the briefing that 74 percent of people aged 65 and over have received at least one shot with 52 percent now fully vaccinated as of Friday.

'Overall, nearly 100 million Americans have received at least one dose, and more than 56 million adult Americans are now fully vaccinated,' he said.

The U.S. is administering about 2.8 million doses of COVID-19 vaccines a day.

There have been a total of 30,663,748 total coronavirus cases in the United States with 554,735 deaths.

In the last few weeks, spring breakers have been invading Florida with Miami Beach becoming so uncontrollable that authorities imposed a curfew as SWAT teams were seen moving in to clear people out.

A map of the United States shows where cases have recently increased as there have been 30,663,748 total cases nationwide with 554,735 deaths

A chart shows the number of deaths in the United States steadily declining in small waves in March and April

A chart shows that there have been 554,735 total deaths in the United States since the start of the pandemic

A chart shows that the number of infections per day in March and April has remained largely the same

A chart shows that there have been 30,663,748 total infections in the United States since the start of the pandemic

A SWAT vehicle was filmed moving down Ocean Drive - a popular party street - and using an LRAD, also known as a sound cannon, to get people to disperse, video posted to Twitter on March 21 showed.

Miami-Dade County has since imposed a countywide curfew from midnight to 6 a.m. every day, until canceled or revised.

The crowds of young people crushing the beach city have sparked worries of a coronavirus 'super-spreader' event, while alcohol-fueled partiers have been starting fights in restaurants and in the streets, officials said.

Delta Air Lines and United Airlines have since praised the new guidance from the CDC that allows fully vaccinated people to safely travel, The Hill reported.

'More customers than ever during the pandemic are showing us they're ready to get back out and reconnect with the world - and we're ready to help them reclaim their lives safely,' a Delta spokeswoman told The Hill on Friday.

A United spokesman told The Hill: 'Today's updated guidance from the CDC reinforces the importance of vaccinations and is a positive step in the right direction to safely resuming global travel.'
Sylvia Jeffreys and good friend Jayne Azzopardi showed off their burgeoning baby bumps on Tuesday, during an outing with their children at Sydney's Rose Bay.

The pair, who are both expecting their second child with their respective husbands, took their sons for a playdate in a park.

Sylvia, 34, is due to give birth this month and looked stunning in a flowing black dress.

Bumping along nicely! On Tuesday, Channel Nine stars Sylvia Jeffreys and Jayne Azzopardi showed off their baby bumps as they enjoyed a playdate at the park with their sons

She wore her short locks out and neatly straightened and a chic pair of sunglasses.

Jayne, 37, is set to give birth in June and looked radiant in a blue shirt and linen shorts.

The pair doted on their sons Oscar and Joey, who are both one, and appeared in high spirits as they enjoyed some fun in the sun.

She's got that glow! Sylvia, 34, looked stunning in a flowing black dress as she doted on son Oscar, who she shares with husband Peter Stefanovic

Playdate: The girls posed up for a sweet selfie with their bubs on the day

Both Sylvia and Jayne gave birth to their sons - Oscar and Joey, respectively - just days apart and at North Shore Private Hospital.

Sylvia is due in coming weeks and is expecting her second child with husband Peter Stefanovic.

Meanwhile Jayne, who is married to cinematographer Trent Butler, will welcome her second son in June.

The countdown is on! Sylvia is due to give birth this month

The TV personality conceived her first son Oscar, one, via IVF, but has said her second pregnancy was 'spontaneous'.

'We hadn't planned to go down that path so soon, but having had not an entirely easy path the first time around you can't be anything but thankful and grateful to have fallen pregnant this way,' she told The Australian Women's Weekly.

The Nine presenter said many people had advised her against having boys 15 months apart, but she insisted they wouldn't have it any other way.

She is also excited to be a mother of two sons because she was a very sporty tomboy growing up.

'I'm not sure how I'm going to navigate the teenage years - that might be where Pete really has to step up - but I'm not worried about it,' she told the publication.

'I know it will be a lot to keep up with two turbo little boys, but for now I'm just embracing the beautiful chaos.'
Bac Giang province climbs up the ladder

Plan for using land until 2030 - Allocation of land use: Until 2030, the provinces total natural land area will be approximately 389,600 hectares, including agricultural land (269,000ha, down by 32,500ha), non-agricultural land (119,800ha, up by 35,200ha); and as yet unused land (720ha, down by 2,670ha). - Withdrawal and transfer of land use purpose: Withdrawing 35,300ha including 35,040ha as agricultural land and 265ha as non-agricultural land. Changing the usage purpose of 35,040ha of agricultural land into non-agricultural land, in which large parts will be changed into land for national defence and security (925ha), industrial land (6,830ha), trade and services land (1,260ha), production and business land (1,020ha), infrastructure land (7,650ha), and household land (3,240ha). Development of urban areas - In 2020, the province had 16 urban areas including one type-2 city of Bac Giang, two type-4 urban areas of Thang and Chu towns, and 13 type-5 urban areas. - The urban population ratio in 2020 was 21.7 per cent. - The whole province will have five key urban areas for development: the central area (Bac Giang city and surrounding areas), the southern area (Bich Dong-Nenh and Nam Viet Yen towns), the western area (Thang and Nam Hiep Hoa towns), the southwestern area (Nham Bien town and the northwestern area of Yen Dung town), and a belt with ecological urban areas along the Cau River (Viet Yen-Hiep Hoa areas).

The Ministry of Planning and Investments (MPI) Development Strategy Institute is supporting the authorities of Bac Giang in formulating the provinces master planning following a nod from the government as per the Law on Planning adopted by the National Assembly in 2018.

This is expected to help Bac Giang attract more investment, especially foreign direct investment (FDI), said Duong Van Thai, Secretary of Bac Giang Party Committee at last weeks meeting of the appraisal council of the provinces master planning for the 2021-2030 period, with a vision until 2050.

Covering nearly 3,900 square kilometres and boasting a population of 1.84 million people, Bac Giangs economy grew on average 11.4 per cent during 2011-2020, and 14 per cent during 2016-2020. Its economic structure is held by industry and construction (58 per cent), service (22.2 per cent), agro-forestry-fishery (17.6 per cent), and others (2.2 per cent).

Under the draft master planning which will be adopted by the prime minister, Bac Giang will focus on developing industrial zones and clusters, services, and high-tech agriculture. Especially, the number of zones will increase from the existing six (1,645 hectares) to 29 (7,778ha) by 2030  home largely to projects in electronics, other equipment, and garments. The number of clusters will also be raised from the existing 45 (1,728ha) to 66 (3,100ha) by the end of the decade.

The service sector will be centred on attracting projects in the sectors of logistics, transportation, trade, warehousing, and tourism.

The province will also be reorganised in development space and connectivity with other localities via 10 key gateways invested with key roads, general service areas, and warehouses.

The provinces leadership is working with many foreign investors wishing to pour a huge sum of capital into industrial, services, and urban development, Thai said. Many investors have come to the province to implement their projects worth hundreds of millions of US dollars. For example, Apple has invested a $700 million project here to produce MacBook and iPad devices. This promises to help the province attract a new wave of tier-one high-quality vendors.

According to a provincial draft report on master planning, FDI into the province has soared recently. Bac Giang has been always listed among top FDI destinations of Vietnam. Many major foreign and local investors have taken interest in the province, such as Foxconn, CapitaLand, FLC, Tan Tao, and Lilama, said the report.

In the first three months of 2021, Bac Giang licensed many projects registered at over $600 million, up over 4.5 times against in the same period last year. Almost all foreign-invested projects operate in industry sectors such as garments and textiles, electronic parts, and solar panels.

Notably, in January, the province licensed four foreign schemes. The first was the $270 million Fukang Technology factory from Foxconn Singapore to produce eight million tablets and laptops a year  raising Foxconns total investment in Bac Giang to $900 million. Foxconn is also expected to invest another $700 million in Bac Giang this year.

The second project was the $210 million Ja Solar PV Vietnam of Ja Solar Investment (Hong Kong) Ltd. to manufacture solar photovoltaic panels with total annual capacity of 3.5GW.

Third was the $75 million Risesun New Material Vietnam Factory from Risesun Investment Pte., Ltd. (Singapore) to produce plastics and composite products with total annual capacity of 46 million square metres. The final initiative licensed is the $6 million Kodi New Material Vietnam Factory, also from Risesun, to make coloured PVC decorative films with total annual capacity of 70 million sq.m.

Two weeks ago, Bac Giang established an office to attract investment from Japan and remove all obstructions for Japanese businesses.

In 2020, exports reached $11.12 billion, exceeding 71 per cent of the target set by provincial authorities. Bac Giang also approved new licenses and permitted additional investment to 215 projects registered at $1.4 billion, up 7.3 per cent on-year, rising to the ninth position among provinces and cities nationwide in FDI attraction. Provincial authorities are looking to attract $1.3 billion of investments in 2021 with prioritisation in high-tech projects using domestic materials.

Overall goals

Surrounded by major economic hubs, ports, national highways, and an international border, Bac Giang province is situated at the crossroads of major trade routes. It is located adjacent to the key economic triangle of Hanoi, Haiphong, and Quang Ninh, 110km from the Huu Nghi border gate with China, 100km from Haiphong seaport, and 40km from Noi Bai International Airport.

With its great potential, Bac Giang is now on the radar of investors. In its strategy partly featured in the draft master planning, the province aims to annually grow 15-16 per cent from 2021 to 2030 when it will become a modern province, and with a regional GDP listed in the group of Vietnams top 15 provinces and cities with the highest such rate.

The province aims to achieve an annual 13 per cent rise in labour productivity during by 2030, when it is expected to mobilise as much as VND1.5 quadrillion ($65.3 billion) worth of development capital.

As industrial land is increasingly occupied, Bac Giang has implemented several criteria to select investment projects: effective land use, less labour-intensive projects, advanced and modern tech projects, high-value addition, and contribution to the state budget. The provincial authorities have also decided to focus on high-tech projects such as electronics, machinery, and consumer goods, which are capable of joining global value chains and have high export potential.

With more industrial parks under development, the government is devising investor-friendly policies, in the hope of attracting high-tech investments. In addition, the government has also started to invest in the declining agriculture sector to develop high-tech farms and set priorities for investment in clean and renewable energy to meet rising electricity demand.

Regional competition

Bac Giang ranks as the 40th most competitive locality in Vietnam among 63 cites and provinces as per the Provincial Competitive Index (PCI) 2019. Meanwhile, under the Provincial Administrative Performance Index 2019, Bac Giang reached 81.84 points, up 3.7 points on-year, and the satisfaction index of people, enterprises, and organisations on administrative agencies reached 89.18 per cent, ranking ninth in Vietnam.

On the flip side, the province ranks poorly in auditing as investors find the process to be lacking in transparency and fairness.

Working to address the issue, Bac Giang People Committee has promised to increase transparency and efficiency in audits and other administrative activities by learning from the successful experiences of other localities. The province aims to jump to the top 15 rankings in the PCI for 2020.

Provincial authorities have also set up a 24-hour hotline to receive feedback from investors. Large foreign businesses can also register to meet with authorities to resolve business challenges.

According to a report from Bac Giangs Master Planning Appraisal Council, which gathers comments from ministries and agencies that are members of the council, the draft master planning would need to clarify some points so that it can become more feasible and more attractive to investors.

The province needs to supplement assessments on the implementation of some planning on agro-forestry-fishery development, and results from this sectors restructuring; and also on the attraction of domestic investment and FDI in this sector, while also needing to point out difficulties and propose solutions to lure agricultural investment, reads the report, which also suggests the supplementation of assessments on the sectors of logistics, tourism, and transport.

The draft master planning also needs to provide analysis on developing materials and supporting industries for key products. Analysis is also needed for human resources for industrial development, as well as for the development of labourers of factories at industrial zones, according to the MPI.
Britons who have received their second dose of the Covid-19 vaccine could avoid mandatory 10-day quarantine upon their return under the new rules for international travel.

The Telegraph reported those travelling back to the UK will still require pre-flight Covid tests regardless of their vaccination status, according to draft plans from the governments global travel task force.

It comes after The Times reported on Friday that travel to and from red-list countries will be banned.

On Monday, the prime minister is expected to outline new coronavirus travel regulations on foreign travel, spelling out a traffic light system that rates countries as red, amber or green based on Covid infection rates, vaccination levels and the prevalence of variants.

Lower vaccination rates in mainland Europe may mean traditional holiday destinations for many Britons, such as France, are deemed higher-risk than countries such as Israel and Chile, where vaccination rates are high.

Read more:

Overseas leisure travel is currently banned under coronavirus lockdown measures, but restrictions are expected to be eased under Mondays plans.

However, scientific experts have repeatedly said summer staycations should be encouraged over foreign holidays amid the rising third wave in western and central Europe.

No 10 declined to comment on the Telegraph report.
An agreement reached almost 11 years ago between Tauranga City Council and the Otamataha Trust to jointly own and manage reclaimed land on Dive Crescent has finally been confirmed.

The 3442m2 strip on the seaward side of the road incorporates properties including Bobbys Fresh Fish Market, Maui Ocean Products, the Cargo Shed and a recently demolished shed at the northern end of the site.

It forms part of a larger area originally reclaimed by the Tauranga Harbour Board and the Public Works Department to form the rail and road corridors in the early-20th century. Ownership of the land has never been legalised.

Alongside council, Otamataha Trust, representing the mana whenua interests of Ngai Tamarawaho and Ngati Tapu over the area, entered into a memorandum of understanding in 2010, which foresaw the land being owned in equal shares by both parties and jointly-managed through the Dive Crescent Governance Group.

The Council and the Trust applied to Land Information New Zealand for the title to the land in 2011. Following a lengthy period of negotiations over the price and other conditions, the transfer of ownership was confirmed late last year, at no cost.

Commissioner Shadrach Rolleston, one of two Council representatives on the Dive Crescent Governance Group, says the adoption of a recommendation at Mondays council meeting to transfer a 50 per cent interest in the land to Otamataha Trust reconfirms a previous decision of Council. He calls it a proud moment which the entire community could celebrate.

This honours the intent and terms of the MoU and sets a solid foundation for the Trust and the council, through the Governance Group, to decide upon a joint strategy for the future management and development of this important waterfront area, for the benefit of both parties and the wider community, says Shadrach.

Otamataha Trust chair, Puhirake Ihaka, and deputy chair, Peri Kohu, also welcome the move.

The Trust is pleased to have played a major part in getting this land returned, say Puhirake and Peri in a joint statement.

Looking forward, the Trust is committed to working with Council on the development of the Dive Crescent precinct, for the cultural, community and commercial benefit of its hapu and the city.

Title to the land is expected to be issued to the Council in the near future, with a 50 per cent interest immediately transferring to the Trust.
China is using militia-run fishing vessels to maintain its illegal presence and exert control over East Sea territory without resorting to direct confrontation, an expert says.

Nguyen Hong Quan, former deputy director of the Institute for Military Strategy, said tensions in the East Sea, known internationally as the South China Sea, have been rising in recent years over conflicts between China and other countries regarding sovereignty claims; between the countries themselves; between China and ASEAN; and between China and the United States.

He said Chinese fishermen, with the help of its coast guard forces, have been claiming several fishing areas at sea and threatening the lives and livelihoods of millions of fishermen from other countries. China has also threatened or sabotaged attempts by countries to survey energy sources in their legal sea areas, instead wanting them to cooperate with it so as to get a handle on energy harvesting in the South China Sea.

In fact, the country has even gone so far as to threaten the use of force if countries dont stop international cooperation for gas surveys in Vietnamese sea areas that China claims as its own. Such aggression is a factor in the conflicts remaining unresolved, Quan said.

In its relationship with ASEAN, China has always been avoiding issues regarding conflict resolution when discussing the Code of Conduct on the South China Sea (COC). ASEAN fears that such a stance means China plans to use the COC to create opportunities to seize control of South China Sea territory. For example, China may resolve conflicts with other countries through negotiations and consultations based on "historical facts," but such an approach would exclude the role of either an arbitration court or another mediating party, devising ASEAN itself on issues related to the South China Sea, said Quan.

He reiterated that it was Chinas desire for control over the South China Sea that is the root of all conflict in the area. China wants to use the sea area as a starting point for its fleets to reach other oceans and realize its dream of becoming a superpower. But the U.S. and other countries are not likely to allow any international sea area to have travel restrictions. The U.S., in particular, considers the South China Sea as a major point in its Indo-Pacific strategy.

The ensuing conflict of interest between the two giants can get worse and involve other countries in the future, as can be seen in the recent presence of warships and fighter jets in the South China Sea.

The gray zone

To carry out its game plan, China is stepping up its presence in the area with fishing vessels manned by the militia. Unlike ordinary fishing vessels, these are designed with steel plates and the capability to operate far away from the shore. The militia members are well trained and well equipped, capable of responding to both wartime and peaceful situations, including the use of weapons. They are frequently deployed to several areas of the South China Sea, Quan said.

And their presence is not just for show. Chinas militia-run fishing vessels have been implicated in several notable confrontations at sea with the U.S., Vietnam, Indonesia and Malaysia, among others, since 2009. China's tactic is to use such vessels as a way to maintain a constant presence and dominate conflicts at sea, without ever making a direct confrontation with any country, Quan said.

He noted that less than 5 percent of these vessels turn on their automatic identification systems (AIS), allowing China to explain away collisions and sinking incidents involving its ships as "maritime accidents." Since other countries have no way of confirming whether a vessel is an ordinary fishing vessel or controlled by the Chinese militia, they cannot escalate tensions and risk China accusing them of "violating the human rights" of its fishermen, he explained.

However, the involvement of China's militia-run vessels in the "accidents" is highly likely as they have no communication and de-escalation mechanisms that a naval vessel would have. They are also not included in the Code for Unplanned Encounters at Sea signed by global naval forces in 2014. This situates them at the center of China's "gray zone" strategy, where it can exert control over sea and island areas of other countries without resorting to direct, large scale military force. This strategy works by not allowing conflicts to escalate into full-blown wars, Quan said.

When China passed its Coast Guard Law in January, Quan's institute had expected coast guards to support militia members in illegally invading the fishing areas of other countries. That has happened, with China deploying 200 fishing vessels to Whitson Reef near the Grierson Reef, which is part of Vietnam's Spratly Islands.

These vessels kept their lights on for entire nights without actually catching fish. The vessels were merely a "test" by China for applying its new Coast Guard Law on the South China Sea, and them keeping their lights on was a show of power, Quan said.

China might also be using the fishing vessels to take control of the Grierson Reef, then using that as a stepping stone to create new artificial islands, then new military-civilian bases, a tactic it has already used in the past, he added.

The new Coast Guard Law, which allows coast guards to use weapons to "prevent and remove threats" when foreign organizations and individuals infringe upon "China's sovereignty," would allow them to escort fishermen to invade fishing areas of Vietnam and other countries, as also disrupt energy surveys and harvests, among other actions.

It would also escalate the risk of armed conflicts that undermine regional security and contravene international law, including the United Nations Convention on the Law of the Sea (UNCLOS). China may even take this further and claim most of the South China Sea as its own "domestic waters" and "airspace," said Quan.

All these factors show that China is a negotiator in bad faith, as far as the COC is concerned, Quan stressed.

What Vietnam should do

He said Vietnam should continue affirming its sovereignty over its waters and islands on multiple fronts, including political and diplomatic. This means playing a key role in ASEAN to ensure an effective, international law-abiding COC.

Vietnam also needs to cooperate with major powers, both in the region and the world, especially in intelligence and equipment sharing. When it comes to China, Vietnam should continue to maintain a peaceful and stable relationship, and both countries should agree to the general (non-nuclear) equivalent of the "no-first-use" policy on using military force, Quan said.

Vietnam needs to use international platforms not only to affirm its sovereignty over its waters and islands, but also to raise issues that it has with Chinas new Coast Guard Law, its implications and Chinas "gray zone" tactics. Vietnam should also participate in international military drills to strengthen defense relations, he added.

In negotiations with China on maritime issues, Vietnam may enlist the help of international jurisdictions, preparing all relevant documents and evidence to take the issue to an international court if necessary.

Vietnamese authorities need to invest more in its navy, militia and air forces so that they are well trained and well equipped. That includes newer, better ships and equipment, Quan said.

He added: In the long run, the best way for Vietnam to protect its sovereignty over its waters and islands is to become a country with a strong maritime economy and strong commercial and military fleets.
Skye Fitzgeralds film Hunger Ward is nominated for an Academy Award in the best documentary short subject category. Its the second time in three years that one of the Oregon-based directors films has earned an Oscar nomination. But in a phone conversation, Fitzgerald sounds more concerned about the tragedy the film depicts than about honors.

Im angry, says Fitzgerald. Im angry as a filmmaker. Im angry as a human being. Im angry as a dad that our tax dollars are being used to starve children.

In Hunger Ward, Fitzgerald examines the ongoing civil war in Yemen, specifically the children suffering from malnutrition as a result of the conflict and blockades that prevent food and medicine from being brought into the country.

Though only about 40 minutes in length, Hunger Ward offers a powerful look at the crisis. The film focuses on two therapeutic feeding centers in Yemen, and the efforts of two health care workers, Dr. Aida Alsadeeq and nurse Mekkia Mahdi, as they and their colleagues try to save the lives of children emaciated and weak from hunger.

Its an actively forgotten war, Fitzgerald, who lives in Happy Valley, says of the civil strife in Yemen. The foreign powers that control access to the country deny access to journalists, Fitzgerald says. They dont want people in the West to know or understand the depth of the suffering.

Hunger Ward is streaming on Paramount Plus, and is also available to view online as part of the 2021 Oscar Nominated Short Films program. The Hollywood Theatre is among the cinemas with virtual screening opportunities: https://watch.eventive.org/ons21-hollywoodtheatre

The film is the third in what Fitzgerald regards as a trilogy of films about crises affecting refugees and displaced persons. The first, 50 Feet From Syria (2015), looked at the work of doctors located on the Syrian border. The second, Lifeboat (2018), was an Oscar-nominated documentary about volunteers trying to rescue refugees who fled Libya even if it meant the risk of drowning in the Mediterranean.

Fitzgerald and his crew filmed Hunger Ward in Yemen in early 2020, just before the coronavirus shut down international travel. He learned of Alsadeeq and Mahdi, and the work they were doing, through colleagues and journalists, including Nicholas Kristof, the New York Times columnist, who also has roots in Oregon.

Dr. Aida Alsadeeq is one of the health care workers featured in the documentary short fim, "Hunger Ward." (Photo: Courtesy MTV Documentary Films/ Spin Film)

I reached out to both, Fitzgerald says, and started conversations with them. Hes been asked before why Alsadeeq and Mahdi would open up their work in such an intimate way to a camera. Frankly, they wanted us there, because they both felt that the West didnt understand the nature of the conflict, the scale of the conflict, and its effect on children.

The women thought the only way could change that was to get the story out widely to other countries, Fitzgerald says.

Getting into the country and filming was a challenging process, Fitzgerald says. Seeing the pain suffered by the starving children and their grieving relatives can be difficult for viewers. It was also difficult for Fitzgerald, as he says.

Its hard to stand in a room and watch a child die, he says. Its not something I take lightly. Its something you have to bear witness to with dignity and respect. It takes a toll on you. These are children.

Fitzgerald says he hopes Hunger Ward is a sort of gut punch to anyone who watches it, to help us understand that the conflict in Yemen is human caused, and it can be ended by humans, especially by Americans.

The film ends with statements criticizing the U.S. and other countries as being complicit in the conflict.

Fitzgerald says the Biden administration has altered course, and pledged to stop supporting offensive operations in Yemen. Its a hopeful start, Fitzgerald says.

Fitzgerald also hopes Hunger Ward may raise awareness of the conflict in Yemen and the crisis that continues there.

I think, for me, it really does come back to this core principle that each of us only has so much time on this planet, Fitzgerald says. And we have to make it count.

The website for Hunger Ward (https://www.hungerward.org/) includes links with more information, and suggested actions people can take. Among upcoming events is a virtual screening and a question-and-answer session with Fitzgerald and Kristof, happening at 4 p.m. Tuesday, April 6. More details are at this link: https://gathr.us/screening/31771

Subscribe to our free weekly What to Watch newsletter. Email:



-- Kristi Turnquist

kturnquist@oregonian.com 503-221-8227 @Kristiturnquist
It would seem Prairie Theatre Exchange is going for a Dallas/Dynasty kind of old-school melodrama with its upcoming new play Post-Democracy, set in the realm of the ultra-wealthy. Arne MacPherson plays the CEO of a large company hit with a sex scandal while abroad on business. It threatens not only the impending deal, but the corporation itself.

It would seem Prairie Theatre Exchange is going for a Dallas/Dynasty kind of old-school melodrama with its upcoming new play Post-Democracy, set in the realm of the ultra-wealthy. Arne MacPherson plays the CEO of a large company hit with a sex scandal while abroad on business. It threatens not only the impending deal, but the corporation itself.

Surprise! Its a play by Canadian theatre prodigy Hannah Moscovitch, whose roots are decidedly not in the old-money capitalist realm.

"Its not my childhood environment," understates the Ottawa-born Moscovitch, 42, on the phone from her home in Halifax. "In fact, my mother and father are social activists and union activists.

"My fathers a professor with some expertise in Marxist economics," she says. "So its diametrically opposed to my childhood where we were constantly surrounded by folk songs and ... co-operation."

Former PTE artistic director Robert Metcalfe commissioned Post-Democracy more than a decade ago, but the project was in Moscovitchs head going back to the first five years she spent in Toronto immediately following her graduation from National Theatre School in Ottawa. She worked at a fashionable bar  Teatro on College Street  catering to the citys "one per centers."

"There were a lot of stockbrokers and a lot of businessman who had a lot of money," she recalls. "They went to this bar. And I worked there for five years."

"I felt like a spy sent from the left wing spying on the right wing," she says. "And then I became friends with some of them, as you do when theres a bar like that where they go a lot. I dated some of them.

"I spent five years in that culture," she says. "Its a very specific culture. It has its own norms, specific to that culture, (dictated) by everyone having extreme levels of wealth. Inclusion depends on having that much money.

"Its normal to have two nannies who both live in the house," she says of the people she knew. "Its normal to spend huge amounts of money on art.

Kristian Jordan (from left), Stephanie Sy, Arne MacPherson and Alicia Johnston star in Post-Democracy. (Leif Norman photo)

"Its normal to buy yourself a new car for a quarter of a million dollars. Its normal to have furniture custom-made for your house. Its normal to wear Chanel to breakfast," she says. "Its normal to spend your whole weekend real-estate shopping because if your whole world is predicated on having money, then your whole life is about spending that money. So every weekend youre going to go and look at real estate and see if you can buy even nicer real estate than you already have."

The play has been in the works for years, as Moscovitch established herself in theatre circles with hit plays such as Old Stock: A Refugee Love Story (slated to run this season at Winnipeg Jewish Theatre before being cancelled by COVID), East of Berlin and This Is War. Even so, the time for Post-Democracy seemed right, Moscovitch says.

"We have been having a lot of conversations about polarization of wealth in our culture," Moscovitch says. "The right wing like to call it class warfare.

"Were also having a lot of conversations right now about gatekeepers who hold power, and how they get power, and why they have power and what they do with that power. This piece speaks to that as well. So it feels really of the moment."

The play was to have been performed live this past March, of course. The filmed version is directed by PTE artistic director Thomas Morgan Jones and shot by Ice River Films, led by film director Sam Vint.

So can the show still be called a play?

"Its going to be radically different because its a f***ing movie," says Moscovitch flatly. "Its radically different than a play in every way.

"It is not live. (Because of) the many precautions that had to be taken around filming it because of the pandemic, no one could touch each other. No one is wearing masks in the show but everyone had to wear masks in the space all the time."

Also different is the way the play evolved, without benefit of live preview performances.

"I didnt participate in the way I would normally," she says. "I would normally be there in previews figuring out how the play works in front of an audience and making changes and making sure its communicating with the audience in the way I want to. None of that happened.

The play was to have been performed live this past March; instead the filmed version is directed by PTE artistic director Thomas Morgan Jones and shot by Ice River Films, led by film director Sam Vint. (Leif Norman photo)

"So its a totally different experience to work on a play that is going direct to video," she says. "And yet Im very proud of the work that I and everyone did. I love what theyve done."

An added bonus is that the play can be viewed beyond Manitoba, indeed, around the world.

"I feel great about that," Moscovitch says. "I think its super fun that people will get to see my work. Theres something really fun about theatre being available more widely and more accessibly without there being parking problems and babysitter problems.

"I think what you forfeit is the liveness which is the core of what theatre is," she says. "Its a deal with the devil but I accept that as the price. Were in a pandemic."

She acknowledges this productions global accessibility might means other theatre companies might not produce it in the future.

"I wanted PTE to premiere this play in whatever way they could," she says. "If that means other theatres dont want to do it, then Ill just write a new play."

In fact, these days, Moscovitch is more likely to find work writing for TV and film, which she says occupies 80 to 90 per cent of her work these days.

"I love TV and film," she says. "I feel like Im in a state of grace. A lot of people are really struggling, right? The pandemic has been apocalyptic for theatre. Its a wasteland right now."

And thats another reason she is grateful Post-Democracy will be playing in living rooms around the world.

"Honestly, theres just hope in it," she says. "Those four actors got to do a production. PTE got to put out a production. And all of those designers and staff got to work on something.

"So I think its great. You get to do some art and remind yourself that this is what we do."

randall.king@freepress.mb.ca

Twitter: @FreepKing
Two weeks after thousands of women protested gender inequality and sexual violence in the March4Justice rallies, religious leaders have used their Easter address to praise women such as Grace Tame and Brittany Higgins.

Ms Tame was awarded the 2021 Australian of the Year after winning a landmark court case allowing her to publicly speak of her abuse as a schoolgirl.

Since then, former government staffer Brittany Higgins alleged she was raped inside parliament house then made to feel like a political problem.

Then one of the government's highest-ranking cabinet ministers was accused of a historical rape, which he denies.

Thousands of current and former schoolgirls also came forward with harrowing accounts of their sexual assaults as students.

The procession travelling around the Cathedral during the Stations of the Cross as part of Good Friday Easter services at St Mary's Cathedral (pictured) in Sydney on Friday

Ms Tame (left) was awarded the 2021 Australian of the Year after winning a landmark court case allowing her to publicly speak of her abuse as a schoolgirl, and Ms Higgins (right) became a leader of the recent movement addressing a rally of hundreds at one of the March for Justice protests in March

Reverend Geoffrey Smith, Primate of the Anglican Church of Australia, said Australians had seen much darkness over the past year - from inequality and gendered violence to the hardship caused by the pandemic.

'Thankfully, light has begun to shine on these and other areas,' he said in his annual Easter message.

'There has been the light of vaccine development, the light of people speaking out, the light of public awareness.

'All of this has been very good yet more light is required.'

The President of the Uniting Church in Australia joined Reverend Smith in encouraging women to continue to speak up.

An actor portraying Jesus carrying a cross during a Good Friday Crucifixion Walk, in Sydney (pictured)

Good Friday is the one of the highest religious holidays observed by Christians all over the world commemorating the crucifixion of Jesus before his resurrection three days later

They could take inspiration from two women named Mary, who spread the good news of Jesus' resurrection after discovering his tomb empty.

'In the face of doubt and a society that discounted women's voices, the women left that place and shared the good news with great joy,' Dr Deidre Palmer said.

'These women's courageous witness has echoed down through the centuries. We have the good news today because of their testimony.'

Catholic Archbishop of Sydney Reverend Anthony Fisher said Australia's turn around within a year was a symbol of hope.

'Twelve months ago, just before Holy Week, we went into lockdown... but the Easter paradox prevailed,' he said.

'A year later, we're free to worship again. The egg has cracked, the walls been torn down and new life emerges.'

The procession travelling around the Cathedral during the Stations of the Cross as part of Good Friday Easter services at St Mary's Cathedral in Sydney on Good Friday 2021

Members of the congregation at St Mary's Catherdral in Sydney on Friday (pictured)

Prime Minister Scott Morrison used his annual Easter message to praise the 'great spirit' and 'mateship' shown during one of Australia's most difficult 12 months.

In a video alongside his wife Jenny, Mr Morrison said people will come together at the Easter weekend 'in a way they haven't been able to do over the past year' because of the COVID-19 pandemic.

'The past year has been a tough one, and I particularly want to thank Australians for the great spirit that they've shown to each other,' the prime minister said in the message released on Good Friday.

'It's our capacity to love our neighbour as ourselves that I think has really demonstrated the great Aussie spirit of mateship over this past year.'
A British judge has ruled that Blackpool Council discriminated against Christians when it banned ads for the Lancashire Festival of Hope with Franklin Graham.

Judge Claire Evans of the County Court of Manchester ruled Thursday that the Blackpool Borough Council and Blackpool Transport Services wrongly censored ads for a 2018 event featuring Graham, son of the late evangelist Billy Graham.

Evans concluded that the Council and transportation officials had violated Graham's religious rights and had a wholesale disregard for the right to freedom of expression possessed by the Claimant.

It gave a preference to the rights and opinions of one part of the community without having any regard for the rights of the Claimant or those who shared its religious beliefs, wrote Evans.

Source:The Christian Post
Source: Xinhua| 2021-04-03 02:54:39|Editor: huaxia

Video Player Close

CAIRO, April 2 (Xinhua) -- The Iranian health ministry warned on Friday of "tough days ahead" for the country because of the COVID-19 pandemic as the country reported 117 coronavirus-related deaths in the past 24 hours, the highest daily fatalities in 2021. Meanwhile, the Iraqi Ministry of Health reported 5,882 new coronavirus cases, raising the total nationwide infections to 862,821.

Iranian Minister of Health and Medical Education Saeed Namaki wrote on social media that "we have said, if people do not listen to our expert advice, we would have a tough spring ahead."

Namaki stressed the necessity to look after the country's medical staff who are "tired after 14 months of relentless and dedicated work to control continuous peaks" of the disease.

He recognized the importance of the tourism economy for Iran, warning of the economic costs of managing a new surge of the pandemic.

The Iranian minister also said the country is running out of available hospital beds.

Lari also confirmed 11,660 new COVID-19 cases registered between Thursday and Friday, raising the caseload to 1,908,974 in Iran, while the death toll has climbed to 62,876.

The spokeswoman said 1,633,949 COVID-19 patients have recovered and been discharged from hospitals, while 4,005 others remain in intensive care units.

The Iraqi Ministry of Health reported on Friday 5,882 new coronavirus cases, raising the total nationwide infections to 862,821.

The new cases included 2,085 in the capital Baghdad, 682 in Basra, 328 in Wasit, 308 in Najaf, and 304 in Duhok, the ministry said in a statement.

It also reported 30 new deaths, raising the death toll from the infectious virus to 14,390, while the total recoveries in Iraq climbed by 4,119 to 768,215.

A total of 8,122,169 tests have been carried out across the country since the outbreak of the disease in February 2020, with 43,192 done during the day.

The ministry said 13,443 people were vaccinated during the past 24 hours across the country, bringing the total number of doses received to 84,662.

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.

Also on Friday, the Qatari health ministry announced 874 new COVID-19 infections, raising the total number of confirmed cases in the Gulf state to 181,678.

Meanwhile, 459 more recovered from the virus, bringing the overall recoveries to 165,003, while the fatalities increased by three to 298.

A total of 1,749,501 persons in Qatar have taken lab tests for COVID-19 so far, while the total number of vaccine doses administered is 867,209.

Israel's Ministry of Health reported 300 new COVID-19 cases on Friday, raising the total confirmed tally in the country to 833,707.

The death toll from the virus rose by two to 6,220, while the number of patients in serious condition decreased from 374 to 368, out of the 525 hospitalized patients.

This is the lowest number of patients in serious conditions in Israel since Dec. 12, 2020, when it stood at 343.

The total recoveries in Israel rose to 820,906 with 262 newly recovered cases, while the number of active cases increased to 6,581.

The number of people vaccinated against COVID-19 in Israel now stands at about 5.25 million, or 56.5 percent of its total population, after the vaccination campaign began on Dec. 20, 2020.

The country's COVID-19 reproduction number, also known as the R number, decreased from 0.64 to 0.61.

The R number is an indicator used to determine how fast the COVID-19 is spreading, as an R number greater than 1 means that the number of patients increases at an exponential rate and multiplies from time to time.

Lebanon registered on Friday 2,963 new COVID-19 cases, raising the total number of infections to 474,925, the Health Ministry said.

Meanwhile, the number of deaths from the virus increased by 60 to 6,346.

Lebanon will begin a three-day total lockdown on Saturday for the Easter holiday to prevent a potential increase in COVID-19 infections.

The Kuwaiti Health Ministry reported on Friday 1,233 new COVID-19 cases, bringing the total infections in the country to 234,754.

The ministry also announced eight more fatalities, taking the death toll to 1,327, while the tally of recoveries rose by 1,384 to 219,257. A total of 14,170 coronavirus patients are receiving treatment, including 241 in the intensive care units.

Tareq Al-Mezrem, Kuwait's government spokesman, said on Thursday that the government decided to further shorten the curfew by one hour from 7 p.m. to 5 a.m. local time, and allow walk inside residential areas from 7 p.m. to 10 p.m., starting from April 8 until April 22.

In addition, the government called on all citizens and residents to continue cooperation and commitment to health requirements and precautionary measures.

Morocco's COVID-19 tally rose to 497,257 on Friday as 581 new cases were registered during the past 24 hours.

According to a statement by the Ministry of Health, the death toll rose to 8,835 with 10 new fatalities during the last 24 hours, while 420 people are in intensive care units.

The total number of recoveries from COVID-19 in Morocco increased to 484,224 after 513 new ones were added, the statement said.

The COVID-19 fatality rate in Morocco stands at 1.8 percent while the recovery rate is 97.4 percent.

Meanwhile, 4,331,082 people have received so far the first vaccine shot against COVID-19 in the country, and 3,840,569 people have received the second dose.

The North African country launched a nationwide vaccination campaign on Jan. 28 after the arrival of the first shipment of China's Sinopharm vaccines. Enditem
Around 100 protesters gathered in Istanbul on Friday to demand the reversal of a recent decision by Turkey's president to withdraw from a landmark treaty aimed at protecting women from violence.

Friday's protest was part of demonstrations which have been ongoing for almost two weeks, following President Recep Tayyip Erdogan's surprise decree to leave the Council of Europe's Istanbul Convention.

The Convention states that men and women have equal rights and obliges state authorities to take steps to prevent gender-based violence against women, protect victims and prosecute perpetrators.

Demonstrators demanded the decree be withdrawn and called for an end to anti-LGBT actions amid growing intolerance from the government and police.

Women's rights groups and their allies called for demonstrations across the country last Saturday under the slogan "Withdraw the decision, implement the treaty."

They say the agreement is crucial to combating domestic violence.

However, some officials from Erdogan's Islam-oriented party had advocated for a review of the agreement, arguing it is inconsistent with Turkey's conservative values by encouraging divorce and undermining the traditional family unit.

The government has said one of the reasons Turkey pulled out of the Istanbul Convention is because it thinks the treaty attempts to "normalize homosexuality."

Hate speech has been on the rise in Turkey, and the country's interior minister has described LGBT people as "perverts" in a tweet.

Erdogan has rejected their existence altogether.

(Disclaimer: This story is auto-generated from a syndicated feed; only the image & headline may have been reworked by www.republicworld.com)
Lisa M. Simonetti, a Litigation Practice shareholder of global law firm Greenberg Traurig, LLP, has been honored by the Los Angeles Times as a 2021 Banking and Finance Visionary.

The award honors local leaders who have made noteworthy contributions to the banking and finance industry, to their organizations, and to the greater Los Angeles community. Winners are nominated by their peers and selected by the Los Angeles Times brand publishing team with input from readers, according to the publication.

Routinely listed among the best lawyers in America for banking and finance litigation, Lisa Simonetti joined Greenberg Traurig in 2019 and has quickly become a key member of the firms Financial Services Litigation and Regulatory Compliance practices, carving out an important niche defending complex class actions and enforcement proceedings, wrote the Los Angeles Times. Simonetti is recognized by colleagues at the firm and within the industry for her creative thinking in the courtroom, and her ability to craft unique arguments and present issues of first impression.

Simonetti, based in Greenberg Traurigs Los Angeles office, focuses on the defense of complex litigation, with broad experience representing clients in the financial services industry, including regional and national banks, credit card issuers, mortgage lenders, various types of loan servicers, consumer finance companies and third-party collectors. She serves as trial and appellate counsel in courts across the country and routinely counsels financial services clients on compliance with state and federal laws and regulations.

A thought leader in her field, Simonetti writes and speaks frequently on banking and finance matters, and co-hosts Greenberg Traurigs Unfair Competition Defense Podcast. Lisa is involved in community organizations that support LGBTQ+ rights, food insecurity, and housing instability, and is committed to protecting community members through pro bono work. A valuable team member within Greenberg Traurig, Simonetti is also dedicated to mentoring associates, as well as promoting diversity in the legal profession.

About Greenberg Traurig: Greenberg Traurig, LLP (GT), has approximately 2200 attorneys in 40 locations in the United States, Latin America, Europe, Asia, and the Middle East. GT has been recognized for its philanthropic giving, diversity, and innovation, and is consistently among the largest firms in the U.S. on the Law360 400 and among the Top 20 on the Am Law Global 100. The firm is net carbon neutral with respect to its office energy usage and Mansfield Rule 3.0 Certified. Web: http://www.gtlaw.com


Source: Xinhua| 2021-04-03 18:35:07|Editor: huaxia

Video Player Close

TEHRAN, April 3 (Xinhua) -- Iran's Foreign Ministry spokesman on Saturday ruled out any plan for the step-by-step removal of anti-Iran sanctions by the United States, Press TV reported.

"As it has been clearly stated many times, there is no step-by-step plan being considered" for the removal of sanctions, Saeed Khatibzadeh told Press TV.

Iran's definitive policy is that the United States lifts all sanctions "whether they are the re-imposed sanctions by (former U.S. President Donald) Trump after withdrawing from the JCPOA (the 2015 nuclear deal) or those he initiated, as well as the sanctions imposed under any other headings," Khatibzadeh was quoted as saying.

On Friday, Iranian Foreign Minister Mohammad Javad Zarif said Iran will be aiming at the "choreographed removal of all sanctions" at a meeting of the parties to the 2015 nuclear deal to be held on April 6.

Iran gradually stopped implementing parts of its JCPOA commitments from May 2019, one year after the Trump administration unilaterally abandoned the agreement and re-imposed sanctions on Iran. Enditem
Easter is one of the busier holidays for local florists in the United States, with families ordering spring blooms for their gatherings with loved ones. Esha Sarai speaks with a flower farmer and florist in Marshall, North Carolina about their best-selling products this time of year.
While some give up sweet treats or chocolate for Lent, one schoolgirl went on an extreme litter picking challenge  to honour the memory of Captain Sir Tom Moore.

Heather Kent, 13, was horrified by the amount of rubbish on her local streets and the danger it can pose to animals.

After being inspired by Captain Toms feat of fundraising for NHS charities, she made it her mission to collect 100 bags of rubbish over Lent, which began on February 17 and ends today.

Heather Kent, 13, was horrified by the amount of rubbish on her local streets and the danger it can pose to animals. She is pictured above with her mother Julie

It comes as the Daily Mail helps to launch Keep Britain Tidys Great British Spring Clean, asking readers to pledge to clean up our landscape and restore pride in our country.

More than 49,000 people have already signed up.

Heather, who hopes to one day become a wildlife presenter, said that she felt pushed to do something about the state of her local area in Fairford, Gloucestershire, after realising the litter could harm animals.

She said: I just hate the fact that a human action that people dont even think about  they just throw something out the window or drop it on the floor  can kill an animal. It just hurts that people can feel like they can do that.

Heather, who hopes to one day become a wildlife presenter, said that she felt pushed to do something about the state of her local area in Fairford, Gloucestershire, after realising the litter could harm animals

She has managed to inspire thousands who follow her journey on her social media pages, named A Bag A Day Keeps The Litter Away. Her efforts have gained her followers around the world, with some supporting her from as far away as California.

For the third year in a row Heather wanted to litter pick for Lent but feared that this years Covid-19 regulations might derail her plan.

However, she still aimed to pick up 100 bags over the 40 days and would pick up rubbish every day the Covid regulations would allow her to.

Heather found plenty of rubbish to meet her target, from discarded clothing, televisions and mobile phones to bottles, cans and even a 46-year-old crisp packet.

She filled 100 bags just under a week ago and continued to litter pick for six more days before Lent ends today.

In total, she managed to fill 112 bags of litter from her local roads, lay-bys and ditches.

In doing so, she also raised more than 2,000 for Great Western Hospital in Swindon.

Heather said: My main goal over the whole of Lent was to pick up 100 bags in memory of Captain Sir Tom. I think he was a really important person and it was just a way to connect to him.

It kind of made me feel that I related to him because I think hes a really inspiring person and what he did was absolutely amazing. Im raising money for Great Western Hospital as well. I think raising money for the NHS is really important so thats why I decided to do it in memory of him, as well as it being a goal for me.

She added: I could not have given up chocolate for Lent! Litter picking is so much more of a challenge. It gets you out in nature and to look at your surroundings and be thankful for what you have.

While Heather encouraged people around her to pick litter with her, because of social distancing during this years mission she was accompanied only by her mother Julie, 42, a retail assistant manager, or her painter-decorator father Bob, 59.

Mrs Kent said: Both her dad and I are extremely proud of what shes doing. Its just amazing.

I honestly didnt think she would reach the target and she did it with a few days to go. She added that Heather had made sure they completed their daily litter pick come rain or shine.

Weve been very lucky this year, I think weve only been out twice when its been raining. Weve done it in the snow in the past, she said.

Since joining secondary school, Heather said it has been harder to encourage her peers to join her because they dont find it cool.

But she added the project has been rewarding, saying: It makes me feel like Ive achieved something, when I pick up a plastic bottle. That can save many animals, just picking up that one piece of litter.

For people who want to pick up litter, just do it. If you do, it will get you angry because it gets to me sometimes. Sometimes its hard to process how much youve picked up. But dont let that stop you because litter picking is such a fun thing to do and you are looking after the environment.

Even if you only pick up one piece of litter, its absolutely amazing and making a big difference.
Barnesville

Naturalist Robin Tracey will lead a shine-only hike on the Oak/Hemlock Trail at Locust Lake State Park on April 16. The 4-mile jaunt is rated difficult. Dogs are welcome, but must be leashed and get along with people and other pets. Participants will meet at 10:30 a.m. at the visitors parking lot and should bring a lunch. Registration is required; call Tracey at 570-467-2506.

Pottsville

The Retired Nurses of Schuylkill County will meet at noon April 14 at the Pottsville Zone, 337 Peacock St.

Schuylkill Haven

The Schuylkill Haven Senior Citizens Association will meet at Island Park at 1 p.m. April 12. However, if the temperature is below 69 degrees or if there is high wind, the session will be at the senior center, with entrance by the gym doors, according to a release from Ruth Tucci. For information, call 570-385-5323.

Shenandoah

Divine Mercy Roman Catholic Parish homemade pierogies are available at the parish office, 108 W. Cherry St. Call in advance at 570-462-1968.

Valley View

The Hegins Area Ambulance Association will distribute via mail subscription information to residents in its service area, including Hegins, Hubley, Barry, Upper Mahantongo and Upper Mahanoy townships, plus Eldred and Upper Dauphin, including Gratz. People are asked to read the information. Subscriptions are effective June 1 through May 31, 2022. Open enrollment is from May 1 to June 30. After June 30, there will be a 30-day waiting period. A public informational meeting is set for 9 to 10 a.m. and 10:30 to 11:30 a.m. May 1 at the ambulance building, 352 Gap St., Valley View. For more information, call 570-682-3598.
(Natural News) Researchers from the University of Oklahoma and the University of Notre Dame found that the more than 45 million grasshoppers that swarmed Las Vegas one summer night in 2019 did so due to light pollution. The researchers said that artificial lights lured the grasshoppers into the city, noting that the greatest numbers were concentrated over where the lights were brightest.

Its really hard to wrap your mind around that volume, Elske Tielens, an insect ecologist and the lead researchers of the study, told the New York Times. Were getting more grasshoppers in the air on a single day than you get humans coming to Vegas to gamble across an entire year.

The study was published on March 31 in the journal Biology Letters.

Light pollution affects grasshoppers behavior

In July 2019, swarms of pallid-winged grasshoppers from southern Nevada descended on Vegas every night. Their numbers grew each day, peaking on July 26 to such a size that locals named it the great grasshopper invasion of 2019.

Experts attributed the invasion in part to Vegas brilliant display of lights. Luxor Hotel and Casino, a 30-story pyramid on the Las Vegas Strip that was inspired by the ancient Egyptian structures, was among the magnets that drew grasshoppers to the city. Staff members said that airline pilots from as far away as Los Angeles could see the Sky Beam, a powerful column of light issuing nightly from the pyramids peak.

Tielens and her team thought the grasshopper invasion could show artificial lights impact on insects at a regional level, which had not been explored at such a scale before. To that end, the researchers collected data from weather stations around Las Vegas and from the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration.

Radar images showed roving clouds of grasshoppers that moving all over Vegas, resembling what commonly appeared on radar screens during a thunderstorm. The grasshoppers seemed to have been following a daily routine dictated by the day-night cycle: They would spread out over a wide area of vegetation during the day and take to the sky by dusk, venturing in droves toward the citys brightest spots. (Related: Light pollution found to disrupt natural balance between insects and predators, impacting ecosystem health.)

The researchers then examined the clouds size and density, along with the grasshoppers size and weight, to calculate the number of insects that flew on the peak night. Their calculations showed that more than 45 million grasshoppers flocked the city on July 26, which they estimated could weigh around 30 tons.

Based on these findings, the researchers concluded that light pollution could influence the behavior of regional insect populations. Brett Seymoure, an ecologist at Washington University in St. Louis, who was not part of the study, called the findings exciting.

We really dont have evidence until right now, with this paper, that the light dome is guiding insects, Seymoure said.

Behavioral changes from light pollution could lead to extinction of several insect species

Ecologists are concerned that various insect species are headed toward extinction. The concern comes from the fact that many insect populations are rapidly dwindling, driven by human stressors such as light pollution, pesticide use and urbanization.

David Wagner, an insect scientist from the University of Connecticut, estimates that insect populations are declining by one to two percent every year. Youre losing 10 to 20 percent of your animals over a single decade and that is just absolutely frightening. Youre tearing apart the tapestry of life, Wagner told the Guardian in January.

Grasshoppers are among those whose numbers are shrinking. A study published last year shows that grasshopper populations in a Kansas grassland preserve went down by more than 30 percent over the last two decades. The finding is quite unexpected because the reserve is thought to be a stable habitat for grasshoppers.

Wagner and other scientists warn that without urgent action, several insects may eventually go extinct, which can have dire implications for ecosystems and other animals along the food chain.

Learn more about how light pollution and other human stressors are driving insects to extinction at Ecology.news.

Sources include:

DailyMail.co.uk

NYTimes.com 1

NYTimes.com 2

EcoWatch.com

ScienceDaily.com
April 03 : After Alia Bhatt tested positive for coronavirus, her mom and veteran actress Soni Razdan took to Twitter and shared a poem she had written about the new wave of coronavirus pandemic in the country.

Taking to her Twitter handle, Soni Razdan wrote, This is no ordinary wave ...its everywhere. In our houses, in our hair. Im getting a bit of a scare. Its no ordinary wave. its everywhere ... dont know how we shall fare .. how do we begin to care... about so many here and there... its everywhere, its everywhere.

This is no ordinary wave ...its everywhere. In our houses, in our hair. Im getting a bit of a scare. Its no ordinary wave.. its everywhere ... dont know how we shall fare .. how do we begin to care... about so many here and there... its everywhere, its everywhere   Soni Razdan (@Soni_Razdan) April 2, 2021

Earlier, Alia shared her diagnosis and wrote on her Instagram story, Hello all, I have tested positive for Covid-19. I have immediately isolated myself and will be under home quarantine. I am following all safety protocols under the advice of my doctors. Grateful for all your love and support. Please stay safe and take care.

Alias boyfriend Ranbir Kapoor had also tested positive for COVID-19. After recovering, the actor was seen with Alia as they headed to the dubbing studio for Brahmastra. Alia was currently shooting for Gangubai Kathiawadi, whose director Sanjay Leela Bansali has just recovered from COVID-19. However, shooting for Gangubai Kathiawadi will now not take place for the next two weeks.

In an earlier tweet, Soni had questioned why the most active age group of 16 to 40 people are not being given the vaccine first. Tagging Maharashtra Chief Minister Uddhav Thackeray, the actress tweeted, When its really the 16 to 40 age group thats socialising going out to work, bars, nightclubs etc (the last 2 without masks mostly) just cant understand why they arent getting the vaccine first. @uddhavthackeray @AUThackeray.

After Paresh Rawal, Kartik Aaryan, Rohit Saraf, Bappi Lahiri, now Fatima Sana Shaikh and TV actress Rupali Ganguly have contacted the virus. While Rupali has no symptoms, Fatima has lost her sense of taste and smell. Both are in home quarantine.

Latest updates on Coronavirus (COVID-19)
CORVALLIS, Ore. --- One man has been pronounced dead after an officer-involved shooting in Corvallis early Saturday morning.

The Corvallis Police Department said officers responded to a report of a male trespassing in the Days Inn Hotel.

An employee told police that a male was acting in an aggressive manner and was trying to get into guests' rooms.

When officers contacted the man, they found that he was armed with a knife. Shortly after is when the officer-involved shooting occurred.

Emergency aid was given to the suspect but he was pronounced dead at the scene.

The deceased is a 32-year-old Philomath resident.

The officers involved have been placed on administrative leave.

The investigation is still ongoing and is being led by the Albany Police Department with assistance from the Benton County Major Crimes Team.

This is a developing story. Stay with KEZI 9 News for updates.
Vast sums of money sloshing around the financial sector are enriching shareholders but producing little real-world value, according to a new analysis of business investment from American Compass, a conservative think tank.

The analysis by Oren Cass, formerly a senior fellow at the Manhattan Institute and an adviser to Mitt Romney's 2012 presidential campaign, finds that much of the money that businesses once funneled into productivity-increasing assets - structures, equipment and intellectual property - is now being diverted to shareholders instead.

This pursuit of short-term payouts over long-term investment appears to be depressing economic growth, the report finds,exacerbating inequality and making it harder than ever for American workers and their families to get ahead.

Historically, profitable businesses return some of their excess earnings to shareholders and invest much of the rest back into the company in the form of new machines, new buildings and intellectual property. These so-called capital investments have traditionally been one of the drivers of economic growth.

But, as many economists have observed, such investments have been on the wane for decades in the United States, particularly relative to gross domestic product and corporate profits. Cass digs into these numbers at the company level, which dates back to 1971, characterizing firms into two main categories: eroders, who allow their capital assets to depreciate to pay their shareholders; and sustainers, who invest in their capital assets at a rate faster than depreciation, ensuring their assets grow.

Sustainers "can and do invest in new assets faster than they use up existing ones," Cass writes. "Most companies in a well-functioning capitalist economy should be Sustainers and, historically, most were."

Eroders, by contrast, "actively disinvest from themselves, allowing their capital bases to erode even while paying to shareholders the resources they would have needed if they wanted to maintain their health."

There's also a third category of business, called growers, which need to borrow to fund levels of growth that are currently beyond the scale of their profits.

Cass makes a startling finding: In the 1970s, less than 20% of the money in U.S. stock markets was in the so-called eroders. But by 2017 close to half of it was.

Over the same period, the market capitalization of sustainers dropped by a similar amount.

Cass notes, for instance, that technology firm Cisco spent $101 billion buying back shares of its stock in the past 15 years but invested only $15 billion over the same period.

Then there's IBM: In the 1970s, according to Cass's analysis, it sent 30 cents to shareholders for every $1 it invested. But by 2014, it was paying them $5 for every $1 in capital investments.

Sustainers include "the massive technology firms with the largest market capitalization," Cass writes, including Apple, Alphabet and Facebook.

One result of this shift is the growing flow of cash from nonfinancial firms into the financial sector. "The net outflow of resources from the real economy has more than doubled as a share of GDP, from 1.5% to 4.0%," Cass writes. It's one of the factors driving the growing disconnect between the performance of the stock market and the health of the rest of the economy.

Most economists say the rise of the shareholder primacy theory of business - which states that a company's first duty is to maximize profits for its shareholders - is a major driver of this phenomenon.

"Milton Friedman's famous essay ('The Social Responsibility of Business Is To Increase Its Profits') is seen as marking a sea-change in thinking because it said shareholders come first and anything else is inefficient," Cass wrote via email. "And shareholders, perhaps rationally, seem relatively more interested in short-run profits" than in long-term investment.

This shift in thinking was accompanied by an explosion of creative profit-seeking in the financial sector. "Some private equity firms said 'actually, if we buy these [companies] up and sell them off for parts, or squeeze the workers and the suppliers and cut capital investment and load on a lot of debt . . . we could get a lot more money out than we're going to have to pay," Cass wrote.

Some economists view this sort of behavior as beneficial to society. Kevin Hassett, head of the Council of Economic Advisers under Trump, told The Post in 2018 that when a company buys back its stock, a person invested in that company either "buys some other stock or invests in some other business that actually needs the money. The money is reinvested and is increasing the efficiency of the economy by moving cash to the firms that need it the most."

But Cass says the practice has grown so widespread, and actual investment has declined so much, that it's turned into a game of investment hot potato: Companies pay off shareholders, who invest in other companies, which pay off their shareholders, who invest in still other companies, over and over ad infinitum. At every step in the chain there's a financial firm taking a cut, and very little money ends up making its way back to what Cass calls the "real" economy of goods and nonfinancial services.

"The problem arises when the financial sector stops serving the real economy and instead the real economy serves the financial sector," Cass said. "The assets in the real economy become merely the medium that the financial sector uses to conduct a variety of non-investment activities for its own profit."

Not all economists agree with Cass's diagnosis. Don Schneider, former chief economist of the House Ways and Means Committee, noted in a lengthy Twitter thread that other ways of measuring business investment don't show the same decline seen in analyses by Cass and others. He added that the literature on business investment is "really conflicting, with many compelling theories & measures of investment to assess them by" and that it provides "no good definitive answers."

Cass, however, views declining business investment as a driver of many of the ills facing the American economy today. Companies that don't invest in themselves are hindering their own productivity, which means lower wages for their workers. Massive shareholder payouts overwhelmingly benefit the rich, who own most of the money in the stock market.

All told, Cass says, it's a recipe for economic stagnation across the board. "The nation's capital base is smaller by literally trillions of dollars as a result, representing untold enterprises never built, innovations never pursued, and workers never given opportunity," he writes.
Last week Trevor Nott, of Nott Auto, became the first car dealer in Winnipeg  and maybe in the country  to accept cryptocurrency as payment for a car.

Last week Trevor Nott, of Nott Auto, became the first car dealer in Winnipeg  and maybe in the country  to accept cryptocurrency as payment for a car.

Last week, he sold an Audi RS4 for around $60,000 and is about to close a sale on a Tesla for $80,000 with the buyers using bitcoin and not Canadian dollars.

As the premier luxury used car dealership in the city, Nott Auto has been selling Teslas for about eight years. (Hes not able to sell new ones any more as the company is building its own corporate store in the city.)

Nott has become a bitcoin enthusiast very recently  but not because of Tesla founder Elon Musks famous endorsement of cryptocurrency  after selling a number of cars using conventional payments to a young bitcoin millionaire.

"This guy, a young guy in his thirties, was buying all these crazy cars and one day I said to him I wanted to buy him lunch and learn about this," Nott said. "Since then hes sort of taken me under his wing."

The fact that bitcoin valuation has been spiking these days  trading at around C$70,000 on Thursday  has made some bitcoin holders extravagantly flush.

Meanwhile, the pandemic lockdown has prompted well-heeled individuals to indulge themselves.

"Theres no $500 Jets or Bomber games or trips to Disneyland," Nott said. "Instead people are buying cars or other toys. Boats and snowmobiles are sold out. It is a wild time."

As he started to learn about cryptocurrency he joined some online forums with other digital currency enthusiasts and quickly learned that almost all of them were also very into cars.

"They are young, tech-savvy and they love cars," he said. "I figured, why am I not selling all of our services, not just the cars but customization work as well. They all want to make the cars unique."

Without getting into the nuts and bolts around the creation of coins (for the uninitiated it is just too abstract a concept to think about mining for coins), Nott said that accepting payment this way could not be easier or faster.

The encrypted key or code to the coins is transferred and theres no need to get the banks involved with their volumes of documents and waiting for money to clear. Its much faster than any kind of bank transfer.

"Its as easy as getting a tea at Tim Hortons," said Nott.

Nott said even his bank is encouraging him. Although there is a risk for the vendor that the value of the bitcoins they have received in payment will decline, the easy way to mitigate that is to immediately convert them to Canadian dollars, which is what Nott has done.

He said he is considering keeping some and maybe doing some of his own procurement with cryptocurrency.

In any case, he expects to do more deals accepting payment with the digital currency.

"Because I am living in the bitcoin world myself now the people on the forums know I own a luxury car dealership, I expect Im going to be quite busy," he said.

That may be true in the medium term, but in the short term maybe not so much, thats because the recent increase in valuation  bitcoins have doubled in value since the beginning of the year  might convince some to hold on to to them longer.

Matthew Burgoyne, a partner at Calgary law firm McLeod Law LLP (and an ex-Winnipegger) whose practice specializes in the cryptocurrency and blockchain industries, said his was probably the first large law firm in the country to accept payment for legal services in bitcoin back in 2014.

He said up until about five months ago retainers were often being paid in bitcoin or Ethereum, the second-largest digital currency whose market cap is about 25 per cent of bitcoins.

"But lately not many want to part with bitcoin because of the increase in price. Theyre hoarding it and dont want to spend it on goods and services," Burgoyne said.

There is still a reluctance to use bitcoin to pay for goods and services, but some of that anxiety around the newness of the technology is starting to abate.

"Its a very fast, efficient way to accept payment, especially when receiving money from people out of the country," said Burgoyne. "Our accountant didnt have much difficulty accepting it."

For vendors the risk is mitigated by converting right away.

Considering the outrageous spike in valuations, maybe the smart play is keep it in the digital wallet.

Nott thinks hell probably start doing just that.

"Who knows where it will go," said Burgoyne. "I could see it going close to $100,000 in the next year or so."

martin.cash@freepress.mb.ca
Ancient mummies of Egypt's royal pharaohs are set to emerge from their resting places on April 3 and parade through the streets of Cairo, moving from the historic Museum of Egyptian Antiquities to their new home in the recently inaugurated National Museum of Egyptian Civilization. According to BBC, a grand parade, in what is called The Pharaohs Golden Parade, will convey 22 ancient Egyptian royal mummies - 18 kings and four queens - in specifically designed capsules across the capital Cairo. The mummies will be relocated in chronological order of their reigns i.e., from 17th Dynasty ruler, Seqenenre Taa II, to Ramses IX, who reigned in the 12th Century BC.

(@_tanamoon/Twitter)

On Saturday, the Egyptian authorities will be shutting down roads along the Nile for the elaborate ceremony, which is designed to drum up interest in Egypts rich collections of antiquities when tourism has almost entirely stalled because of coronavirus related restrictions. As per reports, each mummy will be placed in a special capsule filled with nitrogen to ensure protection and the capsules will be carried on carts designed to cradle them and provide stability. They will be carried on a decorated vehicle fitted with special shock-absorbers and surrounded by a motorcade, including replica horse-drawn war chariots.

King Ramses II to be one of main attractions

Salima Ikram, professor of Egyptology at the American University in Cairo, said that the Ministry of Tourism and Antiquities has done its best to make sure that the mummies have been stabilised, conserved, and are packed in a climate-controlled environment. He also informed the mummies have already seen a lot of movement in Cairo and before that in Thebes, where they were moved from their own tombs to other sepulchres for safety. It is worth noting that one of the main attractions of Saturday's event is King Ramses II, the most famous pharaoh of the New Kingdom, who ruled for 67 years and is remembered for signing the first known peace treaty.

(@_tanamoon/Twitter)

Now, the Egyptian authorities are hoping that the new museum, which opens fully this month, will help revitalise tourism. The industry has been battered by political turbulence over the past decade, and more recently by the COVID-19 pandemic. Saturday's event will also be streamed online for all enthusiasts of ancient Egypt to watch.

(@_tanamoon/Twitter)
A new poll from the Pew Research Center found that an overwhelming majority of American Catholics believe that despite his support for abortion, President Joe Biden should be allowed to receive communion.

Bidens outspoken support for abortion puts him at odds with the official teaching of the Roman Catholic Church, of which he is a member. The Catholic Church teaches that abortion is gravely contrary to the moral law. In a 2004 memo to then-Washington, D.C., Cardinal Theodore McCarrick and Wilton Gregory, who served as Bishop of Belleville, Illinois, at the time, Cardinal Joseph Ratzinger, who would later become Pope Benedict XVI, outlined the factors that determined an individuals worthiness to receive communion.

Regarding the grave sin of abortion or euthanasia, when a persons formal cooperation becomes manifest (understood, in the case of a Catholic politician, as his consistently campaigning and voting for permissive abortion and euthanasia laws), his Pastor should meet with him, instructing him about the Churchs teaching, informing him that he is not to present himself for Holy Communion until he brings to an end the objective situation of sin, and warning him that he will otherwise be denied the Eucharist, he wrote.

When these precautionary measures have not had their effect or in which they were not possible, and the person in question, with obstinate persistence, still presents himself to receive the Holy Eucharist, the minister of Holy Communion must refuse to distribute it, the memo continued.

Source:The Christian Post
Tollywood is set to see a surge of big films either based in thick forests or with the forests adding a crucial character to the storyline. Close on the heels of the recently released Rana-starrer, Aranya, Virata Parvam  also starring Rana  is slated for release in April-end.

It is to be followed by other big movies in the subsequent months, including KrishRakul Preet Singhs untitled movie, the Allu Arjun-starrer Pushpa, Rajamoulis RRR and Gopichands next, which is set to explore Seshachalam, Nallamala, Thailand, Nilgiri and Chittoor forests.

In other words, Telugu film viewers can expect to be served a liberal dose of the green world with a penchant.

Producer Suresh Babu, who is making the rural-saga Narappa, in which the protagonists of the movie hide in thick jungles, admits to the recent fascination of a few filmmakers with thick jungles. Back in 1990, we made the film Bobbili Raja in the forests. It was a bit expensive at that point.

Narappa captures the best of terrains and greenery in the forest region near Anantapur District, says Suresh. However, the escalating production costs as a result of the forest backdrop are concerning.

Although, I didnt produce Ranas recent movie Aranya, the makers of the forest-centric movie spent a bomb as they had to shoot with fifteen elephants and the unit had to stay in the jungles for long periods, adds Suresh.

But was production cost the only concern? What about threats from the wildlife, we wonder. More than the threat of wild animals, unit members are usually advised to be cautious about leeches during the rainy season, for instance. A few snakes and small insects also fall into the precautionary lists, for the skin rashes they could cause. Its important to remember that as we are encroaching into their territory, we have to take every step watchfully, he remarks.

The grandeur of forests showing through

For filmmaker Venu Udugula, whos directing Virata Parvam, the jungles charm had more to do with his storyline than its scenic beauty or overcoming the fear of wild animals. He speaks about looking forward to exploring the mysteries of the jungles in the film, which was shot in the forests in Vikarabad and Karnataka.

Frankly, forest is one of the characters in my film and a very vital motif in our ultras storynot just a mere backdrop, explains Venu. I believe every forest has its own story to tell and they have remained spectators to many good and bad events happening right before its eyes.

Producer Bogavalli Prasad agrees that forests were used for a song or a fight in the past. However, he also admits that making a complete film in green shades will be pleasing to the eye for the movie buff as it will be enchanting.

Far from the madding crowd

In addition to filmmakers, actress Adah Sharma, who is doing an untitled forest-based thriller in Telugu with director Vipra, has shot in the laps of nature for twenty-eight days. It was a wonderful experience shooting in forests and I could breathe fresh air from bountiful trees, away from concrete jungles, adds the actress poetically.

Of course, not everything was hunky-dory. The life out of the jungles was sometimes inaccessible. The actress missed calls because of the lack of network in the deep forests.

I was happy that I wasnt disturbed by calls or messages and that I could concentrate on my work completely. In fact, those few weeks served as a phone detox period for me, she concludes.
Following a controversy over a polling team in carrying an EVM in the vehicle belonging to the wife of a BJP candidate, the on Saturday held a protest against the incident and alleged that the ruling party in the state is indulging in electoral manipulation.

Amid slogan-shouting by the party workers, Pradesh Committee president Ripun Bora urged the Election Commission to take strict action against the BJP leaders who carry out illegal activities that hamper the polling process.

The protest rally was not allowed to move forward on the busy arterial G S Road and stopped at the gate of the state headquarters 'Rajiv Bhawan'.

Bora submitted a memorandum to Joint Commissioner of Police (Crime and Law and Order) Debaraj Upadhaya to send it to the Office of Chief Electoral Officer of the state.

Violence had broken out in Karimganj district of on Thursday night after a crowd spotted the BJP candidate's vehicle being used to transport a polled EVM to the strong room, forcing the police to fire in the air to bring the situation under control.

The incident snowballed into a huge controversy on Friday morning with the opposition Congress and AIUDF alleging that the EVM was being "stolen", prompting the Election Commission to suspended four poll officials and order a repoll at the booth as a video of the fiasco went viral on social media.

According to a district official, the vehicle of the polling party of the 149-Indira MV School in the Ratabari constituency broke down on its way to the strong room in Karimganj town, and they took a lift on a private car.

Incidentally, the car was registered under the name of the wife of the sitting BJP MLA from Patharkandi Krishnendu Paul who is seeking re-election from the same seat this time, the official had said.

Ratabari is currently represented by BJP MLA Bijoy Malakar, who is contesting the election as well.

"Krishnendu Paul was found carrying an EVM in his car. This was done in violation of the Election Code of Conduct and the laws laid down under the Representation of Peoples Act, 1951," Bora said, citing his party's memorandum.

He also alleged that people found several EVMs in a vehicle not requisitioned for election purpose near Hatipura polling station in Diphu town.

"Several voting machines were also seized in Jamunamukh constituency when being carried by government officials without security personnel. An EVM was missing from a polling booth in Kalaigaon segment," the Congress claimed in its representation to the CEO.

Congress Campaign Committee chairman Pradyut Bordoloi said, "We urged the EC to uphold the sanctity of political representation in a democracy and take action against the glaring misuse of power by the ruling regime in Assam."



"The party and the people are convinced that the BJP is rattled, that is why it is resorting to treachery to win the elections," he alleged.

Meanwhile, the Election Commission reduced the 48-hour campaign ban imposed on Assam minister and BJP leader Himanta Biswa Sarma to 24 hours after he tendered an "unconditional apology" and assured the poll panel that he will abide by the provisions of the model code.

The BJP leader now can start campaigning from Saturday evening.

He was on Friday initially barred from campaigning- related activities till April 4 for allegedly making threatening remarks against Bodoland People's Front (BPF) chief Hagrama Mohilary.

The Congress had approached the EC demanding action against Sarma for his remark that Mohilary would be sent to jail through central probe agency NIA if he does "extremism" with rebel leader M Batha.

The BPF is an ally of the Congress in Assam. It was previously with the BJP.

Canvassing for the third and final phase of Assam assembly elections comes to an end on the evening of April 4. The final phase of polling will be held on April 6.

The Assam Congress chief also urged the poll panel to take action against state minister Pijush Hazarika who allegedly threatened two journalists for reporting about a controversial campaign speech by his wife.

The minister is contesting from the Jagiroad constituency where polling took place in the second phase on Thursday.
Alyssa Milano and Holy Marie Combs have taken issue with current Grey's Anatomy showrunner Krista Vernoff's explanation for why she left their hit series Charmed as a writer and producer.

The former co-stars did not agree with Vernoff's assertion during a new interview that she was 'creating something that's now bad for the world' after working on the show for three seasons.

Vernhoff singled out one particular Charmed episode, where Milano was dressed in a revealing mermaid outfit, that played a role in her decision to move on from the supernatural fantasy drama.

Hitting back: Holly Marie Combs and Alyssa Milano were united in disagreeing with Krista Vernoff's assertion that she was contributing to 'creating something that's now bad for the world' about midway through the series' eight season run (1998-2006)

'I signed on because Charmed was a girl-power show,' Vernoff, 49 shared in an interview with The Hollywood Reporter.

'About halfway through there was an episode where Alyssa Milano comes out in mermaid pasties and there was a huge spike in male viewership, and then every episode after, the question would come from the network, "How are we getting the girls naked this week?"' she explained.

She went on to share how she was offered double her salary to do a fourth season but turned it down.

'And they were throwing money at me, and the number keeps going up, and there's all this pressure, and all I can think is, "I'm creating something that's now bad for the world, and I've had enough bad for the world in my life."'

Vernoff singled out the mermaid episode, where star Alyssa Milano was dressed in a revealing mermaid outfit, as to playing a role in her decision to move on from the supernatural fantasy drama

Her take: In an interview with The Hollywood Reporter, Vernoff said 'the question would come from the network, "How are we getting the girls naked this week?"' after the mermaid episode

The episode in question was among the two-part season five premiere, A Witch's Tail, that aired in September 2020.

For its first three seasons, Charmed was the second-highest rated series on The WB, behind 7th Heaven. By its fifth season, the series became the highest-rated Sunday night program in The WB's history.

Milano, who played the role of Phoebe Halliwell during the show's entire eight season run, got emotional when she responded to Vernoff's revelation.

'Well, this absolutely broke my heart. I hope we didn't make something that was bad for the world for eight years,' Milano shared on Twitter.

'I think we gave permission to a generation of women to be themselves and to be strong and own their sexuality. I'm so proud of what this show meant to so many.'

Stars align: Milano, 48, still feels Charmed was a positive girl-power show

Stars align: Combs, 47, hit back directly and declared Charmed 'was not bad for the world'

'Rallying against it'Combs said she 'never cared what producer or network executives wanted' the three leading ladies 'more naked for the $,' in another tweet

Combs, who played the role of Piper Halliwell, did not mince words when she disagreed with Charmed being 'bad for the world' on Twitter.

'I can attest 1000% Charmed was not bad for the world. The reasons and people are too long to list. Maybe it was bad for Kristas world at the time. End story.'

She added, 'And the fact that we can still stand up for ourselves and the show and the people who loved it proves this. I never cared what producer or network exec wanted us more naked for their $. And still dont. We knew how to rally against it and found our own power. And still do,' along with the hashtag #Facts.
For a long time, liberals have been accusing conservatives of being conspiracy theorists. Say anything about Hunter Biden, and you're a conspiracy theorist. Urge Andrew Cuomo to resign, and you're a conspiracy theorist.

Now it's worse. Conservatives aren't just conspiracy theorists; they're white supremacists. Like those who defend Georgia's voting reforms designed to protect the integrity of the election. Or any person or business that lives or operates in Georgia. For the left, anyone associated with a bill designed to prevent voter fraud, and so deny Democrats permanent power, is a white supremacist.

Maybe that was the point of Biden's attack on "extremism, white supremacy, domestic terrorism" in his inaugural address. Democrats are seeing white supremacists everywhere they look  like the New Republic, which in 2017 suggested that Trump's economic agenda of returning manufacturing jobs to America was "white supremacist." Or the accusation elsewhere that Trump ignored supposed connections between the police and white supremacists, or the supposed Alt-Right "bridge between conservatism and white supremacism" (so now "conservatism" in general is "white supremacist"?).

Once again, liberal thinking has followed the race to the bottom, whereby anything one disagrees with is "white supremacist."

It's easy to charge someone with being a white supremacist because it's difficult to prove a negative. Once charged, if charged often enough, the charge may stick even if baseless. In a 2019 poll, 57% of Americans agreed that President Trump is a white supremacist or emboldened them. What "embolden" meant in that context is not clear. The media worked overtime to establish this idea in the minds of the public, and now they're using the same rhetoric to attack opponents of the Biden administration.

The charge against conservatives appears daily on thousands of liberal media outlets. It's now commonplace to accuse anyone who takes pride in America  anyone who admires George Washington, Thomas Jefferson, Abraham Lincoln, to say nothing of Reagan or Trump  of being a vicious white supremacist. Or even anyone who questions "Black Lives Matter," or is not vocal enough in his support.

What's happening with the rhetoric of white supremacism is the classic tactic of expanding the definition of something odious until it covers everything outside your own way of thinking. It's the equivalent of labeling your opponent a "fascist" just for opposing your ideas, and like the charge of fascism, its purpose is to silence the opponent without having to debate him. This because once you debate him, you might discover that you are wrong.

As Orwell understood, such rhetoric can be effective. Create a lie and repeat it often enough, and it comes to seem as if it were true. Orwell was correct in his belief that "in our time it is broadly true that political writing is bad writing"  with the exception, he said, of those rebels, including many conservatives, who express their own honest opinions outside the "party line."

As Orwell realized early on, the political language of the left relies on vague charges and deliberate obfuscation. What better, in our own time, than the vague charge of white supremacy? Most everyone would agree that white supremacy is a bad thing, but the fact is that there are few white supremacists around. So charging someone with white supremacy without a basis in fact is a grave error  a crime, actually (slander or libel). And yet, for many liberals, attacking opponents with white supremacist rhetoric is the equivalent of saying, "I don't like you."

Leftists often use such extreme rhetoric to deflect attention from their own incompetence and corruption. During the presidential campaign, candidate Biden boasted of what he would accomplish in his "first 100 days." What has he accomplished, other than a ruinous stimulus bill loaded with political payoffs to key constituencies and a border crisis of mounting proportions?

The next 100 days look worse. It's true: by July, most Americans will have been vaccinated, largely due to former President Trump's Operation Warp Speed. But, according to reliable predictions, the border crisis will worsen, and questions about the economy will emerge based on the unsustainability of federal deficits. Biden refuses to call for Cuomo's resignation, which many believe must come soon enough. And Biden may find it harder and harder to appear in public, much less to participate in an actual press conference, where the questions have not been submitted in advance and those chosen limited to cooperative members of the press.

The white supremacist rhetoric opens up a slippery slope whereby eventually one may be charged with racism simply for the "crime" of being white, and certainly for the crime of being a Southern white. Kamala Harris played the race card in her primary debate with candidate Joe Biden. Just because he was a white male who had opposed busing, on legitimate grounds, he was deemed a racist. Presumably, she could not have made that charge against a black who had opposed busing, as many did. Then, during the campaign, she repeatedly suggested that President Trump was a white supremacist or had ties to or sympathized with white supremacists.

One assumes that V.P. Harris does not now consider President Biden a racist  not, at least, until it becomes politically expedient to do so. At that moment, perhaps when she wishes to remove him from office, she might play the race card again.

For now, Harris confines her accusations to anyone else who gets in her way. Her comparison of ICE to the KKK introduced white supremacy rhetoric into the discussion of the border crisis. Other situations are perfectly suited to the white supremacist charge. The retrial of George Floyd's killer, the shooting of Asian-Americans in the Atlanta area, resistance to the expansion of federal gun control laws after several recent mass shootings  those who oppose the left's script are immediately characterized as white supremacists.

As things worsen, expect to hear the white supremacist charge thrown around more often. Who knows what comes next? Silencing the opposition involves tarring it with the worst sort of charges  charges that reduce the opponent to a category that has no right to speak. Whatever comes next, liberals won't be loath to employ it. Their record of abusive rhetoric makes that clear.

Jeffrey Folks is the author of many books and articles on American culture including Heartland of the Imagination (2011).

Image via Public Domain.

You can find the MeWe post for this article here.
About 3:30 a.m, a 29-year-old man was shot while he was a passenger in a vehicle traveling on Lower Wacker Drive. The man heard shots and felt pain in the knee. He was taken to Stroger Hospital, where his condition was stabilized, police said.
In the aftermath of stinging criticisms of being duplicitous, by a slew of Dancehall artists, Jamaican Prime Minister Andrew Holness has doubled down on his stance regarding the contribution of violent lyrics to the levels of crime on the island.

In an interview with Television Jamaicas reporter, Kirk Wright which was aired on Radio Jamaicas Beyond the Headlines yesterday, an unwavering Holness said as much as he loved Dancehall music, and was an unapologetic fan of the genre, he had to speak the naked truth, as some of the lyrics are glorifying violence and are, therefore, harmful.

The unrepentant PM made his comments whilst speaking in the interview about the incessant violence on the island, and then eventually steered the discourse to Dancehall.

There is a very sensitive topic which I will never resile from and which I have always raised, that whilst I am the biggest supporter of our music, our culture and I listen to Dancehall music  and I dont apologise for it  Ive always formed the view that the music could be so much more if it were less violent, less glorifying of violence, the Prime Minister said.

And my job is to reflect to the country the uncomfortable truths sometimes. I dont believe in isolating culture. I dont believe in leaving our deejays and our artistes on the periphery and not engage them, Holness, who is also the Member of Parliament for St. Andrew said.

The Prime Minister also said that as Head of the Government, he has been the only leader to openly express his love for the art form and to fully engage Dancehall artists, in spite of whether or not they specialize in violent lyrics.

More than any other Prime Minister, I have sought to lean forward and engage our Dancehall artists, even those who make songs that are violent. Because in a sense I understand the genre; I understand the culture, Holness explained.

But you would have to interpret my posture as saying: listen guys; we have a responsibility and a duty, so even though it sounds good, and we are going to go to the party and dance to it and call forward for it again, at some point we have to realize that what we may be doing, is glorifying; that what we may be doing, is legitimizing violence, he added.

Holness interview came following a barrage of accusations from artists and ordinary Jamaicans who have berated him for being hypocritical, after he, in the Lower House of Parliament on Tuesday, said that violent music plays a role in influencing the behavior of some people who carry out vicious acts on their countrymen and women.

One point of reference was to the PM adopting the moniker Brogad, a term made popular by 6IX deejay Daddy1 in his song Brogad.

The other was his use of dubplates during last years general election campaign, which were voiced personally for him by artists who are known for spitting violent lyrics with impunity, even though Holness had said at the time that most of these dubplates were not commissioned by politicians, but that several artistes voiced the campaign songs of their own accord and approached his party.

On Wednesday, a day after Holness made his statements, Mavado, Masicka, Dovey Magnum, and other Dancehall artists took him to task after he said, among other things, that entertainers, while entitled to their freedom of speech, and are protected by the constitution, also have a duty to the children who are listening to them.

This is the second time since the beginning of the year that Holness has spoken out against violent lyrics pervading Dancehall music.

In late January, whilst speaking at a Jamaica Stock Exchange event, while giving pride of place to Jamaican music, he had pointed out that while it is on par with science and technology as a tool for economic development and was embraced by the Government and people across the world, it has for decades, been bombarded with songs of violence, which threaten its integrity.

His comments did not go down well though, with Dancehall selector Foota Hype, who, in an online rant, said the Dancehall fraternity should disregard Holness and any other political leader who blames Dancehall music for Jamaicas horrendous murder rate.

Foota had said politicians were the ones who kick-started the explosive gun violence in the country in the 1970s, during their squabbles over political power and attempts at political one-upmanship.

The selector had said that only when Jamaicas current crop of politicians confess or admit to the role of their political parties in the distribution of weaponry and the ensuing death and destruction within Kingstons inner cities, in the 1970s and during the bloody 1980 General Elections, should Dancehall artists pay them any mind, as Kingston is still feeling the after-effects to this day.

He had also argued that politicians have conveniently forgotten that it is the spill-off of guns in the communities which has caused Dancehall artists to have these content to put in their songs because it is a part of their day-to-day lives that politicians created.

Foota had said that guns could not have gotten into poor inner-city communities without political influence back in the day, and demanded that politicians address these historical antecedents when making criticisms, as their role in dividing communities and causing bloodletting was well known.
For full access, please log in, register your subscription or subscribe.

Try for 99 a month for two months, cancel or pause anytime.
NASA to host virtual viewing of Orion Spacecraft drop test

Engineers will drop an 14,000-pounds test version of the Orion spacecraft into the Hydro Impact Basin at NASA's Langley Research Center's Landing and Impact Research Facility in Hampton, Virginia at 1:45 p.m. EDT Tuesday, April 6.

The test will air live on NASA Television, the NASA app and the agencys website, and will livestream on multiple agency social media platforms, including the Facebook channels for Orion and Langley.

Participants include:

Debbie Korth, Orion Crew and Service Module manager, NASAs Johnson Space Center

Jacob Putnam, data analyst, NASAs Langley Research Center

The public may ask questions on social media using #AskNASA.

Media may send questions to Kristyn Damadeo at kristyn.damadeo@nasa.gov.

This series of drop tests began March 23 to finalize computer models for loads and structures prior to the Artemis II flight test, NASAs first mission with crew aboard Orion. Artemis II will carry astronauts around the Moon and back, paving the way to land the first woman and next man on the lunar surface and establish a sustainable presence at the Moon under the Artemis program. The current test series builds on previous tests and uses a configuration of the crew module based on the spacecrafts final design.

For more information on Orion, visit:

www.nasa.gov/orion

For more information about NASA and agency programs, visit:

www.nasa.gov
All things vile and murderous

Bacteria great and small

Sent to plague and burden us,

The Lord God made them all.

The Covid 19 Virus

The mutant RNA

Sent to kill or mire us

The Lord God at his play?

From The Waist Band by Bachchoo

Living in Britain all these decades, I hadnt heard of the West Yorkshire town of Batley. Its now very much in the news and in the public eye because in its grammar school a teacher brought cartoons of the Prophet Muhammed, first published in the French satirical magazine Charlie Hebdo, and displayed them to his pupils in a lesson about free speech. Without referring to Google or an atlas, I can confidently say that Batley sounds to me what one may call a mill-and-mosque town.

This definition arises from the fact that after the Second World War, the textile mills of the north of England suffered a shortage of indigenous labour and imported immigrants, in very large number from Mirpur in Pakistani Kashmir and from what later became Bangladesh, to man the night shifts and settle in these towns. Thence the mosques and religion in these communities as a central, motivating and governing dimension.

Then came the government of Iron Lady Margaret Thatcher, which, in its thrust towards capitalistic globalisation, allowed international competition to shut down the British textile industry and devastate the coal mining sector. Bradford, Huddersfield and of course Batley suffered mass unemployment. But despite that disastrous setback four decades ago, this weeks news about the protests outside the school have made public two facts which I find curious, if not encouraging.

But first, gentle reader, the story as it happened. A teacher in his late twenties, teaching religious studies to the 690 pupils of the school, warned a class that he was going to pose a moral question. He would show them a cartoon which some people would certainly find offensive. He would then tell them that because of that cartoon several people associated with the drawing of it and publishing it in a French magazine were murdered. The question the pupils had to address was the moral rights and wrongs, the religious taboo on drawing pictures of the Prophet and the contrasting morality of murdering people who had perpetrated the cartoon.

This teacher was aware of the fact that Batley, just outside Bradford, had witnessed large-scale protests and book burnings in support of the Ayatollah Khomeinis fatwa against Salman Rushdies book The Satanic Verses. Some of the 13- and 14-year-old pupils told their parents about the lesson. An irate Muslim parent expressed his objections on the phone to the teacher. Soon there was a demonstration of 50 or so people outside the school.

The headmaster immediately suspended the teacher involved. Reports said the teacher felt threatened, apologised for showing the cartoon and went into hiding to avoid being confronted or even killed.

One of the leaders of the protests, a preacher named Mohammed Amin Pandor, called for the dismissal of the teacher from the school and the profession. This gentleman, Pandor, is a publicity seeker. He is a graduate engineer from Dewsbury and recently issued a fatwa against the Covid-19 vaccine. He said there were uncertain substances in the vaccines and that Allah has given a definite remedy for safety from every form of harm and disease. He urged his followers to shun the vaccine and recite a certain prayer three times. In 2017, Pandor accused Ephraim Mervis, the UKs chief rabbi, of telling Jews that it was permissible to turn Christians and Muslims into sex slaves! This year he was forced to apologise to Mervis for that offensive falsehood.

Pandor has made it known in television interviews that he opposes gay marriage and even demands that the popular TV programme Strictly Come Dancing be banned. He signed a letter to the newspapers attacking an article by a Muslim police commander which was headlined We must reclaim Islam from the extremists and declared himself in favour of this extremism.

While the protesters insist that they will continue to picket the school until the offending teacher is permanently dismissed and even barred from the profession, over 60,000 signatures have been collected in Batley for his immediate reinstatement.

I have no way of knowing who these signatories are, their location or their religion. Are they all non-Muslims? Or are some of them Muslims who want to reclaim Islam from the extremists?

The encouraging, if curious, fact is that of the 690 pupils of Batley Grammar, 420 or so of them are of ethnic origin. This means that the children and mostly grandchildren of the original, mostly Muslim, immigrants to Batley and Bradford have achieved the academic qualifications to gain competitive entry into this grammar school, that was founded in 1612. It implies that they are on their way to university and are guaranteed status in Britains meritocracy.

Now 600 of the schools pupils have signed a petition in support of reinstating the offending teacher. Even if all the non-ethnic or non-Muslim third of the schools pupils have all signed, it still means that 330 of the ethnic pupils, certainly at least 300 of them from Muslim households, have taken a liberal attitude to the incident and the supposed offence.

Can we conclude that this generation of Batley Muslims are moving away from the extremism that their parents or grandparents clung to?

Pandor Saheb, the tide of tolerance threatens.
On Monday, demonstrators will rally at Democratic Sen. Dianne Feinstein's state offices in San Francisco and Los Angeles for electoral reform.

Nearly 20 groups representing thousands of members have organized the rallies from noon to

1 p.m. to urge Feinstein to fight for the passes of S.1, the For the People Act, in the U.S. Senate.

Organizers said the senator's State Director Jim Lazarus will appear at the San Francisco rally to respond.

The bill expands voting rights, changes campaign finance laws to reduce the influence of money in politics, limits partisan gerrymandering, and creates new ethics rules for federal officeholders. The bill also mandates financial transparency in all future presidential candidates by requiring them to release their tax returns.

The bill, if passed into law, would counter the nearly 300 state bills that Republicans are pushing in Georgia, Pennsylvania, Michigan, Wisconsin, Florida, Arizona, and Texas to constrain people's ability to vote, rally organizers said.

Organizers say the bill faces fierce opposition by Republicans in the Senate, who will almost certainly filibuster the bill in order to kill it. Sen, Feinstein has already expressed support of the For the People Act, organizers 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.
China is suspected of having orchestrated or at least aiding the coup that resulted in the country's military leadership taking power. Since then, people in Myanmar have been protesting against both the new government and China.

Chinese soldiers have been gathering along the border of Myanmar, seemingly under the pretence of guarding Chinese oil pipelines. The troops have been gathering mostly around the Chinese town of Jiegao that borders the Burmese town of Muse.

China is suspected of having orchestrated or at least aiding the coup that resulted in the countrys military leadership taking power. Since then, people in Myanmar have been protesting against both the new government and China. China, on the other hand, has refrained from making clear comments on the matter. These suspicions resulted in 32 Chinese factories being set alight in Yangon.

The exact events that unfolded in this series of arsons and its perpetrators are still unknown with some even suggesting that the Myanmar military may be behind them, whether loyal to the new regime or against it. It is claimed that employees working in these Chinese owned establishments are paid minimal wages and forced to live in abhorrent conditions.

Most of the conflicting reports say that mobs armed with iron bars and batons broke into the factories and torched them using jerry cans. It is also reported, though not confirmed, that a Chinese hotel and some restaurants were also subject to vandalism.
Microsoft is joining the chorus of tech companies pushing their office reopenings to late 2021 as the COVID-19 pandemic potentially winds down. The Verge has confirmed a Business Insider report that Microsoft has delayed its full reopening from July to at least September 7th. The move is a response to "continued consultation with health and data experts," a spokesperson said.

In an email to staff, executive VP Kurt DelBene said the delay gave "additional flexibility" for staff making plans for the summer. He added that local office managers also had the freedom to institute further delays if the situation in their area made it too risky to return.

The tech pioneer is currently in a "soft open" phase where a limited number of employees can return to in-person work. About 20 percent of global Microsoft employees were back in the office as of March, including at its Redmond and Seattle offices.

The delay acknowledges uncertainty around the pandemic. While vaccinations are ramping up quickly and could make it safer for people to work at the office, it's not clear if enough people will be protected by July  and the rise of faster-spreading virus variants complicates matters. As it stands, Microsoft has already said it might let most people work from home for up to half of the week. There's simply less pressure to reopen than in the past.




The turnout for early voting in next week's by-elections came to 20.54 percent, the highest in South Korea's by-election history, the election authorities said Saturday.







During the two-day advance voting period that ended 6 p.m. that day, 2.49 million of the 12.16 million eligible voters cast their ballots, according to the National Election Commission (NEC).







The previous record high of 19.40 percent was posted in the Oct. 29 by-elections in 2014.







In the 2018 local elections, the early voting turnout stood at 20.14 percent.







South Koreans will choose new mayors of Seoul and Busan as well as 19 other public officials in the April 7 by-elections.







In the capital, 1.84 million people, or 21.95 percent, voted early, as did 547,000 in the southern port city of Busan with a turnout of 18.65 percent. (Yonhap)


Matt Gaetzs communications director Luke Ball has resigned from his job out of principle.

The resignation comes amid a federal probe into whether the Florida Republican had a sexual relationship with a 17-year-old girl. The congressman has denied the accusation and claimed he is the victim of attempted extortion.

The federal probe is linked to one into an indicted Florida politician named Joel Greenberg and focuses on allegations that multiple women were recruited online for sex and received cash payments, reported the New York Times.

Mr Ball quit his job out of principle a person with knowledge of the situation told NBC News.

The Office of Congressman Matt Gaetz and Luke Ball have agreed that it would be best to part ways, Mr Gaetzs office said in a statement.

Read more:

We thank him for his time in our office, and we wish him the best moving forward.

The pro-Trump congressman has strongly denied all the allegations of sexual misconduct made against him and has claimed that he is the victim of a $25 million extortion plot.

Mr Greenberg is a former Florida tax collector was was indicted last year on a federal sex trafficking charge.

Matt Gaetz has never paid for sex, Mr Gaetzs office said in a statement to the New York Times.

Matt Gaetz refutes all the disgusting allegations completely. Matt Gaetz has never ever been on any such websites whatsoever. Matt Gaetz cherishes the relationships in his past and looks forward to marrying the love of his life.

Earlier this week Mr Gaetz appeared on Fox News and told Tucker Carlson in an interview that his family was working with the FBI.

He named former federal prosecutor David McGee as being involved in the plot and claimed his father had worn a wire in a meeting with Mr McGee.

Mr McGee, who now works for a Florida law firm, strongly denied the claims.
Two Louth natives are among those whose fascinating stories are told in historian Turtle Bunbury's latest book 'The Irish Diaspora: Tales of Emigration, Exile and Imperialism' which looks at the lives of men and women - great and otherwise - whose pioneering journeys beyond the Irish shore played a profound role in world history.

Since 1800 an estimated 1 million people have left Irish shores and today more than 80 million people worldwide claim Irish descent - including Presidents Biden and Obama, who are both descendants of Irish shoemakers.

President Joe Biden, of course, traces his maternal Finnegan ancestors back to Whitestown on the Cooley peninsula.

Thomas D'Arcy McGee, who became known as the Father of the Canadian Confederation, was born in Carlingford on April 13 1825 and lived there until he was three.

Turtle traces his career as writer, editor, and nationalist who was forced to flee Ireland after the unsuccessful Young Irelanders' rebellion in 1848. He emigrated to the United States with is wife and young family and later to Canada.

'A brilliant public speaker, McGee was the most popular lecturer in Canada during the 1860s, wooing vast crowds with his melodious voice and evocative language and it brought him both wealth and fame,' writes Turtle.

He became a key figure in the setting up of the new Canada Confederation in 1867, but earned the ire of Irish nationalists when he condemned the Fenian Brotherhood and was assassinated on April 6 1868. His funeral was one of the largest in Canadian history.

The book also tells the story of Albert Cashier, born Mary Hodgers, in Clogherhead on Christmas Day 1843, whom Turtle describes as one of the first transgender persons in America history.

Little is known about her early life but by the time she arrived in the United States she was living as a man. At the age of 21 Albert D. J Cashier enlisted in the 95th Illinois on August 6 1862 to fight for the Union Army in the Civil War.

'Cashier was among at least 400 women who dressed in the baggy clothes of a soldier and served during the Civil War,' writes Turtle. 'He is also believed to be the only one who survived the entire war, undiscovered, and who consequently went on to receive a military pension.'

After the war, Little Al as he was known, continued to identify as a man for the remainder of his life.

'As such, he is considered one of the earliest examples of a transgender person in American history.'

His secret came to light when he was taken to hospital after an accident and he became the focus of much media attention. His final years were spent in hospital and was given a funeral with full military honours when he died aged seventy-two on October 10 1915.

John Philip Holland, 'the father of the submarine', is also associated with the Wee County. The Clare-native taught in the Christian Brothers Schools in Dundalk and Drogheda among other places. As a music teacher, he pioneered the solfege technique for sight-singing, later made famous when Julie Andrews taught the von Trapp children how to sing 'Do-re-mi-fa-so-la-ti-do' in The Sound of Music. While at the Dundalk school, he constructed a sundial, designed a form of airplane and taught his students astronomy with the aid of a telescope. In 1873, he left the Christian Brothers, citing ill health, and sailed across the seas to Boston where he joined his widowed mother and two surviving brothers. While vessels based on his designs played a crucial role in the First World War, he never received the financial success which he deserved.

Among the other Louth emigrants mentioned in the book are Patrick Fleming (one of the first lecturers at Luke Wadding's Irish College in Rome in the 1620s), the explorer Leopold McClintock of Dundalk known as The Arctic Fox (for whom the McClintock Channel is named), Thomas Charles Wright (hailed as the 'father' of the Ecuadorian Navy).

In more recent times, there is Drogheda-bred Niall O'Dowd , brother of TD Fergus O'Dowd. The former publisher of the Irish Voice newspaper and Irish America magazine, Niall is credited with swinging much Irish-American support behind Clinton's election campaign)

In his ever-popular warm and engaging style, Turtle shares the stories of these and other Irish emigrants who travelled around the globe, earning a place in the history of their new homelands.
Global Processor Payroc Acquires Retriever Merchant Solutions We built a top-notch sales distribution platform, but to stay competitive, we needed the right processing partner to take our technology and product offerings to the next level. We found that, and more at Payroc.

Payroc WorldAccess, LLC (Payroc), a leading merchant acquirer and global payment processing organization, announced today that it has acquired Select Merchant Services, Inc. (d/b/a/ Retriever Merchant Solutions or Retriever).

Headquartered in Munster, Indiana, Retriever is one of the largest independent sales organizations of FIS (formerly Worldpay), with over 550 exclusive independent sales agents who deliver over 7,000 new merchants per year. The company employs 60 people and services 30,000 merchants in the retail, wholesale, jewelry, restaurant, service, and professional association verticals, representing approximately $5.0 billion of annual payment volume.

Brian Kamstra, President of Retriever, founded the company in 1994 and will remain in his leadership role. He shares, "We built a top-notch sales distribution platform, but to stay competitive, we needed the right processing partner to take our technology and product offerings to the next level. We found that, and more at Payroc. When you combine those specific needs with Payroc's impeccable integrity, we knew we had found the right home," said Kamstra. "There's not a better company in the industry right now, than Payroc, and we are blessed to have joined their team."

James Oberman, CEO of Payroc stated, "We couldnt be more thrilled to welcome Retriever into the Payroc family. I have personally known Brian for over 45 years, and what he and his team have built is well established and respected in the industry. We look forward to enhancing their offering through Payrocs broad suite of products and value-added services on a global scale.

Payroc and Retriever will launch this partnership by focusing efforts in multiple strategic areas: common sense underwriting and Risk management, modern APIs, global device connectivity, and Payrocs flagship Consumer Choice program. This technology influx also includes access to Payrocs new engineering & innovation hub in the United Kingdom, where Payroc announced it would create 75 new jobs.

With this acquisition, Payroc will expand its annual payment volume to over $33 billion and service over 100,000 merchants. Payroc is backed by private equity firm Parthenon Capital who assisted Payroc in completing this acquisition.

Learn more about Payroc by visiting payroc.com, or Retriever Merchant Solutions by visiting rmsnpc.com.

About Payroc

Payroc is a high-growth merchant acquirer, processor and payment facilitation powerhouse processing $33 billion in annual charge volume in over 40 countries, for more than 100,000 merchants. The company offers best-in-class sales enablement and payment processing technology on a global basis, delivering proprietary, innovative and full-service merchant acquiring solutions together with key card brand network payment sponsorship registrations.

Payroc, and its affiliate companies under Payroc WorldAccess LLC, is a registered Visa third party processor, Mastercard third party servicer and a registered independent sales organization and merchant services provider (ISO/MSP), payment facilitator and encryption support organization for Fifth Third Bank, National Association (Fifth Third), and, in Canada is registered with Peoples Trust Company, Vancouver, Canada. To learn more, visit http://www.payroc.com.
MOORESTOWN, N.J., April 2, 2021 /PRNewswire/ -- Destination Maternity is writing to advise you of a recent event that may impact the privacy of certain personal information. We write to provide you with information about the event, steps taken since discovering the event, and what you can do to better protect against potential misuse of your information as a result of this event, should you feel it is appropriate to do so.

On March 20, 2021, Destination Maternity experienced a cyber event that impacted certain information technology systems. We immediately took steps to isolate those systems and, as part of our comprehensive response, launched an investigation to determine the nature and scope of the incident. We are working with a leading information security firm to assist in our response and support the investigation.





We learned that this cyber event was initiated by an unauthorized party and affected our network and customer database. This database contains information such as customer names, addresses, email addresses, telephone numbers and potentially due dates if that information was provided to Destination Maternity by our customers. However, we want to assure you that we do not store customer Social Security or credit card numbers, and other financial information and this type of information was not impacted by this event.

We take this incident and the security of personal information in our care seriously. Upon learning of this incident, we moved quickly to investigate and respond to this incident, assess the security of relevant systems, and notify potentially affected individuals. We also notified and are cooperating with Federal law enforcement. As part of our ongoing commitment to the security of information, we are also reviewing and enhancing existing policies and procedures.

While we do not store customer Social Security numbers or financial information, we encourage you to remain vigilant against incidents of identity theft and fraud by reviewing your account statements and monitoring your free credit reports for suspicious activity and to detect errors over the next 12 to 24 months. Please also review the below information regarding other suggestions to help protect your information should you feel it necessary.

We understand that you may have questions about this incident that are not addressed here. If you have additional questions, please call our call center at (877) 817-8427 Monday through Friday, 9:00 a.m. to 8:00 p.m. ET, and Saturday and Sunday, 5:00 a.m. to 5:00 p.m. ET.

Steps You Can Take to Help Protect Personal Information

We encourage you to remain vigilant against incidents of identity theft and fraud, to review your account statements, explanation of benefits, and to monitor your credit reports for suspicious activity and to detect errors. Under U.S. law you are entitled to one free credit report annually from each of the three major credit reporting bureaus. To order your free credit report, visit www.annualcreditreport.com or call, toll-free, 1-877-322-8228. You may also contact the three major credit bureaus directly to request a free copy of your credit report.

You have the right to place a "security freeze" on your credit report, which will prohibit a consumer reporting agency from releasing information in your credit report without your express authorization. The security freeze is designed to prevent credit, loans, and services from being approved in your name without your consent. However, you should be aware that using a security freeze to take control over who gets access to the personal and financial information in your credit report may delay, interfere with, or prohibit the timely approval of any subsequent request or application you make regarding a new loan, credit, mortgage, or any other account involving the extension of credit. Pursuant to federal law, you cannot be charged to place or lift a security freeze on your credit report.

As an alternative to a security freeze, you have the right to place an initial or extended "fraud alert" on your file at no cost. An initial fraud alert is a 1-year alert that is placed on a consumer's credit file. Upon seeing a fraud alert display on a consumer's credit file, a business is required to take steps to verify the consumer's identity before extending new credit. If you are a victim of identity theft, you are entitled to an extended fraud alert, which is a fraud alert lasting seven years. Should you wish to learn more about security freezes and fraud alerts, please contact any one of the agencies listed below:

Equifax Experian TransUnion https://www.equifax.com/personal/credit-report-services/ https://www.experian.com/help/ https://www.transunion.com/credit-help 888-298-0045 1-888-397-3742 833-395-6938 Equifax Fraud Alert, P.O. Box 105069 Atlanta, GA 30348-5069 Experian Fraud Alert, P.O. Box 9554, Allen, TX 75013 TransUnion Fraud Alert, P.O. Box 2000, Chester, PA 19016 Equifax Credit Freeze, P.O. Box 105788 Atlanta, GA 30348-5788 Experian Credit Freeze, P.O. Box 9554, Allen, TX 75013 TransUnion Credit Freeze, P.O. Box 160, Woodlyn, PA 19094

You can further educate yourself regarding identity theft, fraud alerts, security freezes, and the steps you can take to protect yourself, by contacting the consumer reporting agencies, the Federal Trade Commission, or your state Attorney General. The Federal Trade Commission may be reached at: 600 Pennsylvania Avenue NW, Washington, DC 20580; www.identitytheft.gov ; 1-877-ID-THEFT (1-877-438-4338); and TTY: 1-866-653-4261. The Federal Trade Commission also encourages those who discover that their information has been misused to file a complaint with them. You can obtain further information on how to file such a complaint by way of the contact information listed above. You have the right to file a police report if you ever experience identity theft or fraud. Please note that in order to file a report with law enforcement for identity theft, you will likely need to provide some proof that you have been a victim. Instances of known or suspected identity theft should also be reported to law enforcement and your state Attorney General. This notice has not been delayed by law enforcement.

SOURCE Destination Maternity
Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez, the New York congresswoman and member of the Democratic Socialists of America, is intensifying her efforts to defend the Democratic Party and denounce left-wing opponents of the Biden administration.

On Wednesday, Ocasio-Cortez held her monthly virtual town hall meeting for her constituents in New Yorks 14th congressional district. In response to a question on immigration, she seized on the opportunity to cover up Bidens ruthless anti-immigrant policies.

After making milquetoast criticisms of the treatment of immigrants, Ocasio-Cortez got to the main point: I dont want to draw false equivalence. What is happening here is not the same as what happened during the Trump administration.

Young minors lie inside a pod at the Donna Department of Homeland Security holding facility, the main detention center for unaccompanied children in the Rio Grande Valley run by U.S. Customs and Border Protection (CBP), in Donna, Texas, Tuesday, March 30, 2021. The minors are housed by the hundreds in eight pods that are about 3,200 square feet in size. Many of the pods had more than 500 children in them. (AP Photo/Dario Lopez-Mills, Pool)

She continued, [The Trump administration] took babies out of the arms of their mothers and deported their families and permanently traumatized these children, some of whom, we dont know will ever be reunified with their families again which is a level of human rights violation that is just simply not the same [as Biden].

She then denounced anyone who dares to make a comparison of Bidens anti-immigrant policies with those of the Trump administration: Anyone who is trying to do that is doing a profound disservice to the cause of justice. So I dont want to excuse any of this one is not the same and we cannot dust that under the rug.

In an earlier interview with the DSAs Democratic Left magazine, Ocasio-Cortez called left-wing opponents of the Biden administration privileged and bad faith actors. Now, she says that those who denounce its immigration policies are doing a profound disservice to the cause of justice.

There are a number of points that must be made in relation to Ocasio-Cortezs latest statements.

First, what is happening to immigrants under the Biden administration, as happened under the Trump administration and Obama before him, is a crime against humanity. Ocasio-Cortezs politically motivated insinuation that the same level of horrific trauma suffered by immigrant children under Trump is not taking place under Biden, is contemptuous.

During his tenure in office, Trump implemented his Remain in Mexico policy that forced immigrants seeking asylum in the US to stay in Mexican border towns until their cases are adjudicated, without adequate housing, food or services, and prey to widespread violence.

In March 2020, using the pandemic as the fraudulent pretext, his administration invoked the 1944 Public Health Service Act, known as Title 42, authorizing the president broad powers to turn away asylum seekers and children on public health grounds.

Since coming to office, the Biden administration, for certain tactical reasons, has reversed elements of Trumps Remain in Mexico policy. Also, under Bidens policy, thousands of unaccompanied minors have been allowed into US detention facilities.

Accompanied minors on the other hand, that is, children arriving with their families or single parents, are processed at the border, held under horrific conditions, sent to El Paso and forced to walk across a bridge back into Mexico. The migrants are often not told what is happening and thus end up in Mexico, completely unaware of where they are and why.

Additionally, Vice President Kamala Harris has been tasked with an initiative to bribe and coerce the governments of Mexico and Central America to crack down on migrants traveling from and through their own countries, in order to prevent them from ever reaching the border.

The practical outcome of Bidens immigration reform to the Trump-era policies is that many desperate families trapped in Mexico are trying to send children across the border by themselves, since they will be allowed in, even if they are detained in squalid facilities.

Footage was released by Customs and Border Patrol on Wednesday showing two toddlers being dropped over the border wall near El Paso, Texas, the night prior. The mother of the two girls resides in the US. Under Bidens policy, migrants in Mexico, including children, are not given an opportunity to reunite with family members living in the US.

In a stark exposure of the continuity between Trump and Biden, Department of Homeland Security (DHS) data leaked to Axios in March revealed that the Biden administration is utilizing Title 42 to deport migrants attempting to cross the US-Mexico border. By invoking Title 42, Biden has deported more Haitian immigrants in a single month than Trump did in an entire year.

As for the approximately 16,000 children being held in detention facilities, they are imprisoned in the same overrun and unregulated facilities that the Trump administration oversaw, and the Obama administration before him. In fact, Biden has even moved to reopen Trump-era detention facilities to accommodate the influx of children, including the Carrizo Springs Child Migration Detention Facility in Texas.

The facilities detaining children, such as Carrizo Springs, are operated by the same private firms as under Trump. The crowded tent camps set up by the previous Trump administration are now full to capacity. The number of children presently detained is 25 percent higher than at the peak of the Trump administrations 2019 crackdown on immigrant children. The conditions, including images of children being held in cages which sparked mass outrage among workers across the US and around the world, remain the same.

The crimes against immigrants are widely despised in the working class, and the comments by Ocasio-Cortez have not fooled many of her supporters. It is not forgotten by anyone that Ocasio-Cortez ran her campaign largely focusing on opposition to the anti-immigration policies of Trump. In fact, right before her election she made the demand of Abolish ICE the centerpiece of her campaign. This slogan has been unceremoniously dropped.

As one commenter noted on Twitter, in a sea of outrage against Ocasio-Cortezs video: Its the SAME agencies. SAME facilities. SAME excuses. The only thing thats changed is whos in charge. Another tweeted, Pathetic that even the most left-wing members of the party have done a complete 180 on the border cages despite the conditions not changing at all. GOP gone from defending the cages, to wanting to liberate the prisoners. Dems went from calling it disgusting to defending it.

The World Socialist Web Site article on Ocasio-Cortezs interview with Democratic Left denouncing socialist opponents of Biden was read by more than one hundred thousand workers and young people. It created a political crisis within the Democratic Party as it exposed the fraudulent pretenses of the main representative of the left-wing of the Democrats.

While the Democrats have sought to mobilize their operatives to defend Ocasio-Cortez, the congresswoman herself in everything she says is making clear that her main role is to defend the Democratic Party and the Biden administration at all costs.

Anyone who supported Ocasio-Cortez under the false assumption that she was an outsider seeking to challenge the Democratic Party establishment must draw the necessary conclusions. The democratic socialism of Ocasio-Cortez and her promoters in the DSA is, in fact, a mechanism employed by the ruling class and the Democratic Party to block a genuine socialist movement of workers and youth.
You have permission to edit this article.

Edit Close
The National Publicity Secretary for the Yoruba socio-cultural organisation, Afenifere, Yinka Odumakin, is dead.

Mr Odumakin, a public analyst, activist and politician, died of complications from coronavirus disease at the intensive care unit of the Lagos State University Teaching Hospital (LASUTH), Ikeja, on Saturday morning.

A statement issued by his wife, Joe Okei-Odumakin, noted that the late journalist-turned politician, was managed for respiratory issues due to complications from COVID-19 which he had recovered from about a week ago.

Mrs Okei-Odumakin, who noted that the burial arrangement would be announced later, gave Mr Odumakins age as 54.

According to one of the deceaseds associates, Mr Odumakin had in the last two weeks told journalists he would not be able to pick calls due to his failing health. He reportedly introduced an associate to be in charge of his official communications.

Also, about a month ago, Mr Odumakin fell critically ill during a visit to the Governor of Osun State, Gboyega Oyetola. The government promptly responded by offering him emergency medical care.

He immediately returned to Lagos after he was stabilised by medical personnel.

His life and times

Born on December 10, 1966, Mr Odumakin hails from Moro, Ife North Local Government Area of Osun State. It is the same town where the Special Adviser to the President on Media and Publicity, Femi Adesina, hails from.

The deceased, who studied English Language from the University of Ife, now Obafemi Awolowo University (OAU), Ile-Ife, graduated in 1989.

While at the university, the deceased served as the public relations officer of the universitys students union.

He was employed by The Punch Newspaper as a reporter, and later joined The Guardian Newspapers.

Mr Odumakin resigned from the Guardian in 1993 and established Effective Company Limited, a media and publishing company in partnership with fellow journalist and a former schoolmate, Femi Ige.

ALSO READ: Afenifere leader Fasoranti steps down

Mr Ige, who also resigned from The Guardian in 1994, later returned to the mainstream media and was the chief operating officer at the now rested Newswatch Dailies.

Speaking exclusively with our reporter on the phone, Mr Ige said he had lost a buddy. He said their company was responsible for the publication of some books.

He was part of the National Democratic Coalition that fought the regime of late military head of state, Sani Abacha, after the annulment of the June 12, 1993 election.

He also took part, alongside his wife, in the National Conference which held in Abuja in 2014.

Mr Odumakin, who was appointed the spokesman for the presidential campaign of President Muhammadu Buhari in 2011, later turned his back on Mr Buhari in 2015 when he supported the then outgoing President, Goodluck Jonathan.

In 1997, Mr. Odumakin married his wife, and they are blessed with children.

ADVERTISEMENT

Until his death, Mr Odumakin was spokesman for Afenifere and had been vocal about Nigerias development.
Italy and France entered strict lockdowns today, with both countries struggling to cope with a dramatic rise in Covid-19 cases that has overwhelmed hospitals.

In Italy, the country entered a three-day Easter lockdown to prevent a surge in infections over the bank holiday weekend.

The entire country is now in the 'red zone' - the highest level of lockdown restrictions - after cases have soared to around 20,000 new cases a day in a devastating third wave of the pandemic.

Across the border in France, authorities are also scrambling to deal with a dramatic rise in Covid-19 infections, with over 46,000 cases being recorded on Good Friday.

The country today entered its third national lockdown for four weeks after French president Emmanuel Macron announced the move in an address to the nation on Wednesday night.

In Italy, the country entered a three-day lockdown today to prevent a surge in infections over the bank holiday weekend. Pictured: People enjoyed the last day of freedom in Milan, Italy, on Friday before the country locked down

France entered a strict lockdown today for four weeks as the country struggles to cope with a dramatic rise in Covid-19 cases that has overwhelmed hospitals. Pictured: Medical staff work in the intensive care unit treat Covid-19 patients in Cambrai hospital on March 25

France has seen a dramatic increase in Covid-19 cases, which saw President Emmanuel Macron announce a strict lockdown

Italy is now in the 'red zone' - the highest level of lockdown restrictions - after cases have soared to around 20,000 new cases a day

All of mainland France is now under a 7 p.m. curfew, with working from home being expected for those than can, gatherings limited, non-essential shops closed and travel restrictions imposed.

This brings the whole country in line with 19 virus hot-spot territories, and cities like Paris, which have had a limited lockdown imposed for the past two weeks.

Nurseries, schools, colleges and high school are also now closed for three weeks before a staggered reopening from April 26.

The decision from Italy and France comes as a third wave of Covid-19 - blamed largely on the so-called 'British variant' of the virus - surges across Europe, and as countries face a race against time to vaccinate their populations.

In Italy, non-essential travel is banned over their three-day Easter lockdown, but people are allowed to share a celebratory meal at home with two other adults.

In Italy, non-essential travel is banned over their three-day Easter lockdown, but people are allowed to share a celebratory meal at home with two other adults. Pictured: Police stand at a checkpoint near the Colosseum in Rome today

Pope Francis lies down in prayer prior to celebrate Good Friday Mass for the Passion of the Lord at St. Peter's Basilica in the Vatican, April 2

At the Vatican on Good Friday, a handful of onlookers caught a glimpse of Pope Francis presiding over the 'Way of the Cross' ceremony in an empty St. Peter's Square, with Covid-19 restrictions preventing large gatherings there for a second year in a row.

Following the Easter weekend, different regions across Italy will remain in either 'red zone' or 'orange zone' restrictions until the end of April.

As a result of the increasing number of cases, both France and Italy's hospitals are struggling with an increase of ICU admissions for Covid-19.

In Italy, 39 per cent of ICU beds are now being used by patients with Covid-19 nationally, which is over the critical threshold.

The British variant of the disease has accounted for an increase in cases across Italy and France.

The coast of Ostia is largely deserted today amid the new lockdown restrictions in Rome

In Italy, 39 per cent of ICU beds are now being used by patients with Covid-19 nationally, which is over the critical threshold. Pictured: Health workers in ICU of the San Filippo Neri hospital in Rome on March 22

In Lombarday, a highly populated region of Northern Italy which has been hard hit by the pandemic, the British variant accounts for more than 50 per cent of the infections.

'The virus has, at all times, been able to catch us unprepared,' Robert Fumagalii, the head of anesthesia and intensive care at the Niguarda Metropolitan Hospital in Milan, told Healio.

'We did not expect variants to have such an impact, sparking a new surge of infections even more difficult to control.'

Meanwhile in France, special medical planes dispatched patients from overrun Paris intensive care units to less saturated regions earlier this month due to a spike in Covid-19 cases.

The country reported on Friday that 5,254 people with Covid-19 were in intensive care units, which is an increase of 145 people in one day - the highest daily increase in five months.

With new infections rising sharply, doctors expect the third wave of the virus will peak in the coming two weeks, with a further increase in ICU numbers.

Special medical planes dispatched patients from overrun Paris intensive care units to less saturated regions earlier this month

'We feel this wave coming very strongly,' said Romain Beal, a blood oxygen specialist at the Amiens-Picardie Hospital in Amiens.

'We had families where we had the mother and her son die at the same time in two different ICU rooms here. It's unbearable.'

Professor Philippe Juvin from Paris's Georges Pompidou hospital said last week that a strict lockdown may be the only way to prevent a major healthcare crisis.

Juvin told French TV that hospitals risked being overwhelmed to the point where they could neither treat Covid-19 patients nor others.

'The situation is critical,' added Juvin, who is also the mayor of La Garenne-Colombes in the Paris region.

Few passengers wait at the Saint-Lazare rail station in Paris today amid new travel restrictions

France entered a third national lockdown for four weeks today after French president Emmanuel Macron announced the measures in an address to the nation on Wednesday night, expanding current measures in 19 territories to the whole country. Pictured: Macron seen on TV on Wednesday night

The risk of emergency wards being unable to cope was one of the main reasons for Macron to order the third nationwide lockdown this week, after unsuccessfully trying for months to contain the epidemic with a curfew and regional lockdowns.

'The epidemic is accelerating, and we are likely to lose control, so we must find a new way of reacting. We must therefore set ourselves a new framework for the coming months,' the head of state said during the dramatic address on Wednesday evening.

The 43-year-old blamed the 'British variant' for creating 'a pandemic inside a pandemic' that was more contagious and 'more deadly.'

This meant the situation had changed since he was resisting calls for another lockdown amid spiralling infections, despite experts urging him to act sooner.

'We are faced with a new situation,' he said. 'We are involved in a race. Propagation of a new variant that was identified by our British neighbours must be dealt with.'

Current efforts to limit the virus 'were too limited at a time when the epidemic is accelerating'. The spread of the variant meant 'we risk losing control', he added.

'With regards to schools, we've all got to be aware of our responsibilities as far as our youth are concerned,' said Mr Macron. 'We've kept them open since September 2020, but this will now change.'

The president said non-essential shops would remain shut, along with businesses such as cafes, bars, and restaurants.

Under the restrictions, people are allowed to go outside for leisure, but only within a 6 miles radius from their homes - and without gathering.

On Friday, new confirmed cases jumped by the highest week-on-week rate since the end of November, when France was in its second nationwide lockdown.

The ministry reported 46,677 new cases, 6.2% more than a week ago, taking the total to 4.74 million cases.

Striking a more optimistic tone for the medium term, Macron said some cultural venues and cafe terraces would reopen in mid-May 'under strict rules' and a calendar drawn up for a progressive reopening of other facilities.

'Thanks to the vaccine, the way out of the crisis is emerging,' he said.

He also announced that the vaccine drive would be open to all those over 60 from April 16 and those over 50 from May 15.

The lockdown represents an embarrassing U-turn for Mr Macron, who ignored a call from his scientific advisers to introduce a tougher lockdown at the end of January.

But the French president took a gamble on curfews and local restrictions in the hope of giving the economy a chance to recover from a deep slump.

Europe has been struggling with increasing Covid-19 cases amid a slow-start with vaccine rollouts.

Germany's president Frank-Walter Steinmeier said the country is enduring a 'crisis of trust' and urged people to 'pull together' and put aside 'constant indignation over others or over people in high places'.

In the speech, set to be broadcast on Saturday, conceded that 'there were mistakes' regarding testing, digital solutions and vaccinations.

Germany's president Frank-Walter Steinmeier said the country is enduring a 'crisis of trust' and urged people to 'pull together'

'I know that you, the citizens, are doing your part in this historic crisis,' he says. 'You have done much and you have gone without much.'

'Your expectation for those in government is, 'Get it together'.'

He said that vaccine deliveries would increase sharply in the coming weeks, Europe was building up its production capacities, and general practitioners would join the vaccination effort in addition to large vaccine centers.

'The truth is, we're not world champion, but we're not a failure either,' he said.

Germany, along with the European Union as a whole, has lagged behind the U.S. and the U.K. in the speed of its vaccination effort amid slower procurement of vaccines and complaints about excessive bureaucracy and paperwork.

Meanwhile, Italy has said it aims to have 80 per cent of the population vaccinated against Covid-19 by the end of September.

Premier Mario Draghi's office earlier this month announced more goals of the national vaccination program, which only recently has started picking up its pace after delays in vaccine deliveries and other logistics slowdowns.

Doses of AstraZeneca Covid vaccines are delivered in Rome, Italy. Regional Affairs Minister Mariastella Gelmini said on Friday that Italy set a new record of over 300,000 Covid vaccinations yesterday

Just over three million people in Italy - or roughly 5 per cent of the population - had been vaccinated as of Friday.

But while the Italian government have said it will prioritise vaccines for health care workers, people aged 80 years or older, the vulnerable and disabled as well as teachers and military personally, the reality has been different.

That's because regions have developed their own vaccination plans which have sparked controversy and caused delays in the rollout.

'Some regions have prioritised other categories, such as lawyers and judges whereas other regions have proposed the vaccination of the working population first,' Patrizia Laurenti, professor of hygiene and preventive medicine, told Healio.

'There has been heated discussion, but the government has firmly reasserted that priority should be given to the most vulnerable categories.'

In Tuscany, people over 80 watched in disbelief and indignation as lawyers, magistrates, professors and other younger professionals got vaccinated against COVID-19 before them.

By one estimate, the failure to give shots to the over-80s and those in fragile health has cost thousands of lives in a country with Europe's oldest population and its second-highest loss of life in the pandemic.

As the elderly were elbowed aside, a dozen prominent senior citizens in Tuscany published a letter calling out the authorities, including the region's governor, for what they said was a violation of their health care rights enshrined in the Italian Constitution.

'We asked ourselves, 'What's the reason for this disparity?'' said signatory Enzo Cheli, a retired constitutional court judge who is a month shy of 87. By late March, he still hadn't been vaccinated, three months into Italy's inoculation campaign.

'The appeal was born of this idea that errors were being made, abuses,' Cheli said. He noted that investigations are underway in Tuscany and other regions where professionals received priority status.

Those over 80 in Tuscany have the lowest vaccination rate nationally.

Another signatory was 85-year-old editorial cartoonist Emilio Giannelli, who hasn't been vaccinated, while his son, a lawyer, has.

A Giannelli cartoon appeared on the front page of Corriere della Sera depicting a young man in a business jacket kicking an old man leaning on a cane out of a vaccine line.

Police check people who are travelling during the first day of a strict lockdown in Rome today

In a country where many citizens have learned not to count on often weak national governments, outsize influence is wielded by lobbying groups, sometimes derided as 'castes.'

Premier Mario Draghi has decried such 'contractual clout,' saying last month that the 'basic line is the need to vaccinate the most fragile people and the over-80s.'

His government insists that vaccinations proceed in descending order by age, with the only exceptions being school and university employees, security forces, prison personnel and inmates, and those in communal residences such as convents.

Throughout the pandemic, the oldest Italians have made up the majority of deaths, and not just in Tuscany.

Of Italy's 4.4 million residents 80 or older, fewer than 29% had been vaccinated, and another 27% had gotten only the first dose by the end of March, said the GIMBE foundation, which monitors health care in Italy.

That compares with 95% of that age group in Malta who have received at least one dose, and 85% in Finland, according to the European Center for Disease Prevention and Control.

In Britain, where the vaccine rollout began roughly a month before the EU's, most of the over-50s have received at least one dose.

France is also well behind countries such as Britain in its vaccine roll out, especially after a series of U-turns by Mr Macron over the Oxford-AstraZeneca jab.

He at first said it was not suitable for those over 65, before announcing that it should not be given to those under 55.


This page requires Javascript.

Javascript is required for you to be able to read premium content. Please enable it in your browser settings.
(CNN)  LinkedIn employees worldwide are getting a paid week off starting April 5.

The entire company is getting the time off as an opportunity to unplug, recharge and avoid burnout.

"We wanted to make sure we could give them something really valuable, and what we think is most valuable right now is time for all of us to collectively walk away," said Teuila Hanson, LinkedIn's chief people officer, who joined the company in June.

Since everyone is off at the same time, that means workers aren't inundated by emails, meeting notes and project requests piling up in their absence.

"You want the goodness of your vacation to last a little bit when you come back," Hanson said.

The week off extends to the majority of the company's 15,900 full-time employees. A core team of employees will continue to work for the week, but they will be able to schedule time off later.

The company started to operate remotely more than a year ago as the pandemic unfolded and has been surveying its workers regularly. Last summer, the surveys revealed a shift in employee sentiment.

"I think the reality of the weight of the pandemic really took its toll during those months. That was a heavy time. That is when we were seeing: 'wow there is clear burnout.'"

In response, the company created an initiative called LiftUp!, which includes burnout training for managers, no-meeting days and mental health resources.

CNN Business recently spoke with Hanson about how LinkedIn is fighting burnout and what its workforce might look like in a post-pandemic world. Here's what she had to say.

(This interview has been edited for clarity and length):

Have you seen signs of burnout among LinkedIn workers?

LinkedIn surveys employees quite often. We have a quarterly survey cadence and then we added additional surveys last year, just to make sure that we were really keeping a pulse on how employees were doing.

They added a simple open-ended question of just: How are you? That is when we started to see the emerging of themes in and around burnout, lack of self care, struggle with family, people feeling lonely or isolated, so that was really good to just be able to read through the verbatim comments and to really get some of that texture around how people are feeling, how they are doing, what they are missing, what they may be grieving.

We would see in the comments that people missed a commute because they had the opportunity to sort of ramp up, listen to a podcast, listen to the news. They missed at the end of the day the ability to ramp down. And now that we have a good understanding of how our employees are feeling, how do we start to package some programs, communication, starting with our leadership team, our managers, so that we can begin to address these things.

Also, personally I put myself in that category. Starting a new job I was trying to fit everything I possibly could in my day, and then realized that I barely left the room that I was in. And I felt guilty because I have two sons... and I was missing out not being able to take the dog for a walk or be able to hang out with the kids. A lot of the comments that came through in our surveys, they definitely resonate with me as a parent [and] as somebody else who is missing the life that I had prior to the pandemic.

When did you start to notice a shift in employees' responses?

As we are measuring this quarter by quarter, definitely July, August, that was when the reality was setting in that this wasn't just a three-month thing. I think initially back in March folks just thought maybe by the summer this would pass, things might loosen up, and I think the reality of the weight of the pandemic really took its toll during those months. That was a heavy time. That is when we were seeing: 'wow there is clear burnout.'

The recent survey that we had, things are better, we had a [company-wide] shutdown at the end of the year the last week of December so we saw better results and better comments that people felt refreshed, they felt energized, and I think now that we have a vaccine and, at least in the United States and some other geographies, it looks like there is a path out of this, we are definitely hearing more positive sentiments from our employees. But it's up and down.

What did you do in response to the worsening survey data?

We looked at our survey results... the executive team put our heads together to figure out how could we systematically address these themes we are seeing with our employees. We worked with our benefits and employee experience team and came up with this program called LiftUp! It's a specific program to the pandemic and it really addressed those things that we heard through employee surveys. It was really intended to figure out, what can we specifically do from a program perspective -- benefits, perks to address burnout, work family balance, people feeling alone and isolated -- how could we bring some surprise and delight, how can we bring some levity to our employees?

We launched a series of workshops,"no-meeting days," specific programs for managers -- one program called compassionate accountability. Another course for managers: Keep calm and lead on. Another course around practical prioritization.

We also offered workshops to our employees, one workshop is called the "necessity of no," so really empowering our employees in how to say no to their manager, how to make sure that their managers understand that they have a capacity and when their cups are filled or they're getting close to filled, how can employees have those types of conversations.

The no-meeting days are huge, very beloved. People felt like "Wow, there is power to being able to just lock in and not run from Zoom meeting to Zoom meeting."

Why give all employees a week off?

We thought that it would be a good thing for our entire organization to have another global paid week off. We have a global annual shutdown every December, many of our competitors also have a global shutdown at the end of the year.

We heard after our December shutdown that people felt energized, they felt like they were able to get outside, and felt able to do things like read books, watch webinars and watch movies. We thought, does it make sense for us to provide another paid week off, not only to address burnout and self care, but also show our gratitude to our employees? Because they are working hard, they are showing up and they are doing extraordinary work for us at LinkedIn. We wanted to make sure we could give them something really valuable, and what we think is most valuable right now is time for all of us to collectively walk away. And what is really nice after a shutdown, you come back and you don't have a barrage of emails or meeting notes that you feel like you have catch up on or you feel like you have to peek at your email.

You want the goodness of your vacation to last a little bit when you come back.

How will LinkedIn's workforce function in a post pandemic word?

We have definitely made decisions around "hybrid flexible." This has been a good learning experience of challenging long-held assumptions around how work can be done and where work can be done. So we've made a commitment that we are going to really lean into the concept of being a hybrid flexible work environment.

And for us that means all employees have the ability to work flexibility up to 50% of the time. We're really looking at it from a role by role perspective -- what does it mean for an employee to do their best work? That is going to give us a general idea of what this is going to look like in the future.

This story was first published on CNN.com "To prevent burnout, LinkedIn is giving its entire company the week off"
Source: Xinhua| 2021-04-03 15:51:52|Editor: huaxia

Video Player Close

SYDNEY, April 3 (Xinhua) -- A man in Australia's state of Victoria was admitted to hospital for blood clot after receiving the AstraZeneca COVID-19 vaccine.

The 44-year-old man received the vaccine on March 22 and was admitted to Melbourne's Box Hill hospital days later with a fever and abdominal pain. He was found to have abdominal clots with a low platelet count, according to a report by the Guardian on Saturday.

This is the first blood clot case recorded in Australia after earlier cases in Europe prompted a number of countries to temporarily suspend the use of the AstraZeneca vaccine.

The Therapeutic Goods Administration (TGA), Australia's regulatory authority for therapeutic goods, said it is investigating this "rare case."

TGA is also working closely with international regulators and is participating in meetings with Britain's Medicines and Healthcare Products Regulatory Agency (MHRA) and the European Medicines Agency to discuss these rare cases over the coming few days.

The regulatory body also defended vaccination, saying no cause-and-effect relationship between COVID-19 vaccination and this case or those reported internationally has been established at this stage. Benefits of vaccination against COVID-19 continue to outweigh any risks.

According to the latest statistics from Australia's Health Department, 541,761 vaccine doses have been administered as of March 28. Enditem
A Trenton man has been charged with assaulting and robbing an undercover federal agent who was investigating firearms trafficking and other illegal activities in the area, the U.S. Attorneys Office announced Friday.

During a firearm transaction outside a Hamilton convenience store with the undercover agent on March 22, Jabree Johnson, 28, allegedly pointed a loaded firearm directly at the agent and demanded money, according to a criminal complaint. After providing Johnson with the money, the Trenton native then ordered the agent out of the vehicle at gunpoint, authorities said.

Upon exiting the vehicle, the agent fired his service-issued firearm at Johnson, striking him in the shoulder. Johnson allegedly returned fire at the undercover federal agent before fleeing the area, according to the complaint.

Authorities later identified Johnson as the assailant at a local hospital.

Johnson was charged Friday with assault on a federal officer with a deadly weapon, robbery with a dangerous weapon of an individual with custody of federal property, and using and carrying a firearm during and in relation to a crime of violence, in which the firearm was discharged.

According to the complaint, Johnson was meeting with the undercover agent to sell three handguns for $2,500.

Johnson is being held in jail on charges related to the incident that were filed by the Mercer County Prosecutors Office earlier this month. He faces state charges of attempted murder, robbery, aggravated assault, resisting arrest and weapons offenses.

He will appear in federal court at a later date.

No other injuries were reported from the incident.

The prosecutors office and New Jersey State Police are investigating the shooting at the direction of the state Attorney Generals Office.

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.
Animal rights activists warned that rhino slaughtering for the illegal trade of their horns could soar again in Namibia as the coronavirus pandemic has halted the travel industry, affecting many farms that rely on tourism. Namibia is home to the majority of black rhinos, members of an endangered species usually looked after by private citizens at their own cost and safety.

Rhino conservationist Annette Oelofse has looked after rhinos for thirty years. She runs a farm in northern Namibia with her son, Alexander. Oelofse told British broadcaster Sky News that she is ''enraged'' about rhino poaching, as it kills animals ''for nothing.''

Rhinos horns are made of keratin, the same substance found in human nails, and has no protein or healing values, but in some Asian countries is considered a symbol of wealth. The rhino horn has no legal value, and under international law, it is illegal to sell it or buy it, but on the black market it can be sold for millions of dollars.

Currently, fewer than 6,000 rhinos are living in Namibia, and for decades now Oelofse and her family have dedicated their lives to try and save each of them. But with the tourism and safari industry halted, many fear the anti-poaching organizations will back down due to the lack of funds, leaving a clear way for poachers to kill rhinos and sell their horns on the black market.

Safari Wildlife Protection Founder Salmon Vermaak, who runs its team of anti-poachers, said farms were forced to cut the cost, leaving many rhinos in the hands of poachers. Namibia has been struggling with rhino slaughtering for years, but it has seen a decrease in the illegal practice during the coronavirus lockdown.

Image: Pixabay

(Disclaimer: This story is auto-generated from a syndicated feed; only the image & headline may have been reworked by www.republicworld.com)
Kolkata, April 3 : Prime Minister Narendra Modi said on Saturday that if the BJP comes to power in West Bengal, the PM Kisan Samman Nidhi will be passed in the first cabinet meeting and the farmers of the state will not only start getting the benefits of the Central scheme, but they will also receive the backlog of Rs 18,000.

Addressing an election rally at Haripal in Hooghly district, the Prime Minister said, "If the BJP comes to power in Bengal, I shall come at the oath taking ceremony and ask the Chief Minister to give approval to the PM Kisan Samman Nidhi at the first cabinet meeting so that I can send the money immediately. This will be the first job of the BJP government".

Launched in 2019, PM Kisan Samman Nidhi is a Central scheme that gives Rs 6,000 annual subsidy to the registered beneficiary farmers in three installments of Rs 2,000 each.

Taking a dig at Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee, Modi said, "More than Rs 1.5 lakh crore has been sent to the accounts of 10 crore farmers, but the poor farmers of this state are yet to get this benefit because 'Didi' (Mamata Banerjee) didn't approve the scheme. I assure not only to give the benefits of the scheme, but also the Rs 18,000 backlog to each farmer." The Prime Minister was referring to the three instalments of Rs 6,000 each given to the farmers which the farmers of Bengal were deprived of because of the opposition from the state's ruling Trinamool Congress.

The Prime Minister also criticised Banerjee for not allowing the Ayushman Bharat Yojana in Bengal claiming that the state government's own project -- 'Swastha Sathi' -- is a better alternative to the Central government's health insurance scheme.

"She might have a project, but what is the harm in accepting the Ayushman Bharat scheme? People would have got an additional health cover of Rs 5 lakh. Moreover, the state-funded project is not accepted outside Bengal, but the Central project is accepted throughout the country," Modi said.

The Prime Minister also assured to start all the Central government projects in the state once the BJP is voted to power.

Confident of winning the ongoing Assembly elections in West Bengal, the Prime Minister said that Chief Minister Banerjee has not only cheated the people of the state, but she has also insulted them by saying that people are gathering at BJP rallies because of money.

Asking the crowd if they came to the rally braving the heat for money, Modi said, "The people of Bengal have fought the British. They have never compromised with the wrong. They are known for their self-respect and this is an insult to them".

Alleging that Banerjee and the syndicate racket of Trinamool Congress are responsible for the plight of the people of Bengal, Modi said, "The old factories are closed and there is no new investment. The people of Nandigram and Singur were betrayed and it is time for 'Ashol Poriborton' (real change).

"Once people used to come to Bengal for jobs and now the people of this state have to go outside in search of work. Election and democracy are not games. They are an effort to work selflessly for the people."
.......... .......... .......... .......... .......... .......... .......... .......... .......... .......... .......... .......... .......... .......... .......... .......... .......... ..........

DENVER  Colorado will no longer require masks to be worn in most settings in the 31 counties that are on the lowest level of the states COVID-19 dial system, Gov. Jared Polis office announced Friday.

In the counties at Level Green, masks will only be required in schools, among congregate care visitors and in other high-risk settings such as health care facilities and hair salons, The Denver Post reported.

Every community has been impacted differently by this pandemic, and we want to ensure this order is reflective of that, Polis said.

Colorado has 64 counties.

The new 30-day order, which takes effect Sunday, will still require masks to be worn indoors in counties at Level Blue and higher when there are public gatherings of at least 10 unvaccinated people or people with an unknown vaccination status.

The order does not mention requiring proof of vaccination and puts much of the enforcement on business owners and operators.

ADVERTISEMENTSkip



................................................................

Denver remains at Level Yellow on the states dial, and most of the metro area is at Level Blue or Level Yellow. Gilpin is the only county in the 10-county metro area at Level Green.

Denver Mayor Michael Hancock said Thursday he plans to keep the citys mask mandate in place until at least early May regardless of what the state does. His jurisdiction has a consolidated city and county government.

Meanwhile, Jefferson County, which covers a large swath west and south of Denver and is at Level Blue, has its own local mask mandate that supersedes the statewide order, Ashley Sever, a spokeswoman for the county health department, told The Post. Residents must still wear face coverings inside and outdoors when at least 6 feet (1.8 meters) of distancing is not possible.

The decision to relax Colorados mask mandate follows moves by other states that have fully lifted their mask orders, against the recommendations of President Joe Biden and federal health officials.

For most people, the coronavirus causes mild or moderate symptoms, such as fever and cough that clear up in two to three weeks. For some  especially older adults and people with existing health problems  it can cause more severe illness, including pneumonia, and death.
The Titanic beach along the Tema-Sakumono road in the Tema West Municipality was deserted on Good Friday as part of the Easter lockdown to help stem a COVID-19 surge reports Benjamin Xornam Glover.



Scores of police personnel from the Special Weapons and Tactics (SWAT) Unit, Marine Police and the Formed Police Unit (FPU) were deployed to the coastline to enforce the measures instituted by the government to deter people from trooping to the beach.



When Graphic Online visited the Titanic Beach on Good Friday, the entire stretch from Community Three Railway Crossing to Sakumono was deserted as law enforcement officers were seen around.



Both the Tema Metropolitan Assembly and the Tema West Municipality were supporting the security personnel with logistics to enable them monitor and enforce the adherence to the restrictions.



The Tema Metropolitan Security Council (MESEC) on Thursday conveyed a meeting during which they cautioned against flouting the COVID-19 protocols and other restrictions during Easter.

Source: graphic.com.gh









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
There are a number of expressions of a significant growth of the class struggle in the United States, which pose fundamental questions of perspective for the working class.

At Columbia University, 3,000 graduate students are fighting against COVID-19 austerity and are demanding decent pay, health and child care benefits. In Worcester, Massachusetts, more than 700 nurses have been on strike for more than four weeks against unsafe staffing ratios in the midst of the coronavirus pandemic. These ongoing strikes were joined this week by important sections of industrial workers, including 1,300 workers at steelmaker ATI in the northeast US and 1,100 miners at coal company Warrior Met in Alabama.

Left: Workers picket at the Hunts Point Market on January 19, 2021 (WSWS Media). Right: Striking Columbia graduate student workers (WSWS Media).

These struggles are a component part of a growing movement of workers internationally, including a one-day general strike against a pay-rise cap in Belgium, a four-day strike by 2,000 Amazon workers in Germany, a strike by 2,000 coal miners in Bosnia and Herzegovina over unpaid wages, and a planned walkout of primary school teachers against school reopenings as the pandemic surges in France.

This is only an initial expression of an enormous growth of social antagonisms throughout the world as a result of the ruling class response to the pandemic. The subordination of public health to the profit interests of the rich has led to more than 2.8 million deaths globally, including more than 560,000 in the United States alone. At the same time, the pandemic was used to orchestrate a historically unprecedented bailout of the rich, which is being followed by a massive restructuring of class relations to force workers to pay for it.

Every struggle of the working class raises directly the reactionary role of the corporatist trade unions, including the AFL-CIO in the US, which serve to suppress the class struggle and, when they cannot avoid a strike, to isolate and defeat it. The unions intervene not on behalf of the workers that they falsely claim to represent, but on behalf of management against workers.

At Columbia University, the United Auto Workers, which covers graduate students, is working to keep the strike isolated from graduate students at NYU only a few miles to the south, who are in the same local. Last month, the president of the UAW local revealed that they had planned to shut down the strike before a strike vote at NYU. The UAW is doing nothing to mobilize auto workers behind the graduate students and everything to prevent them from even knowing about the strike.

Meanwhile, the UAW is starving graduate students out on the picket line with a meager $275 weekly strike pay, in spite of the fact that the UAW controls a strike fund of $790 million.

The Massachusetts Nurses Association (MNA), an organization with 23,000 members, is isolating the 700 Worcester nurses while not providing any strike pay. Instead, the MNA is forcing nurses to beg for charity: it is running a Venmo account to receive donations from the public to pay for nurses living expenses.

As for the ATI and Warrior Met workers, the United Steelworkers and the United Mine Workers are using the tactic of an unfair labor practice strike to avoid raising any concrete demands, and to allow the union to shut down the strike as soon as possible under the pretext that management is bargaining in good faith.

Over the past year, the executives that operate and control the AFL-CIO have played an absolutely essential role in enforcing the homicidal policy of the ruling elites. The teachers unionsthe American Federation of Teachers and the National Education Associationhave been instrumental in forcing a reopening of schools against overwhelming opposition from both teachers and parents. Local teacher unions have forced through reopening agreements by forcing teachers to vote on a fait accompli, as in Chicago and Los Angeles, or by not allowing them to vote at all, as in Philadelphia and Detroit.

The United Food and Commercial Workers union and its subsidiary, the Retail, Wholesale and Department Store Union, have kept meatpacking workers on the job even as more than 50,000 in the United States have become infected and at least 286 have died. In the auto industry, the UAW is not only keeping workers on the job but forcing them to work 50, 60 and even 80 hours per week, while covering up all information on the extent of infections and deaths.

The word union conjures up images of an organization that defends workers against the deprivations of the companies, or at least one whose fate is somehow bound up with its ability and willingness to defend workers standard of living. This, however, bears no relationship whatever to the present unions. They function as labor syndicates, controlled by wealthy executives whose incomes move in inverse proportion to the fate of workers.

Within every major national organization in the AFL-CIO, there are literally dozens, and in some cases hundreds, of bureaucrats at both the national and local levels who earn more than $100,000 per year, many times more than the workers in the unions. Top executives have incomes that place them in the top 5 or even top 1 percent of income earners in the US.

Stuart Appelbaum, the president of the relatively small RWDSU, which is campaigning for recognition at Amazon, made $344,464 last year, and secretary treasurer Jack Wurm made $324,022. In the RWDSU national office, there are 29 staffers who earned more than $100,000 last year, and the union spent more than $6 million on salaries for the national office alone.

Randi Weingarten of the AFT made $564,236 in total compensation for the fiscal year ending June 2019, according to the AFTs IRS filings. The national office received more than $253 million in receipts and spent more than $238 million, including $43.75 million on salaries and zero dollars on strike benefits last year. Fully 234 people in the AFT national office alone made more than $100,000 during the unions last reporting period, and 28 made more than $200,000.

The Teamsters union has more than 200 officials on its payroll making more than $100,000 a year, and ten making more than $200,000, including President James Hoffa ($387,000).

As the unions dues base has continuously shrunk as a result of their own betrayals, the executives have resorted to control of strike funds, pension funds and even ownership of corporate stock in order to finance and supplement their income. This directly ties the financial status of the organizations and the executives who control them to the profitability of corporate America and the performance of the stock market. They fear a movement of the working class not least because it would threaten their own financial interests.

The union bureaucracy has shared in the looting operation carried out by Wall Street during the pandemic. According to the UAWs latest federal financial filings, for example, its assets increased by $31 million last year, and the union shelled out tens of thousands of dollars for trips to resorts and casinos for its top bureaucrats, hundreds of whom earn more than $150,000 per year. In recent years, the UAW has been exposed as an organization run by corrupt gangsters who steal workers dues money and accept bribes from the companies in exchange for ramming through concessions contracts.

The unions are emerging more and more as a critical instrument of bourgeois statecraft. The unprecedented intervention into the unionization campaign at Amazon by Biden and the Democrats, and even right-wing Republican Marco Rubio, reflects the intense fear within ruling circles of the growth of the class struggle, and their calculations that this can be blunted by putting workers under the guardianship of the AFL-CIO and byzantine US labor law.

Under conditions of growing commercial and military conflict between the US and its rivals China and Russia, the unions are viewed as a means of tying the working class to the capitalist state and its war preparations.

This year is the fortieth anniversary of the betrayal by the AFL-CIO of the PATCO air traffic controllers, who were fired by President Ronald Reagan in a deliberate provocation. The attack on the PATCO workers was preceded by an agreement from the AFL-CIO that it would oppose any broader mobilization of the working class to defend them. This was followed by a series of struggles that were systematically isolated and defeated with the collaboration of the unions. This was a key turning point, not just in the US but around the world, in the complete integration of the unions into the structure of corporate management.

The expansion and unification of the struggles of the working class requires the formation of rank-and-file factory and workplace committees, completely independent of the pro-capitalist trade unions. Such committees are the form through which workers can advance their own demands, including emergency measures to stop the coronavirus pandemic, an end to the unsafe reopening of schools and workplaces, with full compensation for workers and small businesses.

The World Socialist Web Site and the Socialist Equality Party will do everything in our power to promote and assist in the establishment of independent workers organizations, connecting the growth of the class struggle to a socialist political perspective and program. We urge workers interested in establishing such committees to contact us today.
Kathmandu, April 3 : Nepal Prime Minister KP Sharma Oli who is in trouble inside his own party, is likely to face tougher days ahead as the primary opposition, Nepali Congress (NC) has decided to seek his resignation and initiate the formation of a new government under its leadership.

The decisions were taken at a Central Working Committee (CWC) meeting of the NC.

NC spokesperson Bishaw Prakash Sharma said the part has decided to seek Oli's resignation as he has not taken any initiative of a way forward despite the House of Representatives, which dissolved in December 2020, being restored.

Prime Minister Oli himself is in a difficult position inside his own party, Nepal Communist Party-UML.

A section of the party led by former Prime Minister Madhav Kumar Nepal is forming parallel party structures within the UML after Oli suspended four senior leaders, including Nepal, for six months.

Oli accused Nepal and other leaders for being involved in anti-party activities and violating rules and norms.

After Oli dissolved the House on December 20, 2020, a section of party leaders upped the ante against the Prime Minister and sought his resignation.

On February 23, the Supreme Court of Nepal reinstated the House but Oli refused to step down.

The apex court on March 7 dropped another bombshell invoking the 2018 party merger between Oli's UML and Pushpa Kamal Dahal Prachanda's Nepal Communist Party-Maoist Center.

Nepal, who was earlier close with Prachanda, returned to his mother party but Oli refused to incorporate them for supporting Dahal when the party was united under the banner of Nepal Communist Party.

After Oli refused to welcome Nepal and his faction inside the old party, the Prime Minister's party has once again landed in fresh trouble.

After the Supreme Court split the Nepal Communist Party into two, the UML and Maoist Center, now, the Prachanda-led Maoist Center is also preparing to withdraw support lent to Oli in 2018 before the party unification.

If Maoist Center withdrew its support, Oli's party will automatically reduce to a minority government.

In that case, either Oli has to take a vote of confidence or face a no-confidence motion.

Nepali Congress's decision to seek Oli's resignation is a welcome step and time has come to remove Oli, former Prime Minister Baburam Bhattarai said on Saturday.

Time has come for other opposition parties to play their role, Bhattarai said, adding, today our foremost priority is to remove Oli.

Meanwhile, Oli said that he was also aware of what the opposition are doing.

"First withdraw your support to the government. Then I will resign," he said, adding that this is not the first time that his resignation has been sought.

"I cannot resign to meet each and every demand." Meantime, the Nepali Congress' decision to seek Oli's resignation and unseat him, could create a new political equation in Nepal.

If three opposition parties, Nepali Congress, Maoist Center and Janata Samajbai Party come together, they will easily unseat Oli.

And party leaders have said that now time has come to expedite talks between the opposition to unseat Oli.
The COVID-19 vaccine co-developed by Oxford University and AstraZeneca was one of the first vaccines that were announced and to complete clinical trials.

Unlike the Pfizer-BionTech and Moderna vaccines, the one developed AstraZeneca did not need extreme storage conditions and could be stored in ordinary freezers.

This made the AstraZeneca COVID-19 vaccine more acceptable and affordable around the world.

AFP

But it has not been a smooth sail for the vaccine or AstraZeneca ever since.

AstraZeneca's problems

The company has been at odds with the EU for failing to live up to its vaccine commitments and at one point was facing an export ban.

Now adding to its troubles are the reports of side-effects. The most serious one that has been reported so far is blood clots, which have forced many countries to stop administering vaccines to their people.

AFP

Though AstraZeneca continues to stand by its claim that its vaccine is safe, there is more worrisome news.

From bad to worse

The UK medical regulator said Saturday that out of 30 people who suffered blood clots after receiving the Oxford-AstraZeneca vaccine, seven have died.

The UK's Medicines and Healthcare products Regulatory Agency said in a statement that "Out of the 30 reports up to and including 24 March, sadly 7 have died."

Teletrader

The UK regulator said that the 30 reports of thrombosis, submitted by medics or members of the public via a government website, came after 18.1 million doses of the vaccine had been administered in the country.

Most of the cases (22) were cerebral venous sinus thrombosis, a rare condition when a blood clot forms in the brain.

Eight other cases saw people suffer thrombosis and low levels of blood platelets, which help blood clot.

AFP

There were no reports of blood clots from the Pfizer/BioNTech vaccine it said, adding that "our thorough review into these reports is ongoing."

The regulator's website says that on the basis of current data, the benefits of the vaccines against COVID-19 "continue to outweigh any risks".
RTHK: Wang Yi meets South Korean counterpart

South Koreas foreign minister met his Chinese counterpart in the southern Chinese city of Xiamen on Saturday, as Seoul seeks to improve ties with its top trading partner even as US-China relations remain strained.

Ahead of the trip, South Korea's newly appointed Foreign Minister Chung Eui-yong told reporters that he expected North Korea to be a key issue in talks with Wang Yi.

In his opening statement, Wang said China and South Korea will seek a process for a political resolution of the Korean Peninsula issue, as part of pursuing policies for permanent peace amid North Korea's nuclear standoff with Washington.

Chung said both China and South Korea share the goal of complete denuclearisation of the Korean Peninsula.

He said South Korea asks China to continue serving a constructive role in the stable management of the situation on the Korean Peninsula and achieving substantial progress in the Korean Peninsula peace process.

The Foreign Ministry in Seoul said the meeting started at around noon.

South Koreas JoongAng Ilbo newspaper speculated that Chinas decision to host Chung in Xiamen, a city close to the island of Taiwan, was intended to send a message to Washington against attempting to shore up a US-led anti-China coalition."

The Biden administration has stepped up efforts to bolster cooperation with allies South Korea and Japan, focused on Chinas growing influence and the North Korean nuclear threat.

On Friday, Bidens national security adviser Jake Sullivan hosted his South Korean and Japanese counterparts at the US Naval Academy in Annapolis, Maryland for discussions on the countries three-way partnership and Washingtons policies on North Korea.

The worsening relations between Washington and Beijing have raised concerns in Seoul that it would become squeezed between its main security ally and biggest trade partner.

Earlier this week, Wang also met his counterparts from four Southeast Asian countries  Singapore, Malaysia, Indonesia and the Philippines. (AP)

This story has been published on: 2021-04-03. To contact the author, please use the contact details within the article.
The American Civil Liberties Union says plans to roll out a standardized vaccine passport must account for social inequalities and privacy rights. Anything short is a "nonstarter."

President Joe Biden's administration is working to establish a set of standards for people to prove they've been vaccinated against Covid-19, an administration official said last Sunday.

The official said the White House is working with government agencies, tech companies and non-profit organizations to plan and coordinate the effort, which is likely weeks away from being finalized.

Still, ACLU senior policy analyst Jay Stanley warns "there's a lot that can go wrong."

"Any proposal for vaccine credentials must be primarily paper-based, decentralized, and protect privacy," he said in an article published on the organization's website Wednesday.

Passports should be paper-based

Several organizations and tech companies have already started developing smartphone apps and other digital systems to store and verify vaccination information.

The idea is to make it quick and easy for individuals wishing to board flights or attend events to verify their vaccination status.

But Stanley said any system that is exclusively digital would alienate individuals and communities without access to mobile devices or knowledge how to use them, such as senior and low-income people, or those with disabilities.

"There are a lot of people who don't have cellphones, especially some of the most vulnerable people in our society," Stanley told CNN. "Over 40% of people over 65 do not have smart phones, so any system must have a paper-based functionality or it's a nonstarter."

The ACLU recommends a system that's primarily paper-based, but with a digital option, so that no one is left out.

"We don't want people who can't afford to have cellphones to be excluded from societal benefits," Stanley said. "We want people to be able to go to concerts or private events even if they don't own a cellphone."

Information should not be stored in a centralized database

Stanley said a digital passport system must be decentralized and open sourced to protect user privacy and keep individuals in control of their own data.

"If it involves putting some sort of government or corporate app on your phone but it's not open sourced and you can't see how it works, that will be bad for privacy," Stanley said. "Does it report back every time you present a credential? Every time someone asks to see you've received a vaccine? Does it report back to some government agency? That would also be very bad."

White House press secretary Jen Psaki said Monday there will be no centralized universal federal vaccinations database. While that's good news to the ACLU, Stanley worries that a rushed system could still lead developers to overlook other important details.

In his article, he warned that a digital passport "built on architecture that is not good for transparency, privacy, or user control" could set a "bad standard" for future apps and systems that host credentials, such as health records, memberships and licenses.

User privacy should be respected

Any passport system that tracks and records users' whereabouts and actions is a bad idea, Stanley said.

"In the absence of airtight legal protections for privacy, any such information could then be sold for commercial purposes or shared with law enforcement," he wrote.

"That would affect all of our freedoms, but will have a particular chilling effect on communities of color, including immigrant communities, that are already over-policed."

That fear could lead some people to opt out of a passport system or vaccines altogether, further marginalizing communities already at risk.

A passport system that scares users away would be counterproductive, he added.

The devil is in the details

Some sectors, like the travel industry, are calling for a uniform system to verify Covid-19 vaccinations.

Although the Biden administration previously said the federal government should not be involved in efforts to create such a system, they are now working to do just that.

Still, Psaki said in her statement on Monday that the administration will not require Americans to obtain vaccination credentials.

At a briefing on March 12, White house coronavirus coordinator Jeffrey Zients described the system they envision.

"Our role is to help ensure that any solutions in this area should be simple, free, open source, accessible to people both digitally and on paper, and designed from the start to protect people's privacy," he said.

An administration official told CNN the standards are still in the early stages of development but expects them to look similar to what Zients outlined -- that the ultimate product should be free, private and safe from being duplicated or forged.

Stanley said the ACLU is "heartened" that the White House's efforts appear to be in lockstep with their concerns and will remain cautiously optimistic.

"The devil is often in the details, and any proposed system will have to be examined closely," he said.
The United States has lifted sanctions on senior members of the International Criminal Court (ICC), including a prosecutor who had launched an investigation into alleged war crimes by U.S. military personnel in Afghanistan.



Secretary of State Antony Blinken announced the move in a statement on April 2, saying the department had decided sanctions were inappropriate and ineffective."

The sanctions targeted prosecutor Fatou Bensouda and other court staff, imposing asset freezes and travel bans on them.



Former Secretary of State Mike Pompeo last year accused the Hague-based ICC of infringing on U.S. national sovereignty when it authorized an investigation into war crimes allegedly committed by Afghan forces, the Taliban, or U.S. troops.

The court further irritated the United States by opening an investigation into alleged war crimes by Israel in the Palestinian territories.



Blinken said despite the announcement the United States continues to disagree strongly with the ICC's actions relating to the Afghanistan and Palestinian situations" and objects to ICC efforts to assert jurisdiction over the United States and Israel, which are not members of the court.



But he said Washington believes its concerns would be better addressed through engagement with all stakeholders in the ICC process rather than through the imposition of sanctions."



The court welcomed the U.S. move, saying it would contribute to strengthening its work.



Silvia Fernandez de Gurmendi, head of the Association of States Parties to the ICC, said in a statement the ICC had "always welcomed the participation" of the United States in achieving justice for war crimes despite the U.S. decision not to ratify its founding Rome Statute in 1998.



"I trust this decision signals the start of a new phase of our common undertaking to fight against impunity for these crimes," she added.



Fernandez said the U.S. decision came at a "fundamental juncture" amid reforms at the court, which has come under scrutiny over internal matters such as judges' salaries.



Blinken said he was encouraged by the reforms.



Bensouda is leaving her job in June and will be replaced by British human rights lawyer Karim Khan.

Based on reporting by Reuters and AFP
Judiciary workers, under the aegis of the Judiciary Staff Union of Nigeria (JUSUN), have declared an indefinite nationwide strike to press home their demand for the financial autonomy of the judiciary.

The national leadership of JUSUN in a circular dated April 1 and seen by PREMIUM TIMES on Saturday, ordered the shut down of various courts across the country as from Tuesday, April 6.

In the circular signed by JUSUNs General Secretary, I. M. Adetola, it directed all states and zonal heads of the union to comply with the strike.

The union stated that it had at its last National Executive Meeting on March 13, 2021 in Abuja, issued a 21-day ultimatum to the government to implement the financial autonomy of the judiciary with a threat that failure of which JUSUN will have no other option but to resume the suspended national strike action.

Therefore, as a result of the public holiday on April 5, 2021, the strike action has been postponed to Tuesday, April 6, 2021.

You are directed to shut down courts/departments in your states until further notice from the National Secretariat of JUSUN in Abuja, the circular read in part.

The planned strike is bound to add to the woes of many Nigerians whose access to healthcare has already been impaired by the ongoing strike of Nigerian doctors.

Battle for financial autonomy

JUSUN has been in the forefront of the battle for financial independence of the nations judiciary.

The legal actions taken by the union led to January 14, 2014 judgment of Adeniyi Ademola, then a judge of the Federal High Court, abolishing the piece-meal funding of the state and federal courts by the executive.

The court held that funds meant for the judiciary should instead be disbursed directly to the heads of court and not to the executive arm of government.

The federal legislature and judiciary, have to a large extent, been enjoying financial autonomy status as they receive their appropriated funds in bulk unlike their counterparts at the state levels who always get what the governors feels like releasing to them.

In May 2020, President Muhammadu Buhari signed the Executive Order 10 to give force to the provision of section 121(3) of the Constitution which guarantees the financial autonomy of the state legislature and state judiciary.

The Executive Order authorises the Accountant-General of the Federation to make deduction from the Federation Account the money allocated to any state of the federation that fails to release allocation meant for the state legislature and state judiciary in line with the financial autonomy guaranteed by Section 121(3) of the Constitution of the Federal Republic of Nigeria 1999 (as Amended).

But the Federal Government was at the verge of starting the implementation of the Executive Order when the governors got Mr Buhari to suspend it.

Court shutdowns

In the build-up to the 2015 general elections in Nigeria, the JUSUN shut down all courts across the country in a bid to enforce the Federal High Court judgment.

The strike, which lasted for weeks leaving litigants and other court users stranded, was based on the failure of the federal and state governments to implement a judgement of the Federal High Court affirming financial autonomy status for the judicial arm of government.

On the first day of the strike in 2015, the then Chief Justice of Nigeria (CJN), Mahmud Mohammed, and other Justices of the Supreme Court were locked out of their respective offices by protesting judiciary workers, while all the courts were barricaded by the workers.

The situation was the same in different part of the country.

ADVERTISEMENT

The strike got many pre-election matters stalled ahead of the 2015 general elections stalled.

Lack of courage

The financial autonomy status of the judiciary has been a source of concern in Nigeria.

According to Olisa Agbakoba, a former President of the Nigerian Bar Association (NBA), the current leadership of the Nigerian judiciary lacked the courage to confront the executive arm of government by refusing to submit its budget estimates for consideration.

In a recent interview with Channels Television, Mr Agbakoba urged the CJN to take the judiciarys budget estimates directly to the National Assembly for appropriation.
Source: Xinhua| 2021-04-03 19:19:29|Editor: huaxia

Video Player Close

FUZHOU, April 3 (Xinhua) -- China will communicate and coordinate with all parties, while working concertedly with the Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN), to promote peace talks in Myanmar and help ease the situation in the country at the earliest opportunity, Chinese State Councilor and Foreign Minister Wang Yi has said.

Wang made the remarks during a one-on-one exchange of views on the Myanmar situation with his counterparts from Singapore, Malaysia, Indonesia and the Philippines, as part of their visits from March 31 to April 2 in the city of Nanping, Fujian Province.

When holding talks with Philippine Foreign Secretary Teodoro Locsin on Friday, Wang summarized China's stance on the Myanmar issue as "Three Supports" and "Three Avoids."

He said China supports all parties in Myanmar in seeking a political settlement within a constitutional and legal framework, and the hard-won democratic transformation process should be constantly advanced.

China supports the ASEAN in upholding the norm of non-interference in internal affairs and participating constructively to help ease the Myanmar situation, Wang said, adding that China also supports the proposal of holding a special meeting of ASEAN leaders to discuss effective solutions, Wang said.

Shedding light on the "Three Avoids," Wang called for avoiding further bloodshed and civilian casualties in the country.

Inappropriate intervention in the Myanmar situation should be avoided, he said, sounding the alarm regarding some external forces trying to destabilize Myanmar. Enditem
Dinner reservations are gleefully being made again and long-canceled vacations are finally being booked as Americans look toward the end of the COVID-19 pandemic.

But not everyone is racing back.

As the world begins to reopen, stories are emerging of people secretly dreading each milestone toward normalcy, envisioning instead anxiety-inducing crowds and awkward catch-up conversations.

Even small tasks outside the home, such as a trip to the grocery store, are feeling overwhelming to some Americans.

Psychologists call it re-entry fear, and they're finding it more common as headlines herald the imminent return to post-pandemic life.

Millions of anxious Americans are dreading a return to normal life after COVID-19 lockdowns are lifted, psychologists say. Across the country, people have become used to the comfort and safety of their own homes and are now content with their own company

As the world begins to reopen, stories are emerging of people secretly dreading each milestone toward normalcy, envisioning instead anxiety-inducing crowds and awkward catch-up conversations. A reopened market in New York City is seen last month

'I have embraced and gotten used to this new lifestyle of avoidance that I cant fathom going back to how it was, 'Thomas Pietrasz, who lives alone and works from his home in the Chicago suburbs, told The Associated Press.

'I have every intention of continuing to isolate myself'.

Pietrasz, says his alcohol and marijuana use increased during the pandemic and his anxiety has grown markedly worse as talk of post-vaccine life grows.

He told the AP that he got used to 'hiding at home and taking advantage of curbside and delivery in order to avoid every situation with people.'

As the world edges back toward some semblance of normal life, many report challenges like Pietrasz's playing out in their own lives.

The time at home - lockdown, dread, fear, isolation - has changed them and made existing worries worse or created new ones entirely.

'It's been a mix of reactions,' says Amy Cirbus, Director of Clinical Content at Talkspace, an online mental health group with nearly 50,000 current clients.

'Some people are very relieved about going back to normal. Others are struggling. Many people are experiencing spikes in anxiety as they feel they aren't ready for re-entry,' she told AP.

Many Americans are happy to be heading back out, including these thrill-seekers in Fort Lauderdale. However, millions of others are anxious about leaving their homes to socialize

As restaurants reopen, some are trying to avoid long-planned lunches and dinners with old friends, having gotten used to their own company and a sense of isolation

While some felt restricted by the confinement of home, others found safety, comfort and even enjoyment there, internalizing the isolation into what some psychiatrists consider a dysfunctional baseline of behavior.

Like many others, Pietrasz said his anxiety is largely unrelated to catching COVID and more about social interactions. Psychologists say fears about leaving home have little to do with reasonable concerns about spreading the virus and sometimes can't be pinpointed or aren't based in reality.

In some cases, psychologists say the manifestation is subtle, like someone who begins making repeated excuses to avoid meeting up with friends, even within a safe, socially distanced setting or if they've been vaccinated.

But some cases are more extreme, says Dr. Arthur Bregman, a psychiatrist who noticed this phenomenon in his Miami practice and dubbed it 'cave syndrome.'

'The people who have the most anxiety disorders in my practice, they are the worst-affected. They can't even get out,' says Bregman, who has been studying the 1918 influenza pandemic's psychological impact on the world.

After that lockdown, roughly 40 percent of the population would be diagnosed with what we now call PTSD, Bregman told the AP.

'It took 10 years for the people to get out of this,' he claimed.

The pandemic exacerbated issues for those already struggling with anxiety, depression and other mental health issues. But some patients are experiencing these symptoms for the first time.

Dr. Julie Holland, a New York psychiatrist, says the pandemic triggered new trauma for some, especially in the unpredictable early weeks of lockdown as people questioned whether there would be enough food or if it was even safe to touch their mail.

According to a survey in February by the American Psychological Association, nearly half the respondents said they felt uneasy about adjusting to in-person interactions once the pandemic ends.

Shockingly, vaccination status had little impact on peoples responses, with 48 percent of vaccinated adults saying they still felt uneasy.

'Youve been taught for an entire year to distance yourself from people and youve learned to be afraid of people because they could make you sick or kill you,' Holland says. 'Theres no question that its easier to learn to be afraid than to be unafraid.'

The fight-or-flight physical manifestations like racing heart, trouble breathing and feeling dizzy can be terrifying.

'People who are really free and theyre planning their vacations are really upsetting my patients because theyre challenging their level of fear and risk tolerance,' says Dr. Sharon Batista, a New York psychiatrist who has noticed a spike in patient referrals since the holidays.

Children and teens are especially vulnerable. Before the pandemic, 17-year-old Erin had lots of close friends, but said those interactions slowly waned while on lockdown in the DC suburbs. Now she barely talks to them.

Shes dreading 'having to catch up and go through all that small talk stuff that nobody likes,' said the high school junior, who has been on anxiety medication for several years. The Associated Press is only using her first name because she is a minor.

'A year ago, I went outside hoping Id run into a friend from school and go on an adventure,' she recently posted on social media. 'Now, Im terrified to leave the house because Im afraid Ill run into a friend from school and go on an adventure.'

Nicole Russell became so fearful of leaving her Miami home that she retreated to her bedroom for days at a time, unable to interact with others inside the home, including her 11-year-old daughter. It got so bad that she was often up all night, sleeping during the day, checking social media obsessively and cleaning constantly, even scrubbing the floor with a toothbrush .

Nicole Russell became so fearful of leaving her Miami home that she retreated to her bedroom for days at a time

Russell says she is nervous about a return to the outside world, and found comfort and safety in staying at home

'I would not leave my little corridor for days at a time because I could not deal with the pressures of talking to other people,' says Russell, who left notes to remind herself to shower and brush her teeth. 'I wasnt living, thats for sure.'

Last Month, Russell even waved off family and friends when they tried to plan something small for her birthday last month. 'We were forced into isolation,' she says, 'and now we've grown accustomed to it.'

Experts say taking small steps over time is one of the most effective treatments. The more patients go to the store or see friends, the more theyll discover the forgotten enjoyment of social interactions and learn that much of the world is unchanged, making it easier to venture out again. Others may need medication.

Russell, who described herself as 'nonfunctional,' took some steps in that direction recently. She forced herself to take a terrifying trip to the grocery store. She saw people laughing and talking, and she was inspired.

She started therapy along with an antidepressant. It worked, she says, and within a week things were far better. Now, 'Im up and moving around and I want to start catching up with everybody.
As part of the Healthy Ireland at Your Library initiative, Wexford public libraries will broadcast a series of four talks each Tuesday evening at 7pm on the Enniscorthy Library Facebook page.

The next talk will take place on March 30, and will focus on a 'compassion-based approach to over-eating' with Dr Mary Hynes, who is a senior psychologist.

On April 6, the talk will place attention on support tips for parents of young children.

The talk will be presented by another senior HSE psychologist, Peader Maxwell.

He has practiced psychology, specialising in the areas of child, adolescent and family psychology, for over 20 years.

On April 13, the talk will be titled 'Supporting Your Child's Emotional Health through Adolescence'. It will again be presented by Mr Maxwell. The first of the talks, 'First Understanding Grief and Loss', with Breffni McGuinness, premiered on March 23, and is now available to view on the Wexford Public Libraries YouTube channel.

Healthy Ireland is a national strategy to improve health and wellbeing, placing a focus on prevention, individual awareness and keeping people healthy for longer.
?? Ahora | La presidenta del Consejo de Ministros, junto con el titular del @MininterPeru, sobrevuelan la ciudad para supervisar el cumplimiento de las medidas de inmovilizacion social dispuestas por el Gobierno durante Semana Santa. #NoBajemosLaGuardia pic.twitter.com/rR2uDDs7fH
A glimpse at suburban frustration with COVID pandemic protocols for school reopen.

Read more . . .

OVERLAND PARK, KS (KCTV) -- The Blue Valley School District will reconsider its mask requirement at a School Board hearing next week, the Blue Valley Board of Education said to parents in a letter Thursday night. The letter states that the meeting, set for next Tuesday, is at the request of a district parent challenging the mask mandate at Blue Valley schools.
Metro Manila (CNN Philippines, April 3)  Beauty queen Kelley Day, the country's bet for Miss Eco International 2021, bagged the Best National Costume of the competition.

The organization on Saturday announced Day won in that category during the preliminary competition held at Baron Resort in Sharm El Sheikh in Egypt. Panamas representative won first runner-up, while second runner-up was from Thailand.

In an Instagram post, Day said it was an honor to wear the piece made by designer Louis Pangilinan.

"Winning 'Best National Costume' tonight just made me feel even more proud to be representing the Philippines. (I am) thankful for all the hard work and creativity of the team that was behind this This is for the Philippines," she added.

The winner of this year's Miss Eco International pageant will be crowned on April 4.
The St Stephen's College campus' "inner perimeter" has been rendered out of bounds after 13 resident students and two staffers tested COVID-19 positive, according to a notice issued by the institute's principal.

The notice, issued on Friday, said necessary and stringent measures have been put in place by the dean's office to ensure isolation and social distancing for "all residents".

The dean of residence-cum-college chaplain and mass steward (security officer), both of whom have tested positive for the coronavirus, had taken a group of students, including hostellers, of the Delhi college for an educational trip to Dalhousie in Himachal Pradesh in the last week of March.

"The inner perimeter of the college is out of bounds for all, unless specific clearance is given by the principal on a case by case basis. The outer perimeter of the college may be accessed by those with relevant and regular work after due process at the security counter," the notice read.

"Faculty who are scheduled to come to college may defer their coming till a notification informs them of an improvement in the condition," it read.

On Friday, St Stephen's College governing body member Nandita Narain wrote to the college's principal, John Varghese, asking several questions related to the reports of students testing COVID-19 positive and the Dalhousie trip.

In the letter, Narain also asked whether the college administration took permission from the University of Delhi and the state government for the trip or opening hostels and allowing "over 200" students to return in the last few months.

"Why was this trip organised by the college officials in the times of COVID pandemic? Was the trip authorised by the principal? Was the consent of parents of the students taken for going on this trip? Was the permission of the University of Delhi and the state government taken for organising such a trip in pandemic times?" the governing body member asked.

In his reply, Varghese, besides confirming the positive test reports of the students and the staff members, said the trip in question was authorised by him and that the consent of students' parents was also taken for the same.

"As for the other questions, I shall answer them when I have a little more time to spare. You will agree that handling the situation is the priority now. Please be informed that the Dean's Office is aware of the situation and necessary steps have already been taken in consultation with medical and civic authorities," he wrote to Narain.

The national capital has been seeing a surge in cases.

Delhi recorded 3,594 fresh cases of COVID-19 on Friday, the highest daily count this year while 14 more people died due to the infection, taking the toll to 11,050, according to the health department.

The positivity rate also mounted to 4.11 per cent from 3.57 per cent a day before, amid a massive surge in cases in the span of the last few weeks.

In Himachal Pradesh, the cumulative cases stand at 60,026 and active cases at 3,338, while the death toll is 1,056, according to the Union Health Ministry.

(Only the headline and picture of this report may have been reworked by the Business Standard staff; the rest of the content is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.)
Nguyen Hong Trangs family in Vinh My A commune in Bac Lieu province raises pigs. More than a year ago, her sow gave birth to 11 baby pigs, one of which weighed only two kilos. As it could not suckle much, it stayed small.

Ut Det eats fish, shrimp, sweets and fruits

Trang felt sorry for the pig and decided to keep it beside her for better care. She named the pig Ut Det. The pig became close to Trangs family and now weighs 50 kilos. It likes to sleep in a cool room with an electric fan. The pig eats fish, shrimp, sweets and fruits, and is bathed carefully by Trang and her husband with soap every day for 30 minutes.

Yellow shrimp

Tran Kim Hoang in Soc Trang City said in Dan Tri newspaper that on March 11 he harvested white-leg shrimp after three months of farming and surprisingly found a bright yellow shrimp.

Local farmers believe that shrimp with such a color is rare, saying that it will bring good luck. The shrimp is being kept by Hoangs family.

Strange fish in Binh Dinh

In Binh Dinh province, ca nien, or Onychostoma gerlachi, can be found in only two mountainous districts An Lao and Vinh Thanh.

This fish lives in rivers, especially at the foot of waterfalls. It is very special: they only gather, live and breed in the upper area of swift-flowing rivers.

Ca nien has a flat body. The large fish is 20 cm long and is as big as two adult fingers. They only eat algae, so the flesh is delicious, clean and nutritious.

Special dog called God of Luck

Nguyen Van Duong in Pho Cao commune in Ha Giang said his male Mong Coc male, 2 years old, is reddish brown, a color that the Mong ethnic minority consider lucky.

Mong Coc dogs are loyal and agile, so they can work as guard dogs very effectively. These dogs are very precious and considered by Mong people as a God of Wealth, Duong said.

His dog has attended competitions for rare and precious dogs in cities and provinces where it won first and second prizes.

Some people want to buy the dog for VND200 million. But Duong has kept it to develop a family-run precious-dog farm.

Deer antlers worth VND60 million

N.C.C. in Son Ham commune of Ha Tinh province is the owner of a deer with huge antlers weighing four kilograms.

C bought the deer from a farmer six years ago. In the first two years, the antlers grew normally but in recent years their weight increased very rapidly.

Hanh Nguyen

Unique fishing village market in Hoi An Tan Thanh Flea Market is gradually becoming an interesting attractive meeting place in Hoi An, allowing visitors to not only trade unique products but also experience the local culture in a close and friendly community.
Microsoft is pushing back the full reopening of its offices, which is supposed to be the companys Stage 6 phase of its hybrid workplace plan, till September 7 at least. Initially the plan was to reopen its offices by July.

Based on our continued consultation with health and data experts, weve shifted our earliest date for the full opening of our U.S. worksites to September 7, 2021. We continue to review the situation on a local basis in each region/country/state where we work and will adjust dates by country as needed, a Microsoft spokesperson told The Verge.

We believe this date will afford additional flexibility for employees to make summer plans, and well continue to keep you updated if the date moves out, said Microsofts executive vice president Kurt DelBene while explaining in an email the decision to delay the full reopening.

The email also noted that Microsoft will give regional office leaders the leeway to further push back that date, depending on the health and safety conditions in their local area.

Microsoft has already started to reopen its offices in a limited capacity.

Earlier in March this year, Microsoft noted that roughly 20% of its staff worldwide were back in the office, and they had slowly started to reopen their Redmond and Seattle, Washington-based headquarters on March 29.

Despite all this, a shift to a remote workplace for Microsoft seems to be a permanent change to the companys culture. Going forward, Microsoft plans to make the option to work from home for up to 50% of the week a standard for most employees. There is also going to be an option to discuss more substantial shifts to remote work with managers.

The COVID-19 pandemic has challenged all of us to think, live, and work in new ways, Kathleen Hogan, Microsofts chief people officer, explained in a note last October.

We will offer as much flexibility as possible to support individual workstyles, while balancing business needs, and ensuring we live our culture, Hogan added.
Abu Dhabi-based Masdar, one of the world's leading renewable energy companies, has broken ground on a key utility-scale wind farm project in Uzbekistan, the first-of-its-kind project  with a capacity of upto 1.5 gigawatts (GW).

The company had entered into bilateral agreements with Uzbekistan last year to develop, build and operate the 500-megawatt (MW) wind farm project, its second utility-scale clean energy project in the country, and the largest wind farm in Central Asia.

According to Masdar, this project will attract foreign direct investment of more than $600 million.

Extending the capacity of the project, located in the Zarafshan district of the Navoi region, to as much as 1.5 GW will further help Uzbekistan achieve its objectives of adding up to 3 GW of wind energy and meeting 25 per cent of its electricity needs from renewable sources by the end of the decade.

The 500 MW Zarafshan wind farm is expected to begin commercial operation by the end of 2024. At a capacity of 500 MW, the project would provide enough electricity to power 500,000 homes, while displacing 1.1 million tons of carbon dioxide per year.

it signed an Implementation Agreement with the Government of the Republic of Uzbekistan to extend the capacity of its utility-scale wind farm project  the first such project in Uzbekistan  to up to 1.5 gigawatts (GW).

Sardor Umurzakov, Deputy Prime Minister and Minister of Investments and Foreign Trade for the Republic of Uzbekistan, said: "Mobilization of renewable energy potential in Uzbekistan would provide significant contribution to sustainable economic growth and fighting climate change."

"Along with that, expansion of clean power generation capacities by Masdar will support our objective to double the volume of electricity generation by 2030. Masdar will become a strong bridge connecting our countries, through which new Emirati companies will also invest in Uzbekistan," he stated.

Dr Sultan Ahmed Al Jaber, UAE Special Envoy for Climate Change and Minister of Industry and Advanced Technology, said: "For the UAE it is important that our actions on climate can help amplify the efforts of others around the world. This partnership is a clear example of how we are putting that tenet into practice."

"Together, we have an unprecedented opportunity to leverage our collective climate action to enhance sustainable growth in Uzbekistan, while making real progress on global climate goals," he stated.

Minister of Energy Alisher Sultanov said, "We value our partnership with Masdar and welcome this expansion, which will be the largest facility of its kind in our region. This is a vitally important project for Uzbekistan, helping us build towards our target of 25 percent of electricity generated by renewables by 2030."

UAE Minister of Energy and Infrastructure Suhail Al Mazrouei, said: "Today's landmark agreement will enhance co-operation between the two countries in the field of renewable energy. As signatories to the Paris Agreement, Uzbekistan and the UAE are committed to driving collective action on climate."

"We look forward to strengthening our relationship with Uzbekistan further by developing more clean energy projects with them in future," he added.

Masdar CEO Mohamed Jameel Al Ramahi said: "Today's event highlights the significant progress we have made, not only on this project but in helping the Uzbeg government to achieve its clean-energy and climate change objectives."

Last December, Masdar had announced financial close on the 100 MW Nur Navoi Solar Project  Uzbekistan's first successfully-financed independent power producer (IPP) solar project.

The Abu Dhabi group had signed a PPA and Government Support Agreement with the Uzbeg government in November 2019 to design, finance, build and operate the solar plant.

Masdar was announced as the winning bidder for the solar project after tendering the lowest tariff of 2.679 US cents per kilowatt hour in a competitive auction.

"As a global leader in the development of utility-scale wind power, Masdar is proud to support Uzbekistan's low-carbon energy strategy, and to strengthen our partnership with the Government to drive sustainable development," he added.-TradeArabia News Service
A man who pleaded guilty to committing a bias crime against an Asian American man will participate in restorative justice instead of being sentenced to more time in jail, Multnomah County prosecutors said Friday.

Daniel Hutchens, 38, was convicted of a second-degree bias crime for punching the man at a Portland MAX stop in December.

He approached the man, who was waiting for the MAX near North Interstate Avenue and Lombard Street, asked him, Are you Chinese? and punched him in the face, officials said.

He then fled the area.

By pleading guilty, Hutchens admitted to intentionally and knowingly causing physical injury to the victim because of his perception of the victims national origin, the Multnomah County District Attorneys Office said in a statement.

The victim, who has not been publicly identified, asked Judge Nan Waller for a resolution that did not include additional jail time for Hutchens, prosecutors said.

Hutchens was sentenced to 90 days in jail with credit for time already served, but he had spent more than 100 days in custody at the time of Tuesdays sentencing.

Hutchens will instead write a letter of apology to the victim and engage in restorative justice dialogue facilitated by the Oregon Chinese Coalition, a local Chinese American advocacy group.

Restorative justice is a process that focuses on holding an attacker accountable through community dialogue, education and directly addressing the harm done to victims and communities.

Racially motivated violence will not be tolerated at any time, but education through accountability is one of the first steps we, as a city, can take towards resolving these injustices, the Oregon Chinese Coalition said in a statement.

Hongcheng Zhao, a coalition board member, said the group is hoping to have constructive dialogue with Hutchens and will work with the Multnomah County Department of Community Justice to organize that conversation.

We are not fearful of confrontation with any type of violence or hatred but we do not want individual persons to shoulder the social injustice which has a deeper roots in this nation, Zhao said.

Hutchens will also be required to undergo drug, alcohol and mental health evaluations and complete any recommended treatment. He will remain on probation for 3 years, during which he will not be able to contact the victim or have knives and other weapons.

Hutchens has previously been convicted of charges including assaulting a public safety officer, resisting arrest, burglary and driving under the influence, according to court records. He also has an open fourth-degree assault case in Multnomah County from early March.

Hate crimes targeting Asian people in major U.S. cities rose by nearly 150% in 2020, even though hate crimes overall decreased by 7%, according to a study by the Center for the Study of Hate and Extremism at California State University, San Bernardino.

Stop AAPI Hate, an organization that tracks and reports bias crimes against Asian Americans and Pacific Islanders, tallied nearly 3,800 incidents from March 19, 2020, to the end of last month nationwide.

The report noted 40 racist incidents in Oregon.

Multnomah County prosecutors launched a campaign last May to encourage Asian Americans to report bias crimes to law enforcement.

-- Jaimie Ding

jding@oregonian.com; 503-221-4395; @j_dingdingding
Chandauli, April 3 : A lot has happened since last year. The novel coronavirus has sent countries, including India, in lockdown in March 2020. The Covid cases surged, jobs were lost, migrant workers walked to their homes, new strains of virus surfaced and finally, the vaccination drives kicked off.

For 16-year-old Manoj Banbasi from Uttar Pradesh's Chandauli district, the pandemic has changed the course of his life. He had passed Class 5 when the Covid-19 crisis hit. He hasn't even attended the online classes since because his family doesn't own a phone, let alone a smartphone.

"My elder brother Chotu and I are (now) looking for work. Koi bhi kaam mil jaaye toh chalega (Any kind of work will do)," says Manoj, who's decided to drop out of the school that he had joined quite late in his life - because of social exclusion.

The pandemic has only aggravated the socio-economic gap that Manoj's community has been enduring for decades. He belongs to the Musahar community, whose members were traditionally skilled in catching rats that would destroy the agricultural fields. Some Musahars elsewhere used to subsist on a meal of rats because they could not afford other food. This gave rise to the name Musahar, which translates to 'rat eaters' in Hindi, but also a stigma that the community hasn't been able to shrug off.

Thirty-two years since the Indian government passed the Scheduled Caste and Scheduled Tribe (Prevention of Atrocities) Act, 1989, the Musahars continue to face the vice of untouchability when they venture out to seek employment, education, or healthcare facilities, even though a majority of them don't catch rats anymore. They are a Dalit community (Scheduled Caste) spread across eastern Uttar Pradesh, Bihar, Madhya Pradesh and parts of Nepal, and also go by the names of Banbasi, Bhuiya and Manjhi. But even the Dalits consider them inferior.

Sociologists documenting the plight of India's Musahars blame social exclusion as the primary cause for their economic and educational backwardness. As per the Handbook on Social Welfare Statistics 2018, Uttar Pradesh has a population of 2,57,135 Musahars but only 24.4 per cent of them are literate.

Pandemic hit our 'only job' It was around 50 years ago when some Musahars migrated to Chandauli from the forests of Mirzapur, which is over 80 kms away. They had settled down in what is now known as Banbasi Basti, an unregistered slum at Hanumanpur, Ward 15, Niyamatabad block area of Chandauli. They stay in mud hutments with doors made of tarpaulin sheets or wooden planks. Some households have an electricity supply, fewer have a TV set or a toilet. There's no hospital nearby but only an anganwadi centre.

They had come out of the forest in search of a livelihood. But their hope for a new life dashed as people "denied (them) jobs that involve human contact, like that of a barber," alleges Manoj's father Bablu Banbasi. Eventually, a few found work as daily-wage labourers at construction sites while the majority took to stitching and selling leaf plates (dona pattals).

The latter required them to travel to Mirzapur's jungles twice a week to collect leaves. But the lockdown hit their primary occupation hard. That's because the trains to Mirzapur were halted and the alternative road transport became too expensive, the slum-dwellers recall the reason to 101Reporters.

As their income dried up, they subsisted on the ration supplied by the government for four months and later, by a local NGO, Chetna Sangh. However, they rebuffed the claim by ward councillor Nayab Ahmad Rinku that the anganwadi centre provided "nutritious food" to the women and children on a regular basis.

Lockdown is over, not suffering Life has returned to normalcy in most parts of the country but these Musahars, hit harder due to the absence of a security net, struggle to start over.

Though their dona pattal business has resumed, it's fetching them measly income. Bablu's wife Urmila tells us, "Once the Covid-19 restrictions were eased, we began using road transport. It cost us over Rs100 to go to the jungle. As the markets didn't open in full capacity until December, most of our dona pattals would lie unsold. We barely made Rs50-100 at the end of the day." In the pre-Covid-19 times, the couple used to make Rs 200 a day.

While most women like Urmila assist their husbands in the dona pattal business, a few work as housemaids nearby to supplement the household income.

Anita Banbasi is one of them. The mother of three recounts her struggle, "I had got a job as a housemaid after great difficulties as everybody looked down upon us. [But the pandemic struck] and my employers thought I would infect them with the virus. (So) I had to sit idle for around nine months." She resumed her work in January.

The situation of Musahars is dire not not only in Banbasi Basti, but everywhere. The Musahars in Chandauli's adjoining district and Prime Minister Narendra Modi's constituency, Varanasi, share the same pain of a widening socio-economic gap with the upper castes, made worse by Covid-19.

'Need work, respect comes later' The pandemic has given rise to new problems but the old - and pressing - issues of discrimination remain. The Musahars at Banbasi Basti have been waiting for years to move into concrete houses. They had applied for housing facilities under the Pradhan Mantri Awaas Yojna (PMAY) in 2016 and re-applied this year after they didn't hear back from the authorities. The government apathy is keeping Urmila's family awake all night.

She told 101 Reporters: "Our house collapsed (last month). The children were sleeping inside. It is by mere luck that the kids are alive today." Her family has since set up a makeshift structure nearby. It's made of tarpaulin sheets and tattered cloth, and is supported by thick sticks on four sides. In the absence of walls, the winter breeze creeping in through the rags keeps her family of six awake all night and through the dawn.

Her husband Bablu pitches in, "All our savings dried up when we had to sit idle due to Covid-19. Now I don't have money to mend the house." Facing the low-lying shelters of the slum, at hardly 10 feet apart, is a huge dump yard brimming with stagnant water. Fellow resident Dhiraj Banbasi said the dump yard overflows during heavy rains and dirty water often enters their home. He knows it's unhygienic to stay here and is even willing to move out, given the government builds him a pucca makaan (concrete house).

When 101 Reporters approached Sanjay Maurya, the project officer in the District Urban Development Agency, to understand why their housing demands haven't been sanctioned, he said, "I have no information on the PMAY applications filed by the residents in 2016. But we are processing the applications that a few of the slum dwellers submitted this January and we hope help will reach them soon." Not just housing, the residents claim they face discrimination while accessing healthcare too. "They (the hospital staff) turn us away as soon as they see us. When we ask for medicines, they give us medicines that are either expired or not suitable for our ailments. We have fallen ill many times after taking those medicines," Anita accuses the medical staff of the Parahupur health centre, which the slum-dwellers visit and which is roughly 1.7 kilometres from here.

"We are forced to visit private hospitals even though it's difficult for us to afford the doctors' fees and medicines," she adds.

But Pushpa Pathak, who works as an Auxiliary Nurse Midwife at the Parahupur primary health centre, refutes these allegations and says instead, "The residents often curse us using foul language. As they are unhappy with the government's inaction to address their issues of housing, sanitation and other basic amenities, they vent out their anger at us." She informed 101Reporters that ASHA workers visit the Banbasi Basti regularly to sensitise them about good nutrition, pre-and post-natal care and now, the COVID-19 vaccination, but the residents hardly turn up. "They (the residents0 believe the scare around the novel coronavirus is fake. They say they don't want to be vaccinated," says Salma Begum, member of Chetna Sangh NGO.

That speaks something about the lack of education in this slum, which is pervasive. Only five or six children go to the school, which is located nearby, while the rest depend on the lessons conducted by the said NGO.

Bablu explains why the children from the community haven't enrolled in school in big numbers, besides the fact that their parents can't afford their education.

He says, "Not only upper castes, but students from other backward castes also refuse to sit on the same bench as our kids. Every child born here (in this community) is ill-fated. Neither we nor our kids have ever caught a rat and eaten it. But people still look down upon us." That is also the reason non-Musahars refuse to marry girls from this slum, Begum adds.

Seeking respect and equality from the society are quite tall asks, the Musahars of Banbasi Basti feel. "Respect in society comes much later. Pet chal jaaye utna bahut hai (It is just enough if we get at least one square meal a day)," says Urmila.

"We want to work but there are never any takers, be it due to our caste or the pandemic," Bablu signs off.

(Rituparna Palit is a Chandauli-based freelance journalist and a member of 101Reporters.com, a pan-India network of grassroots reporters.)
Source: Xinhua| 2021-04-03 21:57:00|Editor: huaxia

Video Player Close

NAIROBI, April 3 (Xinhua) -- The International Monetary Fund (IMF) has approved a 254.41 billion shillings (about 2.34 billion U.S. dollars) financing package to help the Kenyan government in its response to COVID-19.

The IMF said the funds will also help Kenya in its plan to address the urgent need to reduce debt vulnerabilities while safeguarding resources to protect vulnerable groups.

"The authorities should continue to provide necessary support to the economy and secure space for social and development spending even as they have appropriately reversed some extraordinary measures, including the temporary tax cuts which ended in January 2021," Antoinette Sayeh, IMF Deputy Managing Director, said in a statement issued Friday evening.

The lender said the approval for the 38-month arrangements under the Extended Credit Facility (ECF) and the Extended Fund Facility (EFF) enables immediate disbursement of about 307.5 million dollars, usable for budget support.

The 404 million dollars will be disbursed in June while the balance will be released following subsequent reviews conducted appropriately every six months.

The east African nation was hit hard at the onset by the COVID-19 pandemic which has disrupted the economy.

According to the IMF, with a forceful policy response, the economy has been picking up heading into 2021 after likely posting a slight contraction of 0.1 percent in 2020.

"Even with this recovery, challenges remain in the return to durable and inclusive growth, and past gains in poverty reduction have been reversed," it said.

The lender said the COVID-19 shock also exacerbated the country's pre-existing fiscal vulnerabilities, adding that Kenya's debt remains sustainable, but it is at high risk of debt distress.

To address debt-related risks, Kenya has taken action to hold the fiscal deficit and debt ratios to 8.7 and 70.4 percent of GDP, respectively, this fiscal year, the IMF said.

"The authorities' program would set a basis for a resurgence of growth and shared prosperity. Building on critical steps already taken, it aims to reduce debt vulnerabilities through a multi-year fiscal consolidation effort centered on raising tax revenues and tightly controlling spending, safeguarding resources to protect vulnerable groups," IMF said. "It will also advance the structural reform and governance agenda, including by addressing weaknesses in some state-owned enterprises (SOEs) and strengthening transparency and accountability through the anti-corruption framework."

Kenya's National Treasury on Saturday welcomed the disbursement of the funds by the IMF, saying it's not only timely but also an expression of confidence in its program.

"The National Treasury is confident that the support and reforms set out in this IMF program will go a long way in mitigating the effects of the pandemic while aiding in the achievement of the government's policy objectives set out in the recently approved budget policy statement as well as the Medium Plan II," said Ukur Yatani, cabinet secretary for National Treasury, in a statement issued in Nairobi. Enditem
The Baltimore Amazon rank and file safety committee calls on Amazon to publicly reveal all information that it has in relation to the death of Poushawn Brown in Springfield, Virginia in January of this year. In addition, we demand that Amazon provide compensation to Poushawns family members and completely revamp its COVID-19 testing sites inside its facilities.

Poushawn Brown was a 38-year old mother living in the Washington, DC suburbs of Northern Virginia. She worked inside Amazons DDC3 facility in its COVID-19 testing department. According to Christina Brown, Poushawns sister, she died on January 8 after arriving home from a shift complaining of a headache. After lying down to take a nap, Poushawn never again awoke. The cause of Poushawns death was never determined due to prohibitively high costs for an autopsy.

Poushawn Brown

The BWI2 rank and file safety committee was formed in December of 2020 following the onset of the COVID-19 pandemic in response to the efforts of Amazon and other multibillion dollar corporations to subordinate health and safety to their profit goals.

We are an organization of, for, and led by Amazon workers which defends the rights and safety of our fellow co-workers. Our goal is the exposure of conditions at Amazon and the lies of management meant to cover them up.

We call upon Amazon to provide a full account, with all information that it has available, about the cause of Poushawn Browns death. Browns job detail inside DDC3s COVID-19 testing department would have brought her into daily contact with people who possibly had contracted the deadly illness. What was the daily case rate of COVID-19 infections at the DDC3 facility? Was Brown infected on the job?

The cause of Browns death may never be known due to the length of time since her passing. Amazons failure to obtain an autopsy for Brown is doubly suspicious as it aids a conspiracy of silence surrounding the circumstances of her death. Had the company shown an abundance of concern for the tragic loss of one of its employees, it would have reached out to Poushawns family and, after offering condolences, would have paid the cost of the expensive procedure to ascertain the cause of death.

Determining the cause of death would have informed Amazon if its employees and the public at large were at risk of an illness or disease connected to its facilities. In Ontario, Canada, outbreaks of COVID-19 at Amazon warehouses have resulted in disease transmission rates that are greater than that of the surrounding community and have driven the pandemic in the region.

In Browns case, none of this was done. Christina Brown, in remarks made last month to the International Amazon Workers Voice, stated: I was told [by Amazon] that they would get back to me [about Poushawns death, but] they never did. The IAWV reported in February that Amazon only offered condolences after news of Poushawns death went viral on social media.

The reason for Amazons silence is obvious: If her death is connected to the DDC3 facility then Amazon could be held liable for the tragic loss. Had Browns death been the result of COVID-19, it would have not only made the company liable, but it would have also raised questions about the effectiveness and safety of Amazons COVID-19 protocols.

Brown was not a registered nurse nor did she have any specialized background in healthcare. This could potentially make Amazon responsible for criminal negligence in its on-site operations. Workers in discussion with the IAWV have noted that Amazons self-administered swab tests are not well-explained; giving the company a level of deniability if workers themselves fail to detect positive cases.

Furthermore, the discovery of an outbreak at the DDC3 site would have resulted in calls to shut the facility down for mandatory cleaning and sanitizing. Amazon took none of the necessary precautions. Nor did it seek to inform workers at the factory, or throughout the company, that a COVID-19 tester had mysteriously fallen ill and died. As frontline workers and fellow Amazonians, we have a right to this information.

Amazon, which spares no expense in equipping its facilities to monitor the movement of every single worker in its workforce, should reveal what it knows about Poushawn Browns interactions and potential exposures. The company has boasted previously about the supposed unparalleled safety of its warehouses during the pandemic and should have nothing to fear from revealing whatever information it has on Browns death.

In addition, we demand that Amazon provide adequate resources and support to Browns family, who have been traumatized by their loss. To this date, all that has been offered to the Brown family is two months of grief counseling, the last of which was used up last week.

The Brown familys loss is irreparable, but Amazon, which posted a record-breaking profit of $21 billion last year and whose owner and founder Jeff Bezos has reported a personal fortune of over $180 billion, has more than enough wealth to provide assistance and to make sure such a tragic loss befalls no one else in its warehouses.

With this in mind, our independent rank and file committee at BWI2 calls on Amazon to provide:

A genuine system of contract tracing within Amazons facilities. Workers must know, in real time, the number of cases, the department and the shift time in which a COVID-19 case has been detected. All workers known to have been in proximity to infected individuals must be allowed to quarantine for two weeks with full pay and health benefits.





Paid time off with no threat of termination for workers unwilling to risk themselves during the pandemic. The rehiring at the same wage or higher for workers previously terminated for protesting and resisting Amazons abuses.





Accessible, reliable, safe testing and vaccination for all employees who desire them. These items should be overseen and administered by medical professionals with the required background training and experience in their fields.





Closure of facilities for necessary cleaning. If an outbreak is detected at a fulfillment center, it must be closed for at least two days and deep-cleaned with no loss of pay to the workers affected.





An end to abusive speed-up. Extended break periods at the end of every hour to maintain health and safety. Time Off Task (TOT) tracking and other forms of harassment must be abolished.





Immediate reinstatement of hazard pay with retroactive pay increases.

In relation to Poushawn Browns tragic death, we demand:

The release of all information relating to the death of Poushawn Brown, including job requirements, on-site interactions and potential exposures. This should include internal company communications and deliberations about how it should respond to Browns death.





Full financial and medical support for the Brown family, paid for by Amazon.

A struggle for such demands must be completely independent from all representatives of the capitalist two-party system as well as the corporate-controlled trade union bureaucracies. The latter have done nothing to protect workers from exploitation before or during the pandemic.

For its part, the Retail, Wholesale and Department Store Union (RWDSU), which is wrapping up a unionization drive at Amazons BHM1 facility in Bessemer, Alabama, has said nothing publicly about Poushawn Brown. Nor has it published any demands for raising the living standards of workers at the BHM1 facility.

We issue a call to all of our Amazon co-workers to read the International Amazon Workers Voice and to become familiar with the story of Poushawn Brown. For workers in the Baltimore region, join our rank-and-file committee. For workers across the United States and the globe, join our growing network of independent rank-and-file safety committees and help fight to defend yourselves and fellow coworkers from the callous efforts of management and the corporate-controlled two-party political system to allow COVID-19 to run rampant in our workplaces.

The Brown family has set up a gofundme page to help defray costs as they seek justice for Poushawn.
An armed Pan Say militiaman securing a bridge in Muse in Shan state, Burma's main gateway to China, on Jan. 12, 2019. (Ye Aung Thu/AFP via Getty Images)

Chinese City Orders Locals Guard Border With Burma to Curb COVID-19

The Chinese regime ordered local people to guard the border with Burma in the southeastern city of Ruili to curb the citys COVID-19 outbreak, with locals complaining that the measures are ineffective.

We dont have any tool even to defend ourselves, Li Liang (pseudonym), a resident at Mengmao town in Ruili, Yunnan province, told the Chinese-language Epoch Times on April 1. A large number of people enter [China by crossing the border illegally] every day  We dont have the capability to stop them.

Li said the Burmese and Chinese people dig underground channels and cut the barbed wire to cross the border back and forth to do business.

On April 2, the regime announced more CCP (Chinese Communist Party) virus infections in Ruili, after the city started to crack down on illegal border crossing on March 31.

An empty street in Ruili, southwestern Chinas Yunnan province, on April 1, 2021. (Provided to The Epoch Times by interviewee)

The regime then launched more methods to control the pandemic on Friday, including vaccinating all 300,000 residents within five days, setting up 29 medical monitoring sites and 14 quarantine centers, and sending thousands of people to quarantine centers.

In the past weeks, a large number of Chinese people have expressed concerns over the safety and efficiency of China-made COVID-19 vaccines. Official documents obtained by The Epoch Times show that the CCP regime used political methods to force people to get vaccinated with China-made COVID-19 vaccines across the country.

The side effects of the COVID-19 vaccines has been censored by the regime. In Hong Kong, at least 11 people died after receiving the CoronaVac vaccine, made by Beijing-based Sinovac.

Militiamen guarding a checking point in Ruili, southwestern Chinas Yunnan province, on April 1, 2021. (Provided to The Epoch Times by interviewee)

Guarding the Border

State-run Yunnan Net announced on April 2 that the regime had arranged 7,400 police officers, government officials, and militia to lock down Ruili as well as the border. Local residents said the border is guarded by local people, who the regime called militia.

Li Liang said that the regime doesnt pay the militia in general, and the guarding should be done by soldiers with militia for support.

Now only local people are guarding the border. We dont know where the soldiers are, Li said. Every time when I went to the border in the night, I saw my fellow militiamen sleeping.

Li explained that local people have jobs or do farming during the daytime, and its hard for them to keep alert in the night. Furthermore, the border guarding in Ruili is difficult.

The border is very long and the condition is complicated  People use all kinds of methods to cross the border, Li added.

Soldiers guarding Jiegao Bridge in Ruili, southwestern Chinas Yunnan province, on March 30, 2021. (Provided to The Epoch Times by interviewee)

Ruili is an inland city and has three sides bordering Burma. The fourth side connects with other Chinese cities. There are bushes, rivers, farming land, and villages along over 100 miles of border.
Compiled by Leylha Ahuile, with descriptions provided by the publishers.

FICTION

En un instante

(In an Instant)

Suzanne Redfearn

Diamante

ISBN 978-607-99032-0-6

Life ends instantly for 16-year-old Finn Miller when an accident throws her and 10 others down a mountainside. Her father seeks revenge against the only person he can blame.

NONFICTION

Brujeria verde

(Green Witchcraft)

Paige Vanderbeck

Sirio

ISBN 978-84-18531-07-1

This book is centered around living in harmony with the Earth. It explores practices like growing herbs for magic and medicine, honoring spirits of nature, and using crystals for energy.

Deberias hablarlo con alguien

(Maybe You Should Talk to Someone)

Lori Gottlieb

Urano

ISBN 978-84-16720-87-3

With humor, Gottlieb, a therapist in Los Angeles, invites readers into her world as both clinician and patient.

Kamala Harris

(Kamalas Way)

Dan Morain

Roca

ISBN 978-84-18557-25-5

A biography tracing Harriss journey to become the first woman of color elected as vice president of the U.S.

CHILDRENS/YA

Animales fantasticos

(Fantastic Animals)

Amaia Arrazola

Editorial Flamboyant

ISBN 978-84-18304-00-2

In this interactive bestiary, readers can create fantastic animals by combining the flaps to form wonderful creatures.

Buenas noches, Llamita

(Goodnight, Little Llama)

Amanda Wood, illus. by Bec Winnel and Vikki Chu

Editorial Flamboyant

ISBN 978-84-17749-94-1

Little Llama wants to climb the mountain, but cantuntil she makes a new friend, who doesnt look a bit like her.

Buenas noches, Pinguinito

(Goodnight, Little Penguin)

Amanda Wood, illus. by Bec Winnel and Vikki Chu

Editorial Flamboyant

ISBN 978-84-17749-96-5

Little Penguin doesnt want to go to nursery with the other penguin chicks. But soon he discovers making friends can be fun!

Dinosaurios enamorados

(Dinosaurs in Love)

Fenn Rosenthal, illus. by Hannah Jacobs

Editorial Flamboyant

ISBN 978-84-18304-14-9

The picture book featuring the viral song by Fenn Rosenthal arrives in Spanish. A tender, honest, and innocent story about love, longing, and loss through the eyes of a three-year-old.

Las fabulosas aventuras de Aurora

(The Fabulous Adventures of Aurore)

Douglas Kennedy, illus. by Joann Sfar

Editorial Flamboyant

ISBN 978-84-18304-16-3

Eleven-year-old Aurore, an autistic girl who can read behind other peoples eyes, investigates her friends disappearance in this mysterious story about difference, bullying, and family.

Mejores amigas (casi siempre)

(My Best Friend, Sometimes)

Naomi Danis, illus. by Cinta Arribas

Editorial Flamboyant

ISBN 978-84-17749-99-6

Best friends share secrets and cookies, and care for each other. But sometimes they cant agree on everything. Friendship has its ups and downs, doesnt it?
Photo: The Canadian Press People take part in a demonstration to highlight violence against women in Montreal, Friday, April 2, 2021. THE CANADIAN PRESS/Graham Hughes

Protesters marched through Montreal's Plateau borough Friday afternoon to denounce what many described as a "pandemic" of violence against women, after a slate of recent killings.

Eight women have been killed by current or former intimate partners in Quebec over the past eight weeks.

The Montreal protest, which stretched more than six city blocks at times, was one of 20 scheduled to take place across Quebec today.

"Enough! Not one more!" the protesters chanted as they made their way through the city.

Manon Monastesse, the executive director of the Quebec federation of women's shelters, said the number of deaths in recent weeks is disturbing, noting the province tends to record 12 femicides over the course of a normal full year.

"In Canada, a woman is killed every two days by their intimate partner or ex-partner," she said before the protest. "We're also facing a pandemic, but it's a shadow pandemic. We're not addressing it directly and openly."

Monastesse, one of the organizers of the event in Montreal, said the 36 shelters in her organization are at 97 per cent of their capacity.

She said the effort to fight violence against women will need serious action from the provincial government, pointing to several government reports that outline steps that need to be taken to fight violence against women.

"We need a clear response and not just talking," she said.

Fighting violence against women will also take broader social change, she said, adding that she was pleased to see many men in attendance at the protest.

Catherine-Sophie Paquette, who was among the protesters, said she's tired of women being killed and wants people to realize how serious the situation is.

"I'm tired of women getting degraded and people saying that we're exaggerating, because we're not," she said.

Paquette, a high school student, said solving the problem starts at a young age, with education.

Alexandra Pierre, the president of civil liberties group the Ligue des droits et libertes, said Quebec still doesn't have adequate sexual education classes -- classes that she said she believes could be used to teach about equality in relationships.

But Pierre, who spoke at the protest, said violence against women doesn't happen in isolation, it's a reflection of broader social issues.

"There's still systemic discrimination against women in Quebec," Pierre said in an interview after the protest.

Selma Kouidri, the executive director of the ?Institut National pour l'equite, l'egalite et l'inclsuion, a group that works with people who have disabilities, said it can be more difficult for women who have disabilities, immigrant women and racialized women to leave violent situations.

Kouidri, who spoke at the protest, said shelter services are often not adapted for women with disabilities.

"Many women with disabilities, especially immigrant women, are afraid of the system," she said in an interview after the protest.

She said abusers will often tell women with disabilities that they will lose their children if they leave -- a fear that can be exacerbated if they are also immigrants.
Mumbai, April 3 : Sumeet Vyas on Saturday posted on Instagram to say that, 19 years into the business of acting, he is still searching for his profile.

Sumeet Vyas still searching for his profile, 19 years on Mumbai, April 3 (IANS) Sumeet Vyas on Saturday posted on Instagram to say that, 19 years into the business of acting, he is still searching for his profile.

"19 years into this business, still haven't found my profile. Any suggestions?" he wrote as caption with a picture that he posted on the social media handle.

Fans and industry friends commented on his picture.

"Always go with the one different from your co actor's," suggested actress Nimrat Kaur.

Sumeet started his career in 2001 as a theatre artiste and eventually began working in films and web series. He is known for his work in OTT shows such as "Permanent Roommates", "Official Bhootiyagiri", "Dark 7 White" and "1962: The War In The Hills".

-- The story has been published from a wire feed without any modifications to the text
AMMAN, Jordan  Marwa Alomaris compassionate and patient style made her a popular English teacher, filling her classes in Irbid, Jordan, with eager students and her off hours with private tutoring.

A university graduate, she was paid up to $3,000 a month, far more than most fellow Jordanians.

But after she married an army officer and moved in with his family, he began to resent that she was paid more than he was. Even though she contributed to the household with both money and housework, he and his family discouraged her from working and the marriage nearly fell apart, she said.

I became adamant that I wasnt going to quit, but eventually I found no support and I just got tired and gave up, said Ms. Alomari, 35. I went back to cooking, cleaning, gossiping with women. And this wasnt my ambition.

Her story reflects what is happening across Jordan  a small Arab monarchy that has been a steadfast ally of Western countries  where womens status in terms of labor force participation, health and politics has been regressing for years, even lagging behind more conservative countries in the region.
(CNN)  Europe's lackluster vaccination program has presented one of the continent's greatest foes with a golden opportunity to score a serious diplomatic victory.

Earlier this week, the Kremlin released a readout from a video conference between French President Emmanuel Macron, German Chancellor Angela Merkel and Russian President Vladimir Putin.

Item one on the agenda, according to the Kremlin, was a discussion on the prospect of "the registration of the Russian Sputnik V vaccine in the EU and possible deliveries and joint production of the vaccine in the EU countries." The German readout of the call used more moderate language, including a more explicit caveat around how Sputnik could only be used if it meets European standards.

But the meeting was enough to send shivers down the spines of some member states, while prompting angry responses from government officials and senior lawmakers among Europe's allies.

The European Union's vaccination program has been slow out of the blocks and plagued by supply issues. For a growing number of desperate EU leaders, one road out of the crisis may lead to Russia.

The Kremlin was heavily criticized last summer for approving Sputnik before large-scale Phase 3 trials began, but recent analysis published in The Lancet found the vaccine to be highly effective and safe. A review of Sputnik by the European Medicines Agency (EMA), which approves drugs on behalf of the EU, is underway.

Other European leaders are skeptical about Russia's motives and see the offer of much-needed doses as a chance for Putin to further divide the continent.

Diplomats from some ex-Soviet member states pointedly say that they have no intention of using any vaccine "other than those procured by the European Medicines Agency", speculated that the Russian vaccine "could be a tool to divide the Union and its allies" and fear that Moscow could use it as a "vehicle" for other nefarious activity.

Cure or weapon?

From the European perspective, the majority of the EU27 seem remarkably relaxed about the meeting between Merkel, Macron and Putin, and think the international concern has stemmed from Russia's spin on events. Indeed, some member states are already dealing directly with Moscow in the hope of getting hold of Sputnik shots, even though they have not been approved by the EMA and are not part of the bloc's centralized vaccine program, in which the European Commission has procured doses on behalf of countries.

Both Hungary and Slovakia have approved and ordered 4 million doses of the vaccine between them, while other countries, including influential Austria, are preparing to place an order with Moscow and get Russian shots into citizens' arms. Italy and other countries are in talks to produce Sputnik doses in Europe.

Austria's seal of approval for the Sputnik vaccine is a particularly vicious gut punch for Brussels, after Chancellor Sebastian Kurz openly accused the European Commission of distributing the jabs unfairly among member states. This week, he tweeted a picture of his meeting with Austria's Russian ambassador, stating that he was "very happy" that he would soon be able to place an order.

Compare this to Kurz's counterpart in Lithuania. Ingrida Simonyte, Lithuania's Prime Minister, has publicly said that "Putin doesn't care to use it as a cure for the Russian people -- he offers it to the world as another hybrid weapon to divide and rule." While Putin has been quick to tout Sputnik on the global stage, most Russians back home have been reluctant to take it.

But Simonyte's views are in the minority among EU leaders. While the fact that the bloc's two most powerful leaders even had this discussion with Putin has deeply concerned some of the ex-Soviet states, few are as vocal, as they know they are losing the argument.

And while most EU members are less enthusiastic than Kurz about using Sputnik, most are relaxed about Franco-German overtures to Moscow and think the fear is overhyped.

Playing down the concerns of countries like Lithuania and Poland, one European diplomat told CNN: "Even if the EMA does approve it, it's very unlikely the Commission will add it to its portfolio of vaccine. Besides, Russia simply doesn't have capacity to get the thing manufactured at any serious scale inside the EU."

Vaccines used in the EU's scheme must have been manufactured in labs that comply with EMA standards. So while it's true that we are a long way from seeing Sputnik being produced in EU labs, the mere fact that some member states are worried, some are dismissing those fears and others are clamoring to get hold of Russia's vaccine, reveals just how easily Moscow can cause division, both inside and outside of the EU.

Political grenade

In the UK, with whom Brussels is having a public spat over vaccines, a senior government official told CNN that it was "extraordinarily naive" to have even discussed Sputnik, given "we know that Russia is using vaccines as a diplomatic tool."

Tom Tugendhat, chairman of the UK's foreign affairs select committee, said: "Using vaccines to shove a deeper wedge between the UK and EU, and between those EU states that know Russia well -- like Lithuania -- and others that are more ready to turn a blind eye is designed to divide and provoke, and that only feeds Russia's interest."

Whether this was the primary intention or not, dividing the West is always welcomed in the Kremlin. Oleg Ignatov, senior Russia analyst at Crisis International, believes that Moscow's main objective was to "win a soft power battle by getting the vaccine recognized by Europeans, making Russia more palatable to European citizens," but accepts that creating a wedge in the West is probably a happy side-effect.

"Russia is always happy to see the European Union and its allies divided as it plays into domestic messaging that perhaps Western democracy isn't all it's cracked up to be," he added.

Kremlin critics in Russia have noted that the success of the Kremlin's vaccine exports has played a larger role in domestic media than anything resembling a vaccine rollout for Russian citizens, which raises important questions about where Russia's priorities really are. If the aim this week was to lob a political grenade into Europe, Sputnik is a perfect vehicle by which to do it.

"We already know Russia is playing vaccine diplomacy. What's more alarming is that Russian actors were allegedly behind the hacking of the EMA last year -- the very agency that might approve the vaccine," says Alice Stollmeyer, executive director of Defend Democracy, an independent foundation focusing on how democratic states are being undermined internationally. Moscow has repeatedly denied Western allegations of hacking.

The pandemic has done horrendous things to internal European diplomacy. A combination of unforeseen vaccine supply issues, limited in-person meetings, and the self-interest of nations to prevent citizens from dying is a perfect combination for conflict on a continent as interwoven as Europe.

Yet in the rush to get through a brutal third wave of the pandemic and mend the errors made in the early stages of the vaccine rollout, Europeans should be aware of how their internal divisions are seen outside the bloc. To their allies, it might look like little more than cats fighting in a bag. But to their enemies, it is a weakness that they're only too ready to exploit.

This story was first published on CNN.com, "Europe is torn over whether to take Putin's help on vaccines."
Today - ISS Reboost: Today the ISS performed a reboost using the SM Aft 75P R&D thrusters at 7:14 AM CT.

This is the second of two planned reboosts to set up phasing for the 64S two-orbit rendezvous on April 9th and 63S landing on April 17th. The burn duration was 2 minutes and 9 seconds with a Delta-V of 0.21 m/s.

Payloads

Solid Combustion Assembly (FLARE): The crew performed the Solid Combustion Experiment Insert 2. FLARE is a Japan Aerospace Exploration Agency (JAXA) investigation that explores the flammability of materials in microgravity. Various solid fuels are burned under different conditions and observed inside a flow tunnel. Microgravity significantly affects combustion phenomena and results are expected to contribute to the improvement of fire safety in space.

GRASP: Crewmembers performed GRASP science protocol sessions in the seated configuration. The purpose of the Gravitational References for Sensimotor Performance: Reaching and Grasping (GRASP) investigation is to better understand how the central nervous system (CNS) integrates information from different sensations (e.g. sight or hearing), encoded in different reference frames, in order to coordinate the hand with the visual environment. More specifically, the science team seeks to better understand if, and how, gravity acts as a reference frame for the control of reach-to-grasp.

Mochii: A crewmember removed and inspected the Mochii hardware as part of troubleshooting efforts. Mochii is a miniature Scanning Electron Microscope (SEM) with spectroscopy to conduct real-time, on-site imaging and compositional measurements of particles on the ISS. Such particles can cause vehicle and equipment malfunctions and threaten crew health, but currently, samples must be returned to Earth for analysis, leaving crew and vehicle at risk. Mochii also provides a powerful new analysis platform to support novel microgravity science and engineering.

Veggie Monitoring: The crew captured Veggie Monitoring Surface Sample Collection Historical Documentation Photography. Culture-based Environmental Monitoring of Crop-based Space Food Systems (Veggie Monitoring) collects microbial samples from the surface of the station's Veggie plant production system in conjunction with quarterly Environmental Health System (EHS) sample collection. Longer exploration missions require space-based systems for growth of plants, and this investigation is expected to help establish requirements to protect these systems, plants, and crew from contamination.

Systems

Expedite the Processing of Experiments to Space Station (EXPRESS) Rack-1 Air Avionics Assembly (AAA): In order to access the AAA, the crew rotated down the EXPRESS-1 Rack. The crew then used both the AC dry vacuum and the wet/dry vacuum to clean the AAA inlet screens/sound control block and inlet manifold. After completing the cleaning, the crew rotated the EXPRESS-1 Rack back to the nominal position.

Dragon Relocation Crew Conference: The Crew-1 crew and ground teams completed a conference in preparation for Crew-1 Dragon port relocation from Node 2 forward to Node 2 zenith. The relocation is in preparation for Crew-2 arrival currently scheduled for April 23.



Completed Task List Activities:

Recorded Greeting Request - Down to Earth

Today's Ground Activities:

All activities are complete unless otherwise noted.

Payloads ops support

Crew-1 conference

BPA Activation

Look Ahead Plan

Saturday, April 3 (GMT 093)

Payloads:

Standard Measures Saliva collect (NASA)

ECLSS Brine Processor System Placement (NASA

Systems:

Crew off duty

Sunday, April 4 (GMT 094)

Payloads:

Standard Measures Saliva setup (NASA)

Systems:

Dragon departure prep

Monday, April 5 (GMT 095)

Payloads:

Standard Measures Saliva and blood Collect (NASA)

Repository Urine collect (NASA)

AC Touch (NASA)

Systems:

Crew-1 port relocation

Gather hardware for EBOT install

Today's Planned Activities:

All activities are complete unless otherwise noted.

HRF Generic Saliva Collection 10 Minutes

Laptop RSK1 battery checkout

HRF Generic MELFI Sample Retrieval And Insertion Operations

Standard Measures Body Sampling Survey

Standard Measures Body Sampling Collection

HRF Generic MELFI Sample Insertion Operations

HRF Generic Saliva Collection Stow

Cargo Dragon Station Support Computer Relocate (DEFERRED)

GRASP science performance in seated position

Solid Combustion Experiment Module (SCEM) Experiment Insert 2 Retrieval

Regenerative Environmental Control and Life Support System (ECLSS) Urine Processor Assembly (UPA) Brine Filter Changeout

Solid Combustion Experiment Module (SCEM) Igniter Reset

Transfer Zbook to FE-2

Health Maintenance System (HMS) ISS Food Intake Tracker (ISS FIT)

Antimicrobial Coatings Touch

HP Zbook RSS1 laptop replacement

Regenerative Environmental Control and Life Support System (ECLSS) Recycle Tank Drain

Solid Combustion Experiment Module (SCEM) Experiment Insert 2 Install

Cold Atom Lab Science Module 2 Move and Remove

DAN03 Adlink Reboot

MELFI 3 Ice Brick Insert 3

Crew disconnects Mochii cabling and remove Top Plate and Shroud.

Regenerative Environmental Control and Life Support System (ECLSS) Recycle Tank Drain Part 2

Food Acceptability Survey

Environmental Health System (EHS) - Microbial Air Sampler (MAS) Kit Sample Collection

Crew performs an internal component video sweep and inspects the Sample Chambler for debris, and then reseats Mochii internal Computer Memory Card and PCBs.

Crew connects Mochii cabling and replace Top Plate and Shroud.

Transfer Zbook from FE-2

Crew powers on Mochii and confirms power on is complete.

Lab ExPRESS-1 Rack Rotate Down

EXPRESS Rack AAA Fan Clean

Work Light Deploy in Lab

Public Affairs Office (PAO) Event in High Definition (HD) - JEM

Ultrasound 2 HRF Rack 1 Stow Alternate

Urine Transfer System Offload EDV Swap

Crew conference prior to Dragon port relocation

Environmental Health System (EHS) - Surface Sample Kit (SSK) Collection/Incubation

Crew Dragon Tablet Sync and Stow

Lab ExPRESS-1 Rack Rotate Up

Veggie Monitoring Surface Sample Collection Historical Documentation Photography

Regenerative Environmental Control and Life Support System (ECLSS) Recycle Tank Fill Part 3

Computer Pantry H/W Consolidate

Standard Measures Fecal Collection

SERFE-CWCI Degas-2

SERFE CWC-I Remove and Replace

Crew Dragon Ballast Pre-Gather

CB/ISS CREW CONFERENCE

Space Acceleration Measurement System Control Unit Activation



Please follow SpaceRef on Twitter and Like us on Facebook.
Source: Xinhua| 2021-04-03 04:30:26|Editor: huaxia

Video Player Close

CAIRO/KHARTOUM, April 2 (Xinhua) -- Egyptian Foreign Minister Sameh Shoukry flew on Friday to Kinshasa, capital of the Democratic Republic of the Congo (DRC), for a new round of talks over Ethiopia's disputed Nile dam.

In a statement, the Egyptian foreign ministry said Shoukry, along with Egypt's water minister, headed to Kinshasa at an invitation from the DRC, the current chair of the African Union, for a new round of talks over the Grand Ethiopian Renaissance Dam (GERD).

Meanwhile, Sudan's foreign ministry announced that a Sudanese ministerial delegation, also headed by the country's foreign minister and water minister, is set to fly to Kinshasa on Saturday.

"Sudanese Foreign Minister Mariam Al-Sadiq Al-Mahdi and Minister of Irrigation and Water Resources Yasir Abbas will leave on Saturday to the Congolese capital Kinshasa for the meetings of the Ethiopian renaissance dam, under the patronage of the Democratic Republic of the Congo, the current chair of the African Union," the ministry said in a statement.

"The Sudanese delegation participates in this round to identify methodology and paths of the talks and reach agreement on them to ensure constructive negotiations that overcome the stalemate that characterized the talks during the past months," it added.

According to the statement, the talks would discuss Sudan's proposal of a mediation quartet of the United Nations, the European Union, the United States and the African Union to help the three parties reach a binding legal agreement on filling and operating of the GERD.

Sudan, Egypt, and Ethiopia have been in talks for years over the technical and legal issues related to the filling and operation of the GERD.

Ethiopia, which started building the GERD in 2011, expects to produce more than 6,000 megawatts of electricity from the dam project, while Egypt and Sudan, downstream Nile Basin countries that rely on the river for its freshwater, are concerned that the dam might affect their share of the water resources. Enditem
With the bank holiday Easter weekend upon us, Dogs Trust Ireland is urging dog owners to keep all chocolate safely out of the reach of their canine companions.

The charity says to ignore the puppy dog eyes this weekend as chocolate must not be shared with our furry friends.

Given the increase in the popularity of dogs over the past year, the charity wants to highlight how toxic chocolate, meant for human consumption, is for our four-legged friends.

Dogs Trust is keen to make owners aware of the signs of chocolate toxicity in a dog, after research conducted by PJM Noble revealed that vets are twice as likely to see dogs with chocolate poisoning at Easter.

The symptoms can include vomiting, diarrhoea, excessive thirst, excitability, drooling, seizures and potential kidney and heart failure.

Veterinary and Welfare Manager at Dogs Trust Ireland, Niamh Curran-Kelly said: Please make sure that children know their chocolate eggs are not for sharing with their furry friends.

"As toxic doses vary greatly, depending on the size of the dog and the type of chocolate ingested, if you suspect your dog has eaten any quantity of chocolate, please contact your vet for advice immediately.

"Prompt veterinary treatment can really improve a dogs chances of making a full recovery

Dogs Trust recommends you store your vets out of hours phone number on your phone in case of emergency such as chocolate ingestion.
(Natural News) During the first presidential debate between Donald Trump and Joe Biden, moderator Chris Wallace asked the then-president why he had signed an executive order ending racial-sensitivity training for federal agencies that addressed white privilege and critical race theory.

(Article by Sophie Mann republished from JustTheNews.com)

Trump responded that he did so because the programs were racist. He argued employees were asked to do things that were absolutely insane and were teaching people to hate our country.

Biden jumped in to say, Nobodys doing that.

On his first day in the Oval Office, President Biden rescinded the Trump order banning critical race theory (CRT) training programs for employees of the federal government. Once again, federal employees  at the Department of Homeland Security, the Federal Election Commission, the Consumer Finance Protection Bureau, the Department of the Treasury and elsewhere  are being placed in mandatory training sessions during which, for example, white employees are told to sit in the discomfort of the white supremacy they are complicit in by automatic response to the ways were taught.

Some employees have been taught about the myth of meritocracy in America and why the expression color-blindness is a racist microaggression. Trainers told employees at DHS that statements including America is the land of opportunity, everybody can succeed in this society, if they work hard enough, and the most qualified person should get the job, are based in harmful racist stereotypes and will no longer be tolerated.

The curriculum is now rapidly spreading through American public education, with students across the nation being taught that everything about our country and culture, our classes, our law, is based in white supremacy, according to Kimberly Hermann, general counsel at Southeastern Legal Foundation, a constitutional public interest law firm.

Its teaching our young students to hate one another, said Hermann, whose organization has joined the Stop Critical Race Theory coalition, an alliance formed recently to fight the curriculum in the courts. It sounds like its extreme, but thats because it is,

The coalition, which aims to effectively abolish critical race theory programs from American life, is led by Discovery Institute researcher Christopher Rufo, who has studied the expansion of CRT throughout the U.S. government and school system.

Hermann and Rufo hope to elevate the issue of critical race theory all the way to the Supreme Court. Hermann explained that the legal team hopes to prevail in court on a First Amendment argument.

Weve got teachers in classes telling students if you do not affirm these statements and say that you are a racist, or say that you have white privilege, and what that means, then you will get a failing grade, Hermann told Just the News AM recently. So we need the courts to affirm that that violates the Constitution.

According to one recent lawsuit, a student was instructed to unlearn the basic Judeo-Christian principles [his mother] imparted to him before being required to reveal his racial, sexual, gender, sexual orientation, disabilities and religious identity as part of an assignment  all for the sake of sorting him into various categories as either the oppressed or the oppressor.

Especially for minority students, learning to sort themselves into the oppressed category will do great damage in the long term, Hermann argued.

Everyone has fought for them, for decades, to not be in that place, she said. They are not oppressed, they are not victims. They are strong, and they are smart, and they need to be able to speak their minds.

Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis recently made headlines by banning CRT from his states school curriculums.

Proponents of the critical race theory say it has the potential to sensitize institutions to the need for social justice and is being misconstrued. CRT can be misunderstood and misapplied. It has been distorted and attacked, an American Bar Association article said last fall. And it continues to change and evolve. The hope in CRT is in its recognition that the same policies, structures, and scholarship that can function to disenfranchise and oppress so many also holds the potential to emancipate and empower many.

Critical race theory originated as an academic movement created by a group of civil-rights scholars and activists who sought to examine the law through the lens of race in America. The theory focuses on the idea that white supremacy exists and maintains power in American society through the law and various socio-cultural institutions.

But since its development in the late 1970s and 1980s, the theory has morphed into multiple sets of race-based school and work curriculums that are being force-fed to students from pre-school all the way through graduate studies programs, and to employees in both the private and public sectors.

CRT provides the basis for some work that has now been incorporated into high school classrooms across the country, including the New York Times 1619 Project, which locates the institution of slavery at the center of Americas historical narrative.

While promoting itself as a social justice initiative, critical race theory has become a big industry.

Howard Ross, for instance, is the consultant who created training that is used throughout many of the federal agencies. In the last 15 years, Ross has billed the government upwards of $5 million for his services instructing government employees in CRT training, according to information made public by Rufo.

Read more at: JustTheNews.com
Success! An email has been sent to with a link to confirm list signup.
Former SBS Board member and legendary fashion designer Carla Zampatti has died, aged 78.

She died after a fall whilst attending the premiere of La Traviata last week.

On social media, her daughter Bianca Spender paid an emotional tribute to her mother.

Carlas daughter Bianca said she was heartbroken at the death of her mother.

Today I lost my mother, my inspiration, my mentor and my friend, she wrote.

I am lost for words and totally heartbroken.

SBS has issued the following statement.

SBS is deeply saddened to hear of the passing of its former Chair, Carla Zampatti AC.

Ms Zampatti served on the SBS Board as Chair for ten years (1999-2009), drawing generously on her extensive business leadership experience to help steer the organisation through a decade of great change in the media industry.

During her tenure, Ms Zampatti and her fellow Board members oversaw significant moments in SBSs 45-year history. She was a passionate advocate for SBS and its unique role in the media landscape, including through its in-language services, so vital in helping new migrants navigate and participate in Australian life.

Having migrated herself as a young child, settling in Australia with her family, Ms Zampatti truly believed in SBS and its purpose and was committed to promoting greater understanding of and between Australias diverse communities.

Carla will be remembered as an extraordinary leader, and a legend in Australian business. She was a well-respected member of the SBS Board, with great nous, energy, resilience, and creativity, and whose contribution was valued enormously.

SBS passes on its deepest sympathies to Carlas family, friends and all who loved her.

ABC Chair Ita Buttrose also said Carla Zampatti put Australian fashion on the map where previously Australians had looked overseas.

You could buy something a few years back and still wear it a few years forward. She designed clothes that were feminine and appealing to women, Ms Buttrose said.

I think that is why she had such a wide appeal. I know she dressed Princess Mary of Denmark. I know that Joan Collins considered getting some outfits when she visited Australia last. Delta Goodrem is also a Carla Zampatti wearer. She was a pioneer.

Source: ABC News

Related
org.apache.jasper.JasperException: An exception occurred processing JSP page /includes/layout/ico_article_standard.jsp at line 18 15: 16:

21: Stacktrace: at org.apache.jasper.servlet.JspServletWrapper.handleJspException(JspServletWrapper.java:578) at org.apache.jasper.servlet.JspServletWrapper.service(JspServletWrapper.java:461) at org.apache.jasper.servlet.JspServlet.serviceJspFile(JspServlet.java:401) at org.apache.jasper.servlet.JspServlet.service(JspServlet.java:345) at javax.servlet.http.HttpServlet.service(HttpServlet.java:729) at org.apache.catalina.core.ApplicationFilterChain.internalDoFilter(ApplicationFilterChain.java:292) at org.apache.catalina.core.ApplicationFilterChain.doFilter(ApplicationFilterChain.java:207) at CharsetFilter.doFilter(CharsetFilter.java:78) at org.apache.catalina.core.ApplicationFilterChain.internalDoFilter(ApplicationFilterChain.java:240) at org.apache.catalina.core.ApplicationFilterChain.doFilter(ApplicationFilterChain.java:207) at org.apache.catalina.core.ApplicationDispatcher.invoke(ApplicationDispatcher.java:720) at org.apache.catalina.core.ApplicationDispatcher.doInclude(ApplicationDispatcher.java:584) at org.apache.catalina.core.ApplicationDispatcher.include(ApplicationDispatcher.java:523) at org.apache.jasper.runtime.JspRuntimeLibrary.include(JspRuntimeLibrary.java:878) at org.apache.jsp.articolo_jsp._jspService(articolo_jsp.java:749) at org.apache.jasper.runtime.HttpJspBase.service(HttpJspBase.java:70) at javax.servlet.http.HttpServlet.service(HttpServlet.java:729) at org.apache.jasper.servlet.JspServletWrapper.service(JspServletWrapper.java:438) at org.apache.jasper.servlet.JspServlet.serviceJspFile(JspServlet.java:401) at org.apache.jasper.servlet.JspServlet.service(JspServlet.java:345) at javax.servlet.http.HttpServlet.service(HttpServlet.java:729) at org.apache.catalina.core.ApplicationFilterChain.internalDoFilter(ApplicationFilterChain.java:292) at org.apache.catalina.core.ApplicationFilterChain.doFilter(ApplicationFilterChain.java:207) at org.apache.tomcat.websocket.server.WsFilter.doFilter(WsFilter.java:52) at org.apache.catalina.core.ApplicationFilterChain.internalDoFilter(ApplicationFilterChain.java:240) at org.apache.catalina.core.ApplicationFilterChain.doFilter(ApplicationFilterChain.java:207) at org.apache.catalina.core.ApplicationDispatcher.invoke(ApplicationDispatcher.java:720) at org.apache.catalina.core.ApplicationDispatcher.processRequest(ApplicationDispatcher.java:466) at org.apache.catalina.core.ApplicationDispatcher.doForward(ApplicationDispatcher.java:391) at org.apache.catalina.core.ApplicationDispatcher.forward(ApplicationDispatcher.java:318) at routing.routes.Article.processRequest(Article.java:82) at routing.VirtualCmsFilter.doFilter(VirtualCmsFilter.java:104) at org.apache.catalina.core.ApplicationFilterChain.internalDoFilter(ApplicationFilterChain.java:240) at org.apache.catalina.core.ApplicationFilterChain.doFilter(ApplicationFilterChain.java:207) at CharsetFilter.doFilter(CharsetFilter.java:78) at org.apache.catalina.core.ApplicationFilterChain.internalDoFilter(ApplicationFilterChain.java:240) at org.apache.catalina.core.ApplicationFilterChain.doFilter(ApplicationFilterChain.java:207) at org.apache.catalina.core.StandardWrapperValve.invoke(StandardWrapperValve.java:213) at org.apache.catalina.core.StandardContextValve.invoke(StandardContextValve.java:106) at org.apache.catalina.authenticator.AuthenticatorBase.invoke(AuthenticatorBase.java:494) at org.apache.catalina.core.StandardHostValve.invoke(StandardHostValve.java:141) at org.apache.catalina.valves.ErrorReportValve.invoke(ErrorReportValve.java:79) at org.apache.catalina.core.StandardEngineValve.invoke(StandardEngineValve.java:88) at org.apache.catalina.valves.RemoteIpValve.invoke(RemoteIpValve.java:676) at org.apache.catalina.valves.RemoteIpValve.invoke(RemoteIpValve.java:676) at org.apache.catalina.connector.CoyoteAdapter.service(CoyoteAdapter.java:522) at org.apache.coyote.http11.AbstractHttp11Processor.process(AbstractHttp11Processor.java:1095) at org.apache.coyote.AbstractProtocol$AbstractConnectionHandler.process(AbstractProtocol.java:672) at org.apache.tomcat.util.net.AprEndpoint$SocketProcessor.doRun(AprEndpoint.java:2513) at org.apache.tomcat.util.net.AprEndpoint$SocketProcessor.run(AprEndpoint.java:2502) at java.util.concurrent.ThreadPoolExecutor.runWorker(ThreadPoolExecutor.java:1149) at java.util.concurrent.ThreadPoolExecutor$Worker.run(ThreadPoolExecutor.java:624) at org.apache.tomcat.util.threads.TaskThread$WrappingRunnable.run(TaskThread.java:61) at java.lang.Thread.run(Thread.java:748) Caused by: org.apache.jasper.JasperException: An exception occurred processing JSP page /includes/layout/preset_widget/default/ico_article_body.jsp at line 86 83: --%> 84: 85: 86: 87: 88: 89: Stacktrace: at org.apache.jasper.servlet.JspServletWrapper.handleJspException(JspServletWrapper.java:578) at org.apache.jasper.servlet.JspServletWrapper.service(JspServletWrapper.java:461) at org.apache.jasper.servlet.JspServlet.serviceJspFile(JspServlet.java:401) at org.apache.jasper.servlet.JspServlet.service(JspServlet.java:345) at javax.servlet.http.HttpServlet.service(HttpServlet.java:729) at org.apache.catalina.core.ApplicationFilterChain.internalDoFilter(ApplicationFilterChain.java:292) at org.apache.catalina.core.ApplicationFilterChain.doFilter(ApplicationFilterChain.java:207) at CharsetFilter.doFilter(CharsetFilter.java:75) at org.apache.catalina.core.ApplicationFilterChain.internalDoFilter(ApplicationFilterChain.java:240) at org.apache.catalina.core.ApplicationFilterChain.doFilter(ApplicationFilterChain.java:207) at org.apache.catalina.core.ApplicationDispatcher.invoke(ApplicationDispatcher.java:720) at org.apache.catalina.core.ApplicationDispatcher.doInclude(ApplicationDispatcher.java:584) at org.apache.catalina.core.ApplicationDispatcher.include(ApplicationDispatcher.java:523) at org.apache.jasper.runtime.JspRuntimeLibrary.include(JspRuntimeLibrary.java:878) at org.apache.jsp.includes.layout.ico_005farticle_005fstandard_jsp._jspService(ico_005farticle_005fstandard_jsp.java:145) at org.apache.jasper.runtime.HttpJspBase.service(HttpJspBase.java:70) at javax.servlet.http.HttpServlet.service(HttpServlet.java:729) at org.apache.jasper.servlet.JspServletWrapper.service(JspServletWrapper.java:438) ... 52 more Caused by: org.apache.jasper.JasperException: java.lang.ArrayIndexOutOfBoundsException: 1 at org.apache.jasper.servlet.JspServletWrapper.handleJspException(JspServletWrapper.java:555) at org.apache.jasper.servlet.JspServletWrapper.service(JspServletWrapper.java:476) at org.apache.jasper.servlet.JspServlet.serviceJspFile(JspServlet.java:401) at org.apache.jasper.servlet.JspServlet.service(JspServlet.java:345) at javax.servlet.http.HttpServlet.service(HttpServlet.java:729) at org.apache.catalina.core.ApplicationFilterChain.internalDoFilter(ApplicationFilterChain.java:292) at org.apache.catalina.core.ApplicationFilterChain.doFilter(ApplicationFilterChain.java:207) at CharsetFilter.doFilter(CharsetFilter.java:78) at org.apache.catalina.core.ApplicationFilterChain.internalDoFilter(ApplicationFilterChain.java:240) at org.apache.catalina.core.ApplicationFilterChain.doFilter(ApplicationFilterChain.java:207) at org.apache.catalina.core.ApplicationDispatcher.invoke(ApplicationDispatcher.java:720) at org.apache.catalina.core.ApplicationDispatcher.doInclude(ApplicationDispatcher.java:584) at org.apache.catalina.core.ApplicationDispatcher.include(ApplicationDispatcher.java:523) at org.apache.jasper.runtime.JspRuntimeLibrary.include(JspRuntimeLibrary.java:878) at org.apache.jsp.includes.layout.preset_005fwidget.default_.ico_005farticle_005fbody_jsp._jspService(ico_005farticle_005fbody_jsp.java:167) at org.apache.jasper.runtime.HttpJspBase.service(HttpJspBase.java:70) at javax.servlet.http.HttpServlet.service(HttpServlet.java:729) at org.apache.jasper.servlet.JspServletWrapper.service(JspServletWrapper.java:438) ... 68 more Caused by: java.lang.ArrayIndexOutOfBoundsException: 1 at org.apache.jsp.widget.articolo.elementi_005farticolo_jsp._jspService(elementi_005farticolo_jsp.java:774) at org.apache.jasper.runtime.HttpJspBase.service(HttpJspBase.java:70) at javax.servlet.http.HttpServlet.service(HttpServlet.java:729) at org.apache.jasper.servlet.JspServletWrapper.service(JspServletWrapper.java:438) ... 84 more

18:19:20:
When U.S. Rep. Mo Brooks spoke before conservatives in Baldwin County recently, he weighed in on a number of hot button national issues: Election security, the U.S.-Mexico border crisis, Chinese-American relations, and trade.

But one hot button issue for voters attending the Spanish Fort rally was not brought up: the Interstate 10 Mobile River Bridge and Bayway project. For conservatives in the two coastal counties, the project and how to pay for it could be right alongside the top national priorities when it comes to their top concerns.

The 2022 U.S. Senate candidate who can best articulate and address the regions top issue could have an advantage in securing the votes in South Alabama, according to some conservative activists who have long pushed back against tolling to pay the project.

The voters in Mobile and Baldwin counties will consider the Bayway project an issue in the U.S. Senate, said Jim Zeigler, the states auditor who has long pushed back against a proposal from the Alabama Department of Transportation to institute tolls to help finance a public-private partnership project. I expect all of the U.S. Senate candidates will take a look at the I-10 toll bridge issue. But they have not yet.

Said Kevin Spriggs, a local businessman who has been an outspoken critic of the I-10 toll project, Its the No. 1 horse Mo Brooks could get on. He wont get (support) from everyone in the chamber of commerce crowd. But (any) talk that its ALDOTs responsibility is a candidate killer right there.

Sticky wicket

Brooks, congressman of Alabamas 5th district with its home base in Huntsville, is an early entrant into the Senate contest. The 2022 primary is more than 13 months away. So far only Brooks and Lynda Blanchard, a former U.S. ambassador to Slovenia under former President Donald Trump, have announced their candidacies. Brooks is the only one weighing in on the issues during public appearances in recent weeks.

During a recent interview with AL.com, Brooks said I generally do not support tolls for anything. His comment occurred before President Joe Biden announced Wednesday a $2.3 trillion infrastructure plan that would be financed largely by higher corporate tax rates. The president has avoided calls from business groups to support higher gas taxes and tolls to pay for the infrastructure plan.

The Interstate 10 project is a sticky wicket because it costs a ton of money we dont have, said Brooks.

The reason is you are not changing the amount of money that used for transportation, Brooks said about his concerns over tolling. But you are increasing the cost of collecting. I would prefer if you increase revenues for transportation, you do it with existing revenue collection measures so that he money is not wasted so all of it goes to transportation instead of some it being shifted to collection costs. Its a matter of efficiency.

Brooks called the I-10 project a sticky wicket because of its massive price-tag. The original I-10 Mobile River Bridge and Bayway project, which costs $2.1 billion and would have been financed with $6 one-way tolls on all users of the future bridge and existing Wallace Tunnel and Bayway, was declared dead by Alabama Gov. Kay Ivey in 2019.

An alternative project, a truck toll bridge, costs $725 million and would be financed in part with a $10 to $15 toll on large trucks over 46 feet in length. But future needs exist for a larger project that includes replacement of the entire Bayway from Mobile to Baldwin counties and is poised to be a headache for federal, state and local politicians for years to come.

Somehow or another, you have to get that money through whatever devices people can come up with on the one hand. Or you will have to divert substantial sums of money from other road projects in the rest of the state, which of course would have a negative reception with those peoples in the rest of the state. That explains why you have not had much success, because the revenues have not matched the demands for infrastructure projects, Interstate 10 being one of them.

Brooks said in his North Alabama district, there is a clamoring for an east-west interstate traversing Alabama that would link Georgia to Mississippi. In coastal Alabama, he said there are other needs requiring federal attention, such as pursuing improvements at the Port of Mobile that would enable Alabamas only deepwater seaport to be competitive with others in the U.S.

In South Alabama, you are blessed with Interstate 10, at least through the Mobile Bay area going east-west and you have a north-south (connection) with Interstate 65, said Brooks. Different parts of the state, they have different needs. Certainly, the big infrastructure need here is Interstate 10, although the harbor issues are significant in terms of economic growth making sure its deep and wide enough to handle the kind of shipping that would be nice for Mobile Bay to handled.

Brooks said its up to city and county leaders on how much they also support port improvements. Retiring Republican U.S. Senator Richard Shelby, whose office Brooks is seeking, has long supported the deepening and widening of the Mobile ship channel, and he has secured crucial federal grant money for a massive dredging project.

Its the economy of Mobile Bay that is most enhanced by these port improvements, although in fairness there is a ripple effect (throughout the state) as more and more products can be shipped to Mobile Bay to the surrounding regions for hundreds of miles as it provides another shipment alternative that is hopeful price competitive so people can use it, said Brooks.

National funding

Shelby has also backed the I-10 project, securing a $125 million federal grant that has to be utilized by 2022. But leaders in the Common Sense Campaign tea party believe the federal support has been lacking, and they are hoping that a future Senate candidate will fight for a project that they believe is a key portion of the fourth-longest interstate in the U.S.

They argue that the interstate project needs to be elevated to a national concern, and one that should not be financed on the back of frequent users through tolls.

The project down here is more than traffic counts, said Lou Campomenosi, who heads up the conservative organization in Baldwin County. You have a hurricane evacuation route. You have national security issues down here. Shelby, I would argue, shouldve done more down here to get funding for the bridge. I think any new senator going up (to Washington, D.C.) has to put it as a high priority, no question about it. But will it be the be all, end all of how we make a determination on who we vote on? I wouldnt say that.

Said Spriggs, The bottom line is this: Were not Florida. Our state is not as strong economically to do anything like this. This needs to be nationally funded.

Zeigler also said interstate project should not be downplayed as a local concern for only Mobile and Baldwin counties, saying that the road remains a hurricane evacuation route utilized by motorists in Florida, Mississippi, Louisiana, Texas, and beyond.

He also noted that there was nothing that would block the federal government providing infrastructure money for the I-10 Bayway project.

9 U.S. Rep. Mo Brooks speaks in Spanish Fort

Brooks said hes welcomed to all suggestions for resolving the I-10 project and is happy to help where I can.

Right now, the way things work is Washington appropriates the money for distribution by these states and/or municipalities if they happen to have large enough of a population where they are entitled to that, Brooks said. Then the state makes the decision on where it ought to be allocated. If you look at the past 10 years, the issue is strictly one delegated to Montgomery, the governors office and the Department of Transportation, but also the Legislature on how best to split up the limited monies for transportation needs throughout the state of Alabama.

Brooks is looking to increase his standing among South Alabama voters in 2022. In past statewide primary elections, including the 2017 special Senate contest, Brooks finished with fewer than 15% of the overall vote in Mobile and Baldwin counties. He also struggled in counties in the Wiregrass.

Brooks said his strategy is to run a statewide campaign, acknowledging that you will have natural strengths and weaknesses as a candidate. He said his intention is to improve on your strengths, and shore up on your weaknesses.

Brooks said his name recognition has improved considerably in the past four years, and political insiders are calling him the early favorite in the race against announced and rumored candidates.

Jon Gray, a Mobile-based political strategist, said he believes if would be helpful for Brooks to find his way to South Alabama and embed himself into some local issues in a way to stake out a conservative position on them.

Gray, though, said it wont be the I-10 project that wins him the election in South Alabama.

Tommy Tuberville won (the 2020) election and I dont remember him taking a position on local issues, Gray said, predicting the Senate contest will focus on support of Trump and his policies.

The I-10 project surfaced in last years Senate campaign, requiring former Attorney General Jeff Sessions to release a statement to clarify his position on toll projects on the eve of the GOP runoff.

Sessions, in an interview leading up to the runoff, said that if the costs of the I-10 project can be reduced to around $700 million, tolls can be reduced.

Sessions, in a news release, clarified his position after criticism began on an anti-toll Facebook page administered by Zeigler and followed by over 50,000 people. Sessions said that he opposed the original toll plan and was simply commenting on a plan that had ben floated as a possible alternative. He said at the time he was confident alternatives to the $2.1 billion project would make the overall project less expensive, reducing the need for tolls.

I commend my fellow citizens of Mobile and Baldwin counties who stood up and defeated this monstrosity of a tax hike, via a toll, on the working people of South Alabama, Sessions said at the time. This was a true peoples movement, and the government needs to take notice.

Sessions ended up losing to Republican Tommy Tuberville, who would go on to defeat Democratic Senator Doug Jones in November. Tuberville, a political novice, did not weigh in on the issue or the I-10 project during the campaign.
The Unification Ministry is checking whether a group of overseas Korean businesspeople violated international sanctions against North Korea by buying propaganda art during a trip to the North last November.

They were caught at Incheon International Airport with paintings they had bought at North Korea's Mansudae Art Studio, which is on international blacklists.

"Eighteen paintings were seized by customs, nine of which have been sent overseas and the other nine impounded by customs," ministry spokesman Baik Tae-hyun told reporters Wednesday.

Baik said the group were given an orientation on Nov. 14 prior to their departure where an official "told them not to bring banned items like North Korean books and propaganda materials and to refrain as much as possible from buying North Korean products."

"We didn't know that the Mansudae Art Studio was included in the tour," he added, and pledged to pay more attention in the future.


UK reports more blood-clotting cases in people who got AstraZeneca vaccine

Britain reported at least 30 cases of rare blood-clotting in people who received the AstraZeneca vaccine, raising further concerns about the shot. Scentists say the cases are particulary worrying because they were unusual and involved blood clots combined with unusually low levels of platelets, a disorder that can lead to heavy bleeding. However, the British and European regulators said that they are extremely rare assuming that the cases are related to the vaccine and the AstraZeneca jab must continued to be used. Read here

Let's look at the global statistics Global infections: 130,262,050 Global deaths: 2,838,306 Nations with most cases: US (30,609,691), Brazil (12,910,082), India (12,392,260), France (4,802,457), Russia (4,511,973). Source: John Hopkins Research Center

Hong Kong executives choose China vaccine to get mainland visas

The Hong Kong government has offered residents a choice between the Pfizer-BioNtech jab, which has a 95 per cent efficacy rate, and the one manufactured by Sinovac, whose efficacy rate is just 50 per cent. Despite the higher efficacy rate of Pfizer, Hong Kong's business executives and expats are taking Chinese-made vaccine in hope that it will speed up access to the mainland following an offer by the Beijing to facilitate easier visa access to those who take locally-made jabs rather than a foreign one. Visa facilitation applies only to applicants who have been inoculated with Covid-19 vaccines produced in China, the Chinese government said last month. Read here

A Mexican tragedy: Country's crippling crisis comes into sharp focus

Mexicos crisis has made fewer international headlines than the catastrophes in the US and Brazil. But the upward revision of death toll last week suggests a calamity of similar proportions has played out. Mexican officials recently acknowledged more than 294,000 Covid deaths  just short of Brazils official death toll which was then 310,000. Brazil has a much larger population, with 212 million inhabitants compared with Mexicos 126 million. So what exactly happened? Was it the same strongman approach of mixed messages, downplaying the virus and boasting of gains when there were none? The behaviour and mixed messaging of politicians are not the only explanations for Mexicos drama. Read here

Chinese vaccines penetrate Eastern Europe amid shortages

Even though Chinese vaccine companies didn't apply for licences and approvals with the European medical regulator, the jabs are finding their way to the countries in the region, thanks to a sluggish roll out by the bloc. Czech is reportedly approaching Xi to request for Sinopharm vaccines. Similarly, Hungary is among the countries complaining the loudest about a shortage of approved options in Europe and is in touch with the Chinese for the shots. Many experts, however, have expressed concern over a lack of transparency in China's clinical trials, fueling debate over the wisdom of accepting the supplies. Read here
Goodbye: Rashmika Mandanna Talks About Working With Amitabh Bachchan, "I Wouldnt Miss This Opportunity For The World"

Rashmika Mandanna is on a career-high having delivered multiple blockbusters down south and now already bagging her second Bollywood project, Goodbye with the legend, Amitabh Bachchan at such a young age.

The actress is stoked about this as she says, "I'm truly grateful to be working with Mr. Bachchan, and never did I think that Id be sharing the screen space with sir so early on in my career. I am totally looking forward to the shoot to start off with him and to make as many memories as possible and have fun and I am sure to learn a lot from him."

View this post on Instagram A post shared by Rashmika Mandanna (@rashmika_mandanna)

She further adds, "I am truly, nervously excited to start working with sir on the sets of Goodbye.This is an opportunity that I wouldnt miss for the world and I'll make the most out of it."

View this post on Instagram A post shared by Erkrek (@ektarkapoor)

Having recently wrapped the shoot for her debut Bollywood film, Mission Majnu in Lucknow the young national crush has already bagged her second Bollywood film even before release of her first. With previous outstanding performances in Geetha Govindam and Dear Comrade, Rashmika has already made a place in everyone's hearts and has already hopped onto the sets of Goodbye after the schedule wrap of Mission Majnu. Mission Majnu will mark the talented actress's debut in Bollywood opposite Sidharth Malhotra and now she will be seen in Goodbye as well with Amitabh Bachchan.
WASHINGTON (dpa-AFX) - Rong Shing Trading Inc has recalled about 3,365 pounds of Chinese style hot pot base products containing beef tallow. The products were imported from the China, a country ineligible to export beef to the United States, the U.S. Department of Agriculture's Food Safety and Inspection Service or FSIS said in a statement. The chinese style hot pot base products were imported on or around February 14, 2020. The recall involves 450g Plastic vacuum wrapped packages containing a 'Lee's 52 Da Zhuang' Hot Pot Base. They have a sell by date of January 29, 2022 on the label. The recall also involves 300g Plastic vacuum wrapped packages containing a 'Lee's 45 Da Zhuang' Hot Pot Base. The recall products have a sell By date of June 30, 2021 on the label. The product labels are written in the Chinese language. The products do not bear an establishment number nor a USDA mark of inspection. These items were shipped to retail locations nationwide. The issue was identified after FSIS received a consumer complaint, the FSIS said. The FSIS stated that there have been no confirmed reports of adverse reactions due to consumption of these products. Anyone concerned about a reaction should contact a healthcare provider. FSIS is concerned that some product may be in consumers' homes. Consumers who have purchased these products are urged not to consume them. These products should be thrown away or returned to the place of purchase. Copyright RTT News/dpa-AFX

Werbehinweise: Die Billigung des Basisprospekts durch die BaFin ist nicht als ihre Befurwortung der angebotenen Wertpapiere zu verstehen. Wir empfehlen Interessenten und potenziellen Anlegern den Basisprospekt und die Endgultigen Bedingungen zu lesen, bevor sie eine Anlageentscheidung treffen, um sich moglichst umfassend zu informieren, insbesondere uber die potenziellen Risiken und Chancen des Wertpapiers. Sie sind im Begriff, ein Produkt zu erwerben, das nicht einfach ist und schwer zu verstehen sein kann.
The first week in the trial of former Minneapolis police Officer Derek Chauvin, charged with the murder of George Floyd, concluded Friday with critical testimony from Lieutenant Richard Zimmerman, the longest serving officer in the Minneapolis Police Department. His testimony left no doubt that Chauvins use of force was unnecessary and led to Floyds death.

Zimmerman detailed the use of force training officers receive, noting police are trained to abide by the departments use of force continuum. The policy, Zimmerman explained, involves officers continuously reevaluating and adjusting the level of force used against someone, depending on the threat level posed. After a person is in handcuffs, they represent no threat to officers, he said.

Derek Chauvin

He also described the training he had received on the prone position, in which a person is placed face down on the ground. Zimmerman stated that a person should never remain prone, as Floyd was when officers pinned him to the pavement.

Once a person is handcuffed, you need to get them out of the prone position as soon as possible because it restricts their breathing, said Zimmerman. If youre laying on your chest, thats constricting [breathing muscles] even more.

After reviewing body cam footage of the incident, Zimmerman described the officers use of force as totally unnecessary. He stated he saw no reason why officers should have felt that they were in danger, adding that Floyd did not attempt to kick the officers, suggesting they had no reason to continue to use force while he was on the ground.

When asked about the crowd of bystanders, he testified that the crowd did not represent an uncontrollable threat that would have otherwise occupied officers attention. It doesnt matterthe crowdas long as theyre not attacking you, he said. The crowd shouldnt have an effect on your actions.

The officers should have given Floyd immediate medical attention before paramedics arrived, Zimmerman said. Police are first responders and are given regular CPR training, and are, he noted, absolutely obligated to provide medical intervention to an injured suspect before an ambulance arrives.

The prosecutors have been building the case against Chauvin throughout the week. On Monday, Donald Williams testified that Chauvin knowingly used a blood choke on Floyd, cutting off blood flow to the brain, when he kneeled on Floyds neck for more than nine minutes. Williams said the only time Chauvin looked at him was when he called out that the officer was doing a blood choke. This moment was captured in the infamous image of Chauvin looking into the camera while on top of Floyd.

Darnella Frazier, a bystander who captured footage of the incident, broke into tears as she told the court she stayed awake some nights apologizing and apologizing to George Floyd for not doing more and not physically interacting and not saving his life.

A Minneapolis firefighter, Genevieve Hansen, testified Tuesday how she begged officers to check Floyds pulse when she arrived at the scene. Hansen explained that she was not on duty but immediately identified herself as a firefighter because she thought Floyd needed medical attention.

There was a man being killed, Hansen said. I would have been able to provide medical attention to the best of my abilities, and this human was denied that right.

On Wednesday, the court released new security and body camera footage played Wednesday showing accusations that Floyd was aggressive towards officers to be a complete lie. Officers drew a gun on Floyd within seconds of approaching him in his vehicle. Floyd begged officers not to shoot him and repeatedly said he did not know what was going on.

When officers tried forcing Floyd into the back of the police vehicle, he asked for officers to speak with him about the situation, telling them that he was scared and claustrophobic. Officers completely ignored Floyds clear signs of distress and escalated the situation.

Two EMS (Emergency Medical System) paramedics testified that Floyd was in a state of cardiac arrest when they arrived in an ambulance and that his heart never restarted.

Chauvins supervisory officer, retired Minneapolis Police Sergeant David Pleoger, told jurors that officers use of force against Floyd should have stopped as soon as he was handcuffed and on the ground. Pleoger denied the claim that the crowd was a more pressing concern than the care of Floyd.

Defense Attorney Eric Nelson argued that the evidence was beyond the more than nine minutes Chauvin kneeled on Floyd and sought to paint bystanders as an angry distraction, to suggest witnesses did not have the whole picture and to vilify Floyds character. Witnesses rebuffed these efforts, at times becoming confrontational, rightfully stating that seeing someone senselessly murdered was upsetting and were desperate to save Floyds life.

Testimony is set to resume Monday morning for further witness testimony and the presentation of evidence.
James Jordan has returned to social media following the death of his father Allan who died last month from a brain tumour.

Taking to Twitter on Saturday to share an emotional video, the former Strictly star, 42, said he was 'totally devastated' by the loss of his dad.

James revealed he had previously tried to post a video but was 'too emotional', as he told fans his plans to shave his hair off for charity in memory of his father.

Heartbreaking: James Jordan has returned to social media following the death of his father Allan who died last month from a brain tumour

James said: 'I haven't been on social media for quite a long time now because my father unfortunately passed away on 13 March at 8.05am.

'I've been totally devastated. I did try and do this post before, but I wasn't able to because I was too upset.'

James added: 'This could potentially change your life or someone in your family's.

'My dad had a stage four brain tumour - a glioblastoma. He was diagnosed approximately one year ago and myself and my family watched him slowly disappear.

Family: Taking to Twitter on Saturday to share an emotional video, the former Strictly star, 42, said he was 'totally devastated' by the loss of his dad (left)

'It's an absolutely horrendous horrendous disease. Cancer is awful no matter which cancer it is but brain tumour in particular takes away that person's identity a lot.

'Brain tumours are the biggest cancer killer in children and adults under 40. Out of 600million raised in the UK, less than three per cent goes to brain tumour funding for treatments.

'I want to change that because I don't want any of you guys to go through what I and my family went through.'

Candid: James revealed he had previously tried to post a video but was 'too emotional', as he told fans his plans to shave his hair off for charity in memory of his father

James then said he would be shaving off his 'horrendous hair' on his birthday April 13 - for a brain tumour charity. The date also marks a week before his father's funeral.

He said: 'Hopefully we can do something good from it. Many of you have been pointing out how horrendous it looks.

'I'm going to shave it off totally and all I want from you guys is to raise as much money as I can.'

Last month, James revealed that his beloved father Allan had sadly died, after battling a brain tumour.

The professional dancer announced the sad news on Instagram on March 13, noting that his dad 'became an angel at 8.05am.'

In the heartbreaking post, James wrote: 'My dad became an angel at 8:05am. I will forever miss him. He will always be my hero. RIP Daddy.'

Heartbreaking news: James revealed that his beloved father Allan has sadly died, after battling a brain tumour

James' post garnered several messages from his fans and fellow celebrities who shared their condolences.

Coleen Nolan wrote: 'So so sorry! Thinking of you xxx', while fellow Strictly alumni Ian Waite said: 'So sorry James. Sending all my love and thoughts to you and your family.'

With Ruth Langsford commenting: 'I'm so sorry James....you were lucky to have had such a wonderful relationship with him....hold on to your memories, nobody can take those away from you. May your Dad rest in peace. Sending you and the family much love .'

Hours before his father's death, James shared just how much he meant to him in a post that simply read: 'I love you dad' alongside a red heart emoji.

So sad: James revealed the sad news on Instagram on March 13, noting that his dad 'became an angel at 8.05am'

The devastating news comes just a day after the dancer told how his dad was close to death and already had his 'bags packed'.

He penned: 'No one should have to go through what my family are watching my dad go through.

'I pray to God that you come soon and make him one of your angels.

Sympathies: James' post garnered several messages from his fans and fellow celebrities who shared their condolences

'He has his bags packed and is ready to go and see his mum and dad again. My dad is my hero. @BrainTumourOrg needs your support.'

Earlier this month, James and his wife Ola broke down in tears during an appearance on Loose Women as they discussed his father's terminal brain tumour.

The former Strictly professional dancers appeared alongside their daughter Ella, 12 months, as they said she had helped them through a difficult time.

James said: '[It's been] horrendous. My dad was diagnosed last year with a terminal brain tumour. He is currently back in hospital really unwell.'

'I LOVE YOU DAD': Hours before his father's death, James shared just how much he meant to him in a post that simply read: 'I love you dad' alongside a red heart emoji

Ola, 38, said: 'When people say how tough it is being at home [starts to cry]'

'My dad is a positive person,' James continued. 'We have to stay at home though to keep everyone safe.'

Talking about the unique experience of becoming parents during a pandemic, Ola said: ' You can't see your mum or other people. It's just me and James and Google! Googling how to do things!

James said: 'Ola's mum hasn't even seen the baby yet!'

Heartbreaking: The devastating news comes just a day after the dancer told how his dad was close to death and already had his 'bags packed'

Ola said that she feels her daughter has helped them to get through a really tough time.

She said: 'My parents are in Poland  they still don't have the vaccine over there. I might not see them this year. I feel that Ella has been sent to us this year to put a smile on all of our faces.'

James agreed and said: 'She has kept us all smiling. My dad, my mum. It's all relative really isn't it. For some people lockdown has been the worst time of their lives.

Emotional: Earlier this month, James and his wife Ola broke down in tears during an appearance on Loose Women as they discussed his father's terminal brain tumour

'I wish it wasn't lockdown, I would have been able to spend proper time with my dad and actually take him places. But everyone's situation is different and it's all relative.'

James revealed that his beloved dad was diagnosed with terminal cancer back in July, following four months of health woes and trips to the hospital.

The dancer shared the heartbreaking news on social media, as he appealed to his followers for help in finding a specialist surgeon for his dad.

He admitted: 'Tears are streaming down my face.'

Too much to bear: James said: 'I wish it wasn't lockdown, I would have been able to spend proper time with my dad and actually take him places'

'This video is the most precious & personal thing I have in my life right now & I'm going to share it with you but with a totally broken heart.

'Over the last 4 months my hero and best mate in the whole world has been in and out of hospital with very ill health.

'We were told several times that 100% he had had a stroke and that's why they were struggling to control his seizures... but after the 3rd time of being admitted to hospital I knew something was not quite right.

'So after pushing for more tests and the results being sent to Kings College Hospital for other surgeons to look at unfortunately the results came back that it wasn't a stroke after all.

Tough time: James revealed that his beloved dad was diagnosed with terminal cancer back in July, following four months of health woes and trips to the hospital

'It was what I had dreaded, my dad has a tumour and after having a biopsy it's come back that it's an aggressive cancerous one. The worst kind unfortunately.

'We have been told that it's not advisable to operate because of where the tumour is and wouldn't actually make that much difference even if they could.

'The end result is, it's terminal. They are saying with chemotherapy and radiotherapy we might be lucky and get a year with him.

'As I write this tears are streaming down my face as I'm sure many of you have the same love for your parents. This is honestly the worst time of my life.'
I reply to the retired teacher who was disgusted by the Mallard Fillmore cartoon, which she claims is racist.
Gurugram, April 3 : The Crime Branch unit of the Gurugram Police arrested a wanted inter-state criminal Sachin alias Musaa (25) of Faridabad, carrying a bounty of Rs 25,000 and was an active gang member of Noida based Randeep Bhati gang, the police said on Saturday.

The police added that the nabbed culprit was involved in a dozen cases, including murder, attempt to murder, kidnapping & extortion and snatching which he had committed in Gurugram, Faridabad and Palwal districts of Haryana.

According to the police, the accused was arrested by the Crime Branch team of Sector-17 unit led by Inspector Narender Chauhan, from Sector-14 area in Gurugram on Saturday after a tip-off. The police have also recovered a country-made pistol and two live cartridges from his possession.

"Sachin was an active gang member of notorious Randeep Bhati gang. He disclosed before the police that he had made extortion call to a Gurugram based club owner. In connection with the incident the police have nabbed two of his accociates identified as Rikki alias Moru and Jitender alias Bittu and an FIR was registered also registered against them at the DLF phase-2 police station in Gurugram," said Preet Pal Sangwan, ACP.

The accused will be taken on police remand for interrogation, he said.
A leading teachers' union is calling for a change in legislation to ensure no teacher can be discriminated against when applying for jobs, regardless of their religion.

The NASUWT annual conference will today push for changes to the Fair Employment and Treatment (NI) Order 1988 and wants to see the exemption regarding the employment of teachers in schools removed.

Discrimination laws in Northern Ireland state it remains perfectly legal for an employer to select between applicants for teaching posts in grant-aided schools solely on the basis of faith.

Unlike other organisations that employ 10 or more staff, authorities employing teachers are not required by law to monitor the practices for fairness or to record the community composition of their workforce.

It means a school with a Catholic ethos is perfectly entitled to select a Catholic candidate ahead of a Protestant applicant, and vice-versa.

The only other profession the law applies to is religions orders.

The teacher exception has been upheld in European law. Its removal was debated in Stormont in 2016, but that debate was informed by outdated research conducted by the Equality Commission two decades ago.

The NASUWT said the continued existence of the legislation contributes to the divided nature of the education system.

Dr Patrick Roach, NASUWT General Secretary, argued that the time for education in Northern Ireland, and teachers, to receive fair treatment has long since passed.

"Discrimination is damaging to children's education and to the wellbeing and careers of teachers," he said.

"This legislation is compromising efforts to tackle prejudice and hatred and conflicts with the goal of social inclusion which schools should be working to nurture and promote.

"No teacher should be denied opportunity to teach or to lead schools on the basis of their religious belief."

NASUWT National Official Northern Ireland Justin McCamphill said the exemption to the Fair Employment and Treatment Order is outdated and needs to be removed.

"We are calling on the administration to remove this and ensure that every teacher has equality of opportunity and is able to apply for work in any school regardless of their religion or perceived community background," he said.

"Removing the teacher exemption is necessary to tackle endemic nepotism and lack of diversity in the teaching profession."

The union's annual conference will be held online this year, but moves to change the legislation have been backed by educational experts who say it continues to provide a significant barrier in any move towards a fairer system.

Recent research from Ulster University's UNESCO Education Centre has shown that less than 2% of teachers in the Catholic maintained primary sector, one in 50, come from a Northern Ireland Protestant background.

Around one in 16 teachers in controlled primary schools (Protestant ethos) was a Northern Ireland Catholic.
A baby boy in Iraq has left the world reeling after making history by being born with three penises.



Medical marvel?

 Unsplash

To the best of our knowledge, this is the first reported case with three penises or triphallia, Dr Shakir Saleem Jabali wrote in the International Journal of Surgery Case Reports.



The boys parents brought him to the hospital when he was three months old after they discovered a swelling in his scrotum.

And once the doctors examined him, they observed that he had a 2-centimetre (0.8-inch) member near the root of his primary penis, and another 1-centimetre-long penis under his scrotum.

 Unsplash

This rather interesting news was met with a flurry of reactions on Twitter:



a legend is born  therandomkalbo (@ringohernan) April 3, 2021

Such a lucky guy!  Ryan (@fontesora) April 3, 2021

Porn companies.....sign him Now! Bahahaha  UKNOWHO (@buffmiracle1) April 3, 2021

God really has his favourite   (@ZAINRXJA) April 2, 2021

This is the start of a new species of the luckiest gene of man!!!!????  Different (@Muutumb0) April 3, 2021

To all those of you thinking about the kid being some kind of overcompensated miracle and his unending future possibilities with the opposite sex, well, dont be excited for too long.

Since the childs additional phalluses didnt have urethras, the doctors decided to surgically remove the other two penises and during a follow-up appointment a year later, the boy was pronounced to be problem-free.

 Unsplash

Cases of extra penises are extremely rare, with Diphallia - where one extra penis is identified - affecting about one in every five to six million births.



According to Doctors Shakir Saleem Jabali and Ayad Ahmad Mohammed in the report, Triphallia (three penises) is an unreported condition in a human until now. Patients with supernumerary penises have a unique presentation and no cases are identical.

Well, when the child grows up, he is going to hear a story about himself from his parents that will probably leave him speechless for a long, long time.


The Hill reported that the most badly endangered great ape species on Earth Tapanuli orangutans, maybe even very close to extinction than previously believed.

Threats of Extinction

According to a study published January 4 in the journal PLOS One, the great ape can now be discovered in the mountains of Batang Toru in North Sumatra, Indonesia, where they take over less than 3% of the habitat they did in the late 1800s.

With lesser than 800 Tapanuli orangutans remaining in Batang Toru, the species dealt with the looming threat of extinction. Study author Erik Meijaard, a conservation researcher and originator of conservation group Borneo Futures, told The Hill that If more than 1% of the grown-up population is killed, apprehended, or translocated every year, the Tapanuli orangutan will become the initial great ape species to go on extinction in recent times.

New Hydroelectric Power Plant

The research, based on historical data from the region, discovered that the apes were driven into their present residence in the Batang Toru mountains by hunters who ambushed the apes, as well as the broken parts of their former habitat, The Hill reported.

Ideally, the orangutans should have the ability to migrate between different environments, including lowland areas, to boost their chance of survival, but instead, they stayed stuck in highlands that are not suited for them, the authors said.

A new hydroelectric power plant could even threaten this scarce habitat soon, which would be discovered on the River of Batang Toru in South Tapanuli Regency, North Sumatra. The 122 hectares (301-acre plant) would prevent several subpopulations of Tapanuli orangutans from associating, which could bring about inbreeding and reduce the genetic diversity of the species.

Also Read: World's Largest Great Ape Now Critically Endangered -- Who are the Grauer's Gorillas?

PT NHSE

The PT North Sumatera Hydro Energy (PT NHSE) company has stopped the construction of the plant because of the COVID-19 pandemic. The project also lost key support from the Bank of China, so the construction may remain discontinued for many years.

Meijaard and his co-authors want the government, developer, IUCN, and Sumatran Orangutan Conservation Programme (SOCP) to use this halt to launch an investigation independently to evaluate the threat to orangutans. PT NHSE sponsored its own evaluation previously and came to a conclusion that the plant would not threaten the apes' abode.

The International Union for Conservation of Nature (IUCN) then published its own report, disputing the evaluation of PT NHSE. Apart from the power plant, other factors threaten the survival of the Tapanuli orangutans.

Three Subpopulations of Tapanuli Orangutans

Although the company whose responsibility is building the dam, PT. North Sumatra Hydro Energy (PT NSHE) claims that the land the project occupied - about 122 hectares - is negligible, Meijaard and others have made known that the problem is not the size of the power plant, but its site.

According to the Sumatran Orangutan Conservation Programme (SOCP), the project stays at the intersection of three subpopulations of Tapanuli orangutans which could be separated permanently if the dam is constructed.

Related Article: Orangutans Can Guess Taste Using Memories Like Humans Do, Study Shows

For more news, updates about apes and similar topics don't forget to follow Nature World News!
Source: Xinhua| 2021-04-03 22:17:19|Editor: huaxia

Video Player Close

GABORONE, April 3 (Xinhua) -- The Southern African Development Community (SADC) on Saturday expressed deep concern about the continued terrorist attacks in Mozambique's northernmost province of Cabo Delgado.

Botswanan President Mokgweetsi Masisi, who is also the incumbent chairperson of the SADC Organ on Politics, Defense and Security, expressed the regional bloc's deep concern in a statement on the terrorist attacks on the town of Palma in Mozambique.

"SADC is deeply concerned about the continued terrorist attacks in Cabo Delgado, especially for the lives and welfare of the residents who continue to suffer from the atrocious, brutal and indiscriminate assaults," he said.

These attacks are an affront to peace and security, not only in Mozambique, but also in the region and the international community as a whole. "SADC condemns in the strongest possible terms this heinous act of cowardice," Masisi said.

Masisi said it remains SADC's fervent hope that the perpetrators will be quickly arrested and brought to justice.

Meanwhile, the 16-member regional bloc announced on its website that President Masisi, South African President Cyril Ramaphosa and Zimbabwe's President Emmerson Mnangagwa will be meeting next week to discuss the unrest in Mozambique's region of Cabo Delgado. Enditem
Relatives have told of their agony after their loved ones died from Covid weeks before they would become eligible for vaccines - with one Air Force veteran being invited for her vaccination just before she died.

More than 247,000 people have died of COVID-19 in the U.S. since vaccines first became available mid-December.

Officials had warned that dispensing enough vaccines to reach herd immunity would take months.

And with the initial vaccine supply extremely limited and the virus running rampant across the nation over the winter, it was a sad reality that some would contract COVID-19 and die before they could be inoculated.

After months of hoping to receive a COVID-19 immunization and then weeks of fighting the illness after one never came, Air Force veteran Diane Drewes was down to her last few breaths at a hospice center in Ohio when the phone rang.

It was a health care worker, calling to schedule her first appointment for a coronavirus shot.

Pictured: Air Force veteran Diane Drewes, who died while waiting for a COVID-19 vaccine

Vaccinations are on the rise as more states open up expanded eligibility for residents

Drewes' daughter Laura Brown was stunned by the timing of the call in January but didn't lash out over the phone or even explain that her 75-year-old mom was at the point of death. There just wasn't any point, she said.

'But me and my sister were upset that it came too late,' Brown said. 'It seemed like the final insult.'

With surveys showing a large percentage of the U.S. population are wary of vaccines, it's impossible to say exactly how many of the dead would have even wanted an immunization.

But Brown said her mother wanted one - desperately.

Other families have similar, wrenching stories of loved ones being infected after months of staying safe and then dying before they could get a dose.

Charlotte Crawford, who has spent 40 years working in the microbiology laboratory at Parkland Hospital in Dallas, was fully immunized in January after receiving two doses of the Moderna vaccine because of her work.

Yet she then endured the agony of watching her husband and two adult children contract COVID-19 and die before they could get shots.

Henry Royce Crawford, 65, had an appointment for a vaccine when he fell ill, his widow said. Their children, Roycie Crawford, 33, and Natalia Crawford, 38, also wanted the shot but had yet to find one when they got sick and died, Crawford said.

Natalia Crawford died in Texas before getting a chance to receive a COVID-19 vaccine

Henry Royce Crawford died before getting a vaccine. The 65-year-old had an appointment, but became ill, as did two of his children who also died, including Natalia Crawford

The days since their deaths in late February and early March seem like a jumble to Crawford; she is still trying to sort out what happened as she pleads with anyone who will listen to get a vaccine as soon as possible.

'All I know is I did three funerals in three weeks,' said Crawford, of Forney, Texas.

While more than 101 million people in the U.S. have received at least one dose of vaccine, only 57 million are fully vaccinated, or roughly 17.5% of the nation's population, according to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.

With doses now more widely available, shots are proceeding at a quickened pace. More than a dozen states have opened vaccine eligibility to all adults amid an increase in virus cases.

Only the Johnson & Johnson shot is complete after one dose, so the wait time between the first and second shot of either the Pfizer and Moderna vaccines leaves a period of weeks when a recipient remains vulnerable and subject to infection.

The wait for a second shot proved too long for Richard Rasmussen of Las Vegas, said daughter Julie Rasmussen.

Richard Rasmussen, 73, fervently believed in wearing face masks for protection and had his first dose of the Pfizer vaccine in early January. 'He was very excited to get his vaccine,' she said.

Yet Rasmussen tested positive for the virus 10 days later and died Feb. 19 before receiving a second dose, Julie Rasmussen said. His final decline was stunning for its speed, she said.

Pictured: Julie Rasmussen and her father, Richard, who died waiting for his second dose

'And now I am alone,' Rasmussen said in an email interview. 'He was my best friend. We texted everyday, all day. I have no siblings. No husband/boyfriend. He was single. I am all alone navigating the legal system and packing his house.'

The same day Rasmussen died, Deidre Love Sullens, of Oklahoma City, was standing in the icy, snow-covered parking lot of a vaccine clinic amid the grief of losing both her mother, Catherine Douglas, 65, and stepfather, Asa Bartlett Douglas, 58, to COVID-19 in a span of 16 days before they could get shots.

'They, and I, looked at the vaccine as the single life-changing factor that would allow us to see one another in person again. It was our goal.

'We all aimed to get the vaccine so we could gather again, so my mother could play with my daughter again, so we could maybe visit my grandma in the nursing home and not be restricted to window visits,' Sullens said in an interview conducted by email.

More than 101 million Americans have now received at least one dose of the COVID-19 vaccination. Pictured: A cancer patient in Louisville gets her shot

Still, the vaccinations only account for 17.5 percent of the total American population

On that cold February day, with some doses to spare because foul weather kept others from making appointments, a worker called Sullens in to the clinic to be immunized. Sullens said she was overcome by tears and a 'surreal feeling of disbelief' as she entered.

'My mind was thinking, 'If only my parents could have held out an extra two months ... they'd be here getting the vaccine too. They'd be alive. They'd be here with me,'' she said.

There is hope emerging on the vaccination front, with around 3 million Americans receiving a dose each day according to the CDC.

Many states are also moving towards making the vaccine available for all people 16 years and older by the end of April, with Alabama the most recent to follow suit.

Infections are not declining as expected, prompting fears of a new COVID-19 wave

An average of less than 1,000 people have been dying on a daily basis over the past week

Additionally, fully vaccinated Americans are being given guidance that they can travel, although the CDC still doesn't recommend doing so.

But CDC director Dr. Rochelle Walensky recently admitted to feeling 'impending doom' about the potential wave of new cases coming to the country.

Many states are also doing away with their COVID-19 restrictions, leading to calls that it's too soon to be dismissing important safety measures.

'I ask, I plead with you, dont give up the progress we have all fought so hard to achieve,' President Joe Biden said at the White House on Friday, according to the New York Times.

There have been over 30.6 million cases of COVID-19 in the United States since the onset of the pandemic.

Of those cases, 554,106 people have died, making the United States one of the deadliest countries for coronavirus victims in the world.
OROVILLE, Calif.  A Sacramento man, who drove his truck into a local canal killing his children and a brother-in-law last Easter, was in Butte County Superior Court Friday where a judge found sufficient evidence to send his case to a jury trial, according to the Butte County District Attorneys Office.

28-year-old Colby Allen Brookman was held to answer after a preliminary hearing before Judge Kristen Lucena. The District Attorneys Office said Brookman is charged with gross vehicular manslaughter while intoxicated and felony DUI. Brookman is facing life in prison.

CHP: Truck carrying children crashes into canal, kills 3 people

Butte County District Attorney, Mike Ramsey, said on April 12, 2020, Brookman drove his truck into the canal at the end of Grand Avenue in Oroville. Brookmans wife, Jlynne Stothers, was a passenger in the front seat and their two infants  Arianna, 17 months; Ava, 7 months; and Jlynnes brother, Matthew Stothers, age 32, were passengers in the rear of the quad cab truck.

Ramsey said the evidence at the hearing showed Brookman was drinking numerous beers throughout the day and had been told not to drive.

A blood test taken two hours after the crash showed Brookmans blood alcohol level to be 0.12%, Ramsey said. California Highway Patrols Multidisciplinary Accident Investigation Team (MAIT) investigated the incident and testified at the hearing. The MAIT team was able to determine through the trucks black box that Brookman was driving at over 80 mph just prior to the road ending at the canal. The truck launched over the levee into the canals deep waters. The children were strapped into baby car seats in the rear seat with Matthew Stothers between them.

Ramsey said a witness testified he saw Brookman and Jlynne swim out of the water. He saw Matthew come to the surface of the water briefly, struggle and then sink below the surface. Butte County Search and Rescue later recovered the bodies of Matthew, Arianna, and Ava from the canals water.

The judge scheduled Brookmans case for arraignment and jury trial setting on April 14, 2021. Ramsey said Brookman remains in custody at the Butte County Jail and is being held without bail.
Russia believes it can introduce nuclear weapons into a conventional war without taking nuclear fire in return and that such action will result in a Russian military victory. This strategy is what the Russians call de-escalation of a war although a more accurate description would be escalate to win. In 2012, the Russian Ministry of Defense (MoD) reiterated the "de-escalation" concept involving "a limited use of weapons, including precision weapons, in order to deescalate sources of tension and resolve the conflict situation on conditions favorable to Russia. In 2017, then-DIA Director Lieutenant General Vincent Stewart stated, Russia is the only country that I know of that has this concept of escalate to terminate or escalate to deescalate, but they do have that built into their operational concept, we've seen them exercise that idea and it's really kind of a dangerous idea"[1] He also said that he had seen no evidence that this policy was changing.[2]

All Russian nuclear exercises have several functions: training the troops, exercising command and control, and making implicit nuclear threats or nuclear saber-rattling [which] is unjustified, destabilizing and dangerous," as NATO Secretary General Jens Stoltenberg put it. The threats are part of Russian information warfare, which can turn on a dime. For example, the profile given to the December 2020 large strategic nuclear exercise was limited since no high-level official was involved in briefing the press. However, the information released by the Russian MoD if compared to previous MoD large nuclear exercise announcements, involved a record number of live launches of strategic ballistic missiles (ICBMs and SLBMs). The SLBMs included an unprecedented large strategic exercise salvo launch of four missiles. Significantly, all of the missiles launched were modern ICBMs and SLBMs (i.e., post-Cold War developments).

In contrast, the October 2019 large strategic nuclear exercise involved the release of an unprecedented amount of information on the Russian forces involved. About half of Russias strategic nuclear forces participated in the exercise and, according to noted Russian journalist Pavel Felgenhauer, at the end of the exercise, there was a simulated launch of most of the forces involved. The May 2014 large strategic nuclear exercise, in addition to the strategic missiles launched, also featured the involvement of non-strategic missiles and artillery.[3] This was apparently motivated by the desire to threaten NATO in the midst of the Russian invasion of Eastern Ukraine. The information released in Russian exercises is clearly linked to their information warfare goals.

The March 2021 Russian naval exercise (Umka-21), the first major Russian nuclear exercise during the Biden administration, involved both President Putin and the Commander of the Russian Navy Admiral Nikolai Semenov, who told Putin that in the Umka-21 naval exercise:

The following tasks have been fulfilled for the first time in the history of the Navy: three atomic missile carriers arrived on schedule within a region with a radius of 300 meters after breaking through 1.5 meter thick ice under an integrated plan; 

President Putin added that this had never happened in Soviet times. Noteworthy, the nuclear phase of the Umka-21 came soon after the December 2020 Russian large strategic nuclear exercise, which, as noted above, had a record number of announced live launches of strategic ballistic missiles and ended with a live salvo launch of four of the new Bulava-30 SLBMs.

One journalist noted concerning Umka-21, The unprecedented exercise served as a bold statement of Russia's presence and capabilities in the increasingly tense Arctic region. (Emphasis in the original). The only reason for three nuclear ballistic missile submarines (reportedly two Delta-IV and one Borei or Borei-A submarines) to break through the Arctic ice simultaneously is to launch nuclear ballistic missiles, with the obvious targets being in the U.S. The involvement of three nuclear ballistic missile submarines (a quarter of their force) suggests this was a simulation of a massive nuclear strike. It makes no sense to have three nuclear ballistic missile submarines involved in a limited nuclear strike (e.g., a few missiles). Not only would this be unnecessary, but it would also be counter-productive since each launch would give away the location of the submarine. This type of exercise is unprecedented, appeared on the Kremlin and Defense Ministry websites, and clearly was message sending. The only issue is whether the message was received.

Large Russian strategic nuclear exercises typically end with a simulated massive nuclear strike.

However, while this was a nuclear naval exercise, it was not a large strategic nuclear exercise that employs the full Russian Triad and sometimes non-strategic nuclear weapons. While nuclear escalation is a feature of almost all Russian large theater exercises, such blatant strategic nuclear escalation signaling is unusual in a theater exercise. The ground forces involved in the Umka-21 naval exercise were only a brigade. Even recognizing that Russia plans first use of nuclear weapons in any major war, this type of nuclear escalation appears completely inappropriate for the war game as it was described to President Putin. The nuclear phase that Putin was briefed on was part of an Arctic exercise called Umka-21, which is described by the Barents Observer as Russias most complex military drill in the high Arctic, involving fighter jets, torpedo shootings and Arctic brigade soldiers training warfare on Franz Josef Land. The Russian MoD indicated that the exercise involved more than 600 military and civilian personnel and about 200 pieces of weapons, military and special equipment. This does not exactly suggest a conflict that any rational leader would escalate to a general nuclear war.

Concurrent with the exercise, the Russian MoD reported an Arctic flight by two Tu-160 heavy bombers over the Barents Sea and the Norwegian Sea. These flights are intended to be provocations. Two days later, the Russian MoD reported the involvement of an unspecified number of Su-34 fighter bombers in attacks on Naval ships in the Arctic. The next day it announced an Arctic air defense exercise involving a Russian frigate. Two Russian Tu-142 ASW bombers entered the Alaska air-defense identification zone. These actions were not identified as part of the Umka-21 exercise, but they could have been. On March 30, NATO said, NATO fighter jets scrambled 10 times on Monday, March 29, 2021, to shadow Russian bombers and fighters during an unusual peak of flights over the North Atlantic, North Sea, Black Sea, and Baltic Sea. In all, NATO aircraft intercepted six different groups of Russian military aircraft near Alliance airspace in less than six hours.

On March 31, Air Force General Glen VanHerck, the Commander of U.S. Northern Command, said, Within the last week or so, there's been significant activity in the Arctic. He went on, These Russian military operations include multiple flights of heavy bombers, anti-submarine aircraft, and intelligence collection platforms near Alaska. These efforts show both Russias military reach and how they rehearse potential strikes on our homeland. Last summer, the Russian Navy focused its annual OCEAN SHIELD exercise on the defense of Russias maritime approaches in the Arctic and Pacific. Even so, this does not suggest a battle that should have any rational leader escalating to general nuclear war.

One is reminded of a statement made by noted Russian journalist Pavel Felgenhauer over a decade ago: our superiors are potentially ready to burn all of us in nuclear fire because of disputes over ice, rocks or South Ossetia [a province of Georgia occupied by Russia.] However, there is probably more to Putins madness. Dr. Maxim Starchak, in an excellent Atlantic Council report, documented Russian development of the submarine tactics used in the exercise in 2019 and noted that "This [the 2019 events] is especially important as exercises with weapons from under the ice have not been held for a long time. Umka-21 used all these tactics and procedures in a simulated multi-submarine integrated strategic nuclear strike.

While Putin and his generals have made numerous nuclear threats, this is something new. Just when you think that Putins nuclear policy cant get any worse, it does. It may be that the whole purpose of the nuclear signaling in the Umka-21 exercise was not related to a real naval war scenario but rather to threaten the Biden administration with general nuclear war. Putin and his generals believe that nuclear threats enhance Russian power and leverage.

Putin began using Russian heavy bombers for nuclear signaling in 2007 when he announced that, Combat alert has begun today. Twenty strategic missile carriers are taking part in it. The planes that have scrambled will be in the air for 20 hours with refueling and in interaction with the Navy. Russian bomber patrols dramatically increased in 2019 and 2020. According to state-run Sputnik News, the intent of the bomber flights is to survey the skies around Russian borders reminding everyone that Russia is a power to be reckoned with.

The nuclear ballistic missile submarine phase of Umka-21 may be nuclear signaling relating to renewed Russian aggression against Ukraine. In late March, CBS News reported a buildup of Russian forces along the Ukraine border. On March 31, there were reports that "Trains loaded with large amounts of Russian military hardware, including tanks and other heavy armored vehicles, as well as heavy artillery, appear to be streaming toward the countrys borders with Ukraine. Serious Russian-supported fighting resumed in Eastern Ukraine. The New York Times reports, The [four Ukrainian soldiers] deaths, along with a buildup of Russian forces on the border, has seized the attention of senior American officials in Europe and Washington. U.S. troops in Europe and Ukrainian troops were put on highest alert. On March 11, Pavel Felgenhauer predicted that "Maybe six to eight weeks remain before belligerent rhetoric and sporadic bombardments in Donbas might truly transform into something much more ominous. Umka-21 may be related to this. This would not be the first time nuclear threat posturing has been used by Russia to deter NATO support for Ukraine, but this is perhaps the most dangerous nuclear threat posturing yet. The threat of general nuclear war, a throw-back to Soviet days, could be related to the deterrence of a NATO response to a serious Russian incursion into Ukraine.

Dr. Mark B. Schneider is a Senior Analyst with the National Institute for Public Policy. Before his retirement from the Department of Defense Senior Executive Service, Dr. Schneider served in a number of senior positions within the Office of Secretary of Defense for Policy including Principal Director for Forces Policy, Principal Director for Strategic Defense, Space and Verification Policy, Director for Strategic Arms Control Policy and Representative of the Secretary of Defense to the Nuclear Arms Control Implementation Commissions. He also served in the senior Foreign Service as a Member of the State Department Policy Planning Staff.

Notes:
STAMFORD  Food insecurity is a big problem across the nation, especially during the continuing COVID-19 crisis. But imagine how hard it is to rely on donated food when many things that you eat cause stomach issues?

To help local residents who are dealing with hunger along with food intolerances, Food Rescue US Fairfield County and Boston-based dietitian and author Kate Scarlata stepped in with a solution.

Scarlata arrived in Stamford on Tuesday with an AirStream trailer full of gluten-free, low-lactose and low-FODMAP food and made a food donation to Food Rescue US Fairfield County. (FODMAP foods contain short-chain carbohydrates that cause digestive distress for some people.)

For people living with food insecurity and food intolerance, access to suitable foods to treat their medical conditions can be an extra challenge, said Scarlata. Many food pantries stock foods, that can exacerbate abdominal pain for people living with celiac disease or IBS, such as wheat-based bread and pasta, canned legumes and soups. ... Gluten-free foods cost about twice that of their wheat-filled alternatives.

For her #EndHungerPain initiative, Scarlata is taking her AirStream trailer filled with food to Connecticut, Pennsylvania, Washington, D.C., and North Carolina.

We are fortunate to have many wonderful food donors, but we dont always get to request or receive specific foods that can help alleviate stomach issues for those with food sensitivities, said Danielle Blaine, site director for Food Rescue US Fairfield County. The food that Kate is donating will help so many in our community.

In Fairfield County, Food Rescue US has provided more than 2 million meals since the start of the COVID pandemic. To learn more about Food Rescue US, visit foodrescue.us.

To learn more about Kate Scarlata and her mission to fight hunger with food that everyone can eat, visit katescarlata.com.
A local restaurant in Georgia has defended calling the police on a large dinner party after it allegedly refused to split the table's $2,200 bill into separate checks.

The awkward incident unfolded last month at Louisiana Bistreaux Seafood Kitchen in East Point, Georgia where a large group people were celebrating a woman's 30th birthday.

The March 10th event ultimately ended in a dispute and with a visit from the cops after the restaurant put the party's balance on a single tab and refused to break it down into individual bills.

The majority of guests were instead forced to withdraw cash at an ATM in a nearby hotel in order to pay for check, resulting in a logistical nightmare.

In an interview with DailyMail.com Saturday, Louisiana Bistreaux said the confusion arose when more than 50 people turned up for a reservation that was made for 25, and some were allegedly refusing to pay.

Police were called on a group of 25 at the Louisiana Bistreaux Seafood Kitchen in East Point, Georgia, on March 10 after the staff refused to split the party's check

The restaurant's policy requires guests to sign a contract agreeing to pay with one form of payment for reservations for 25 people, marketing director Wendy Smith explained.

And while staff agreed to accommodate the extra guests, they said they were forced to call the police after some threatened to walk out without paying.

'While the incident on March 10th is unfortunate, not mentioned in this report, reservations were made was for 25 people and per our contractual agreement one bill would be presented to the host, 52 guests showed,' Smith said.

'Our policy is advance payment and attendance guarantee for large parties, however, our staff did their best to create a seamless experience for the additional 27 unexpected guests.

'The police were called only when some of the unexpected guests refused to pay.'

In TikTok videos shared by a woman identified only as Key, visibly frustrated party guests were seen standing around the restaurant as staff explained they couldn't accommodate their requests to split the bill.

Key told DailyMail.com Friday that her sister Quandresha Brinkley made the reservation and had talked with staff at the restaurant beforehand about what they would need to do to arrange payment.

'She said to have less credits cards but make sure people have cash,' she said Brinkley was told by the restaurant manager.

But in the end, it was Brinkley who had to pay for the bill out of her own pocket after several people decided to skip out on the tab and left the restaurant in frustration.

The phone even pans over the entirety of the receipt, showing a staggering bill for $2,204.30

A lot of the older attendees didn't have Cash App, so they needed to use cash. Since there were no ATMs in the restaurant, Key said guests were forced to walk to a nearby hotel in order to withdraw cash to pay. Brinkley was forced to pay a lot out of pocket when people ditched the party

Key said police were called to the scene 'way before' the bill even came for all the food. The nail technician added that officers there told her to put the restaurant (pictured) on blast

Key admitted a number of extra guests did show up, but claimed those people were sat separately and their meals were not included in the main party's tab.

Smith, however, has said otherwise. She told DailyMail.com staff took every order even though there 27 additional guests that came.

'At the end of the meal after everyone had finished eating there was a request for 50 separate bills. At that time it was impossible because the servers were just taking orders. They didn't create a system to know who had what, they were just taking orders to get all of the food prepared for them,' she said.

'Our manager tried to apologize and explain to the [party] host. She explained to us that she invited people who invited other people, so she didn't even know they were coming.

Management did claim that they took some of the drinks off

'And we called the police once we heard people stating that they were going to leave. The host did not gather her guests and explain to them, so they just got upset with us because we were saying no.'

Smith said her staff tried their best to keep the guests calm but the incident eventually got out of hand and they called the cops to 'deescalate the situation.'

'I fully believe that the host of the party understood that there were these additional people who were there that weren't part of the additional agreement. And it was the majority of them that were making the comments, and getting rowdy and loud,' she added.

When contacted by DailyMail.com on Saturday, Key disputed the restaurant's claims that there were more than 50 people in the party, and said the video - which appears to show fewer people - was shot only after a couple of people had left.

She insisted that the group did not ask for 50 checks, because many of the guests did not eat and merely dropped off birthday presents while others paid as part of a small group. She said the bill was paid in full by Brinkley.

Key, pictured, told DailyMail.com that Brinkley had made the reservation beforehand

Key, pictured, said her sister had talked with staff at the restaurant about what they would need to do to arrange payment

Video shows police officers standing in the background as the guests gather cash to put towards the hefty bill.

Several people can be seen talking to a manager at the restaurant who explains she was able to take some drinks off the tab but not split it.

Key even pans over the entirety of the receipt, showing a staggering bill for $2,204.30. She also shows one officer appearing to laugh at the scene as the manager tries to explain the situation with the drinks to the party.

Key also complained about the restaurant service which claimed was not up to par throughout the night.

While the dinner was supposed to start at around 6pm, she claimed their food still hadn't arrived by the time she showed up two hours later.

'Most people were complaining,' the nail technician said. 'Nobody had food.'

Key admitted that there were extra people who attended the gathering, but those folks were sat away from the party and paid on their own separate bill, she said.

And even when food started to come out, 'two or three plates' came that didn't belong to anyone, Key claimed. She said that the check had to be sent back a few times when the dishes appeared on the bill.

'A lot of people felt like they were getting ripped off,' Key added.

A lot of the older attendees didn't have Cash App, so they needed to use cash. Since there were no ATMs in the restaurant, Key said guests were forced to walk to a nearby hotel in order to withdraw cash to pay.

It was then that several people chose to ditch the party and not pay for their food at all, forcing Brinkley to pay a lot of the bill out of her own pocket.

'The bill did get paid,' Key said. 'Her [Brinkley's] friends brought other friends and they were the ones that ran. My sister paid money out of her pocket. She did make a reservation and she did talk about splitting the bill beforehand.'

Key said police were called to the scene 'way before' the bill even came for all the food. The nail technician added that officers there told her to post about the incident on social media.

'He said "Go on social media about it and tell them about the restaurant. Go to social media about how they treated y'all,'" Key recalled.

The East Point Police Department could not be reached for comment.
Members from the 1-78 Field Artillery Battalion were reportedly involved in multiple attacks on a trainee

Multiple army instructors have been suspended over the alleged sexual assault of a trainee at the base in Fort Sill, Oklahoma.

Agents from Army Criminal Investigation Command reportedly launched an investigation after a female trainee claimed she was sexually assaulted by 22 service members, including several drill sergeants, The Hill reported. The trainee lodged her complaint on March 27, and her report identified seven of the 22 members she said assaulted her, according to The Intercept.

(Credit: Twitter)

Read More: White Army vet charged in shooting Black girl at Trump rally

The outlet reported that 22 service members from the 1-78 Field Artillery Battalion were involved in multiple assaults on the woman. Video of one of the attacks reportedly made its rounds at the base and was obtained by Army investigators. According to Maj. Gen. Ken Kamper, head of the Fires Center of Excellence at Fort Sill, the alleged victim is absolutely safe following her complaint and has special victims counsel and access to all victims services.

This past Sunday, a soldier assigned to Fort Sill reported she was a victim of sexual assault involving Fort Sill cadre members, Kamper said. This information was immediately reported to law enforcement.

According to a Fort Sill press release, the potentially involved cadre have been suspended and removed from any training environment.

Were just heartbroken, just sad, sad that something like this happened, Kamper told reporters Thursday. On a personal level, it is just heartbreaking.

The trainee is receiving updates from the chain of command, about her case, said officials, who noted that the Army was sending additional specialized CID personnel and attorneys to the base, according to the report.

Sexual assault will not be tolerated. It tears at the fabric of our community, Kamper said. We will provide further updates as we are able, while protecting the integrity of the ongoing criminal investigation and the rights of all involved.

Story continues

Kamper also acknowledged that sexual assault was not an isolated event at Fort Sill.

Is this an isolated incident? Unfortunately, sexual assault is a national problem, Kamper said. When we look at the Department of Defense, our new secretarys words about the sexual assault and when we look at our Armys commitment over time to root out sexual assault, it hurts our soldiers and families. Its terrible to for unit cohesion and is detrimental to our mission.

Fort Sill will investigate any further claims of sexual assault that arise as the investigation moves forward, Kamper confirmed.

Were positioned to do that; we have the resources to do that, Kamper said. We have the full support of Army senior leaders for anything else we might need if anything else emerges, so absolutely.

Read More: Man sentenced in killing of Black Army Lt. Richard Collins III

Per Task & Purpose, an Army official said on Friday that if the number of suspects who assaulted the trainee at Fort Sill is really that high, its incomprehensible.

Meanwhile, reports of sexual assault and sexual harassment continue to rise in the U.S. military, according to the Defense Department. The most recent headline-making case was the April 2020 killing of Spc. Vanessa Guillen.

As theGRIO previously reported, Guillen was serving in the Army at Fort Hood when she was bludgeoned to death. She had been missing since April 22 before her remains were found near Fort Hood in July. Her family said at the time that she was a victim of sexual harassment.

Aaron David Robinson, the soldier who was a suspect in her death, committed suicide when authorities attempted to arrest him in connection with Guillens death.

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 Army announces suspensions after trainee sexually assaulted by 22 service members appeared first on TheGrio.
The Opposition leaders refer to him derisively as Keralas Modi or Copycat Modi. This may be a classic case of sour grapes but there is no doubt that Kerala chief minister Pinarayi Vijayans ongoing poll campaign is not very different from that of Prime Minister Narendra Modi. As in the case of the Bharatiya Janata Party whose election campaigns revolve around Mr Modi, the Kerala Assembly election is all about Pinarayi Vijayan. Like Mr Modi, he invariably makes a rock star-like grand and dramatic entry at his election rallies and keeps the crowds engaged with his fiery speeches. The student and youth wings of the CPI(M) are deployed in large numbers at each venue to whip up passions and generally set the mood for Mr Vijayans arrival while chanting cadres line the roads leading to the podium. Often, a fireworks display is also part of the welcome drill. The puritanical CPI(M) cadres must be cringing as the cadre-based Left parties generally have an aversion to building a personality cult but given their political marginalisation, the Marxists have no choice but to accept that the party in Kerala has become a one-man show.

While Pinarayi Vijayan is on a roll, the Congress-led United Democratic Front is fighting hard to wrest the state from its chief political rival. However, it finds itself in trouble as doubts have arisen about its Christian support base.

Unlike the past elections, the various Christian factions are learned to have told Congress leaders that they will not issue any advisory to its followers to vote for the grand old party. Though it is not openly supporting any party, the Church will not issue an appeal in favour of any party. The Christian community has been partial to the Congress in the past but the BJP has also been wooing it, especially the Jacobite Syrian Christians and Catholics. The saffron party is weaning them away from the Congress by convincing the community that the Congress is taking them for granted and neglecting them in favour of Muslims and Hindus. On its part, the Church wants to safeguard its interests as it has land and other investments it has made across the state.

Chhattisgarh chief minister Bhupesh Baghel and Rajasthan chief minister are a study in contrast. Both were given special duties in the poll-bound-states  Mr Baghel was assigned to Assam and Mr Gehlot to Kerala. While Mr Baghel took on his assignment in mission mode, Mr Gehlot has only made a cursory visit to Kerala, evincing little or no interest in the election even though former Congress president Rahul Gandhi is focusing all his energies on the Kerala poll. Mr Gehlot maintains he is busy with the by-elections in Rajasthan but It is being joked that Mr Gehlot is scared to leave Jaipur for fear that his bete noire Sachin Pilot may start plotting against him in his absence. Mr Baghel, on the other hand, has barely left Assam, immersing himself in the election, providing both funds and manpower from his state. Mr Baghel, it is said, is working overtime to retain his gaddi as his rival T.S. Singh Deo was promised the chief ministers post midway during the five-year term, which happens to be in May.

Keeping a firm eye on the crucial West Bengal Assembly polls, Prime Minister Narendra Modi undertook a well-timed trip to Dhaka to mark fifty years of the liberation of Bangladesh. Though he did make a fleeting reference to Indira Gandhis role in liberating Bangladesh, Mr Modi managed to make the event all about him. The Congress, which should have and could have, made a big splash by recalling Indira Gandhis contribution to the neighbouring countrys freedom struggle, maintained a studied silence. In fact, Sonia Gandhi had even set up an in-house committee headed by former defence minister A.K. Antony and comprising senior leaders like Amarinder Singh and Prithviraj Chavan, to plan and coordinate the partys programmes to commemorate the 50th anniversary of the 1971 Bangladesh war. This was last December but nothing has been heard from this panel. It met once but no one knows what activities were drawn up by the committee. There has been radio silence since then.

There is no end to the twists and turns in the high-decibel West Bengal Assembly election. In fact, there is never a dull moment as charges and counter-charges between the Mamata Banerjee-led Trinamul Congress and the Bharatiya Janata Party fly thick and fast. In addition, violent clashes between their workers have become the order of the day. But over the past few days, the two parties have been locked in a battle over a leaked internal election survey, apparently commissioned by poll strategist Prashant Kishor, which shows that the Trinamul is losing. A gleeful BJP has obviously gone to town with this revelation but Mr Kishors outfit, IPAC, has tied itself in knots issuing a series of denials about its involvement in this survey. It is insisting that this is the handiwork of the BJPs dirty tricks department or its IT cell.


Microsoft has announced a contract with the U.S. Army worth almost $22 billion to produce augmented reality headsets.

Augmented reality, or AR, is a technology that uses glasses to project computer-created pictures and information that add to what users see in the real, physical world.

The deal was announced Wednesday. Microsoft would supply at least 120,000 troops with the devices.

Military officials said the technology will improve soldiers ability to see their surroundings and identify targets and danger. The technology is based on Microsofts HoloLens headsets, which were first designed for video games.

The Army said the headsets could be used for both training and in battle. The army said the AR system could help troops gain an upper hand during battle. Soldiers first tested the gadgets last year.

The contract is worth up to $21.88 billion for up to 10 years, Microsoft said. The agreement goes for five years and could be extended for an additional five.

Microsoft President Brad Smith spoke about the technology to the U.S. Senate Armed Services Committee in February. He said soldiers could use the system to see at night and for facial recognition on the battlefield. He also described how it could help in hostage situations by creating an electronic representation of a building, what he called a digital twin.

Several technology companies have sought to use augmented reality for video games. Those efforts have largely been unsuccessful. But Microsofts Hololens 2 will be used by the Army. The company also wants the devices to be used to help doctors during medical operations, factory crews and others. Users can often control what they see on the device by using hand movements or voice commands.

The headset deal is part of Microsofts work as a defense contractor. The military also awarded Microsoft a $10 billion cloud computing contract in September.

Im Mario Ritter, Jr.

Matt OBrien reported this story for The Associated Press. Dan Novak adapted it for VOA Learning English. Mario Ritter Jr. was the editor.

_______________________________________________________________

Words in This Story

headset- n. (augmented reality) a device worn on the head that uses computer technology to produce images and information that add to what the wearer can see in the real world

project-v. to cause (light, a picture, a movie, etc.) to appear on a surface

gadget-n. a small, useful device

digital-adj. using or characterized by computer technology

twin-n. either one of two similar things that form a pair

contractor-n. a person who is hired to perform work or to provide goods at a certain price or within a certain time

We want to hear from you. Write to us in the Comments Section, and visit our Facebook page.
The Trump administration mistakenly put two Italian companies, including a pizzeria, on a sanctions list. Getty images

On Trump's last day in office, he ordered that sanctions be imposed on those in the Venezuelan oil industry.

In a case of mistaken identity, two Italian business owners had their companies blacklisted.

The owners of a Verona pizzeria and a Sardinia graphic design studio have been removed from the sanctions list.

See more stories on Insider's business page.

Related: How Presidential runner-ups graciously bowed out in the past

The Trump administration accidentally slapped sanctions on an Italian restaurant and a graphic design studio before the former president left office, The Guardian reported.

On former President Donald Trump's last day of office, he ordered that sanctions be imposed on a network of Venezuelan oil firms and individuals associated with the state oil company - Petroleos de Venezuela (PDVSA).

This was part of a long-term economic embargo on Venezuela, intended to put an end to President Nicolas Maduro's regime.

However, an unfortunate mistake meant that two Italian business owners, who shared the same name as a man involved in the Venezuelan oil trade, had their businesses targeted in the crackdown.

Read more: It's clear the US does not care about China's face anymore

Alessandro Bazzoni, the owner of a pizzeria in the Italian city of Verona, discovered that his business was placed on a US trade blacklist after visiting his local bank, The Guardian reported.

"When I heard that my current accounts had been blocked, I thought it was a joke," Bazzoni told Italian newspaper Corriere della Sera. "These are already difficult times for us restaurant owners, the last thing I needed was to have my accounts blocked."

Bazzoni told the newspaper that he has not received an apology. He said, however, that he is grateful for his name being removed from the sanctions list. "I thank the new American government for the efficiency with which it intervened," Bazzoni told Corriere della Sera.

Story continues

Another Italian man, who is also called Alessandro Bazzoni, had his business targeted too. The US Department of the Treasury blacklisted his company, SeriGraphicLab, according to The Guardian.

The Sardinian business owner, who declined to offer comment, confirmed with the paper that his graphic design studio had been on a sanctions list.

The incidents were a case of mistaken identity. The US government was trying to target another Italian citizen who had been a "core facilitator" of a network designed to help PDVSA, The Washington Post reported.

On March 31, the Treasury updated the "specially designated nationalist list" and removed those who were affected by the mix-up.

Read the original article on Business Insider
The widow of a Winnipeg police officer who recently died by suicide sent a letter critical of Chief Danny Smyths actions to the Winnipeg Police Board two days before his contract was extended for two years.

The widow of a Winnipeg police officer who recently died by suicide sent a letter critical of Chief Danny Smyths actions to the Winnipeg Police Board two days before his contract was extended for two years.

The five-page letter, a copy of which was obtained by the Free Press, was written by Catherine Tattersall and sent to St. Norbert-Seine River Coun. Marcus Chambers, the chairman of the Winnipeg Police Board, and the other six board members.

Tattersalls husband, 43-year-old Const. Michael Peters, died at home on Feb. 21.

Tattersall said she wanted to let the board know about some aspects of her husbands death "which point directly to the lack of leadership at the top of the Winnipeg Police Service."

"I want to be clear at the outset: this letter is not about accountability for Mikes loss," she said.

"That would not be appropriate. I am looking for accountability for what happened in response to that loss, accountability for how the communications around the loss were handled, communications that caused distress to me and to Mikes family, at such a difficult time."

Tattersall said she would have expected Smyth would have personally responded to a family after an officers death, not only to support and communicate with them, but to raise support in the community to mark the loss.

Instead, she said the chief exacerbated the grief by sending out an internal bulletin to all officers on March 3. Not only did it give her husbands full name, but it said several times that he had committed suicide. It also offered opinions about his recent mental state. Permission was not sought to include in the bulletin her husbands photo, which had been taken by his family at his 2005 graduation from the police academy, she said.

The message claimed the chief had been in touch with her.

"Reading this update, replete with personal information, you might assume Chief Smyth had co-ordinated carefully with Mikes family to share all of this but you would be wrong," said Tattersall.

"(The bulletin) took an already distressed situation for me and for Mikes family and made it worse. I was shocked. I still am and I am trying my best to ensure Mikes parents never see this bulletin.

"We certainly would not have consented to a communication to more than 2,000 people that simultaneously provided incredibly distressing personal details about Mikes loss, reflections on Mikes current career status, and speculations on mental health and claiming to have been in touch with me personally when he had not spoken to me at all."

Tattersall said she and her family were moved by support from members of the Winnipeg Police Service, who along with members of the RCMP, the Winnipeg Fire Paramedic Service and CN Police Service, honoured Peters by driving in a long memorial line with their emergency lights flashing.

Coun. Marcus Chambers, the chairman of the Winnipeg Police Board, says the board wrote to Catherine Tattersall expressing condolences and committing to ensure the police service is a healthy organization. (Ruth Bonneville / Winnipeg Free Press files)

She was also touched by a condolence letter from Mayor Brian Bowman.

"This is important and meaningful, but this contract underscores my strong concerns  while so many responded respectfully and appropriately, somehow the leadership of the WPS could not," she said.

Despite asking to meet with Smyth, she said he didnt agree to an in-person meeting until March 23 and failed to address any of her concerns, including a lack of support for her husband and other police service members, and the poor morale among officers.

"I did not receive satisfactory answers to any of these questions from Danny Smyth," she said.

Tattersall wrote the letter to the board the following day.

Contacted by the Free Press, Chambers said the board wrote to Tattersall to express condolences and say it is committed to seeing the police service be a healthy organization.

"The consideration to extend the chiefs contract isnt just based on a day or week of conversations," he said.

"We have been evaluating the chiefs performance at the board over the course of the last several months, leading up to the final conclusion to extend his contract."

Chambers said he is hopeful a third-party survey, currently being put together by the service and the Winnipeg Police Association, will help the board address poor morale within the rank and file.

"It is something as a board we are very concerned with but we just dont know the breadth and scope of what that diminished morale is," he said.

"Those questions can be asked and assessed and analyzed and from there at least we will have a benchmark knowing exactly how to manage improving morale in the service. That is something the chief is dedicated towards doing."

Through a spokesman, Smyth said he would not comment on the matter because he considers it private. The chief pointed to comments he made after last weeks board meeting in which he said he had tried to reach out to the families of two constables who had died, including Peters, while respecting their privacy.

There are several factors that have hurt morale which go beyond his own job performance, he said.

"Were all fatigued from the pandemic (and) the police force have an added layer, wiith a lot of the social justice focus on there. That... has a cumulative impact," he said.

A spokesperson for the Winnipeg Police Association was unavailable for comment.

kevin.rollason@freepress.mb.ca
Irizar reports that 44 Irizar ie electric buses are headed to Burgas, Bulgaria. It is the first electromobility project in that citythe fourth largest in the countryand one of the largest in Bulgaria to date. Burgas Busa Bulgarian public transport operator with more than 130 vehicles in its fleetwill be in charge of operating the buses.

The buses that will be provided include two different lengths. There will be thirty-four 12-meter units and ten 18-meter units. The 12-meter ie bus will have 3 doors, 26 seats (4 of which are PRM) and a wheelchair area. The 18-meter bus, on the other hand, will have 4 pneumatic doors, 32 seats (4 of which are PRM) and a wheelchair area.

The vehicles will be equipped with Irizar lithium-ion batteries. Irizar e-mobility will also provide 44 interoperable ECI-100 chargers by Jema Energy (an Irizar Group company). The chargers have a 100 kW smart charging system that will charge the vehicles in three hours using a Combo 2 charging outlet.

They will also include telemetry systems by Datik, an Irizar Group company, which the operators can use to monitor and manage their electric vehicle fleet at all times and get the maximum performance out of their operation.





Irizar e-mobility has worked closely with Burgas Bus for this project to give the fleet a modern and attractive design. Aesthetic features of the ie bus and the Irizar ie tram were combined in the design to create a mixed vehicle that maximizes the luminosity of the space inside the cabin.

The delivery of the first units is expected to be made in September 2021.
The NUP President Robert Kyagulanyi Ssentamu has eulogized Archbishop of the Kampala Archdiocese, Kizito Lwanga who passed away today morning.

According to Hon Kyagulanyi, he says it will be hard to cope with the death of Archbishop Lwanga.

I have learnt with great shock about the sudden death of His Grace Dr. Cyprian Kizito Lwanga, the Archbishop of Kampala Archdiocese. It will be very hard to cope with this unimaginable loss, he said.

Hon Kyagulanyi adds that Archbishop Lwanga always spoke out against injustices and many Ugandans will remember him for that.

He will be remembered for always speaking out against injustice and oppression. Only yesterday as he joined the faithful to celebrate the way of the cross, he raised his voice yet again and condemned the rampant abductions of our people by the state, he eulogized.

Archbishop Lwanga died on Saturday morning.
Here is the upcoming City Council agenda for Tuesday:

I. Call to Order by Chairman Henderson.



II. Pledge of Allegiance/Invocation (Chairman Henderson).



III. Special Presentation.

Proclamation Second Chance Month

By Councilwoman Demetrus Coonrod and Chairman Chip Henderson



IV. Minute Approval.



V. Ordinances  Final Reading: PLANNING



a. 2020-0027 Paces Ferry Builders (R-1 Residential Zone and R-T/Z Residential Townhouse/Zero Lot Line Zone to R-T/Z Residential Townhouse/Zero Lot Line Zone).

An ordinance to amend Chattanooga City Code, Part II, Chapter 38, Zoning Ordinance, so as to rezone properties located in the 7000 block of Shallowford Road and 2301 Rivendell Lane, for R-1 Residential Zone and R-T/Z Residential Townhouse/Zero Lot Line Zone to R-T/Z Residential Townhouse/Zero Lot Line Zone for the entire site, subject to certain conditions. (District 4) (Alternate Version #2)PUBLIC WORKS AND TRANSPORTATIONPublic Worksb. An ordinance amending Chattanooga City Code, Part II, Chapter 31, by adding a new Section 31-324.3, Vegetative Planting Requirements when Steep Slopes are Disturbed, a new Section 31-324.4, Steep Slope Vegetation Policy and Planting Requirements, and a new Section 31-324.5, Incentives for Preservation of Existing Trees. (Sponsored by Councilpersons Ledford and Mitchell) (Alternate Version #4)c. An ordinance amending Chattanooga City Code, Part II, Chapter 31, Article VIII, Division 8, Section 31-365, Hearing Procedure; Judicial Review, to provide the authority for the Stormwater Regulations Board to Prohibit the Issuance of Additional Land Disturbance Permits after notice and hearing by the Stormwater Regulations Board when civil penalties are not paid to the City of Chattanooga. (Sponsored by Chairman Henderson and Councilman Mitchell)VI. Ordinances  First Reading:PUBLIC WORKS AND TRANSPORTATION Transportationa. MR-2021-0025 Darian Paris (Abandonment). An ordinance closing and abandoning a portion of the alley in the 1300 block of Spears Avenue, as detailed on the attached map. (District 1) (Recommended for denial by Transportation)b. MR-2021-0038 South Broad, LLC (Abandonment). An ordinance closing and abandoning an unopened alley in the 200 block of West 25th Street, as detailed on the attached map. (District 7) (Recommended for denial by Transportation)c. MR-2021-0047 Southern Spears Properties/Agent for Acme Brick Company (Abandonment). An ordinance closing and abandoning multiple rights-of-way, the 4700-4800 block of an unnamed alley, 200 block of Chestnut Street, and 4700-4800 blocks of Highland Avenue, as detailed on the attached map, subject to certain conditions. (District 7) (Recommended for approval by Transportation)PURCHASINGd. An ordinance amending Chattanooga City Code, Part II, Chapter 2, Section 2-554, Competitive Sealed Proposals. (Sponsored by Councilpersons Berz, Smith, and Ledford)VII. Resolutions:ECONOMIC AND COMMUNITY DEVELOPMENTa. A resolution authorizing the Administrator for the Department of Economic and Community Development to renew the Independent Contractor Services Standard Form Agreement with CBRE, Inc. for real estate services for one (1) year, with the option to renew for one (1) additional one (1) year term.HUMAN RESOURCESb. A resolution authorizing the Chief Human Resources Officer to renew an agreement with BlueCross BlueShield of Tennessee to provide health plan administration services to active and retired employees at the approximate cost of $1,270,000.00 per year for the final renewal option beginning July 1, 2021.c. A resolution authorizing the Chief Human Resources Officer to amend blanket Purchase Order No. 545788 so as to extend contract with Outsource Staffing, LLC, for temporary employment services for eight (8) months from October 1, 2020 through May 31, 2021.d. A resolution authorizing the Chief Human Resources Officer to enter into an agreement with Russ Blakely and Associates, LLC, for benefit advisory and open enrollment services, and to serve as the Agent of Record for all benefit options at no cost for a three (3) year term, with two (2) one (1) year renewal options beginning July 1, 2021.INFORMATION TECHNOLOGYe. A resolution authorizing a spend limit increase for the existing blanket contract with AST for OMCS Hosting and Managed Services (Purchase Order No. 537480) to cover services for the remainder of current Fiscal Year June 30, 2021, for contract amount of $3,344,509.62, for an increase of $85,000.00, for a total contract amount of $3,429,509.62.PUBLIC WORKS AND TRANSPORTATIONPublic Worksf. A resolution authorizing the Administrator for the Department of Public Works to award Contract No. W-19-014-201, Lupton Drive Chronic Overflow Elimination Project, to Talley Construction Inc., of Rossville, GA, for a contract amount of $1,482,559.80, with a contingency amount of $150,000.00, for an amount not to exceed $1,632,559.80. (District 2)g. A resolution authorizing the recommendation of the Administrator for the Department of Public Works for the street name change of the unopened 700 block of Chestnut Lane to the 700 block of Middleton Lane in the Northshore Heights Subdivision.. (District 2)h. A resolution authorizing the Administrator for the Department of Public Works to execute all necessary documents under the U.S. Department of Agriculture, Natural Resource Conservation Service (NRCS) Emergency Watershed Protection Program relative to storm damage from the February 6, 2019, storms at or near Arbor Creek Way, authorizing an increase of the City's twenty-five (25%) percent share from an amount of $300,000.00 to $352,000.00. (District 3)VIII. Purchases.IX. Committee Reports.X. Recognition of Persons Wishing to Address the Council.XI. Adjournment.TUESDAY, APRIL 13, 2021 CITY COUNCIL AGENDA 6:00 PM1. Call to Order by Chairman Henderson.2. Pledge of Allegiance/Invocation (Councilman Mitchell).3. Special Presentation.4. Minute Approval.Order of Business for City Council5. Ordinances - Final Reading:PUBLIC WORKS AND TRANSPORTATION Transportationa. MR-2021-0025 Darian Paris (Abandonment). An ordinance closing and abandoning a portion of the alley in the 1300 block of Spears Avenue, as detailed on the attached map. (District 1) (Recommended for denial by Transportation)b. MR-2021-0038 South Broad, LLC (Abandonment). An ordinance closing and abandoning an unopened alley in the 200 block of West 25th Street, as detailed on the attached map. (District 7) (Recommended for denial by Transportation)c. MR-2021-0047 Southern Spears Properties/Agent for Acme Brick Company (Abandonment). An ordinance closing and abandoning multiple rights-of-way, the 4700-4800 block of an unnamed alley, 200 block of Chestnut Street, and 4700-4800 blocks of Highland Avenue, as detailed on the attached map, subject to certain conditions. (District 7) (Recommended for approval by Transportation)PURCHASINGd. An ordinance amending Chattanooga City Code, Part II, Chapter 2, Section 2-554, Competitive Sealed Proposals. (Sponsored by Councilpersons Berz, Smith, and Ledford)6. Ordinances - First Reading: PLANNINGa. 2021-0046 John R. Coffelt (RT-1 Residential Townhouse Zone to R-1 Residential Zone). An ordinance to amend Chattanooga City Code, Part II, Chapter 38, Zoning Ordinance, so as to rezone properties located in the 600 block of West View Road, from RT-1 Residential Townhouse Zone to R-1 Residential Zone, subject to certain conditions. (District 1) (Recommended for approval by Planning and Staff)2021-0046 John R. Coffelt (RT-1 Residential Townhouse Zone to R-1 Residential Zone). An ordinance to amend Chattanooga City Code, Part II, Chapter 38, Zoning Ordinance, so as to rezone properties located in the 600 block of West View Road, from RT-1 Residential Townhouse Zone to R-1 Residential Zone. (Applicant Version)b. 2021-0030 Benjamin Phillips (R-1 Residential Zone to R-T/Z Residential Townhouse/Zero Lot Line Zone). An ordinance to amend Chattanooga City Code, Part II, Chapter 38, Zoning Ordinance, so as to rezone property located at 3698 and 3710 Faith Road, from R-1 Residential Zone to R-T/Z Residential Townhouse/Zero Lot Line Zone, subject to certain conditions. (District 5) (Recommended for approval by Planning)2021-0030 Benjamin Phillips (R-1 Residential Zone to R-T/Z Residential Townhouse/Zero Lot Line Zone). An ordinance to amend Chattanooga City Code, Part II, Chapter 38, Zoning Ordinance, so as to rezone property located at 3698 and 3710 Faith Road, from R-1 Residential Zone to R-T/Z Residential Townhouse/Zero Lot Line Zone, subject to certain conditions. (Staff Version)2021-0030 Benjamin Phillips (R-1 Residential Zone to R-T/Z Residential Townhouse/Zero Lot Line Zone). An ordinance to amend Chattanooga City Code, Part II, Chapter 38, Zoning Ordinance, so as to rezone property located at 3698 and 3710 Faith Road, from R-1 Residential Zone to R-T/Z Residential Townhouse/Zero Lot Line Zone. (Applicant Version)c. 2021-0039 Ingram, Gore & Associates (R-3MD Moderate Density Zone and R-4 Special Zone to R-3 Residential Zone). An ordinance to amend Chattanooga City Code, Part II, Chapter 38, Zoning Ordinance, so as to rezone property located at 4200 Willard Lane, from R-3MD Moderate Density Zone and R-4 Special Zone to R-3 Residential Zone, subject to certain conditions. (District 5) (Recommended for approval by Planning)2021-0039 Ingram, Gore & Associates (R-3MD Moderate Density Zone and R-4 Special Zone to R-3 Residential Zone). An ordinance to amend Chattanooga City Code, Part II, Chapter 38, Zoning Ordinance, so as to rezone property located at 4200 Willard Lane, from R-3MD Moderate Density Zone and R-4 Special Zone to R-3 Residential Zone, subject to certain conditions. (Staff Version)2021-0039 Ingram, Gore & Associates (R-3MD Moderate Density Zone and R-4 Special Zone to R-3 Residential Zone). An ordinance to amend Chattanooga City Code, Part II, Chapter 38, Zoning Ordinance, so as to rezone property located at 4200 Willard Lane, from R-3MD Moderate Density Zone and R-4 Special Zone to R-3 Residential Zone. (Applicant Version)d. 2021-0023 John Cunningham (R-1 Residential Zone to C-2 Convenience Commercial Zone). An ordinance to amend Chattanooga City Code, Part II, Chapter 38, Zoning Ordinance, so as to rezone part of a property located in the 6100 block of Highway 58, from R-1 Residential Zone to C-2 Convenience Commercial Zone, subject to certain conditions. (District 6) (Recommended for approval by Planning and denial by Staff)2021-0023 John Cunningham (R-1 Residential Zone to C-2 Convenience Commercial Zone). An ordinance to amend Chattanooga City Code, Part II, Chapter 38, Zoning Ordinance, so as to rezone part of a property located in the 6100 block of Highway 58, from R-1 Residential Zone to C-2 Convenience Commercial Zone. (Applicant Version)e. 2021-0037 South Broad, LLC (R-3 Residential Zone to UGC Urban General CommercialZone). An ordinance to amend Chattanooga City Code, Part II, Chapter 38, Zoning Ordinance, so as to rezone properties located at 2500 Cowart Street, in the 2500 block of Williams Street, and in the 200 block of West 26th Street, from R-3 Residential Zone to UGC Urban General Commercial Zone, subject to certain conditions. (District 7) (Recommended for approval by Planning and Staff)2021-0037 South Broad, LLC (R-3 Residential Zone to UGC Urban General CommercialZone). An ordinance to amend Chattanooga City Code, Part II, Chapter 38, Zoning Ordinance, so as to rezone properties located at 2500 Cowart Street, in the 2500 block of Williams Street, and in the 200 block of West 26th Street, from R-3 Residential Zone to UGC Urban General Commercial Zone. (Applicant Version)f. 2021-0027 Keither Perry (R-1 Residential Zone to R-2 Residential Zone). An ordinance to amend Chattanooga City Code, Part II, Chapter 38, Zoning Ordinance, so as to rezone property located at 2203 Milne Street, from R-1 Residential Zone to R-2 Residential Zone. (District 8) (Recommended for approval by Planning and Staff)g. 2021-0040 Tuba Warden (R-2 Residential Zone to UGC Urban General Commercial Zone). An ordinance to amend Chattanooga City Code, Part II, Chapter 38, Zoning Ordinance, so as to rezone property located at 2218 Bailey Avenue, from R-2 Residential Zone to UGC Urban General Commercial Zone, subject to certain conditions. (District 9) (Recommended for approval by Planning and Staff)2021-0040 Tuba Warden (R-2 Residential Zone to UGC Urban General Commercial Zone). An ordinance to amend Chattanooga City Code, Part II, Chapter 38, Zoning Ordinance, so as to rezone property located at 2218 Bailey Avenue, from R-2 Residential Zone to UGC Urban General Commercial Zone. (Applicant Version)PUBLIC WORKS AND TRANSPORTATIONPublic Worksh. MR-2020-0115 Maynardville Pike Car Wash, LLC c/o John Wise (Abandonment). An ordinance closing and abandoning an unopened sewer easement located in the 300 block of Tremont Street, as detailed on the attached map, subject to certain conditions. (District 2) (Recommended for approval by Public Works)7. Resolutions:ECONOMIC AND COMMUNITY DEVELOPMENTa. A resolution authorizing the Administrator for the Department of Economic and Community Development to enter into an agreement with Chat-TN, LLC (The Chatt Inn), for non-congregate COVID-19 related housing for up to one hundred (100) households currently experiencing homelessness, for a ninety (90) day period beginning March 13, 2021, and ending June 12, 2021, with an option to extend the agreement, if funds are not expended, for an additional ninety (90) day period, for a FEMA reimbursable amount not to exceed $341,250.00.b. A resolution authorizing the Administrator for the Department of Economic and Community Development to enter into an agreement with Security Engineers, Inc. (SEI), for non-congregate COVID-19 related security services at The Chatt Inn for up to one hundred (100) households currently experiencing homelessness, for a ninety (90) day period beginning March 13, 2021, and ending June 12, 2021, with an option to extend the agreement, if funds are not expended, for an additional ninety (90) day period, for a FEMA reimbursable amount not to exceed $62,100.00.LEGALc. A resolution authorizing the City Attorney to obtain an interpretation from the United States District Court for the Eastern District of Tennessee on certain provisions of the Court Order in Brown v. City of Chattanooga, CIV-1-87-388, on the residency requirements for sworn emergency personnel and to draft suggested language revisions to the City Charter at Section 3.1.1 which could be placed on the ballot for a Charter Referendum if it is not contrary to the January 18, 1990, Court Order in Brown v. City of Chattanooga at this time.PUBLIC WORKS AND TRANSPORTATIONPublic Worksd. A resolution authorizing the Administrator for the Department of Public Works to enter into a Public Private Partnerships (P3) with WaterWays, a local non-profit, for a stream restoration project on Mountain Creek south of Morrison Springs Road, with the Citys contribution for in-kind services for payment of the design portion of the project and the FEMA flood study through an existing blanket contract, for a total project cost of $54,850.00. (District 1)e. A resolution authorizing the Administrator for the Department of Public Works to award Contract No. W-16-022-201, MBWWTP Equalization Basin and Blower Replacement Improvements Project, a Non-Consent Decree Project, to J. Cumby Construction, Inc., of Cookeville, TN, for a contract amount of $27,685,500.00, with a contingency amount of $1,384,500.00, for an amount not to exceed $29,070,000.00. (District 1)f. A resolution authorizing payment to Hamilton County GIS relative to Addressing Services for Fiscal Year 2022, according to the Addressing Memorandum of Understanding between the City of Chattanooga and Hamilton County dated May 19, 2006, for an amount not to exceed $68,348.00.g. A resolution authorizing the Administrator for the Department of Public Works to enter into an Inter-Local Agreement Memorandum of Understanding with Hamilton County for the 2021 Aerial Photography Update of the Planimetric GIS Base Map Dataset, to provide for updated GIS and engineering building footprints, impervious surfaces, and other base mapping data, for a cost not to exceed $133,000.00.h. A resolution accepting the qualifications for the On-Call Blanket contracts for the Geo-Environmental Consulting and Construction Materials Testing Services, Contract No. E-21-002-301, for a one (1) year blanket contract(s) with three (3) additional one (1) year renewable options with the following seven (7) consultant firms: (1) GeoServices, LLC; (2) Geosyntec Consultants; (3) K.S. Ware and Associates, LLC; (4) S&ME, Inc.; (5) Stantec Consulting Services, Inc.; (6) Terracon Consultants, Inc.; and (7) Thompson Engineering, Inc.; based upon the three (3) services categories of geotechnical, construction materials testing, and environmental services that each consultant has qualified, for an annual amount of $500,000.00, to be used by all departments.Transportationi. A resolution authorizing the Chattanooga Department of Transportation to erect commemorative secondary street name signs on Bliss Avenue from Latta Street to Crutchfield Street designating said portions of Bliss Avenue as Bishop James M. Scott, Sr. Avenue. (District 8)8. Purchases.9. Committee Reports.10. Recognition of Persons Wishing to Address the Council.11. Adjournment.
The United Kingdom warns G7 (Group of Seven) countries that China undermines them when dealing with them. Beijing desires to impose its will on the international trading system forcefully. The CCP (Chinese Communist Party) attempts to make changes and actively makes an organized attempt to influence the World Trade Organization.

UK Warns G7 about the Chinese threat

According to the United Kingdom's Trade Minister, Liz Truss, Britain is the current G7 president and head of the World Trade Organization (WTO). It seeks to make the UK a leading advocate of free trade post-Brexit.

Great Britain last Wednesday urged its G7 allies to be tough on China's dubious practices under suspicion. There are allegations that Beijing is active in subverting trade with western countries, according to the UK, as reported by the Epoch Times.

This concern has taken precedence as China's global domination is becoming a threat. All G7 countries should be more alert to keep several steps ahead to contain the threat.

Truss said that Beijing should respect the way the global trading system works, not go against it. The WTO should adjust to changing times and become more dynamic. She had an interview with the Financial Times that had these details she shared with the paper.

The UK warns G7 of the CCP's moves to carry out policies against trade practices and policies of G7 members. After Great Britain left the European Union (EU), it allowed an expansive view of what is happening in world trade.

Even before the G7 (Group of Seven) meetings convened, Truss stressed free trade if fairness lacks honest trade. She slammed that Beijing was not willing to stay in line and cooperate as part of the WTO.

Former Pompeo Adviser Says Free World Should Oppose, Draw Red Line Against Communist China

China committed malpractices that will not see as trustworthy from its illegal activities. Examples of these are alleged slaved labor, destruction of the environment, and stealing intellectual property without any regrets doing it.

London and Beijing don't see eye to eye and have bad relations for quite a while. Both have thrown sanctions at each other with tensions between them. Hong Kong's seizure by China is a flashpoint, and increased human rights violations made it worse.

Britain and WTO members are critical of the exceptions and benefits are given to China that is taken advantage of. China is already a huge economic power whose status has changed; it still calls itself a developing country. Chinese leaders don't want to change that status quo.

The G7 nations, with President Trump's push against the communist regime, began a hardliner stance. It continues today as western countries are not taking China at face value. There is a united effort to lessen the dominance of China actively. Member nations are looking for the best way to counter the Chinese regime.

Western countries fear the Chinese regime will become dominant in the post-World War Two international order. To prevent it, the UK Warns G7 how to reorganize and deal with the CCP and develop ways to improve fair world trade.

Records Show Chinese Communist Party Has Infiltrated Several Embassies in Many Positions

@ 2021 HNGN, All rights reserved. Do not reproduce without permission.
RTHK: Myanmar death toll mounts amid anti-coup protests

Myanmar security forces opened fire on pro-democracy protests on Saturday killing at least five people, a protester and media said, as the military reinforced its bid to end dissent with arrest warrants for online critics and internet blocks.

Despite the killing of more than 550 people by the security forces since the Feb 1 coup, protesters are coming out every day, often in smaller groups in smaller towns, to voice opposition to the reimposition of military rule.

Security forces in the central town of Monywa, which has seen big protests day after days for weeks, fired on a crowd killing at least four people and wounding several, two media organisations said.

"They started firing non-stop with both stun grenade and live rounds," the protester in Monywa, who declined to be identified, told Reuters via a messaging app.

"People backed off and quickly put up ... barriers but a bullet hit a person in front of me in the head. He died on the spot."

One man was shot and killed in the southern town of Thaton, the Bago Weekly Journal online news portal and residents reported.

Police also fired in the central town of Bago, wounding one man.

Police and a spokesman for the junta did not answer telephone calls seeking comment.

The Assistance Association for Political Prisoners activist group, in a statement earlier in the day, said the security forces had killed 550 people, 46 of them children, since the military overthrew an elected government led by Aung San Suu Kyi.

Fighting has also flared in the north between the army and ethnic Kachin insurgents.

The turmoil has sent several thousand refugees fleeing into Thailand and India. (Reuters)

This story has been published on: 2021-04-03. To contact the author, please use the contact details within the article.
Thiruvananthapuram, April 3 : With just hours left for the crucial April 6 Kerala assembly polls, things appear fluid in Chief Minister Pinarayi Vijayan's home turf at Kannur, if one were to analyse the mood.

It's for the first time that Chief Minister Pinarayi Vijayan is leading his party and the Left Democratic Front in the state.

In today's world, it's the social media, which even Vijayan himself has accepted, is their biggest campaigner. A post by one of the most popular sons of the soil Communists in Kannur, P. Jayarajan indicates that things are a bit fluid for the CM.

Ever since Vijayan, who at the moment has the party under his tight grip, decided to bring a new rule that all those who have won two successive elections need not be given renomination, 33 sitting legislators (which included some who have had one term) of the CPI-M were replaced and the CM became popular as 'Captain Pinarayi'.

With 'Captain' Pinarayi getting used over and over in the campaign, the first person to have got uneasy was none other than P. Jayarajan. He said it was against the rules of a cadre-based party, where 'adulation' is forbidden.

Incidentally all these years, in the CPI-M, the party was always divided between the Kannur lobby and the non-Kannur lobby and ever since Vijayan became the last word in the CPI-M and the government, aberrations surfaced in the Kannur lobby. When State Industries Minister and two-time legislator E.P. Jayarajan failed to get a renomination, cracks surfaced in the lobby.

Politburo member Kodiyeri Balakrishnan had to step down from the post of State Secretary last year, after his younger son Bineesh Kodiyeri was arrested by the Enforcement Directorate in Bengaluru.

On Saturday, it appeared that things were not rosy, after Jayarajan came out with his post on his Facebook page where he said he supports the view of Balakrishnan who had said that in their party everybody is a comrade and the party is the captain.

"So a section of the media need not get jittery over the support that the Chief Minister is getting, as it's not the individual, but the party and the Left Democratic Front that's getting the people's support," wrote Jayarajan.

A media critic on condition of anonymity said Vijayan's fate will be sealed on May 2 and if he fails to retain power, he will have to do a lot of answering, but if he manages to write electoral history in Kerala, he will undoubtedly figure in the list of the all time great Communists in India.
The developmental application IQ Bera will help children learn the Chechen language.

The mobile application includes 14 thematic classifiers (body parts, animals, birds, and so on) that help the child learn to pronounce words in the Chechen language, and four games aimed at developing the child's memory, logic and motor skills.

The application is free in the App Store and Play Market, Grozny inform reports.
An outside super PAC is muscling into the race for the 2nd Congressional District with a six-figure ad buy that hits state Sen. Karen Carter Peterson for missing so many legislative votes in 2020.

"She doesnt show up for work," begins a narrator. "Karen Carter Peterson missed 85% of her votes in the Legislature last year."

The claim is factually correct, according to records supplied by the Louisiana News Bureau, a private company that tracks legislative votes.

The TV ad also notes that Peterson received per-diem payments from the Legislature on days when she was absent.

"At the height of the pandemic when Black Louisianans were dying in record numbers, I begged the Republican leadership for a mask mandate and social distancing to protect the hardworking staff at the Capitol," Peterson said in a statement responding to the ad. "They refused. We have all had to make tough decisions to protect the health and safety of our loved ones, and thats the truth."

Here's how to watch the debates between Karen Carter Peterson and Troy Carter ahead of election Two weeks ago, Karen Carter Peterson said she wanted three debates during the congressional runoff, and Troy Carter responded by saying, Bring it!

The new ad began airing Saturday in New Orleans and Baton Rouge and also is appearing digitally.

The new group hides itself behind one of those generic names that super PACs seem to favor -- Progress for the People in this case -- and supports state Sen. Troy Carter over Peterson in the election to replace Cedric Richmond in the House, said Terrence Clark, a spokesperson for the group. He declined to identify the donors.

Donors may give unlimited amounts to super PACs, whereas their contributions to individual candidates are capped. But super PACs are barred from coordinating with the candidates they support.

Clark said the group was formed by Louisianans who work with Democratic political firms.

While Peterson missed more votes than any other senator in 2020, she explained at the time that she didnt feel safe returning to the Capitol after the onset of COVID-19.

That made her an outlier among legislators. Others expressed similar concerns, but continued to come to work.

Only one other senator, Gerald Boudreaux, D-Lafayette, missed more than 50% of the votes last year. He was dealing with the death of his daughter.

Carter could also face questions about his attendance record because he missed 25% of the votes last year, the fourth most of any senator, according to the Louisiana News Bureau. Apart from Peterson and Boudreaux, Sen. Greg Tarver, D-Shreveport, was the only lawmaker to miss more.

Top stories in New Orleans in your inbox Twice daily we'll send you the day's biggest headlines. Sign up today. e-mail address * Sign Up

This 'misleading' TV ad trumpets Karen Carter Peterson's role in expanding Medicaid State Sen. Karen Carter Peterson pushed through a landmark change in Louisiana when she extended Medicaid to the working poor  or so an outsi

The ad highlights three of the votes that Peterson missed that the ads sponsors figure will resonate with voters.

House Bill 43 established rules for visiting nursing homes during the pandemic. Peterson was one of the three absent senators.

Senate Bill 22 established rules for the preparation and counting of absentee and early voting ballots. She was one of six senators who werent present.

House Bill 140 nullified dozens of ordinances passed by local governments  including Baton Rouge, Mandeville and Kenner -- that prohibited people from carrying firearms into playgrounds, parks, public buildings and commercial establishments where families and children visit. Peterson missed the initial Senate vote on the bill on May 29 but voted against the final version on June 1.

Peterson returned to the Capitol that day, the final day of the session, after being absent since the Legislature resumed its work on May 4.

Peterson explained her absence in tweets then by saying she felt unsafe.

Missing votes is not new for Peterson. Of the 37 senators who served the full four years of Gov. John Bel Edwards first term, only three missed more votes than she did, according to the Louisiana News Bureau. She missed 26% of those votes.

Carter didn't rank much better. Only six senators, including Peterson, were absent more than him over that time. Carter missed 17% of the votes during that span, the bureau found.

Karen Carter Peterson wants three debates in runoff; 'Bring it,' replies Troy Carter With a 15-candidate field winnowed to two on Saturday, runner-up Karen Carter Peterson wasted no time in challenging Troy Carter to three head

Peterson's receipt of the per diem despite her absence was first flagged by Tom Aswell, a former reporter who publishes Louisiana Voice, a political blog. He reported that she collected "nearly $15,000 in per diem payments at $161 per day for 20 of the 24-day session in 2020 that she did not attend." He put that amount at $13,685 in per diem and noted that she collected a $22,000 base salary as a legislator.

The firm that produced the 30-second TV ad, GPS Impact, worked for Gumbo PAC during the 2019 governors race. Gumbo PAC generated mailers and TV ads that helped power Gov. John Bel Edwards reelection victory that year.

The polling firm is ALG Research, which worked for Edwards, for Joe Bidens presidential campaign in 2020 and for Richmond during his congressional campaigns.

Terrence Clark worked most recently for the campaign of U.S. Sen. Raphael Warnock, a Democrat in Georgia.
After the Indian Secular Front (ISF) said on Saturday that all is not well in their "Sanyukta Morcha" alliance, West Bengal BJP chief Dilip Ghosh has reacted to this, saying that if this time the saffron party does not come to power in the state, then Bengal will turn into Bangladesh.

Ghosh said, "I had written a letter to the opposition leader in Vidhan Sabha saying that there should an alliance. Now I don't know if the alliance is final or not, as it is their internal matter. There is a lot of inconsistency in their stand. People know that if BJP does not come to power in Bengal this time, then the state will turn into Bangladesh."

Meanwhile, despite the Congress's denial of having an alliance, ISF chief Abbas Siddiqui has said that the two parties are working together in West Bengal. While speaking to ANI, the ISF chief said, "Congress denies having an alliance with us but we don't think that. We want Sanjukta Morcha to form the government and Congress workers to do better as they are struggling too. If their leadership thinks differently, what can we do?"

He added, At some places, the results of "Samyukta Morcha" (Bengal alliance between Congress, Left & ISF) is good while at some places other parties are doing well. This is what we are hearing. But I want every voter to vote for their favourite candidate."

West Bengal Assembly Elections

The first phase of the West Bengal Assembly elections concluded with a voter turnout of 79.79 percent and the second phase concluded on Thursday with a voter turnout of 80.43 percent. Bengal's other phases of elections are scheduled on April 6, April 10, April 17, April 22, April 26, and April 29 with results to be announced on May 2.
President has been shifted from the ICU to a special room in the All India Institute of Medical Sciences (AIIMS) on Saturday and his health is improving continuously since his bypass surgery, the Rashtrapati Bhavan said.

The president on March 26 was rushed to the Indian Army's Research and Referral Hospital after he complained of chest discomfort, following which he was shifted to AIIMS a day later and underwent cardiac bypass surgery on March 30.

"President Kovind was shifted from the ICU to a special room in the AIIMS today. His health has been improving continuously. Doctors are constantly monitoring his condition and have advised him to take rest," Rashtrapati Bhavan said in a statement.

On April 1, the President said that he has been recovering well after the bypass surgery and thanked doctors and caregivers for their amazing dedication.

"I'm touched by messages, from citizens and leaders from India and abroad, wishing me speedy recovery. It's difficult to express in words my gratitude to you all!" he stated in a tweet.

-- IANS

aka/skp/

(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.)
Jesse Norman was yesterday named as the second Treasury Minister approached by the former Prime Minister in a failed bid to get access to Covid loans to help Greensill Capital

Boris Johnson is under mounting pressure to reveal the full list of Ministers lobbied by David Cameron when he was seeking Government help for the finance firm he was involved with.

Jesse Norman was yesterday named as the second Treasury Minister approached by the former Prime Minister in a failed bid to get access to Covid loans to help Greensill Capital.

Chancellor Rishi Sunak has already admitted that Mr Cameron had directly contacted him to ask for the loans.

But sources now suspect that Mr Cameron lobbied other Ministers on behalf of controversial businessman pal Lex Greensill's financial services firm.

And last night, Labour and the Liberal Democrats insisted it was now high time that the Government revealed the full list.

Shadow Chancellor Anneliese Dodds said: 'Every passing day brings new reports that Greensill Capital had the run of Whitehall, putting public money and jobs at risk.

'The Conservatives must come clean about how many Ministers have been lobbied by David Cameron on behalf of Lex Greensill.'

Lib Dem frontbencher Alistair Carmichael also called for 'full disclosure' by invoking Mr Cameron's own previous mantra that 'sunlight is the best disinfectant'. He added: 'Boris Johnson will only restore his Government's tarnished reputation by making full disclosure.'

The row erupted when it emerged that Mr Cameron had last year lobbied Whitehall to boost Greensill Capital's access to the coronavirus loan schemes, just months before the firm collapsed.

Boris Johnson is under mounting pressure to reveal the full list of Ministers lobbied by David Cameron when he was seeking Government help for the finance firm he was involved with

Mr Greensill had worked for him as an unpaid adviser in Downing Street and Mr Cameron joined his firm in 2018.

But when the finance firm collapsed, the former Prime Minister stood to lose share options which apparently would have netted him over $60 million.

Mr Cameron, who resigned as Prime Minister in 2016, has already been cleared of breaking lobbying rules, but his behaviour has sparked concerns about a so-called 'chumocracy' and under-powered lobbying rules for former Ministers.

Sources now suspect Mr Cameron (pictured) lobbied other Ministers on behalf of controversial businessman pal Lex Greensill's financial services firm

According to The Times, Mr Norman, the Financial Secretary, was approached by Mr Cameron even though he was not responsible for the Covid support schemes set up to help businesses in the pandemic.

Insiders pointed out that Mr Norman had been close to his fellow Old Etonian, and his book 'Compassionate Conservatism' was hailed as 'the guidebook to Cameronism'.

Last week, Mr Sunak said that it was 'right' for the Treasury to 'engage with stakeholders' but that 'ultimately the decision was taken not to take the [Cameron-Greensill] proposal forward'.

He insisted all the proper processes were followed. Government sources last night insisted that Mr Norman had similarly followed the rules.

Greensill's (pictured) collapse has put the future of Liberty Steel, which had Greensill as its main financial backer, in doubt

Greensill's collapse has put the future of Liberty Steel, which had Greensill as its main financial backer, in doubt.

Sanjeev Gupta, the boss of Liberty Steel, is understood to have drafted in a 'barrage' of lawyers to defend his empire as lenders threaten to engulf him.

The Treasury did not confirm Mr Norman has been lobbied but said last night: 'Senior officials and Ministers routinely meet with a range of private sector stakeholders and the Government received many representations from the entire spectrum of British business during the pandemic.

'The company was directed to the appropriate officials and, following a consultation process involving several firms in the same sector, their request was denied.'

Both Mr Cameron and Mr Norman were approached for comment.

Why Boris and Rishi have been happy to leave old chum Dave twisting in the wind: Cameron's allies give DAN HODGES the ex-PM's defence over the Greensill scandal... which lays bare Sunak's ruthless ambition and Johnson's broken finances

As allies of an 'embarrassed' Cameron offer our columnist the ex-PM's defence, how the Greensill scandal lays bare Sunak's ruthless ambition, Johnson's broken finances  and the fact that the Tory who tried to scupper Brexit is already a relic of history.

David Cameron has let himself down. And he knows it. 'He was adviser for a company that went bust in a very public way. And he's told me he recognises that's embarrassing,' says a sympathetic Cabinet Minister who spoke to the former Prime Minister last week.

'But he does think all the other stuff is way over the top. This idea he was getting No 10 business cards printed out for all these dodgy people. His attitude is that he had a lot of responsibilities as PM and dealing with the Downing Street stationery wasn't one of them.'

David Cameron has let himself down. And he knows it. 'He was adviser for a company that went bust in a very public way. And he's told me he recognises that's embarrassing,' says a sympathetic Cabinet Minister

Greensill had second man in Whitehall Another director of Greensill Capital  the loans firm at the centre of the lobbying scandal engulfing David Cameron  was given access to Whitehall, the Mail on Sunday can reveal. Financier David Brierwood was appointed as a crown representative by Mr Cameron's government in October 2014 to help oversee public procurement. But two months later, he was also appointed to the board of Lex Greensill's firm, boosting the company's access to Ministers. Investigation by The Mail on Sunday has established that while he was in these dual roles, Greensill Capital won a controversial Government contract to provide short-term loans for the country's chemists. The revelation will ramp up demands for more scrutiny of Mr Cameron and his involvement with Greensill Capital. The firm provided short-term funding for a fee to businesses waiting for money from a customer and in 2012 advised Mr Cameron's administration on such a scheme for chemists facing delays in payments from the NHS. In 2014, Mr Greensill was appointed as a Crown representative. Seven months later, Mr Brierwood was given the same role, working with the Cabinet Office. Greensill Capital subsequently launched a bid to operate the pharmacy loan scheme, securing a string of meetings in Whitehall. Greensill Capital and its technology partner Taulia won the contract for 'early payment solutions' for pharmacies in March 2018. The scheme was launched in July 2018 and has provided supply finance payments of 1.2bn for more than 2,000 chemists. Mr Brierwood, who left his Crown representative role in August 2018, reportedly stood down from the Greensill Capital board in February this year. Mr Cameron and Mr Brierwood did not respond to requests for comment. Advertisement

Maybe it should have been. That way, he might have avoided last week's revelations that further tarnished his legacy, dragged the Government into yet another lobbying storm, and exposed the political and personality clashes behind the scenes of Boris Johnson's Government.

Westminster scandals can be notoriously opaque. But the allegations underpinning the Greensill saga appear refreshingly simple.

In 2012, Australian entrepreneur Lex Greensill was invited into Downing Street by David Cameron as a 'senior adviser'. He began flourishing business cards and touting his influence.

Then, when Cameron left office, Greensill returned the favour. He appointed him as consultant to his company Greensill Capital  and told Cameron he stood to make as much as 60 million from the arrangement. But Greensill began to run into trouble. Backers started to withdraw funding.

So the former Prime Minister picked up the phone and started texting Rishi Sunak, asking if Greensill could have a piece of the Treasury's multi-billion-pound Covid rescue package. Sunak politely declined.

But the damage had already been done. To Cameron's reputation. To an administration tainted by a fresh whiff of 'Tory sleaze'. And to those companies such as Liberty Steel, which were relying on Greensill's investment and were now facing thousands of job losses.

Yet nothing in Westminster is ever as straight forward as that. And to properly get to the heart of the Greensill affair, you need to understand how it has become inextricably intertwined with a 40-year Etonian psychodrama, the surging ambition of a high-flying Chancellor and the ongoing battle to set a strategic course for the nation.

Thus far, Cameron has done nothing to challenge the narrative of his many critics: that a combination of greed and entitlement drove him to try to squeeze money out of the pockets of the taxpayer and funnel it into his own.

But now  through his allies  he's finally broken cover.

Their first line of defence is excessively legalistic. The sympathetic Cabinet Minister told me 'the whole lobbying thing has been dealt with'  a reference to the fact the Registrar of Consultant Lobbyists cleared Cameron of any wrongdoing.

But they did so on the technicality that he'd been exempt from their rules because he was formerly a Greensill employee.

The Minister also pointed out that reports Cameron was being investigated by the Committee on Standards in Public Life were false.

Which was again factually correct, but only because the committee does not investigate individual cases  but had indicated it would be prepared to look at the Greensill saga as part of a wider lobbying investigation.

Similarly, on criticism that he ventured on a slightly surreal camping trip to the desert to lobby Mohammed bin Salman  just months after the Saudi Crown Prince had allegedly ordered the murder of the journalist Jamal Khashoggi  the friend says: 'Government Ministers met with the Saudi leadership before David went.'

More convincing is the Cameron camp's argument that Lex Greensill was not the fly-by-night chancer that he's been painted, but the leader of a successful, multi-billion-pound global company, backed by a raft of hard-headed investors.

'David thought he was signing on for an exciting UK-based finance and technology firm. OK, it didn't work out as he'd expected. But others who thought Greensill was worth backing were the likes of SoftBank, Credit Suisse and the private equity giant General Atlantic,' they explained.

Perhaps the most compelling defence is the claim Cameron was simply doing what just about every former Prime Minister has done. Which is to instinctively snatch  remunerated or not  for the levers of No 10 influence even after their period of office is over.

'Half of the work David's been doing has been pro-bono,' says his ministerial ally.

'National Citizen Service, Alzheimer's Research, global poverty campaigning. And he thought with Greensill he was pushing for reforms in government that would make a real difference.'

The 'smoking gun texts' which Cameron sent to Rishi Sunak were to the Chancellor's private phone

Boris and Cameron have always conducted their rivalry with a quintessentially British public school ruthlessness. Both recognise there's only ever been space for one National Head Boy at a time

This justification has more credibility because it's supported not just by Cameron's allies but his critics, too.

'I think he messed up badly,' says another Cabinet Minister. 'As soon as this smiling Australian said, 'You can make 60 million out of this,' the alarm bells should have been ringing.

'But you have to understand what it's like for a former PM. The Americans stuff their ex-President's mouths with gold and tell them to go away. We think that's all terribly un-British, so our guys keep hanging around. Once they've been Prime Minister, it's like they've had a taste of the royal jelly. They can't live without it.'

Bosses' pay soared at scandal-hit firm Bosses at scandal-hit Greensill Capital had pay rises of millions of pounds before its collapse after claiming the debt-laden firm's performance had been 'outstanding'. Its highest-paid director  likely to be founder Lex Greensill  earned almost 3.2 million in 2019, up from 353,000 in 2018. Total pay soared from 1.4 million to nearly 10.6 million in the same period  despite a complaint in March 2018 by Daniel Sheard, of the investment fund GAM, to the Financial Conduct Authority about Greensill's financing of steel and energy tycoon Sanjeev Gupta's industrial group. But Greensill still gained access to Government-backed emergency Covid loan schemes. The FCA does not regulate corporate supply chain finance and declined to comment. But a finance industry source said: 'The FCA was sitting on this file while Greensill was being approved as a lender for millions of pounds in Covid loans. How did that happen?' GAM and Mr Sheard, who left the firm in 2019, declined to comment. Advertisement

Many people have speculated that David Cameron's time out of office has been characterised by boredom. Memes abound on social media of him pottering around in his fashionable 25,000 shepherd's hut.

But the reality is he's been growing increasingly frustrated. Not just at his enforced early retirement, but at the way he and his administration have been so casually written out of history. First by Theresa May, then  most gallingly  by Boris himself.

Look, for example, at one of the great mysteries of Greensillgate. Namely, how did the story ever surface at all?

The 'smoking gun texts' which Cameron sent to Rishi Sunak were to the Chancellor's private phone. They weren't subject to Freedom of Information or any other form of official scrutiny.

It's a pretty safe bet Cameron didn't brief the story about him unsuccessfully influencing senior Ministers himself. Which means there's only one other possible source  Sunak.

Cameron has told friends he's not pointing the finger. 'Rishi has always thanked David and George [Osborne] for leaving the economy and public finances in good shape,' says his ministerial ally. 'David says he thinks the leaker was just some gobby SPAD [special adviser].'

Which represents an almost touchingly naive reading of events.

Whatever route those texts took to the public domain, ultimately they were ushered there by the Chancellor himself.

Sunak's team insist that once approached by journalists about the text messages, they were morally obliged to confirm their existence. Which is an honourable stance. They also point out that Sunak refused to allow Cameron's intervention to sway the Treasury in Greensill's favour. Which is equally honourable  and does the Chancellor's already glowing reputation no harm at all.

But what is slightly less honourable is that in the days immediately following the emergence of the texts, Sunak went to ground.

There was no public explanation of events. There was certainly no attempt to defend his former Prime Minister. And when Sunak finally did surface, his comments were carefully calibrated to nudge, if not quite throw, David Cameron under a bus.

'I think it's important that, whoever people are, whether they're prime ministers or anyone else, that they follow the rules and the guidelines that we have in place for lobbying,' he said pointedly. 'I think whoever you are, it's important processes are followed properly.'

Ministers I spoke to who are close to Cameron and Sunak agree there is no great enmity between the two men. 'They don't really know each other at all,' one Cameroonian veteran told me.

An ally of Sunak's claimed the Chancellor had simply taken Cameron's messages 'out of courtesy' and left senior civil servants to deal with Greensill's application for funding.

But one of Sunak's ministerial critics has a different take. 'With Rishi, it's only about building his own personal brand now. He doesn't think about pushing a wider Government agenda. He's happy to dump muck on anyone  including the PM  if he thinks it will help him.'

As Boris is only too well aware. Which is why he's been doing everything he can to stay as far away from the toxic sludge of Greensill as possible.

Again, there is an almost touching naivety among Cameron's allies about the extent to which Boris has attempted to defend his fellow Bullingdon alumni. 'If you look at what [Business Secretary] Kwasi Kwarteng was saying when he was asked about it, he came out and clearly said, 'David Cameron has done nothing wrong,' ' says one friend of Dave. 'And he wouldn't have been that unequivocal if he didn't think No 10 backed that line.'

No 10 don't back that line. 'None of this overlaps with the PM,' a Downing Street source told me. 'All this pre-dates Boris's time in office. The approach was made but it was rejected.

'As for all that stuff that happened during the Cameron era, that's a matter for them.'

There are a number of reasons why Boris has decided to cut his fellow Old Etonian loose.

Partly it's because Boris and Cameron have always conducted their rivalry with a quintessentially British public school ruthlessness. Both recognise there's only ever been space for one National Head Boy at a time.

In his illuminating biography of Johnson, Tom Bower says that when Cameron convincingly won the Tory leadership in 2005, Boris 'was shocked to his foundations that the man whom he claimed to have outshone at Eton and Oxford could have leapt over him'.

Now Boris has been handed the opportunity to leap back, he's not going to risk a damaging fall by defending Cameron.

As one ministerial friend of the PM said: 'You have to understand how Boris sees personal scandals like this.

'He could be caught having sex with a Kardashian in the middle of Downing Street and the Red Wall would rise up in acclamation.

'His view is, 'I've had to put up with much worse and I came out OK. You can put up with it as well.' '

But another Minister says there's a more pragmatic reason. 'Everyone knows about Boris's money problems. And he's counting on the fact that he's currently sitting on a lot of unearned wealth. You think he wants people going around saying former prime ministers can't speak to anyone and earn a lot of money lobbying when they leave government?'

Boris doesn't want that  at all. He knows he will have a lot of expensive wallpaper to buy when he leaves No 10. Which is why he doesn't intend to be within a mile of any cash-for-access controversies.

But there is a more fundamental reason David Cameron has been left to twist in the wind. Which is that he and his political philosophy are now expendable.

Expendable to Rishi Sunak. Expendable to Boris Johnson. Expendable to a Government and a party that have decided the Cameron years were all just a bit of a woke embarrassment.

Boris's strategy is to pick up the Union Jack and charge with it headlong into Labour's heartlands. Cameron's was to hug hoodies and huskies. Cameron sought to massage and modernise the Tory brand in an attempt to expand its appeal. Boris opted to drive a JCB digger through the Red Wall.

David Cameron fought with his last political breath to keep Britain in the EU. Boris sided with the legions of Brexiteers and crushed it out of him.

That's what really lies at the heart of the Greensill affair. Not greed, or entitlement  though both are present. But a much more basic struggle for political relevance.

David Cameron was sitting in his posh shed, watching the political project he'd devoted his life to being dismantled before his eyes.

Then the 'smiling Australian' appeared. He had big contacts and bigger plans. And claimed he wanted an expert guide to lead him through the Westminster jungle.

Of course David Cameron picked up the phone. What else was he going to do that day?
STANTON  President Biden recently stopped the Wuhan probe into what caused the COVID-19 pandemic. Why would he do that unless he was trying to cover up the cause? It is widely known that the Bidens profited heavily from their financial dealings in China and elsewhere during Joes vice presi
Source: Xinhua| 2021-04-01 18:57:32|Editor: huaxia

Video Player Close

A special plane carrying a new batch of China-donated Sinopharm COVID-19 vaccines arrived in the capital of Cambodia Wednesday night, giving the country bigger possibility to inoculate its citizens against COVID-19.

Present at the Phnom Penh International Airport for the handover of the vaccine were Cambodian Deputy Prime Minister and Defense Minister Gen. Tea Banh, Health Minister Mam Bunheng and Chinese Ambassador to Cambodia Wang Wentian.

Speaking at the event, Gen. Banh expressed his profound gratitude to China for providing the vaccine to Cambodia, saying it was crucial to combating the COVID-19 pandemic and protecting the lives of Cambodian people.

He said it was the second batch of the Sinopharm vaccine that China had donated to Cambodia after the first batch which arrived in the kingdom on Feb. 7.

"This is a new testament to the iron friendship and close cooperation between the two governments and peoples, and it will undoubtedly contribute to building a Cambodia-China community with shared future," he said.

The government and people of Cambodia are so grateful to the government and people of China for generously providing the second batch of Sinopharm COVID-19 vaccine to Cambodia in this difficult time, he added.

Ambassador Wang said the donation truly reflected China's unwavering commitment to making its COVID-19 vaccines a "global public good".

"I sincerely hope that Chinese vaccines will be able to build a healthy firewall for the Cambodian people against the COVID-19 and can play a positive role in helping Cambodia to prevail over the pandemic," he said.

Cambodia launched an inoculation drive on Feb. 10. As of Wednesday, more than 407,000 people in the priority groups had been vaccinated against the disease, according to a government report.

Cambodia's Ministry of Health secretary of state Or Vandine has said that the Sinopharm vaccine is safe and effective and that the country has not received any reports of serious side effects after inoculations.

The Southeast Asian country is targeting to inoculate at least 10 million out of its 16-million population.

On March 26, a batch of Sinovac COVID-19 vaccine Cambodia purchased from China's pharmaceutical company Sinovac Biotech also arrived in the kingdom.

Cambodia has registered a total of 2,440 confirmed COVID-19 cases since the start of the pandemic, with 14 deaths and 1,191 recoveries.

Produced by Xinhua Global Service




For months Hunter Biden has maintained strict silence about allegations involving his business dealings in Ukraine and China, both when his father was vice president and after. Nothing could make him talk. But now, he's submitting to media interviews, probably several of them. What changed? The younger Biden now has a book to sell. That'll do it every time.
Rev. Celio Ricardo, along with fellow believers and ministers, decided to hold street-corner meetings for families of COVID-19 victims as more cases packed hospitals in Rio de Janeiro.

"We were retreating, but this is the time to attack. This is the time for people to see that the church is here, ready to open its hands and help," Ricardo was quoted saying by the Associated Press.

Since Monday, AP has covered the story of members of the God's Love Evangelical Church and Rehab Center led by Rev. Ricardo praying for COVID-19 patients outside a municipal hospital in Guapimirim, a municipality in Rio de Janeiro state, Brazil. Photos taken by the news outlet show the members surrounding the hospital while laying their hands on the building as they pray.

"The group is trying to bring spiritual support to victims of COVID-19 in Rio de Janeiro with their prayers," said a caption on the photos taken.

Determined that Christ's body must be the leading force for hope, Ricardo, who is also a veteran minister and a street preacher, has talked with other pastors about the Church's response on the global health crisis.

"The church can't sit idly by or stay silent," Pastor Ricardo said.

So beginning in their state, Ricardo and his group joined hands in singing comforting hymns outside the municipal hospital while also offering prayers for the COVID-19 patients and their families.

"God's voice has the power to change the course of this situation," affirmed Ricardo. "I felt it in my heart."

Amid new restrictions in the municipal government's attempt to curb the fast rise of COVID-19 related hospitalizations, Ricardo's group still went out to pray while observing minimum health protocols like wearing masks and physical distancing. They also distributed hand sanitizers.

"The Bible says to take strength from weakness. We sing and pray because our voice can bring assurance of the love of God to those taking their last breaths," said the pastor and prayer leader to AP.

He added that the patients' families had been welcoming to the group so far, and that he intends to visit more hospitals.

Rio de Janeiro is one of the worst hit in Brazil with more than 36,000 deaths. Additionally, the country has had the second largest number of deaths (310,000) since the pandemic began, reports AP.

As for Rev. Celio Ricardo, he has spent twenty years doing street evangelism in Rio while also ministering to God's Love Evangelical Church. He also reportedly manages a drug rehabilitation center.

Living out the salt and light virtue, he and his team would often go to the city's "cracolandias" or "cracklands" where people addicted to substance abuse frequent. On top of praying for them, God's Love Evangelical members would also extend some help like food and a place to rest. AP reports that the group would offer beds in a makeshift shelter and when possible, food donated from local supermarkets.

"Cracolandias," according to AP's source, "are open-air bazaars found in some Rio de Janeiro slums where crack cocaine users can buy rocks of the drug and smoke it in plain sight, day or night."
New COVID-19 restrictions in France will impact economic growth this year but it is too early to say by how much, Finance Minister Bruno Le Maire said on Friday. President Emmanuel Macron on Wednesday ordered France into its third national lockdown and said schools would close for three weeks as he sought to push back a third wave of COVID-19 infections that threatens to overwhelm hospitals.

"These measures will impact economic growth in 2021. We are in the process of assessing it. There will be a new evalutaion in the coming days", Le Maire told CNews television when asked if he was sticking to the government's economic growth target for this year. It has forecast growth of 6% for 2021.

Le Maire reiterated that the new lockdown measures would force the temporary closure of 150,000 businesses at a cost of 11 billion euros per month. Bank of France Governor Francois Villeroy de Galhau said on Thursday he did not expect the new restrictions to have a significant impact on the bank's forecast of 5.5% growth in 2021, provided the restrictions do not last beyond early May.

France reported more than 50,000 new COVID-19 infections on Thursday and 308 deaths, while the number of people in intensive care units rose to 5,109. Le Maire repeated his calls for the European Union to accelerate the implementation of its economic stimulus plan.

"Europe must understand that we must move fast and that the stimulus funds promised to European citizen must now arrive in member states... In 2022 or 2023 it will be too late. The Chinese and the Americans will be ahead of us," he said. Though the 27-nation bloc agreed the landmark stimulus fund last summer, EU governments are still submitting detailed plans on how they aim to spend money from the fund, which many still need to ratify.

Also read: France orders schools closed, widens COVID-19 restrictions
I think only an insider like myselfand my teamcan really disrupt the industry, said Collective Book Studio publisher Angela Engel, who has previously held senior sales and marketing positions at Cameron + Co., Chronicle Books, Ten Speed Press, and elsewhere. Disruption is needed. We need to move the needle.

Engel bills her two-year-old company, headquartered in Oakland, Calif., as a partnership publisher, available to those who want to bypass the traditional path to publication but dont want to take the risks inherent in self-publishing. Its custom publishing with a trade arm added, she explained.

Though the pandemic made CBS curb its output to three fall titles last year, it has completed 50 projects in its first two years, with 20 planned for 2021. More than 60% of its list is published in partnership with author clients. The rest is evenly divided between custom packaging projects and titles featuring CBSs original content.

Authors who work with CBS pay a creative fee, and in return the company shepherds their books through the developmental editing stage and on to marketing and publicitya process that typically takes 15 months. Author retain the rights to all intellectual property. CBSs fee varies, depending on the extent of editorial and design services provided, as well as on any illustrations added. Similarly, royalties range between 20% and 50%, depending on the amount of the fee and CBSs own financial outlay on a given project.

Like Engel, most members of CBSs 12-person team have backgrounds in traditional publishing and packaging at such companies as Cameron + Co., Chronicle, Harper, Random House, Ten Speed, and Weldon Owen. Engel said she is able to retain seasoned industry veterans because at CBS, they can select which projects they work on. Thats why were called the Collective Book Studio, she added. Were a collective.

It is that collective power that authors are paying for when they sign on with CBS, Engel said. Theyre paying to have access to traditional publishing people who are not just offering a service to get on an Amazon platform. Were leveling the playing field. One of her goals is to open up the publishing process to a wide range of people. Why are we not giving access to publishing to entrepreneurs, to business owners, to restaurants, and letting them know we can serve them, that we can be a partner in publishing?

Engel said that CBSs acquisition process is highly selective, just as it is with most traditional publishers. The company specializes in lifestyle, nonfiction (except memoir), and childrens books. We are a traditional publishing house in many ways, she added. We create content just like any traditional house, and we are extremely picky when it comes to submissions. We choose our clients as much as they choose us.

And, Engel added, When you come to us and you talk titles, you get everybodyfrom marketing, design, editorial, and salesand distribution: IPG began distributing CBS titles to the trade last fall.

Since CBS works with many illustrated titles, Engel has one ironclad rule when it comes to production: offset only, no print on demand. The book is an art form, she said. Initial print runs for titles headed to the trade market range from 4,000 to 10,000 copies.

CBSs varied approach to publishing is working. On the custom packaging side, it has just finished a board book Baby Animals series for Costco. New books finished in collaboration with authors include Parenting with Sanity & Joy by Susan G. Groner, which has been sold into Target stores, with endcap placement for Mothers Day promotions, and Gratitude the Great by Pamelyn Rocco, who will be a keynote speaker at the California Independent Book-

sellers Alliance and Pacific Northwest Booksellers Associations virtual spring forum in early April.

Investor advisor Fran Hauser, author of the bestselling Myth of the Nice Girl: Achieving a Career You Love Without Becoming a Person You Hate, signed on with CBS in February; her career workbook for women is scheduled for release in March 2022. Three million women have been forced out of the workplace in the past year, so I wanted to get this book out sooner than later, Hauser told PW. What I love about CBS is that I get the same quality I would working with a traditional publisher, but theyre so agile: they can get this book out in a year. And I like the idea of owning the IP. Im seeing some logical brand extensions, and I can do what I want. Sometimes it makes sense to go with a traditional publisher who takes the financial risk. And sometimes partnership publishing makes senseespecially when its time sensitive. Im open to both models.


Jordan has been hard hit by the coronavirus pandemic: more than 600,000 confirmed cases over all, more than 7,000 deaths in a population of about 11 million, and new daily cases averaging about 6,500 over the past week.

Though its government largely escaped the turmoil of the popular uprisings across the Middle East that began a decade ago in what became known as the Arab Spring, Jordan has absorbed a massive influx of about 650,000 refugees from the Syrian civil war that raged across its northern border, further stretching its already limited resources.

The situation in Jordan was being watched closely in neighboring Israel, which signed a peace treaty with the kingdom in 1994 and maintains close security ties with it.

A conversation took place on Saturday night between senior Jordanian officials and their Israeli military and internal security counterparts, according to an Israeli official, who spoke on condition of anonymity to talk about sensitive security and diplomatic issues. According to the Israeli official, the Jordanian officials told their Israeli counterparts that there had not been a coup attempt, that the situation was under control and that its gravity had been exaggerated by the news media, though they did confirm that arrests had been made.

The Israeli official said Israel viewed the event as potentially very significant and that officials there could not recall a similar event in Jordans past. The office of Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu of Israel had no immediate comment.

In his video, Prince Hamzah said he had been visited by the chief of the militarys general staff, who told him there had been criticism of the king or the government at meetings where the prince was present.

I asked him if I was the one criticizing and he said no, he said. He said but this was a warning from him, from the chief of police and from the chief of the security services, the mukhabarat, that I should not leave my house, that I could only visit family, that I could not tweet and that I could not communicate with people, Prince Hamzah said.
Source: Xinhua| 2021-04-04 06:39:44|Editor: huaxia

Video Player Close

QUITO, April 3 (Xinhua) -- Ecuador registered 1,137 new cases of COVID-19 and 17 deaths, bringing the total number of cases to 333,175 and the death toll to 12,050, the Ministry of Public Health reported on Saturday.

The agency said there were another two deaths probably caused by COVID-19, bringing the total of suspected deaths to 4,879.

The province of Pichincha, where the capital city of Quito is located, continues to be the most affected area of the country, with the city reaching a total of 107,167 infections.

The country has seen a sharp rise in cases, leading the National Committee for Emergency Operations to impose new restrictions on Thursday in an attempt to contain infections and avoid overwhelming the healthcare system.

Ecuadoran President Lenin Moreno decreed on Thursday a state of emergency for 30 days in eight of the 24 provinces of the country, which according to the government have registered an alarming increase in cases and deaths. Enditem
On Tuesday, Brazils fascistic President Jair Bolsonaro sacked the countrys military command in order to consolidate his grip over the state in anticipation of dictatorial measures against the working class amid a catastrophic spread of the COVID-19 pandemic and a dramatic intensification of the social crisis.

Since then, a consensus has begun to emerge from every faction of the political establishment and the corporate media in response to this ominous episode, which is without precedent in Brazilian history: the Brazilian military command was sacked because the Army, Navy and Air Force are committed to democracy and will not violate the Constitution.

Jair Bolsonaro. (Credit: Wikimedia Commons)

Brazil is currently the world epicenter of the COVID-19 pandemic, with an accelerating rate of more than 3,000 daily deaths, which is projected to reach 5,000 at some point between April and May. The countrys health care system is in a state of collapse, with hospitals overflowing, and at least one cemetery in Sao Paulo digging up old graves to make way for a flood of new corpses.

The economic crisis resulting from the COVID-19 pandemic has thrown 22 million Brazilians into poverty, and unemployment has reached an all-time high of 14.2 percent in the first quarter.

Tensions within the ruling class, which have no progressive solution to the crisis, are mounting by the day. Deeply fearful of the consequences of the explosive social conditions, every political faction has lined up behind the assessment made by the conservative daily Estado de S. Paulo, which editorialized on April 1: ... faced with the perception that his government has been losing support, the president decided to apply pressure on the leaders of the Armed Forces to pick a sidehim or the Constitution. The military obviously chose the Constitution.

Treating the sacking of the entire high command as a non-event due to the supposedly constitutionalist role of the military, the next day Estado de S. Paulos editorial board wrote in a piece titled Ignore the president: One should not waste ones time correcting Bolsonaros nonsense about a state of siege.

The nonsense the editorialists were directing the public to ignore is the presidents assertion that any restraints on economic activity decreed by local authorities to stem the tide of COVID-19 deaths amount to a state of siege. The appropriate response, according to Bolsonaro, is for himself to assume dictatorial powers in order to overthrow the local authorities.

On the very day of the dismissal of the military command, Bolsonaros ally in the House, Representative Maj. Victor Hugo, attempted to push through a measure including pandemics among the situations in which the president could decree a state of mobilization. The state of mobilization is a wartime measure allowing the president to direct the production of public and private companies, and, most significantly, take control of the 560,000 members of the 27 state-controlled Military Police corps.

The emergency vote, ultimately blocked by House Speaker Arthur Lira, was the legal embodiment of the public declarations by Bolsonaro and his Congressional allies that his armed forces would not enforce anti-COVID-19 lockdowns.

Less than 24 hours before Tuesdays firing of the high command, the head of the House Constitutional Panel, a Bolsonaro ultra-loyalist, tweeted that a psychotic episode by a Military Police soldier in the state of Bahia, who broke into a section of beach blocked to reduce COVID-19 contagion, shouting confused populist slogans about not arresting workers and shooting rifle rounds into the air before being brutally gunned down by a special forces squad, represented the beginning of a mutiny by security forces against local authorities.

On the previous day, in the industrial city of Juiz de Fora, in the state of Minas Gerais, a council member from the Bolsonaro-allied Brazilian Labor Party (PTB), Military Police Sgt. Mello Casal, declared in a live transmission on Facebook that a militia was set to assault the citys municipal guard. Both the state of Bahia and the city of Juiz de Fora are ruled by the Workers Party (PT), which responded to the fascistic incitement by the PTB by posting on social media a video of the city guards officers armed and in uniform shouting law-and-order slogans.

Another vital component of the crisis which the bourgeois press wants the people to ignore is that the sacking of the military chiefs, including Gen. Fernando Azevedo e Silva, who headed the Defense Ministry, was decided on the eve of the commemoration by the Armed Forces of the 1964 US-backed military coup which inaugurated a 21-year blood-soaked regime. The first act of the new defense minister, Bolsonaros former chief-of-staff Gen. Walter Braga Netto, was to order an open celebration of the March 31, 1964 coup in barracks across the country.

Braga Nettos military order of the day followed in the footsteps of the celebrations ordered by Bolsonaro since he took office in 2019, which were undersigned by the sacked commanders for two straight years. The two previous March 31 commemorations portrayed the coup as the result of a popular movement against the bourgeois-nationalist government of President Joao Goulart of the Brazilian Labor Party. This year, however, marked the first time since 1985 that the word celebration was actually used in the military order of the day. After a falsely claiming popular support for the militarys seizure of power, it concluded, so those events of March 31 must be understood and celebrated.

Later in the day, the daily Folha de S. Paulo revealed that Braga Netto had changed the address prepared two days earlier by former Defense Minister Azevedo e Silva and presented to Bolsonaro on the day of his firing, excluding a previous reference to the armed forces as state institutions and including the celebratory conclusion.

Expressing the extraordinary tensions within the military ranks, both the capital and the east military commands had to issue express orders for soldiers and officers not to discuss publicly or on social media the sacking of the high command.

Such gag orders are taken at face value by the corporate media and political establishment as a defense of constitutional norms. They studiously ignore the historical revisionism being promoted by Bolsonaro, and fully supported by the sacked commanders, that the coup was a result of pressure from below.

Former Army commander, Gen. Eduardo Villas Boas, who recently authored a book of memoirs describing the protracted drive towards dictatorship in Brazil since 2013, used precisely the idea of pressure from below to justify his 2018 tweet threatening a coup in case the Brazilian Supreme Court (STF) granted former Workers Party (PT) president Luiz Inacio Lula da Silva a habeas corpus motion that would allow him to campaign alongside the partys candidate and main Bolsonaro rival in that years election.

The same historical revisionist line toed by the high command was embraced by Bolsonaros vice president, Gen. Hamilton Mourao, who tweeted on March 31: On this day 57 years ago, the Brazilian population, supported by the Armed Forces, stopped the International Communist Movement from putting its claws into Brazil. Strength and Honor!

Last Friday, March 26, the Communist Party (PCdoB) governor of Maranhao, Flavio Dino, one of the most prominent leaders of the purported political opposition to Bolsonaro, declared that replacing Bolsonaro with Mourao would mean substituting civilization for barbarism.

The main opposition party, the PT, has also fully embraced the line that the military represents the bulwark of democracy, with its House leader, Elvino Bohn Gass, stating that the sacking of the military command: was a message that the Armed Forces are not in the service of a coup attempt.

From Estado de S. Paulowhich openly supported the 1964 coupto the PT, the Brazilian political establishment is attempting to conceal the real extent of the crisis of bourgeois rule in the country and the threat of an upheaval from below by Brazils increasingly restive working class.

Their promotion of a supposedly constitutionalist military echoes the pre-1964 crisis of the Goulart government. Then, the legal right wing represented by, among others, Estado de S. Paulo, predicted that the military would carry out a surgical coup, handing power back to civilians after Goularts ouster. For its part, the Labor Party, supported by the Stalinist Communist Party, trusted nationalist and constitutionalist elements within the high command to rein in the fascistic moods being whipped up by Goularts opposition. The result was 21 years of state terror, torture and murder that spread from Brazil to throughout Latin America.

The Brazilian ruling class and its military cannot be allowed to repeat these crimes. The working class must draw the lessons of the 1964 coup, as well as of the politics of the PT and its pseudo-left satellites, which have paved the way for the military re-establishing itself as the decisive political force in the country. A new revolutionary leadership must be built as a Brazilian section of the International Committee of the Fourth International.
Pharmaceutical giant Pfizer hopes to have a vaccine approved for secondary students by the first term of the next school year.

Pfizer has committed to trebling its delivery of Covid-19 vaccines here to over 2.21 million doses over the next three months amid hopes the roll-out will have over 80pc of adults vaccinated with at least one dose by the end of June.

Paul Reid, head of Pfizer in Ireland, said it also aims to submit data to the regulatory bodies as soon as possible for approval in relation to a vaccine for students aged 12 to 15.

We are very hopeful the European Medicines Agency will approve the vaccine for 12- to 15-year-olds, he told the Irish Independent.

Work is also under way on a trialling a vaccine for children aged six months to 11 years old.

There were 2,428 cases of Covid-19 in children under 18 in the past fortnight in Ireland and 26 were hospitalised.



More than two million doses of Pfizers vaccine will be delivered to Ireland over the next three months. Around 737,100 doses were supplied here in the first quarter and next Monday marks 100 days since the arrival of the first Pfizer-BioNTech Covid-19 vaccine here on St Stephens Day.

Mr Reid warned that the roll-out could be hampered if there were any moves by the EU to block supply chains.

We would always ask for open supply chains. They are absolutely critical for us to manufacture and make vaccine available.

Take the Pfizer-BioNTech vaccine, there are different components that go into the vaccine. Each of the components are manufactured in 86 different sites in 19 different countries.

If we have problems with open supply chain we may get some retaliation from countries that restrict export of components that are essential for use to manufacture the vaccine.

So it would not be helpful to have any restrictions.

Read More

Some of the components come from the UK and any retaliation from the UK to export restrictions would have an impact on the ability to manufacture.

That looks like it is being mitigated and we should be OK. At the moment, the biggest focus is on speed of manufacturing and being able to improve volume output as much as we can, he said in an interview with the Irish Independent.

EU export rules caused a significant administrative burden, Pfizers vice-president of global supply Danny Hendrikse said.

A block on exports from the EU  in response to frustration over vaccine supplies  was vetoed, but officials are warning of curbs on exports to the UK if AstraZeneca fails to meet its commitments on Covid-19 vaccines to member countries

Mr Reid said Pfizer had delivered a reliable supply here and had never missed a week.

By mid-April we will have delivered over one million doses to Ireland.

The Government is pinning its hopes on more than one million doses a month over the next three months from four suppliers  Pfizer, Moderna, AstraZeneca and Johnson & Johnson. A shortfall will see around 860,000 doses of different vaccines administered this month.

Mr Reid said that around four out of five vaccines administered here so far had been a Pfizer-BioNTech jab.

The plan is to manufacture two-and-a-half billion doses this year  more than a billion originally envisaged.

Irelands supplies come from the production site in Puurs, Belgium, where its 3,100 staff have been working around the clock during the pandemic.

Luke Van Steenwinkel, site lead at the Puurs plant, said: We are working 24 hours, seven days a week. Our engineering department is also working on the scale-up.

Real-life data from Israel in particular is showing the vaccine is 97pc effective in preventing people developing symptomatic disease.

Mr Reid said there were also indications it may be effective in reducing transmission of the virus. However, more studies are needed to confirm this.

The challenge now is to try to stay one step ahead of the virus and to protect as much of the population as possible.

One of the developments is a potential vaccine for 12- to 15-year-olds, which, if approved, could potentially be ready some time around the first term of the next academic year.

Mr Reid said the company hopes to submit data to the US Food and Drug Administration (FDA) and the European Medicines Agency (EMA) as soon as possible for approval. It would involve two doses, as for adults.

Work is also under way on a trialling a vaccine for children aged 6 months to 11 years old.

If safety and immunogenicity is confirmed, and pending authorisation or approval from regulators, we hope the vaccine could be available to these younger children between the ages of 11 and 6 months by early 2022.

The big threat for Ireland and other countries are the new mutations of the virus, which could make vaccines less effective and leave authorities in a battle to control the spread again.

Scientists are working on booster shots which would provide protection from some of these strains.

We need to keep a step ahead. We are looking at a third dose of vaccine as possible option.

The Pfizer vaccine is effective against the UK strain, which is the most dominant here.

Two studies this week indicated that the Pfizer vaccine looks to offer 100pc protection against the South African variant, and is most likely highly protective against the variant that originated in Brazil.

In the first in-human evidence of how the vaccine protects against variants, research published by the company showed the vaccine is 100pc effective in preventing Covid-19 cases in South Africa  where the South African variant is now common.

Further trials are needed involving more people.

The research was part of a larger, phase three clinical trial also showing the vaccine was highly effective even after six months.

However, it is still unclear how long the protection of the vaccine lasts.

The vaccine was developed in less than a year and we are less than 100 days after starting to vaccinate people.

The goal now is to vaccinate as many adults as possible.

The vaccine is just one of the tools to curb the spread of the virus. We also need to heed the public health advice on other measures.

The fact that there has been so little vaccine hesitancy here has to be in part due to the rigour of the European Medicines Agency in assessing Covid-19 vaccines efficacy and safety before they were approved for use, he suggested.

The feedback is that the Pfizer vaccine is safe since the roll-out began and that side effects are in the expected range.

The latest safety data for the vaccine, according to the European Medicines Agency, are in line with the known benefit-risk profile.

The benefits in preventing Covid-19 continue to outweigh the risks, and there are no recommended changes regarding the use of this vaccine.

Pfizer and Moderna vaccines are currently being administered to over-70s here.

GPs were recently informed that supplies will improve from April 12 onwards. The first doses for this age group should be largely complete in the week beginning April 19.

Data shows a major fall in the number of cases among those aged over 85. The prediction is that this downward trend will continue with vaccination of over-70s.

In January, there was an average of 38 outbreaks per week in nursing homes.

In the last month this has averaged two per week.

The proven results of vaccines have added to the sense of frustration and demands for a faster roll-out.

Recent revelations about the vaccines being given to people ahead of schedule have damaged the faith of many people in the roll-outs fairness and efficiency.

It is why April, May and June are seen as breakthrough months where the HSE cannot afford any slip-ups.

They are also crucial in providing as much cover for vulnerable people as possible and encouraging people to follow semi-lockdown restrictions for weeks to come in order to avert a fourth wave.

Even when Ireland is vaccinated to around 80pc, there remains a risk of new variants coming here from lower income countries which are still way behind developed nations in getting access to vaccines.

Mr Reid said that Pfizer now has an agreement to supply 40 million doses of vaccine to 92 underdeveloped countries on a not-for-profit basis.

It is being distributed through the Covax scheme, which aims to ensure vaccines are shared fairly among all nations, rich and poor.
The missing man who worked as a Linden Public Schools paraprofessional was found dead Saturday along the Rahway River, police said.

Brian Gooney, 55, was reported missing last month and was last seen leaving his Rahway apartment on March 9. His body was found on the river banks near Essex Street in Rahway, police said.

Rahway police did not say whether his death was suspicious and an autopsy will be conducted by the Union County Medical Examiners Office to determine how he died.

Rahway officers and the Union County Police Department conducted several searches of the Rahway River, its banks and the surrounding area since he was reported missing, police said.

Gooney was a paraprofessional at Soehl Middle School in Linden for the last two years and previously worked more than a decade in the district as a substitute teacher. His car was left in the parking lot of his Main Street apartment and his cell phone was not found, his family previously said.

Linden Public Schools educators gathered in solidarity to raise awareness about Brian Gooney, a paraprofessional at Soehl Middle School who has been missing since March 9. Some of his family members are expected to attend. George McNish | For NJ Advance Media

We wish it would have turned out better, Karen Gooney, his sister-in-law, said Sunday in a phone call. Were all just heartbroken.

She said the family had plans to hold a small Easter gathering and will miss Gooney, who always brought snacks for the family.

Gooney was unmarried and did not have children. He leaves behind two brothers and a sister, along with three nieces and a nephew.

The Linden Public Schools community also held a rally to raise awareness about his disappearance. They mourned his passing with a statement on Facebook.

We are so sorry to hear of the passing of our friend and colleague, Brian Gooney, a paraprofessional at Soehl Middle... Posted by Linden Public Schools on Saturday, April 3, 2021

Authorities said they are still investigating the situation. The Rahway Police Department asks that anyone with information to contact Detective Tilton at 732-827-2146 or the Rahway Police Department TIPS Line at 732-388-1553.

This story has been updated with comments from Gooneys family and Linden Public Schools.

NJ Advance Media reporter Amanda Hoover contributed to this report.

Local journalism needs your support. Subscribe at nj.com/supporter.

Rebecca Panico may be reached at rpanico@njadvancemedia.com.
Googles Threat Analysis Group (TAG), a Google security team specialized in hunting advanced persistent threat (APT) groups, on Wednesday shared that a North Korean government-backed campaign is targeting cybersecurity researchers with malware via social media.

For those unaware, in January 2021, TAG had disclosed a hacking campaign, targeting security researchers working on vulnerability research and development across different organizations. On March 17th, the same actors behind those attacks set up a new website for a fake company called SecuriElite as well as associated Twitter and LinkedIn accounts.

The new website claims that it is an offensive security company located in Turkey that offers pentests, software security assessments and exploits.

As per the experts, this website has a link to their PGP public key at the bottom of the page like the previous websites set up by the actor. The PGP key hosted on the attackers blog acted as the lure for unsuspecting researchers in January attacks to visit the site where a browser exploit was waiting to be triggered.

The attackers latest batch of social media profiles continues the trend of posing as fellow security researchers interested in exploitation and offensive security. In total, Google has identified eight Twitter accounts and seven LinkedIn profiles.

The threat actors used multiple platforms to communicate with potential targets, including Twitter, LinkedIn, Telegram, Discord, Keybase and email to communicate with the researchers and build trust, only to deploy a Windows backdoor through a trojanized Visual Studio Project.

Following the discovery, Google reported all identified social media profiles to the platforms to allow them to take appropriate action, after which all of them were suspended.

The accounts seemed to be owned by vulnerability researchers and human resources personnel at various security firms including Trend Macro (a fake name inspired by Trend Micro), while some posed as the Chief Executive Officer and employees at the fictitious Turkish company.

Currently, the new attacker website is not serving any malicious content to deliver malware; however, Google has added the websites URL to Google Safebrowsing as a precaution to prevent accidental visits by the users.

Following TAGs disclosure in January 2021, security researchers from South Korean cybersecurity firm ENKI successfully identified these actors using an Internet Explorer 0-day. Based on their activity, TAG researchers believe that these actors are dangerous and likely have more 0-days.

We encourage anyone who discovers a Chrome vulnerability to report that activity through the Chrome Vulnerabilities Rewards Program submission process, concluded Adam Weidemann from TAG in the blog post.
President Joe Biden has been receiving ongoing briefings from his homeland security adviser following an attack on the US Capitol that killed Capitol Police Officer William Evans and injured another, the White House announced Friday. This picture shows the American flag flying at half-staff at the White House in honor of the victims of the mass shooting in Boulder, Colorado, on March 23, 2021 in Washington, DC.
New Delhi, April 3 : At least 13 students and two non-academic staff of Delhi's prestigious St. Stephen's college have tested positive for Covid-19. This group of students had gone on a trip to Dalhousie recently, where they might have contracted the virus. Many of them were staying in the college hostel. After returning from the trip, these students were found to be positive for Covid-19.

The college administration while taking all necessary precautions has stopped all activities in the college campus for the time being. It also said the Dean of the residence has been informed and all Covid protocols are being followed.

Nandita Narain, governing body member of St. Stephen's College, said the college principal has instructed all the faculty and staff to remain cautious and take the Covid-19 precautions.

Narain said the Principal has announced that the college administration has informed the Dean Office about the infections. At the same time all necessary measures are being adopted to deal with the coronavirus which include home quarantine and maintaining social distancing.

The entry of any person without seeking special permission inside the college campus has been barred. testing and all Covid-19 protocols would have to be followed for all necessary tasks.The college said the teachers and the non-teaching staff who had to report to the college according to various schedules are advised not to come to the college till further notice.

The college administration has advised all employees and students not to get upset or to take any undue stress related to Covid-19.

The cases of coronavirus infections are increasing rapidly in Delhi. During the last 24 hours, more than 3,500 Covid-19 positive persons have been reported in the capital. The Delhi government has decided to ramp up testing. Apart from this, the state government has also appealed to all institutions and individuals to take necessary precautions.

Latest updates on Coronavirus (COVID-19)

-- Except for the title, this story has not been edited by Prokerala team and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed
The head of the Catholic Church in Ireland says he believes the Government and public health authorities have neglected peoples spiritual well-being.

Speaking yesterday, Good Friday, Archbishop Eamon Martin said churches should not have to wait until a return to Level 2 restrictions before they could open their doors to public worship.

Dr Martin made his comments on RTE radios News at One as churches in Ireland remained closed for Easter celebrations for the second year in a row.

He said people were aware of the importance of mental, emotional and physical well-being. The virus also has the potential to shake us spiritually, he said.

The church leader said that as soon as Level 5 restrictions were lifted churches should be able to gather safely because were talking about very large buildings which are well ventilated.

The archbishop, whose Armagh diocese straddles the Border and has some parishes in Northern Ireland  where churches reopened to public worship on March 26  said: We would have really hoped to have some opportunity to gather in cautious, small numbers for Holy Week and Easter, as were doing in Northern Ireland.

Speaking about the impact of the pandemic on finances, Dr Martin acknowledged that a lot of parishes are suffering and, on average, there had been a decline in income of between 30-60pc.

While churches used to rely on basket collections as a primary source of income, according to one Dublin priest, parishes have been forced overnight into embracing the cashless society due to the pandemic.

Fr Aquinas Duffy, acting moderator of St Brigids Church in Cabinteely, told the Irish Independent: I dont see it ever going back to passing baskets around in the church.

With churches closed for the majority of the last six months, a pay and go card facility is being used by some who come into the church for private prayer. According to Fr Duffy, electronic donations have not replaced the money that used to come through baskets on a Sunday.

There is a crisis yet to be faced for the church, in terms of finances, he said.
President Joe Biden, left, waves as he and First Lady Jill Biden leave the White House in Washington on April 2, 2021. (Drew Angerer/Getty Images)

Democratic Governors Push Biden to Lift Cap on SALT Tax Deductions

A group of powerful Democratic governors is pressuring President Joe Biden to lift a cap on state and local tax deductions, known as SALT.

New York Gov. Andrew Cuomo, California Gov. Gavin Newsom, and five other governors wrote to Biden on April 2 praising his administration for steps its taken so far, including the $1.9 trillion COVID-19 relief package it was able to ram through Congress.

We applaud those efforts to help our citizens. But we must go further and undo the cap placed on State and Local Tax (SALT) deductions by the Trump Administration through the Tax Cuts and Jobs Act in 2017, the group said.

They asserted that capping the deductions was based on politics, not logic or good government, adding: This assault disproportionately targeted Democratic-run states, increasing taxes on hardworking families. This was unacceptable then, and is simply untenable given the dire economic conditions caused by the pandemic.

Former President Donald Trump signed into law a tax cut bill in the first year of his administration that capped the itemized deduction for state and local taxes to $5,000 for a married person filing a separate return and $10,000 for all other tax filers.

Trump said during a television interview about the cap that some well-run states are really subsidizing states that have been horribly mismanaged.

And its unfair that those states really are being subsidized by states like Indiana and Iowa. And I mean, I could name many states. I could probably name three-quarters of them. They are so well run and they are being penalized. Theyre being penalized. And its not fair. And so what we are doing is, were showing that. Now, with all of that, the tax cuts are so steep that the people in every state benefit. But its finally time to say, hey, make sure that your politicians do a good job of running your state. Otherwise, you are not going to benefit, he said.

The attorneys general for New York, New Jersey, Maryland, and Connecticut sued the Trump administration, arguing that the SALT cap was unconstitutional because it pressured the states to change their tax policies. The lawsuit was dismissed and an appeal was rejected.

According to the new letter, taxpayers in New York and California are each being forced to pay more than $12 billion in additional taxes to the federal government because of the cap.

California Gov. Gavin Newsom speaks to reporters at AltaMed Urgent Care in Santa Ana, Calif., on March 25, 2021. (John Fredricks/The Epoch Times)

In short, middle-class Americans are struggling under this federal tax burden, while corporationswhich are still able to fully deduct SALT as business expensesare profiting because of the same law. The negative impacts of the SALT cap on middle-class families are particularly egregious when you consider that in the states most affected by this cap, the federal government already takes more in federal taxes than the states receive in federal support, effectively subsidizing federal payments to other states, the governors wrote, urging Biden to immediately repeal the provision.

Hawaii Gov. David Ige, Illinois Gov. J.B. Pritzker, Oregon Gov. Kate Brown, Connecticut Gov. Ned Lamont, and New Jersey Gov. Phil Murphy also signed the letter.

Asked where Biden stands on the matter, White House press secretary Jen Psaki told reporters this week that the administration would be happy to hear ideas from Democrats on ways to eliminate SALT, noting that doing so would cost the federal government money.

Proposals should include ways to pay for the elimination, unless they think that doesnt need to be paid for, she said.

The SALT cap, in addition to other parts of Trumps tax cuts, led to rich Americans paying more taxes, according to an IRS analysis. The state and local tax deduction limit raised marginal rates for a lot of folks at the top, Garrett Watson, senior policy analyst at the Tax Foundation, a nonpartisan tax policy group, told The Epoch Times in a previous interview.

During a hearing last month, Treasury Secretary Janet Yellen told Democratic members of Congress that she would work with you to try to ensure the inequities that this caused are remedied in a fair and responsible way.

House Speaker Nancy Pelosi (D-Calif.) said during a press call on April 1 that she supports adding a SALT cap repeal into an upcoming piece of legislation, saying the limits were devastating to the state of California.

It was mean-spirited to begin with, politically targeted, she said.

Tom Ozimek and Emel Akan contributed to this report.
Japan and U.S. aim for chip supply chain deal with PM Suga's visit, Nikkei says

Japan's Prime Minister Yoshihide Suga speaks during a press conference at the prime minister's official residence in Tokyo, Japan (Photo : Rodrigo Reyes Marin/Pool via REUTERS)

Japan and the United States will cooperate on the supply of critical parts for chips, aiming for an agreement when the leaders of both countries meet later this month, the Nikkei newspaper said on Friday.



Prime Minister Yoshihide Suga is due to become the first foreign leader to visit the United States since President Joe Biden took office. The meeting, originally scheduled for April 9, has been pushed back until April 16, Japan's chief cabinet secretary said.



Advertisement

At a regular news briefing, White House spokeswoman Jen Psaki confirmed the timing of the visit and said it would be the first by a foreign leader since Biden took office.



The visit comes as the global shortage of semiconductors has squeezed U.S. automakers and other manufacturers, forcing them to cut production. The issue has become important for policymakers, who worry about economic and security risks from the shortage.



Officials from the United States, South Korea and Japan are expected to discuss concerns about the shortage at a meeting on Friday, a senior U.S. administration official said.



"It would be fair to say our three countries hold many of the keys to the future of semiconductors manufacturing technology and we will seek to affirm the importance of keeping these sensitive supply chains secure," the official told reporters.



Suga is now expected to leave Japan on April 15 and depart Washington on April 17, two government sources told Reuters.



The meeting with Biden was postponed because of circumstances on the U.S. side, the Nikkei said.


Metro Manila (CNN Philippines, April 3)  The country recorded 12,576 new COVID-19 cases, pushing the total to 784,043, according to the Department of Health's Saturday case bulletin.

It is the third time this week that the country had more than 10,000 cases reported in a day. The total does not yet include data from seven laboratories that have yet to submit their reports, the DOH noted.

Active cases are also at a new all-time high of 165,715, making it the 5th consecutive day the country broke its record of highest number of currently ill patients in a day. The active case count is equivalent to 21.1% of the COVID-19 total. At least 96.5% of the active cases have mild symptoms, 2.2% have no symptoms, 0.5% are in critical condition, 0.5% are severe cases, and 0.3% are in moderate condition.

The positivity rate is also at an all-time high at 24.2%, but this is only based on data as of noon of April 2. The DOH will still update the figure later. Positivity rate is the percentage of individuals who tested positive out of all patients tested in a day. Experts said a bigger percentage suggests higher viral transmission within the community and the need to increase testing capacity.

The death toll also climbed to 13,423  which is 1.71% of the case count  after 103 more patients died. Meanwhile, 599 others got better, raising the recovery count to 604,905 or 77.2% of the COVID-19 tally.

The DOH said it reclassified 48 survivors into fatalities after validation and removed 30 duplicates, including 14 recoveries.

"The relatively high number of deaths in today's bulletin stems from the ongoing data reconciliation process with both the Philippine Statistics Authority and our local Epidemiology Surveillance Units," the department explained.

The agency also updated the April 1 positivity rate at 21.8% after 8,450 individuals tested positive out of 38,733 people tested. This is the 4th day in a row that the rate was above 20% which is high, considering the World Health Organization recommends that the number be kept below 5%.
Image: Unsplash/Alicia Quan

Im glad to welcome N.T. Wright to The Exchange. It was just about a year ago that we cancelled a live event planned with him at the Wheaton College Billy Graham Center. Now, we are in our second Easter during the pandemic, the world has been changed, and Europes Covid numbers are trending in the wrong direction. So, in light of the pandemic, what sort of hope does Easter actually bring us? As we look toward a post-pandemic world, what does this mean for us now and after the pandemic? Professor Wright is one of a number of high-profile contributors who will feature in Season 3 of The Big Conversation, a series of video debates asking big questions about purpose, meaning, and science. Episode 1 on Christianity or Atheism? is available at https://www.thebigconversation.show/

I knew from an early age there was something wrong. I listened to Easter sermons from good evangelical preachers, and they seemed to be missing the point. I suspect the same problem is getting in the way now, as we try to draw from the Easter message the hope that the post-pandemic world will need so badly.

The sermons I heard tended to stress two points. First, belief in Jesus resurrection could be supported by personal testimony: You ask me how I know he lives? He lives within my heart! Second, Jesus resurrection proved (we were told) that there really is life after death.

Nothing wrong with these at one level. Personal experience of the presence and power of the living Jesus is a vital part of genuine Christian living. And, of course, God the creator hasnt made us in his image just to tease us with this present tantalizing life. We are made for more.

But he lives within my heart is the truth of Pentecost, not of Easter Day.

Easter is about something that happened, launching a new world, prior to any transforming effects on believers. You cant explain the rise of Christianity historically unless you say that Jesus tomb really was empty and that his followers really did meet him alive again. The stories are strange; they are not what people might have made up from what they believed ahead of time. Thus, for instance, the risen Jesus, though identified by the mark of the nails and the spear, seemed somehow different. He was not instantly recognized. Paul grasps the point: what has happened at Easter is the launch of new creation. Jesus resurrection body was the first example of a new order of being: a heaven-and-earth reality. Thats what the old prophets had promised; thats what the New Testament reaffirms.

The point of new creation, after all, isnt about life after death in the normal sense. We are promised that when God creates the final new heavens and new earth all his people will be raised from the dead to share in it (after an interim period, about which the first Christians werent particularly interested). But the new creation launched at Easter was about the present this-worldly reality.

So heres the difference.

If you promise the post-pandemic world a spiritual experience of Jesus here and now, or a heavenly life after death, most people will shrug their shoulders. Thats not going to help rebuild the economy. It wont provide jobs for the millions now out of work. It will be cold comfort for those who have lost loved ones. We would be at the same place as Martha when Jesus challenged her about the resurrection (John 11:23-25): Yes, she says, I know my brother will rise at the last day. Jesus response is what we need to hear right now: I am the resurrection and the life! Resurrection isnt just a long-distance, far-off hope. (Nor is it about going to heaven!) It is a person. And it  he  has come forward from Gods ultimate future to burst into the present with new life and new hope. That was, and is, the message the world needs.

Ever since the eighteenth century, the Western world has done its best to squash the rumour of Jesus resurrection. Thats hardly surprising. The gospel stories are about the climax of world history and the birth of Gods new creation. But the so-called Enlightenment believed that history reached its climax, not with Jesus, but with the European and American culture of the time, and that its own science, philosophy and democracy had produced the real new world. There cannot, after all, be two climaxes to history.

The church, tragically, has gone along for the ride. We decided to leave the practical work of new creation to the secular authorities and content ourselves with  guess what  cultivating personal experience and other-worldly hope. As Nietzsche saw, the church has offered a form of Platonism with someone called Jesus loosely attached. Thats a comfortable place to be. No secular empires are challenged in the making of that movie.

But the church is supposed to be offering comfort to others, not seeking it for itself. The post-pandemic world needs the real Easter message: the message of a new creation which began when Jesus was raised from the dead. A new heaven-and-earth reality, energized by Gods powerful new breath surging through Jesus followers, turning them (to their own surprise, and in some cases alarm) into a multi-cultural, outward-facing community, determined to be the good news the world so obviously needed. Pauls great vision in Ephesians was of God summing up everything in heaven and earth in the Messiah (1:10), a reality anticipated in the coming together of Jew and Gentile into a single family (2:11-22), sending a signal to the powers of the world that God is God and Jesus is Lord (3:1-13). When Paul said that we are created in the Messiah for good works, he didnt mean so that we could behave ourselves properly, though thats obviously implied too. Good works in Pauls world meant people making a positive difference in their wider communities. The church has no business outsourcing its heaven-on-earth mission of hope to secular agencies. We should be upstaging them.

Fortunately, this is already happening all over the place. The Holy Spirit is often way ahead of the churchs teaching and preaching. In my country, Christian groups have led the way in initiatives like food banks. The use of Cathedrals as vaccination centres (not, of course, as an alternative to worship, but as its natural outflow) has sent a powerful signal: the church is there for the healing of the community. Again and again the church in practice has been what St Paul said it should be: people of prayer and hope at the places where the world is in pain.

But this cheerful, outward-facing life is easily blown off course, or diverted into the wrong channels. To avoid that, the real resurrection message needs to be grasped, preached and lived. The world changed when Jesus of Nazareth came out of the tomb on Easter morning. It takes precisely the same faith to believe that truth as it takes to roll up your sleeves and go to where help is most needed  from the soup kitchen in the below-the-tracks parish, all the way to the World Economic Forum.

After all, the Easter stories in the gospels do not end up with people saying, He lives within my heart. Nor do people say, in those first stories, Ah, thats all right, so we can go to heaven after all. They end up with people saying Jesus is raised  therefore new creation has begun, and we have a job to do.

There is a straight line from the heaven-on-earth reality of Jesus resurrection to the heaven-on-earth vocation of his followers. By his Spirit, we can be the difference the world needs. We can make the difference the world needs.
Patna, April 3 : Amid Covid-19 surge in the state, the Patna divisional commissioner has directed the shopkeepers and showroom owners to strictly follow the Covid protocols else district administration will force them to shut down the shops and the showrooms for three days.

Sanjay Kumar Agrawal, the divisional commissioner of Patna has directed all district magistrates of the division for the same after a review meeting in Patna.

"We have asked officers to deploy security personnel in public places to execute 'Roko-Toko' (Stop and Aware) people to follow Covid norms. The officers are entitle to issue challan to the violators," Agrawal said.

"The DMs and SPs of respective districts have been asked to initiate checking of masks and social distancing in schools, education centres, shops, showrooms, shopping malls, fruits and vegetable markets, bus stands, railway stations, inside public transports and prepare reports at sub-division level," Agrawal said.

"We have appealed common people, above 45 years age, to register themselves for the vaccination and get vaccinated," Agrawal said.
Video PlayerClose

Chinese President Xi Jinping, also general secretary of the Communist Party of China Central Committee and chairman of the Central Military Commission, plants a tree during a tree-planting activity in Chaoyang District in Beijing, April 2, 2021. [Xinhua/Huang Jingwen]

BEIJING, April 2 (Xinhua)  Shovel in hand, President Xi Jinping planted trees in Beijing on Friday. To many Chinese, this is not an unfamiliar scene.

Every year since 2013, Xi, also general secretary of the Communist Party of China (CPC) Central Committee and chairman of the Central Military Commission, has joined the Chinese capital's annual voluntary tree-planting initiative.

It is one way in which he supports afforestation, which he has said plays a significant role in creating an environment where the sky is blue, the land green and the water clean and creates benefits for all the Chinese people.

Xi's hands-on involvement with the tree-planting project illustrates a genuine commitment to ensuring harmonious coexistence between humans and nature  one he pursues in deeds as well as words. That is not to say this is an isolated event, indeed, throughout his career, he has championed numerous ecological conservation and green development campaigns.

Chinese President Xi Jinping, also general secretary of the Communist Party of China Central Committee and chairman of the Central Military Commission, plants a tree during a tree-planting activity in Chaoyang District in Beijing, April 2, 2021. [Xinhua/Huang Jingwen]

During his time in Fujian, for example, Changting county, a mountainous area in the west of the province, suffered from severe soil and water loss. The area's exposed red earth earned it the name "flaming mountain."

On five separate occasions, Xi traveled to Changting and led work to address soil and water damage. Today, it is one of the greenest counties in Fujian, with 79.8 percent forest coverage.

Not far away from Fujian, in the neighboring province of Zhejiang, cement mills and mines were once the backbone of Yucun village. While these industries provided jobs that were stable and lucrative, the thick dust and waste from the plants created an unbearable living environment for locals. So they decided to close the mines and cement plants.

This decision was made during Xi's tenure as secretary of the CPC Zhejiang Provincial Committee, and in August 2005 he visited Yucun. It was during that visit that he first proposed a guiding theory that endures to this day.

"Lucid waters and lush mountains are invaluable assets," Xi said.

Chinese President Xi Jinping, also general secretary of the Communist Party of China Central Committee and chairman of the Central Military Commission, talks with the officials, people and school children on-site during a tree-planting activity in Chaoyang District in Beijing, April 2, 2021. [Xinhua/Li Xueren]

The 18th CPC National Congress in 2012 was a real turning point, as this significant meeting was the catalyst behind the Beautiful China initiative and the battle for blue skies and clean water and soil.

Building on these successful ventures, the Yangtze River Economic Belt and Xiong'an New Area demonstrate how ecological conservation and green development are fundamental aspects of high-quality development in China.

"Put restoring the ecological environment of the Yangtze River at a dominant position," Xi once said.

During an inspection tour of Beijing-Tianjin-Hebei region in 2019, Xi said a strategy that will have lasting importance for the millennium to come should start from afforestation.

Chinese President Xi Jinping, also general secretary of the Communist Party of China Central Committee and chairman of the Central Military Commission, waves to the officials and people on-site during a tree-planting activity in Chaoyang District in Beijing, April 2, 2021. [Xinhua/Yao Dawei]

This year marks the 40th anniversary of China's voluntary tree-planting campaign.

Over the past 40 years, Chinese people's efforts to make their country greener have been ceaseless: China's forest coverage has grown from 12 percent to 23 percent, urban green space coverage from 10 percent to 41 percent, per capita area of park greenery from 3.45 square meters to 14.8 square meters.

Chinese people planted over 360,000 square kilometers of forests in the 13th Five-Year Plan period (2016-2020). This is equal to creating a forest the size of Germany in just five years.

In 2019, satellite images showed that China contributed one fourth of the world's gain in greenness between 2000 and 2017, the highest proportion among all countries.

In 2018, China incorporated ecological advancement into its Constitution for the first time. This year, the Outline of the 14th Five-Year Plan for National Economic and Social Development and the Long-Range Objectives Through the Year 2035 demands all-round green transformation of social and economic development and the building of a Beautiful China.

China has also promised to strive to peak carbon dioxide emissions by 2030 and achieve carbon neutrality by 2060.

Chinese President Xi Jinping, also general secretary of the Communist Party of China Central Committee and chairman of the Central Military Commission, waters a sapling during a tree-planting activity in Chaoyang District in Beijing, April 2, 2021. [Xinhua/Li Xueren]

Green development is already the backbone of efforts driving China toward its goal of becoming a modern socialist country.

"People should live in green shade, and this is what we should strive for. Let's roll up our sleeves and work harder, year after year, generation after generation," Xi once said.

(Source: Xinhua)
On Friday, April 2, Britain announced that Bangladesh, Kenya, Pakistan and the Philippines will be added to its travel "red list," prohibiting people from those countries from entering the country unless they are British or Irish citizens. Visitors from countries on the red list will be denied entry, and returning to the UK will be subjected to a 10-day mandatory quarantine in hotels.

India is not currently on the red list of countries, and there is an air bubble in place for essential travel, though non-essential international travel from the UK is also prohibited under existing lockdown laws.

Pakistan, Bangladesh and 2 other nations added to UK 'red list'

Department for Transport (DfT) in its official statement said, "Philippines, Pakistan, Kenya and Bangladesh have been added to Englands red list to protect the country against new variants of coronavirus (COVID-19), at a critical time for the vaccine programme." It added, with over 30 million vaccinations delivered in the UK so far, the additional restrictions will help to reduce the risk of new variants  such as those first identified in South Africa (SA) and Brazil  entering England. So far, surveillance has found that few cases of the SA variant have been identified as being imported from Europe, with most coming from other parts of the world."

The UK adds 40 countries to red list amid rise in COVID cases

Foreign tourists who have departed from or transited through these four additional countries on a 40-country red list in the previous 10 days will be denied entry into England starting at 4 am local time, next week, Friday.

Only British and Irish nationals, as well as those with UK residency rights, including long-term visa holders, will be permitted to enter, and they will be required to remain in a government-approved quarantine facility for ten days. They would also be allowed to dock at a specific location. There will be no direct flight bans from these countries, but passengers should double-check their travel plans before leaving for England.

(with inputs from PTI)

(Picture Credit: AP)
A woman receives a COVID-19 vaccine, at the convention center known as La Nuvola, The Cloud, in Rome, on March 10, 2021. (Andrew Medichini/AP Photo)

Italy Mandates COVID-19 Shots for All Its Healthcare Workers

Italys government has announced that all health workers in the country must get a COVID-19 jab or face possible sanctions.

A decree on Wednesdayapproved by Prime Minister Mario Draghis cabinetsays that health workers, including pharmacists, are required to undergo vaccination, with those who refuse facing potential suspension without pay, according to Reuters.

The aim of the measure is to protect as much as possible both medical and paramedical staff and those who are in environments that may be more exposed to the risk of infection, the Italian government said in a statement.

The move comes after the discovery of COVID-19 clusters in hospitals after staff refused to get shots, in a country noted for relatively high levels of vaccine hesitancy. A survey last fall found that nearly 40 percent of Italian respondents said they didnt want to risk a COVID-19 jab.

In the United States, by comparison, a December 2020 survey by the Kaiser Family Foundation vaccine attitude tracking project showed that 27 percent of the general public were vaccine-hesitant, telling pollsters they would either definitely or probably not get a shot. A separate January Gallup poll showed that vaccine hesitancy is higher among U.S. healthcare workers and first responders than workers in all industries, which can serve as a proxy for the general population.

The Gallup survey showed that 34 percent of healthcare workers and first responders said they would not agree to get a shot, 49 percent said they would, while 18 percent were unsure. The percentage of workers in all industries expressing vaccine hesitancy stood at 27 percent, the same as the percentage of the general population polled by the Kaiser Foundation a month earlier.

Italy, where some 10 million vaccine doses have been administered since late December, has seen a resurgence in infections and deaths over the last month, prompting authorities to tighten restrictions.

The United States, which leads the world in COVID-19 vaccinations, recently surpassed 100 million administered doses, with the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) announcing on April 1 a record 3.38 million shots in a single day.

But despite progress in vaccinations, new infections in the United States are on the rise, with the seven-day moving average of daily infections now over 79,000, up from around 53,000 earlier in March, according to Johns Hopkins data.

At a White House health briefing earlier this week, both President Joe Biden and the head of the CDC, Dr. Rochelle Walensky, voiced dire warnings that too many Americans were easing COVID-19 protocols.

Walensky said she had a feeling of impending doom at the rising cases of COVID-19, while Biden said if that continued, the United States could see a fourth surge.

To fight against COVID-19 fatigue, persuade people not to ease up on mitigation measures, and overcome vaccine hesitancy, the Biden administration has teamed up with influencersincluding community, religious, and celebrity partnersto keep spreading the word.

Besides urging Americans to get a COVID-19 jab, the coalition of trusted influencerswhich includes athletes, doctors, business people, and faith-based community leaderswill continue to promote the message that people shouldnt let up with measures such as social distancing and mask-wearing.
The ambassador congratulated the public security force of Laos for its glorious achievements over the last 60 years, expressing his delight at the close relationship between the force and its Vietnamese counterpart to protect the Parties, administrations, and people of both countries.

He underlined that the outcomes of the effective cooperation in all areas between the two public security forces are shown not only in the bilateral framework but also in regional and international forums.

Hung believes that, in the time to come, the two forces will continue to improve the efficiency of ties, contributing to reinforcing the friendship between the two countries.

On behalf of the Lao Ministry of Public Security, Deputy Minister Lieutenant General Kongthong Phongvichit said that over the last 60 years of formation and development, the Lao public security force has received wholehearted support from the Party, State, and people of Vietnam in general and the countrys Ministry of Public Security in particular. This help has played an important role in assisting the Lao public security force to complete all tasks assigned by the Party, State, and people, he said.

The Deputy Minister added that the two sides have organised various joint activities on the occasion of the 60th founding anniversary of the Lao Public Security force and the 60th anniversary of Vietnam sending public security experts to Laos, manifesting the close ties between the forces and the great friendship, special solidarity, and comprehensive cooperation between Laos and Vietnam.

He added that he hopes the two public security forces will further foster their partnership in the future, to ensure security, safety, and order in both countries, facilitating economic growth.

The Lao public security force is willing to cooperate with its Vietnamese counterpart to protect the peaceful and stable lives of the Vietnamese and Lao people and to promote the relationship between the two countries, he affirmed.

A photo exhibition was also held to introduce the cooperation between the public security forces of Vietnam and Laos over the last six decades.
Mumbai: The number of coronavirus cases continued to rise with the state recording 49,447 new cases of infections and 277 deaths related to the disease in the last 24 hours. The Centre said Maharashtra has shown a nine-fold jump, the maximum increase in the number of active cases in the last two months.

Maharashtra currently has 4,01,172 active cases of which 9,090 cases have been reported from Mumbai, it has a total of 62,187 active cases.

As per its COVID-19 bulletin, Maharashtra currently has 21,57,135 people in home quarantine and 18,994 people in institutional quarantine.

CM Thackeray warns of lockdown

Stopping short of declaring a lockdown, Chief Minister Uddhav Thackeray warned that a decision will have to be taken and that currently consultations with experts and political leaders was underway.

I am warning about complete lockdown but not announcing it. I will speak to experts and political leaders in the next two days. If there is no other option to a lockdown, we will have to accept it, Thackeray had said on Friday in a series of tweets.

Further he had said, Some strict restrictions will have to be imposed in the coming days. In cities, we will need to avoid unnecessary crowding. In Mumbai, there is crowding during peak and non-peak hours in trains. There is crowding in restaurants and in other places as well.

Schools and colleges closed

Meanwhile, the state education minister Varsha Gaikwad on Saturday announced to promote all students studying of Classes 1 to Class 8 without exams in view of the ongoing situation due to COVID-19

Lockdown and night curfew imposed in other states

The Odisha government on Saturday announced that night curfew would be imposed in 10 districts with effect from April 5, due to the rise in the number of COVID-19 cases in the state, an official order stated.

While, India on Saturday recorded 89,129 new cases  the highest since September last year. Corresponding to the rapid surge in cases, the number of active cases, too, have registered a steady increase for the 24th day in a row. The Union Health Ministry informed that eight states  Maharashtra, Karnataka, Chhattisgarh, Delhi, Tamil Nadu, Uttar Pradesh, Punjab and Madhya Pradesh  account for 81% of the cases in the country.
Samantha Armytage and a host of Australian stars and personalities have shared touching tributes to late Australian designer, Carla Zampatti, after her shock death.

Former Sunrise co-host Sam, 44, penned a moving post on Instagram on Saturday, after Carla's passing was revealed.

Sam, who wore a dress by Carla on her wedding day just a few months ago, wrote that she was 'absolutely devastated at the loss of my beautiful friend.'

'Absolutely devastated at the loss of my beautiful friend': Samantha Armytage led celebrity tributes to late Australian fashion icon Carla Zampatti on Saturday, after the designer died a week after her horror fall at the opera

'Absolutely devastated at the loss of my beautiful friend Carla Zampatti this morning,' Sam's post began.

'She was a creative genius, a wonderful generous elegant woman & very much a part of many of my favourite memories.'

She finished: 'She will be dearly missed, but never forgotten. And will live on forever in my heart, & my wardrobe. Vale Carla.'

'She will be dearly missed, but never forgotten. And will live on forever in my heart, & my wardrobe. Vale Carla,' Sam wrote. Carla is pictured in 2019 at a fashion event in Sydney

Tribute: Sam wore a dress by Carla on her wedding day just a few months ago. Sam shared pictures of herself wearing some of Carla's designs in the post (pictured)

'She was a creative genius, a wonderful generous elegant woman & very much a part of many of my favourite memories,' Sam said

Sam shared pictures of herself wearing some of Carla's designs in the post.

Today extra host David Campbell also shared a tribute to Carla, calling her an 'icon.'

'I am just hearing Carla Zampatti has died from her fall. This is so tragic,' he tweeted.

'She was a true pioneer in fashion in Australia. A class act. She was an icon who lived with grace. So very sad for her family.'

Speaking out: Today extra host David Campbell also shared a tribute to Carla, calling her an 'icon'

Actress Magda Szubanski also shared a tribute and tweeted: So very sad to hear of the death of Carla Zampatti.'

'Such a lovely woman who dressed me on a few occasions with great elegance and empathy,' she said.

She finished: 'Her tailoring was impeccable and her style divine. My deepest condolences to her family.'

Upset: Actress Magda Szubanski also shared a tribute and tweeted: So very sad to hear of the death of Carla Zampatti'

Paying her respect: NSW Premier Gladys Berejiklian also said that the 'world will never be the same without Carla'

NSW Premier Gladys Berejiklian also said that the 'world will never be the same without Carla.'

'The world will never be the same without Carla Zampatti. Talented, generous and inspiring. A true trailblazer in every respect. Rest In Peace.'

'Very sad to learn of our dear friend Carla Zampatti's passing,' wrote former Prime Minister Malcolm Turnbull.

'Very sad to learn of our dear friend Carla Zampattis passing,' wrote former Prime Minister Malcolm Turnbull

'One of our greatest Australians - brilliant, innovative, elegant, creative. Embodying the success of our remarkable multicultural nation. Our sympathy and love are with her family.'

Respected designer Carla, 78, died on Saturday.

She passed away after falling down the stairs while attending the opening night of the La Traviata opera on Sydney Harbour last week.

Farewell: Carla, who was 78, passed away after falling down the stairs while attending the opening night of the La Traviata opera on Sydney Harbour last week (pictured)

She was reportedly knocked unconscious after falling on the bottom steps of the staircase and was then rushed to hospital immediately.

According to The Daily Telegraph, she went into a coma after the fall and never woke up.

Carla's death was confirmed via a statement on her official Instagram account on Saturday.

'It's with great sadness that we announce the death of fashion icon Carla Zampatti AC today,' they wrote.

Statement: Carla's death was confirmed via a statement on her official Instagram account on Saturday

'Carla is Australia's most successful and enduring fashion designer, launching her eponymous label in 1965,' it continued.

'Carla has long been celebrated for making Australian women feel confident and elegant through her exceptional design, tailoring and understanding of the modern woman.

'A champion of Australian women and a multicultural success story, she continued to thrive as a businesswoman through enormous radical and social change, designing clothes for women fighting for liberation through the women's rights movement in the 1960s to empowering women today in leadership, the workplace, in their home and at major life events.'

They finished: 'The family invite you to share your memories on the Carla Zampatti condolence page through the link in bio.'
Scuffles broke out at Bois de la Cambre park in Brussels on Friday, with Belgian police arriving heavily prepared after violent scenes on Friday.

Police employed water canons to try and disperse protesters, and were seen making several arrests.

The gathering in one of Brussels' largest parks was promoted by a group called the Abyss, who say they do not question the governments coronavirus strategy but fight for citizens rights to gather outdoors.

It followed clashes between Belgian police and a large crowd at the same locaiton on Thursday left dozens injured, after revellers gathered for an unauthorized event despite coronavirus restrictions.

The festival, dubbed La Boum" ("the party"), had been advertised on social media and police had warned it was a fake event on April Fools Day. According to Brussels police, up to 2,000 people still showed up.

Brussels police spokeswoman Ilse Van de keere said 22 people were arrested and several police officers injured on Thursday. She said eight partiers were wounded, including two who were taken to hospital.

Belgium's current virus restrictions include a night-time curfew and a ban on nonessential international travel.

(Disclaimer: This story is auto-generated from a syndicated feed; only the image & headline may have been reworked by www.republicworld.com)
Source: Xinhua| 2021-04-03 15:48:27|Editor: huaxia

Video Player Close

KABUL, April 3 (Xinhua) -- At least 35 Taliban militants were killed and 33 others wounded in Afghan army offensives in the Asian country's two northern provinces during Friday night, the country's Ministry of Defense confirmed on Saturday.

In Faryab province, 26 militants were killed and 33 wounded after the Afghan Air Force conducted airstrikes on a Taliban position in Sarchakan village of Gurziwan district, the ministry said in a statement.

In neighboring Baghlan province, nine Taliban militants died after the Afghan National Army launched a special operation in Dand-e-Shahabuddin locality.

Among those killed militants were six Taliban divisional commanders, the statement said.

A handful of weapons, ammunition and several vehicles were also destroyed during the offensives, according to the statement.

The militant group has yet to make comments on the reports so far. Enditem
Trent Ashby is the state representative for District 57 that includes Angelina, Houston, Leon, Madison, San Augustine and Trinity counties. His email address is trent.ashby@house.state.tx.us.
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.
Metro Manila (CNN Philippines, April 3)  The Philippine Orthopedic Center will provide teleconsultations instead of face-to-face consultations for the meantime as over 100 of its staff tested positive for COVID-19, the hospitals officer in charge announced on Saturday.

With a range of outpatients between 350-450/day and the increasing positivity rate of COVID patients, 117 out of 180 swabbed staff turned positive, the Dr. John Andrew Michael Bengzon said in a statement.

He reported they helped facilitate the transfer of some infected staff to isolation facilities due to the limited hospital beds allotted for their own staff. He added they will continue testing more employees on April 7.

The specialty hospital's outpatient department is temporarily closed, and elective surgeries will be postponed, according to Bengzon. However, their employees will continue to treat patients with urgent orthopedic needs, he added.

The emergency room is open 24/7," the OIC said. "We will continue to treat orthopedic emergency patients.

For non-emergency cases, the public can consult online through the POC Orthopedic Surgery OPD Appointments Facebook page.

At present, the medical facility continues to cater to 216 non-COVID-19 patients and 12 COVID-19 patients, he said.

Bengzon is also seeking donations of personal protective equipment as there is a need for hospital staff to double mask.
A Canadian pastor who was jailed for holding worship services that violated provincial lockdown rules recounted his recent experiences and the support he received from inmates.

Pastor James Coates of GraceLife Church in Edmonton, Alberta, turned himself in to authorities in February for violating ongoing lockdown restrictions that, among other things, limited in-person worship gatherings to no more than 15% capacity.

He was released in March, with his next court date being on May 3. Coates is accused of violating the Alberta Public Health Act limits many in-person gatherings in response to COVID-19.

Rebel News, an Ontario-based news outlet, talked with Coates about his experiences, with the interview being posted to YouTube on Monday.

Source:The Christian Post
Raipur, April 3 : Five security personnel, including two CRPF and three DRG men of the state police, were killed and 20 suffered injuries in a gun battle with Maoists in Chhattisgarh's Bijapur district.

At least two Maoists' bodies were also visible on the spot near Tekulgudem village under Tarrem police station where the shootout began at noon on Saturday in a deep forested interior area with a group of over 300 Maoists. There were reports of heavy damage to the Maoists but nothing specific could be established by the administration as the operation was still on.

It was a joint anti-Maoist operation conducted by the CRPF's elite unit CoBRA (Commando Battalion for Resolute Action), the District Reserve Guard (DRG) and the Special Task Force (STF), the CRPF said.

The operation is still on and additional security forces have been pressed to the spot to support the personnel engaged in the exchange of fire.

"Two CRPF personnel and three state police personnel lost their lives during the CASO (Cordon and Search Operation) conducted by a joint team of security forces that included the CRPF, and Chhattisgarh's DRG and STF teams," CRPF IG C.G. Arora told IANS.

The officer said that around 20 security personnel were injured in the operation.

"It was a dense forested area where the incident took place. This is the core Maoist area. This is an interior place inside the jungle where access is very limited. Helicopter support is also being provided to the party." Chhattisgarh Chief Minister Bhupesh Baghel expressed deep sorrow over the deaths of the five security personnel.

Expressing condolences to the families of the slain security personnel, Baghel said, "The martyrdom of the security forces will not go in vain. Our soldiers have also done great harm to the Maoists. Security forces will campaign against Maoists even more rapidly." The Chief Minister later directed to provide better treatment facilities to the injured.

On March 23, five personnel of the District Reserve Guard were killed and several were injured in an IED blast -- the first major Maoist attack in Chhattisgarh this year -- in what the police said was a Maoist strike targeting a bus carrying more than 20 security personnel.

The security personnel were travelling as part of an anti=Maoist operation in the dense Abujhmad forests when the blast occurred at around 4.15 p.m., on the Kanhargaon-Kadenar road.

Meanwhile, five Maoists, one of them allegedly involved in the killing of four policemen after abducting them in 2015, were arrested last month from two places in Chhattisgarh's Bijapur district.
The young woman who set off a national discourse about sexual consent among young people is calling on Victoria Police to launch a new system to make it easier to report sexual assault and allow police to better track alleged repeat offenders.

University student Chanel Contos is pushing for a program that would allow sexual assault complaints to be made to police anonymously online.

Chanel Contos: Its important our society has a way to hold people accountable for their actions without sending them to jail. Credit:Liliana Zaharia

Under the Operation Vest scheme Ms Contos launched with NSW Police last month, filing an anonymous complaint does not lead to a formal investigation being launched, but the report is kept on record if the alleged victim chooses to proceed later.

Police can also track if the same alleged offenders are reported multiple times.
Kolkata: Senior Congress leader and Former External Affairs Minister Salman Khurshid addresses at the launch of his book "Visible Muslim, Invisible Citizen: Understanding Islam in Indian Democracy" in Kolkata on Aug 17, 2019. (Photo: Kuntal Chakrabar Image Source: IANS News

Guwahati, April 3 : The BJP believes in division, distortion and deceit and the party's five-year rule in Assam has put a stamp on this, former Union Minister and Congress leader Salman Khurshid alleged on Saturday.

Khurshid further said that the Congress party believes in treating everyone equally and fairly and the BJP has throughout the campaign attempted to destroy tenets of democracy and the Assamese identity.

Accompanied by state and central leaders, he said that the Congress had committed to correct the BJP's 3D -- 'Division, Distortion and Deceit' governance and added that the party's campaign gave a glimpse of their governance model.

"The last five years have seen an unprecedented downfall in Assam's economic prowess, peace in the state and a severe damage to the Assamese identity.

"Supari syndicate, coal syndicate, division on religious lines, spewing hatred and economic mismanagement have been the hallmark of BJP's governance in the last five years," the Congress leader told the media.

He said that the BJP's election campaign and the manner of its campaign is just a continuation of its governance ideology.

"After the support the Congress' grand alliance (of 10 parties) has received for its five guarantees and the last phase of polling draws closer, the writing is on the wall. The Congress party is committed to work with each and every person of Assam to collectively take the state on a development and prosperous path," the Congress leader said.
Two people dining inside a Phillipsburg-area IHOP suffered minor injuries when a car crashed through an exterior wall where they were sitting, police said.

It occurred about 1:30 p.m. at the 1313 Route 22 West restaurant in Greenwich Township.

Police Chief Rich Hummer said it was an accident  the driver hit the gas instead of the brakes and jumped the curb, crossing a sidewalk, then hitting the building.

One of the two diners seated near the wall was taken by ambulance to a hospital, while the other person declined treatment, Hummer said.

The driver and a passenger also declined treatment.

The IHOP closed temporarily due to the damage, according to police.

The restaurant is currently closed, and the franchisee is assessing the damages, the companys media relations department told lehighvalleylive.com on Friday.

Police did not immediately file any citations, and the crash remained under investigation.

Kurt Bresswein may be reached at kbresswein@lehighvalleylive.com.

More:

79-year-old man killed in I-81 crash on George Wade Bridge: state police

Tiger Woods crash: Cause discovered, but it wont be released publicly due to privacy concerns
HARTFORD  A Hartford woman says she was denied the chance to schedule a COVID-19 vaccine appointment for a family member by CVS because they did not have an ID.

The woman, identified as Constanza Segovia, told FOX61 news she called the CVS Community Clinic call center Monday morning trying to schedule the appointment and was told she could not because her family member did not have an ID.

On Thursday Segovia took to social media and tweeted at CVS about her experience.

I told them I have spoken to authorities about this and that theyre wrong, they confirmed that they are only vaccinating U.S. Citizens and that this is their policy, she said in the tweet.

A CVS media representative told Hearst Connecticut Media that while they ask for identification, it is not a barrier to getting the vaccine.

The COVID-19 vaccine is covered through a federal program for the uninsured. If a patient does not have insurance, we are required by the Health Resources and Services Administration to ask the patient to provide either a social security number or valid drivers license/state ID #. However, uninsured patients are not required to provide this information in order to receive a vaccine from us, CVS said in a email to Hearst. We are following up with our call center agents to reiterate our procedures for vaccinating uninsured patients.

The representative also said Segovias situation was an isolated situation.

When asked if CVS had encountered similar situations at other locations, the representative said they would not go into details regarding other locations.

CVS said Segovias situation has since been rectified.

According to the states COVID-19 vaccine portal, no person will be turned away based on their ability to show ID. Vaccine providers may ask for a form of identification but it is not required.

Sergovias tweet gained traction eliciting many responses from community members, including state Sen. Matt Lesser. Lesser said COVID-19 vaccines are for everyone in the United States.

You dont need insurance, dont need to be a citizen, dont need to show ID. This am I heard that CVS was wrongly turning away immigrants. I contacted them and they quickly resolved the issue, he tweeted.

In a pandemic, we arent safe until all of us are safe  thats why its so important for immigrant communities and everyone to get the vaccine, he added.

Sergovia later tweeted that CVS called her on Friday to tell her theyve retrained their call center staff on the ID issue and confirmed they dont require state ID or SSN (social security number) but do ask for it.

Since the incident, she has been actively providing vaccine resources to others on her Facebook page.
Kodagu : , April 3 (IANS) Six persons including four children were set on fire by a father in an inebriated state over a tiff with his wife in the wee hours of Saturday at Ponnampet in Kodagu district in Karnataka, the police said.

According to the police, the accused Yeravara Bhoja aged around 50 years, is absconding after the incident. The incident took place in Mugutageri village of Ponnampet in Virajpete Taluk.

While his brother-in-law Yeravara Manju was living at the residence of Kolera Vasanta situated near the Kaanur road in Mugutageri village. Some 5-6 members of the family had visited his house and had stayed there, it is learned.

The police said that Bhoja is an estate labourer who used to have frequent fights after consuming alcohol with his wife, Babi.

"Fed up of his chronic alcoholism and frequent fights that invariably ended up in beating her up, she had deserted him and shifted to her brother's house who too is labourer working in a coffee estate. This had infuriated Bhoja further despite his persuasion, she had refused to stay with him anymore," the police explained.

The police added that on Friday too he tried to persuade her but when she refused he returned home and got drunk and at around 2:00 am he poured petrol on his brother-in-law's house and set it on a blaze.

"With the help of neighbours, his brother in law was able to save four members but other six persons - Babi, 45 years, Seeta, 45 years, Prarthana, 6 years, where charred to death, while Praksh, 6 years, Vishwas, 7 years and Vishwas, 7 years were succumbed to injuries in hospital," the police said.

The police who registered a case in this regard are investigating further. More details are awaited.
Financing secured by intellectual property to fund growth

Boston, April 01, 2021 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) -- Gordon Brothers announced it is providing a secured credit facility to Nicole Miller, the eponymous fashion and lifestyle brand founded and led by Nicole Miller. The facility is secured by the companys intellectual property and will be used to fund strategic growth initiatives.

Being able to work with an iconic brand and designer like Nicole Miller is at the core of what we do at Gordon Brothers, said Tobias Nanda, President, Brands. Throughout our decades-long history of financing consumer brands, we have become the expert in identifying those with significant value and helping to unlock that value for our partners.

Over the past thirty years we have successfully developed Nicole Miller into a leading lifestyle brand by bringing our unique design aesthetic to the ever-changing world of fashion, accessories and home decor, said Nicole Miller. Gordon Brothers understands the value of our business, and we are excited to partner with them as we continue to expand and grow.

Gordon Brothers most recent global brand transactions include bridge financing for American retailer Brooks Brothers, a secured term loan facility for global brand Mothercare, the acquisition of Laura Ashley and launch of their new collection and the sale of British brand Bench to Wraith, an affiliate of Apparel Brands Limited. The firm has been actively investing in brands since 2003, partnering with leading companies such as Sharper Image, Linens N Things, Wet Seal and Ben Sherman, among others.

About Gordon Brothers

Since 1903, Gordon Brothers (www.gordonbrothers.com) has helped lenders, operating executives, advisors and investors move forward through change. The firm brings a powerful combination of expertise and capital to clients, developing customized solutions on an integrated or standalone basis across four service areas: valuations, dispositions, operations and investments. Whether to fuel growth or facilitate strategic consolidation, Gordon Brothers partners with companies in the retail, commercial and industrial sectors to put assets to their highest and best use. Gordon Brothers conducts more than $70 billion worth of dispositions and appraisals annually. Gordon Brothers is headquartered in Boston, with over 30 offices across five continents.

About Nicole Miller

Nicole Miller is a global fashion and lifestyle brand headquartered in New York City. Founded in 1982, the iconic brand has grown to be one of the premier names in American fashion. In addition to its celebrated womenswear collections, the company has partnered with leading licensees in numerous fashion and lifestyle categories, including handbags, shoes, jewelry, eyewear, denim, activewear, sleepwear, childrenswear, fragrance and beauty, and home, and the brand can be found online and in over 1,500 specialty and department stores worldwide. Among Nicoles newest ventures; her signature Rose. Please visit www.nicolemiller.com for more information.
It has never been easy creating policies that combine the business of farming with achieving environmental goals  and its getting harder.

It has never been easy creating policies that combine the business of farming with achieving environmental goals  and its getting harder.

There are all sorts of so-called "best management practices" (BMPs) in play already. As well, there are increasing calls for programs that pay farmers for providing "environmental goods and services."

Not only must policy designers consider economic triggers that drive farmers decision-making, they need to be clear about what environmental objectives they are trying to achieve.

Is the goal to stop soil erosion, reduce greenhouse gas emissions, protect water quality or reduce the negative effects of pesticides on non-target species?

Some of these targeted outcomes are linked but they arent the same. Sometimes they can even work at cross purposes.

For example, a few years ago Manitoba researchers overturned conventional wisdom on the benefits of reduced tillage on water quality with research into how phosphorus (P) was getting into waterways flowing off the Pembina escarpment.

It had always been assumed, based on U.S. research, that the main pathway for phosphorus into water was through soil particles carried away by heavy rainfall. By reducing the amount of soil in runoff by eliminating tillage on lands immediately adjacent to waterways, farmers would reduce the phosphorus overloads.

However, in some cases levels actually rose. What scientists learned was that phosphorus contained in decaying plant material became soluble during spring thaw and was carried into the waterways as P-tea.

So was zero tillage bad? No, just not good enough.

The same goes for building soil health. Researchers in Ontario observed a few years back that soil organic matter in farm fields wasnt increasing, even in fields that hadnt been tilled in decades. Building the soil has more to do with developing an active and healthy microbial community living below the surface.

It certainly helps if tillage equipment isnt ripping the roof off of those microbial houses several times a year, but perhaps more important is whether other crop rotation and management practices promote a nurturing environment.

Were starting to see more research that promotes the idea of having living roots in the soil for as many months of the year as possible, because to do their jobs, soil organisms need access to the sugars that roots produce.

This is a much different approach from current cropping practices in which farmers grow one crop per year and leave the land fallow for the remaining eight months. Farmers are now being encouraged to consider cover cropping, which entails sowing fields to a soil-feeding crop after harvest.

But aside from making their soil happier, its not a given that farmers will see an economic return from that practice, at least not in the immediate future. In the meantime, they incur annual expenses that detract from their bottom line.

The whole climate-change, greenhouse-gas, carbon-sink milieu further complicates the discussion. There is a general recognition that strategies to address these issues all point to the soil, and in particular farmed soil, playing a role.

However, the science behind understanding precisely how, to what degree and how to track it is emerging at a crawl, compared to the rapidly escalating effects of global climate change.

"Our existing framework for agri-environmental policy is not well aligned with trade-offs among BMPs or the breadth of environmental problems requiring a range of BMPs  instead tending to encourage increased adoption of any and all BMPs," says a policy note produced last month by Agriculture Food Economic Systems analysts Al Mussell and Charles LeLonde.

They say more  much more  research is needed to inform better policies.

While strategies such as the 4R nutrient management program telling farmers to use the right product, at the right time, in the right formulation and with the right method generally make sense, the right answers could well be different for every farm or watershed.

Its not only about finding the right options, it requires empowering farmers with knowledge and encouraging them through policy to make the right decisions.

Laura Rance is vice-president of Content for Glacier FarmMedia. She can be reached at lrance@farmmedia.com
Recently, Samsung released the company's new mid-range phone Galaxy A52. For now, only the LTE model is available in India.

It comes in two configurations--6GB RAM + 128GB storage and 8GB RAM + 128GB storage-- for Rs 26,499 and Rs 27,999, respectively.

As the name suggests, the Galaxy A52 succeeds the popular A51 series and comes with a lot of upgrades in terms of all aspects such as design, build quality, camera, battery and processor.

I have been using it for quite some time and here are my thoughts on Samsung's new phone.

Design, built quality and display

Our review unit is an Awesome Blue model and it truly personifies the variant. Samsung has done a fantastic job with the sleek and slim design of the Galaxy A52. It has a polycarbonate-based shell and the company has incorporated the frosted glass with a matte finish. It looks lovely in the sunlight and an instant eye-turner. The camera module slightly protrudes a bit, but seamlessly blends with the rest of the layout on the back.

The railings around the edge flaunt a light blue shade with a metallic chromium finish and match beautifully with the shell.

Also, it is thin and lightweight. I had no qualms in terms of grip and holding on to the phone without any worry of dropping it.

The Galaxy A52 features a power button and volume rockers placed one above the other on the right side. And on the left side, there are no physical buttons as such.



Samsung Galaxy A52 4G-LTE. Credit: DH Photo/KVN Rohit



At the base, you will find the type-C USB port flanked by the single-grille speaker on the left and the 3.5mm audio jack and microphone to the right.

On top, it features a hybrid SIM slot (nano-SIM 1 + nano-SIM 2 or microSD card) and a microphone.

On the front, the Galaxy A52 flaunts a beautiful 6.5-inch Super AMOLED display. It supports 90Hz display refresh rate, offers peak brightness of up to 800 nits and a pixel density of 407 pixels per inch (ppi). It has an 84.1 per cent screen-to-body ratio.



Samsung Galaxy A52 4G-LTE. Credit: DH Photo/KVN Rohit



I had a wonderful time watching movies, TV series and play games on the new Samsung phone. Also, another plus point of the device is that the maximum brightness is just enough to view content under direct sunlight.

The in-screen fingerprint is really good in terms of response to the finger impression and unlocks the phone with fewer cases of false rejection. It tends to go wrong if you have sweaty fingers.

As far as the build quality is concerned, it comes with the Corning Gorilla Glass 5 shield, which takes of daily wear and tears such as save the screen from scratches by keys and pen in the pocket.

Another advantage of the Galaxy A52 over rival brands in the sub-Rs 30,000 price category is the IP67 rating. The device can sustain water for up to one meter for close to 30 minutes. This comes in handy when the phone gets dropped accidentally in a swimming pool or water splash. Also, it can survive rains.



Performance

The Galaxy A52 houses Qualcomm Snapdragon 720G octa-core CPU backed by Adreno 618 Android 11-based One UI 3.1, 6GB/8GB RAM, 128GB storage, and a 4,500mAh battery with a 25W fast charger.



Samsung Galaxy A52 4G-LTE. Credit: DH Photo/KVN Rohit



The new Samsung phone works fine when doing day-to-day activities such as browsing webs, operating the camera, playing graphics-intense games such as Asphalt 9 series. I didn't face any serious issues such as over-heating, but it does get a bit warm, if you stream multimedia content or play games, or do 4K video recording for long. This is acceptable, as most phones exhibit the same behavior in such conditions.

On Geekbench 5.0 performance testing application, it scored a decent 445 and 1442 points on single-core and multi-core tests, respectively.

Also, it consistently delivered a full day's battery life (active hours - 6:00 am to 10:00 pm) with more than 30-percent juice left before I retired to the bed. The charging is quite fantastic. It takes just 30 minutes to charge from zero to 50 percent in around 30 minutes and a full 100 percent under 90 minutes. Yes, Samsung is offering to charge adaptor with the retail package unlike the Galaxy S20 series, where you have to buy one separately.

Camera



Samsung Galaxy A52 camera sample. Credit: DH Photo/KVN Rohit



The Galaxy A52 LTE comes with quad-camera module-- main 64 MP ( f/1.8, 26mm (wide), 1/1.7-inch, 0.8m, PDAF, OIS: Optical Image Stabilisation) + 12 MP (f/2.2, 123-degree- (ultra-wide angle, 1.12m pixel size) + 5 MP macro sensor (f/2.4) + 5 MP depth sensor (f/2.4) with LED flash. It supports panorama, HDR, 4K at 30fps, full HD (1080p) AT 30/60fps, gyro-EIS (Electric Image stabilisation) for stable videos.



Samsung Galaxy A52 camera sample. Credit: DH Photo/KVN Rohit



Samsung's new mid-range phone takes pretty good pictures. The details are captured beautifully with details. I have to say the colour of the subjects particularly the flowers is a bit warmer than natural.



Samsung Galaxy A52 camera sample. Credit: DH Photo/KVN Rohit



But, I won't complain as the images are gorgeous worthy to be shared on social media platforms. This actually saves a lot of space in the phone, as you need not have to install third-party photography enhancing apps.



Samsung Galaxy A52 camera sample. Credit: DH Photo/KVN Rohit



The Samsung's camera offers wide-angle, wide, zoom (30X), portrait, and several modes. As you can see from the samples posted here, the pictures are captured well. Even the close-up shots came off really well during the review period.



Samsung Galaxy A52 camera sample with wide-angle mode. Credit: DH Photo/KVN Rohit



The only qualm is that the night mode pictures have a bit of grainy, more visible when they are seen on the but on par with rival brands in its class. Also, the photo with max (30X) zoom, the resulting picture is grainy.



Samsung Galaxy A52 camera sample with the night mode on. Credit: DH Photo/KVN Rohit



On the front, it features-- 32 MP wide snapper with (f/2.2), 26mm lens, 1/2.8-inch, 0.8m pixel size. It supports HDR, 4K at 30fps, and 1080p at 30fps.



Samsung Galaxy A52 camera sample. Credit: DH Photo/KVN Rohit



It takes decent selfies and users can make good use of the Beautify tools and filters to enhance the profile pictures.



Samsung Galaxy A52 camera sample. Credit: DH Photo/KVN Rohit



Also, users can utilise the Augmented Reality (AR) Doodle feature to liven up the photography session.



Samsung Galaxy A52 4G-LTE. Credit: DH Photo/KVN Rohit



Final thoughts

Samsung's Galaxy A52 is a pretty solid value-for-money phone. It fares well in three key aspects --excellent display, really good camera, and day.

Also, the design language in terms of the paint job, matte finish, and premium hand-feel impressed me a lot. This makes the Galaxy A52 LTE (2021) stand out among the rival brands.

Get the latest news on new launches, gadget reviews, apps, cybersecurity, and more on personal technology only on DH Tech.
A year ago, performance artist Kristina Wong started a Facebook group called the Auntie Sewing Squad to get people to help sew COVID-19 masks. She's now working on a show that chronicles that experience, titled "Kristina Wong, Sweatshop Overlord." (Jason Armond / Los Angeles Times)

Let me tell you from the get-go that the creator of one of the nation's largest and most diverse grass-roots mask-making efforts did not intend to start a movement, to mobilize the masses, to spend the last year searching out under-resourced communities and commandeering fabric and elastic to give away thousands of COVID-19 face masks.

A year ago March, before she launched a Facebook group called the Auntie Sewing Squad, performance artist and comedian Kristina Wong was like so many of the rest of us at the start of the pandemic. "Grief. Uncertainty. Panic. Anxiety. Doom. Anyone else?" she posted on Facebook.

Suddenly, she was a shut-in, stuck in her Koreatown apartment, watching her life as she'd planned it implode. She'd been about to tour her latest show. But date after date canceled, leaving her out $7,000. In live videos, she mused that this might be a time to clean the house, organize computer files, "turn inward." But that isn't what she did.

Wong turned outward. She offered help to others.

This is a story about how help, once offered, often sparks more help in unexpected ways.

From the beginning of the pandemic, Wong, 42, was conscious of her privilege. She had savings. She had a home and  a self-proclaimed hoarder  ample supplies. She didn't see government stepping up for those who didn't.

As a representative on her neighborhood council, Wong successfully lobbied for a portable toilet and hand-washing station for people living on nearby sidewalks. She brought them tents, quarters for laundry, Tide Pods, socks from her own drawers.

She also had some fabric and some elastic and a Hello Kitty sewing machine, which she used to make sets and props for her shows. So she found a pattern online and made a mask.

Performance artist Kristina Wong at her Hello Kitty sewing machine. (Jason Armond / Los Angeles Times)

And then she took a fateful step that didn't seem like one at the time: She offered on social media, "if you don't mind really messy stitching," to make masks for anyone in need.

Story continues

Within days, she'd been bombarded with asks well beyond what she could fulfill.

In search of helpers, she created the Auntie Sewing Squad, which just celebrated its first anniversary  more than 800 volunteers strong nationwide. Among the aunties, who have ranged in age from 8 to 93, are artists, professors, teachers, homemakers, health professionals, screenwriters.

And in one year, the aunties (and, as Auntie Laura Karlin told me, the uncles and the cousins and the unties  the mostly female squad welcomes all genders) have made and donated more than 300,000 masks to many of the most vulnerable among us.

They have made masks for poor communities of color and masks for those who lack housing. They've made masks for people in jail, sex workers, farmworkers, Native Americans living on reservations, migrants seeking asylum at the border. After George Floyd's death last May, they sent masks for distribution to NAACP offices in Minneapolis and other cities where police have killed unarmed Black people, as well as to groups on the ground at Black Lives Matter protests, to be handed out to protect protesters.

As they've sewn, they've chatted online with one another openly, humorously, sometimes profanely, about their political views. This is not a neutral crew. After a shooter killed six women of Asian descent at spas in Atlanta last month, the group had a vigorous online discussion and then issued a statement condemning "rising anti-Asian hate and violence."

They learned fast that connecting and sharing mattered more than having a budget. What good did cash do, after all, in those early days when basics were nowhere to be found and aunties were cutting up bra straps and fitted bedsheets for elastic? Still, they have gotten a lot of publicity and received donations into the six figures  and they have used those funds not only for mask-making supplies and postage but also to help meet the broader needs of the community groups and organizers they've connected with.

The other day, I spoke to Theresa Hatathlie-Delmar, who grew up in the Navajo Nation and is an organizer for a group called Navajo & Hopi Families COVID-19 Relief. Wong contacted her last summer, and the aunties have since sent her five vanloads of supplies  not just giant rolls of fabric and thread and sewing machines for her people's own mask-making efforts but 3-D printers to make face shields, diapers, detergent and so much more.

"There's this goal to serve people but also to share power, even to help others empower themselves," Hatathlie-Delmar said of the aunties.

Central to the Auntie Sewing Squad is this ethic of mutual aid. They stepped in to fill a void left by the government's failures, Wong said, and ended up acting as a "shadow FEMA." And they've learned a lot in the last year about how much is required to do such work effectively and respectfully.

Before she created her Facebook group, 20 of Wong's first masks went out to the New York City firehouse of Sarinya Srisakul, a fan of Wong's shows who in 2005 became that city's first female Asian American firefighter. But Wong couldn't meet other, equally worthy requests.

"I was thinking, what have I done? This is Sisyphean," she recalled. "I was already having to play God every day, thinking who's going to get this next mask. It's not going to be the out-of-work dog walker who's an actor. But who should it be? These nurses? Those nurses?"

The name she'd chosen for the group, she said, was meant to convey a casual coming together to help fix what she felt sure would be a short-term problem.

At first, she reached out for help to friends she knew were already sewing. Most, like her, were Asian American. Some, like Wong, who grew up in San Francisco, had family members who had worked in the garment industry. Her paternal grandparents had run a laundry that did alterations. It wasn't lost on her that their college-educated granddaughter was now doing the same work they'd done to survive, to help others survive.

Here she was, asking people to turn their living rooms into sweatshops. She began to call herself the group's "Sweatshop Overlord," a tongue-in-cheek title that stuck. But the group took its unpaid labor seriously. Aunties wanted their work to be of value.

So as the number of aunties quickly grew and inexpensive masks became available to buy, the squad determined to shift its mask production away from the front-line workers at places with big budgets to purchase masks, such as hospitals, to historically underserved communities hard hit by the pandemic and lacking the resources to adequately protect themselves.

"All these people were finding us on Instagram and Facebook. But we thought, there have to be communities all over the country where people dont have those access tools," Wong said. "How do we find those people?"

A small group of "Super Aunties" began searching out and forming relationships with community groups and organizers all over the country. The group began asking those requesting masks to be very specific  about what their circumstances were, whom the masks would be going to, how they would be distributed, exactly how many were needed. In the Facebook group, aunties receive notices of the various campaigns and decide which ones they want to help fulfill. They then pledge the number of masks they will produce  and Super Aunties keep track of it all.

Karlin recently ran a 2,000-mask campaign for six organizations supporting farmworkers that was fulfilled in a matter of hours. That's how nimble the network is now.

Karlin does her work for the squad while also serving as founding artistic director of Culver City's Invertigo Dance Theatre and caring for her 16-month-old daughter, Juniper (known as LB, or Lazy Baby, in the group, as in, why isn't that lazy baby sewing masks?). Which brings me to another key element of the Auntie Sewing Squad: care. The aunties' mission isn't intended to add to their pandemic stress.

Not all aunties sew. Some are Care Aunties, who offer support in the form of care packages, Zoom yoga classes, anything to make their fellow aunties feel appreciated. Many aunties send one another spontaneous gifts. Karlin sends out homemade hand salve.

I've spoken to a lot of aunties in recent days. Most have stressed how much the aunties' mutual care has helped them muddle through the pandemic.

Kats Mendoza, who lives in Iowa City and who has made more than 2,000 masks for the group, came to Iowa from the Philippines in her 20s for graduate school and stayed. One of her fellow aunties, she said, sent her Japanese bubblegum that she used to buy at her corner store back home. "Where I live is a predominantly white community, and it's been really lovely to become part of this group with so many women of color, immigrants, the children of immigrants," she told me.

Grace Yoo, a professor of Asian American studies at San Francisco State University, told me that she learned to sew to make masks, and after joining the aunties, started a group to get her students sewing. Among the aunties, because of Wong, there's "lots of laughter because she's hilarious," Yoo said. "We kind of needed some comedy to counter the extreme terror."

Myong Won, 83, stitches masks on her sewing machine. Her daughter, Sunni, says it gives her a sense of purpose. (Sunni Won)

Sunni Won, 59, who came to L.A. from South Korea when she was 10, has been making masks for the aunties' campaigns with her mother, Myong, 83. New in America, her mother did piecework and then ran a sewing factory. She ended up a Disney costume maker. The pandemic was wearing on her mother, Sunni said. Dementia was setting in. She was blue about not being able to travel.

Now Sunni cuts the mask shapes and mails out the finished masks. Her mother works the sewing machine. Together, mother and daughter have produced about 2,500 masks. "It gives her something to do, a purpose," Sunni said of her mother, who's at it eight hours a day.

At Sunni's request, aunties from all over the country have sent Myong postcards to soothe her travel bug. She carries them around and loves looking through them.

A group of strangers came together virtually to make masks, but in the end they made so much more.

Postcards have been sent to Myong Won, 83, from aunties in the Auntie Sewing Squad to cheer her up, since she can't travel during the pandemic. (Sunni Won)

This story originally appeared in Los Angeles Times.
Spanish police said they have arrested 100 members of a gang that ferried hashish and marijuana from Morocco to Spain in high-powered speed boats.
LONDON  For the second year in a row, Easter will be a largely online affair, with socially distanced egg hunts and virtual church services. But there will be one notable difference here in Britain. Domestic chocolate makers, who should be celebrating one of their busiest times of year, are fuming instead, and all of them cite the same cause: Brexit.

Weve lost our entire European trade, said Aneesh Popat, the owner of The Chocolatier, which sells dark chocolate salted caramel water ganache Easter eggs and other treats out of Bedfordshire, about 50 miles north of London. Worse than that, weve lost our reputation, because when we send pallets of chocolate to, say, Germany and it disappears or we cant track it, our customers dont blame the courier. They blame us.

The trade deal struck late last year with the European Union spared Britain from a variety of tariffs that would have inflated the prices of goods that traveled to the mainland. It has not saved British companies from a maddening, unpredictable array of time-consuming, morale-sapping procedures and from stacks of paperwork that have turned exporting to the E.U. into a sort of black-box mystery.

Goods go in and there is no telling when they will come out. Or how much customs duties will cost the recipient. Or even where the goods will ultimately land.
Thiruvananthapuram, April 3 : State Police chief Loknath Behra on Saturday informed that the Kerala Police is fully geared to provide all the security on April 6, the polling day and has posted 59,292 police officials for duty.

"481 police stations in the state have been divided into 142 sub-divisions and are under the direct control of the 14 district police chiefs. Of the 59,292 police officials, it includes 24,788 special police officers and comprises 258 deputy superintendents of police, 784 inspectors and 4,405 sub inspectors," said Behra.

Apart from the Kerala Police officials, there are 140 companies of CISF, CRPF and BSF officials and this is the biggest deployment of central forces in any election in the state.

The polling booths are located at 13,830 places and it will have 1,694 patrolling teams and this team can reach any polling booth if a need arises in a matter of 10 minutes.

"Each team will have a videographer besides drones which would be put into service, especially in interior places. It has also been decided to give police protection to polling agents and those who desire can get in touch with their respective police stations. There will be a 24 hour control room at the state police headquarters," said Behra.

In a related development, the Chief Electoral Officer informed the Kerala High Court that total security has been provided at the entry points in Idukki district bordering Tamil Nadu to monitor people who are entering the state on the April 5 and 6.

The officer informed the court after three Congress-led UDF candidates in Idukki came with a petition that it's common practice for people who live in the border areas to vote in Tamil Nadu and Kerala and such things should not happen.

Incidentally Kerala and Tamil Nadu go to polls on April 6.
She and her boxer husband Tyson Fury are set to welcome their sixth child in the summer.

And Paris Fury celebrated the halfway milestone as she revealed she has passed the 20-week mark in an Instagram post on Saturday.

The blonde beauty, 31, went barefoot as she wore a plunging black halterneck dress that cinched in at the waist and floated over her blossoming baby bump.

Glowing: Paris Fury went barefoot in a plunging black halterneck dress as she celebrated the halfway milestone, revealing she is 20-weeks along in an Instagram post on Saturday

Paris, who recently confirmed she is expecting a baby girl, was all dressed up for the snap as she posed with one toe pointed out in front of her.

She wore a full face of make-up, complete with a red lip and let her blonde tresses fall down to one side in voluminous curls.

The blogger cradled her bump with one hand and leaned on the banister rail with the other.

Speeding along: The blonde beauty, 31, who recently confirmed she is expecting a baby girl, said her sixth pregnancy has gone 'fast' as she has been so busy

In her caption, Paris revealed that she was '20 weeks along' in her pregnancy with baby number six and said it has gone 'fast' as she has been so busy.

She wrote: '20 weeks along now... with baby No6...

'Gone fast so far, but have been so busy with my book coming out in Oct @hodderbooks , @loosewomen show, full time Mam duties during lockdown and our daily businesses commitments. Definitely been kept on my toes.' (sic)

It's a girl! Last month, the mother-of-five revealed the gender of her baby after having a celebration with her family at their abode

Last month, the blonde revealed the gender of her baby after having a celebration with her family at their abode.

The mother-of-five took to Instagram to share the news as she uploaded an image of the sportsman, 32, and their children covered in pink confetti.

Captioning the heart-warming image, Paris wrote: 'Its a girl... We are due another little princess, god willing come summer we will have 3 girls and 3 boys. So blessed.'

They are already parents to Venezuela, 11, Prince John James, eight, Prince Tyson II, four, Valencia, three, and Prince Adonis Amaziah, two.

Big family: Tyson and Paris are already parents to Venezuela, 11, Prince John James, eight, Prince Tyson II, four, Valencia, three, and Prince Adonis Amaziah, two

Meanwhile, Tyson - also known as the Gypsy King - looked in tip-top shape ahead of his hotly-anticipated heavyweight bout with Anthony Joshua.

The two British fighters have been in negotiations for months over the 200milllion blockbuster fight that is set to unify the world's heavyweight division.

Fury and AJ have now both signed on the dotted line for the first of their two heavyweight world title fights, with just a date and location needed to be settled.

The fight is slated for the summer time with Fury's promoters keen to avoid any further delays due to his already one-year hiatus from the ring.

Let's go! Meanwhile, Tyson and Anthony Joshua (pictured in 2019) have now both signed on the dotted line for their hotly-anticipated heavyweight fight

Those negotiations had been detailed, with issues such as whose name appeared first on the billing and who would walk to the ring first holding up an agreement.

Fury sparked some concerns that he might have ballooned up in weight before the biggest fight of his career when he claimed to be drinking up to 12 pints a day.

But that was either intended to bluff Joshua or Fury has completed a drastic transformation in a matter of weeks as he looks trimmed down and in supreme fighting condition in a picture posted by BT Sport's Twitter account.
Hands up if an evening of chocolate and wine sounds like heaven? Despite it being a relatively tricky pairing, its one that many wine drinkers get all dreamy about. Never mind that wine-pairing rules warn that chocolate can strip the fruit, body, sweetness and richness out of red wines, and accentuate acidity, bitterness, astringent tannins and alcohol burn: Ive met so many regular indulgers that there must be something in it. Besides, one of my personal favourite drops of red wine is the one I have post-espresso after a great restaurant meal, especially when Ive ordered the espresso with a dance floor in mind.

My coffee-spiked palate is doing that red wine no favours  and yet, I associate the resulting riot of flavour with that gorgeous cusp of purring-satisfaction-meets-more-fun-to-come. After all, memory and emotions are key to our experience of flavour; and while the chemistry behind flavour formation can be measured objectively, its effect on our palates is subjective and dependent on individual perception. So, each to their own.

Weve a while to go before were skipping from restaurants to dance floors again, but the next week or two should offer plenty of opportunities to indulge in a spot of chocolate and booze pairing. If red wine is your thing, then Im not here to suggest otherwise  although you might consider a sweeter red wine than usual, perhaps oak-aged for mocha and vanilla richness.

The likes of Californian Zinfandel or Merlot (or a blend like Menage a Trois, 17.75, Mitchell & Son), an Argentinean blockbuster like Finca Las Morass Dada blends (such as Dada No.8 Chocolat, 9, Tesco), or a concentrated Valpolicella Ripasso (Aldi Specially Selected Castellore Ripasso, 9.99) have no shortage of concentrated sweetness to handle chocolate pairings. Counter-intuitively, pairing sweet with sweet keeps both in check, hence dessert wines that might feel cloying if sipped solo can really shine with the right dessert. Balance is key: airy milk-chocolate mousse works with vibrant, amber dessert wines like the floral Torres Floralis Moscatel Oro (15, 50cl, SuperValu), while the rich, dark fruits of red dessert wines make them classic matches for richer chocolate desserts. Look for Banyuls, Maury or Recioto della Valpolicella Classico, such as Accordini Acinatico (33.45, 37.5cl, winesdirect.ie) or Tedeschi Capitel Fontana, recommended here. Try tawny ports like Warre Otima 10 (32, drinkstore.ie) with medium-sweet chocolate with candied ginger or orange, and ruby port like Smith Woodhouse (16.95, OBriens) with rum n raisin-style chocolate, while a good LBV (late bottled vintage) port from Niepoort, Ramos Pinto, Quinta do Noval or Offley can handle higher cacao content thanks to higher tannins and complex intensity. And dont forget whiskey, stout and even champagne, each of which bring their own unique flair to the right chocolate pairing. Wine of the week Expand Close Ayala Rose Majeur Champagne N/V / Facebook

Twitter

Email

Whatsapp Ayala Rose Majeur Champagne N/V Ayala Rose Majeur Champagne N/V

64, 12pc; Deveneys Dundrum, Bradleys, thenudewineco.ie

This Chardonnay-led rose dassemblage champagne (blended with 5pc still red wine from Ay Grand Cru Pinot Noir) balances fragrant notes of violet, redcurrant and creamy rhubarb fool with a vitality typical of this sister house to Bollinger. Pair with Gra Chocolates Apple of my Pie (blond chocolate, apple pate de fruit, biscuit, sea salt) to elevate chocolatier Grainne Mullins vivacious creation to truly sensational heights. Expand Close Trouble Brewing Voodoo Logic 2021 Imperial Maple Stout / Facebook

Twitter

Email

Whatsapp Trouble Brewing Voodoo Logic 2021 Imperial Maple Stout Trouble Brewing Voodoo Logic 2021 Imperial Maple Stout

5.99, 44cl, 10pc

With a bittersweet dark-roast mocha bite softened by maples curves, this rich sipping stout is a match for intense dark chocolate or decadent chocolate fudge cake. Expand Close Teeling Brabazon Series Four / Facebook

Twitter

Email

Whatsapp Teeling Brabazon Series Four Teeling Brabazon Series Four

95, 49.5pc, teelingdistillery.com

A limited-edition 13-year-old single malt, aged in port barrels and finished in Carcavelos (white port) barrels from outside Lisbon, pair with noisette chocolate to bring out its honeyed nougat notes, or chocolate orange for its citrus sass. Expand Close Niepoort Late Bottled Vintage, Porto / Facebook

Twitter

Email

Whatsapp Niepoort Late Bottled Vintage, Porto Niepoort Late Bottled Vintage, Porto

26.50, 75cl, 19.5pc; clontarfwines.ie

LBVs tannic grip can handle the bittersweet notes of dark chocolate (think 70pc cacao), while its spiced forest-fruit notes and spirit-driven finish suggest pairing with boozy black forest gateaux. Expand Close Pellegrino Passito di Pantelleria DOC 2017, Italy / Facebook

Twitter

Email

Whatsapp Pellegrino Passito di Pantelleria DOC 2017, Italy Pellegrino Passito di Pantelleria DOC 2017, Italy

21.95, 50cl, 14.5pc, mitchellandson.com

From a tiny volcanic island halfway between Sicily and Tunisia, this fortified Zibbibo (Muscat of Alexandria) wine sings with complex notes of dried mango and apricot, honey and marmalade. Magic with white chocolate with almonds, or milk chocolate with nuts or tangy fruits.
Armenia ex-President Kocharyan: There was proposal from Azerbaijans Aliyev on Meghri issue

CIS Observation Mission continues to monitor snap parliamentary elections in Armenia

Armenian analyst: High-ranking US delegation's visit to Armenia can't be viewed as support to incumbent authorities

"Armenia" bloc: Things can't get any worse in the country from the perspective of censure

Edmon Marukyan calls on people to vote for Bright Armenia Party to establish unity in the country

Armenia Ararat Province deputy governor sacked

Russian Ambassador says Russia makes significant contributions to ensuring of Armenia's security

Azerbaijan reports 3 deaths from mine explosion in Karvachar

Sarkissian to Nigmatulin: Armenia, Kazakhstan have lot in common

ECHR fails to accept Azerbaijan's application against Armenia Government as new and separate case

Head of Armenia's Verin Shorzha: Azerbaijanis operating equipment to move from one military post to the other

President welcomes Catholicos of All Armenians who has arrived in Artsakh

Armenia PM chief of staff: Possibility of full-scale war still exists in region

Two Azerbaijan reporters die in landmine explosion in Artsakhs Karvachar

Downtown Yerevan murder solved, murder suspect is foreigner

Armenia former President Kocharyan: These authorities really have nothing to say

Armenia parliament holding 2nd special session in one day

Armenia ruling party MP unexpectedly admits that member candidate for anti-corruption commission is his wife

Armenia MFA: Azerbaijan instrumentalizes captured people as political hostages, tools to pursue other goals

Armenia 2nd President Kocharyan: These authorities have not kept any of their promises in 3 years

UN Security Council will make a recommendation on the next Secretary-General on June 8

Armenia ombudsman: Water resources have come under Azerbaijan army control

US lawmakers call for Turkey to be held accountable for repeated religious freedom violations

72 new cases of COVID-19 confirmed in Armenia

Armenia ex-President Kocharyan: Candidate for post of Head of State must undergo psychiatric evaluation

Armenia legislature continues special sitting

Israel defense minister changes tone over Iran nuclear deal during US visit

Armenia parliament to convene 2 special sessions Friday

University of Nevada new School of Medicine to be named after Kirk Kerkorian

World food prices reach highest level in 10 years

Newspaper: Armenia ruling party to hold fundraiser Saturday

Newspaper: Russia does not manifest very active efforts in trilateral talks with Armenia, Azerbaijan

US to donate 25mn doses of coronavirus vaccine

Armenia is elected UN World Tourism Organization Executive Council member for period of 2021-2025

Armenia 2nd President meets with leaders and officers of Police, MOD and National Security Service of various years

Opposition "Armenia" bloc's representative: Incumbent authorities' mistakes are irreversible

Armenia ombudsman: Any persecution, trial of captives is gross violation of international law

Europe sees progress in latest rounds of Iran nuclear talks

Armenian analyst: Turkey wants to push Russia out of the South Caucasus

Young Armenian says brawl with Azerbaijanis in front of Azerbaijan Embassy in Moscow might have been organized

Catholicos of All Armenians leaves for Armenia's Syunik Province and Artsakh on pontifical visit

Armenian and Russian Prosecutors General meet in St. Petersburg

Armenian acting minister: EU allocated EUR 68,700,000 to Armenia for budget support in 2020

Armenia Finance Ministry: MFA's budget grew by AMD 1,600,000,000 in 2020

Bodies and remains of Armenian soldiers are kept in morgue in Armenia's Martuni

White House confirms Biden-Erdogan meeting in Brussels

Armenia acting MOD touches upon priority directions for development of Armed Forces

Diaspora Armenian writer, publicist Toros Toranian dies

2 Armenian soldiers injured in scuffle with Azerbaijan, Armenian POW is hospitalized, Jun. 3 digest

Wedding held in Armenia's Shurnukh for first time since the war ended

EEU member states to finish preparing for negotiations over free trade zone in Iran in late June

Armenia Central Bank: Economic downfall in 2020 was due to decline in service and construction sectors

Armenia legislature adopts several bills in first reading

Armenia President meets with Nursultan Nazarbayev

Dejavu: Armenia ruling party distributes money for votes at Yerevan district election office

Chief Advisor to Karabakh President sacked

Russian MFA: Works are carried out to settle situation around Karabakh every day

Armenia opposition MP sounds alarm about Baku fabricating criminal cases against Armenian prisoners

Armenia acting health minister: I have apologized, I am not going to resign

Helga Schmid meets with OSCE Minsk Group Co-Chairs

Armenia's deputy foreign ministers resigned or have heavy workload?

Dollar goes down in Armenia

Armenia Elections Oversight Committee reports Iranian citizenship of ruling party's MP candidate

Acting deputy minister: Only 17 of 711 Iran-Armenia power transmission line towers were installed by 2017

Armenia Parliament Council holding session

Armenia to host CSTO "Thunder-2021" military exercises

NYT: Chinese hackers launch cyberattack on New York city transportation authority

Armenia President to Kazakhstan counterpart: I would like to see much deeper cooperation between our countries

Armenia citizens shut down Etchmiadzin-Ashtarak road, complaining about lack of irrigation water

Armenia independent MP: Foreign minister and his deputies don't want to take part in treacherous acts

Armenia to get $11mn loan, 350,000 grant for agriculture

WHO worries about worsening mental health worldwide amid pandemic

Armenia health ministry on improper handling of Artsakh war victims bodies: There is no justification

Armenia bloc election foundation already in operation

Russia ambassador to Armenia paying working visit to Syunik Province (PHOTOS)

China pledges to step up resistance to foreign interference in Hong Kong

Armenia ex-President Sargsyan: There can be no talk of corridor for Azerbaijan

Armenia 2nd President Kocharyan on incumbent authorities: Wherever they flee, we will bring them by the feet

President: Impossible to ensure peace in region or stay in Artsakh without Russia army joint efforts

China Daily: Dispatch from Makit: Thriving in the desert

Karabakh President: We will never put up with being part of Azerbaijan, it is ruled out

Armenia MFA information department chief: All deputy FMs carrying out their duties

Ardshinbank invited children to the cinema on International Childrens Day

Armenia judiciary to have 10 more judges

Armenia acting premier: We had recorded 40% increase in tax revenues according to 2019 results

Armenia acting PM on Artsakh war casualties bodies: We have 50 remains in which case DNA was not separated

Azerbaijan authorities plan to "squeeze" everything from "terrorist show" related to Armenian captives

Ameriabank announces a contest for bank card design

108 new cases of COVID-19 confirmed in Armenia

Armenia parliament convenes special session

Armenia interim government holding Cabinet meeting

Catholicos of All Armenians heads for Syunik Province, Artsakh

World oil prices going up

Iran loses right to vote in UN General Assembly

Newspaper: Armenia authorities come up with new way of punishing unwanted characters

Newspaper: Russia army Southern Military District deputy commander to arrive in Yerevan Thursday

Lebanese Armenian man taken prisoner by Azerbaijan is hospitalized

Armenia ex-President Kocharyan: Are we getting under the burden? Then lets get under to the end

Armenia acting health minister on keeping fallen soldiers bodies in bags: What else should they be kept in?

Armenia acting health minister on citizens' demand for her resignation
Realme has already debuted its Buds Air 2 - now, their Neo variants have also been revealed. Like their immediate forebears, they feature active noise cancellation (ANC) and 10mm drivers; however, they also have a different form-factor, as well as slightly different battery life specs.

4 Reviews , News , CPU , GPU , Articles , Columns , Other "or" search relation. 5G , Accessory , Alder Lake , AMD , Android , Apple , ARM , Audio , Business , Camera , Cannon Lake , Cezanne (Zen 3) , Charts , Chinese Tech , Chromebook , Coffee Lake , Comet Lake , Console , Convertible / 2-in-1 , Cryptocurrency , Cyberlaw , Deal , Desktop , Exclusive , Fail , Foldable , Gadget , Galaxy Note , Galaxy S , Gamecheck , Gaming , Geforce , Google Pixel , GPU , How To , Ice Lake , Intel Evo / Project Athena , Internet of Things (IoT) , iOS , iPad Pro , iPhone , Jasper Lake , Lakefield , Laptop , Launch , Linux / Unix , Lucienne (Zen 2) , MacBook , Mini PC , Monitor , MSI , OnePlus , Opinion , Phablet , Radeon , Renoir , Review Snippet , Rocket Lake , Rumor , Ryzen (Zen) , Science , Security , Smart Home , Smartphone , Smartwatch , Software , Storage , Tablet , ThinkPad , Thunderbolt , Tiger Lake , Touchscreen , Ultrabook , Virtual Reality (VR) / Augmented Reality (AR) , Wearable , Windows , Workstation , XPS , Zen 3 (Vermeer) Ticker

Update: The Buds Air 2 Neo will officially be announced on April 7, 2021

Realme has apparently had its fun with its April 1, 2021 shenanigans; now, it is back to teasing more realistic products. It has announced that, not only will its latest Buds Air 2 launch in Pakistan soon, they will be joined by their heretofore unheard-of Neo versions.

The new members of this Realme TWS earbud sub-series are now touted as having the highest-end of the Buds Air 2's features, principally ANC. They both also have 10mm drivers; however, while those of the original release are hyped as "diamond class", the Neos get ones that boost bass instead.

The OEM estimates their total battery life at 28 hours, whereas that of the second-gen Buds Air is set at 25. Then again, the company has made no mention of additional features such as improved latency or a Transparency mode as yet.

The more recent buds also resemble Galaxy Buds (albeit ones with fancy iridescent accents that match those of the GT Neo and 8-series smartphones) whereas the Buds Air 2s are AirPod clones. Therefore, their new line might appeal to a wide range of TWS fans. Realme has yet to reveal when they will be available in their first market to date.

Buy some Realme Buds Q on Amazon
The National Aeronautics and Space Administration (NASA) Perseverance rover recently spotted a peculiar holey rock that bears a resemblance to meteorites, said the US space agency on April 1. The Perseverance team tweeted on Thursday that the scientists have not yet determined exactly what the rock is as of now but called it an odd one. The rock is nearly 6 inches long and told its followers, probably interested in knowing more about Mars to locate a row of laser where the robotic explorer zapped it.

NASAs Perseverance rover is equipped with a rock-zapping laser designed to help the robot collect the data on Mars geology. The United States space agency also released the laser in action as heard by a microphone. While sharing the audio earlier this month, NASA wrote, Variations in the intensity of the zapping sounds will provide information on the physical structure of the targets, such as its relative hardness or the presence of weathering coatings.

While the helicopter is getting ready, I cant help checking out nearby rocks. This odd one has my science team trading lots of hypotheses.



Its about 6 inches (15 cm) long. If you look closely, you might spot the row of laser marks where I zapped it to learn more. pic.twitter.com/sq4ecvqsOu  NASA's Perseverance Mars Rover (@NASAPersevere) March 31, 2021

Among some of the speculations about the rock recently discovered, scientists believe it might be a weathered piece of bedrock, a little chunk of Mars among other possibilities. The historic Perseverance rover that landed on Mars on February 18, 2021, is currently studying a region of Mars called Jezero Crater and the robotic explorer is set to provide answers to several questions about the Red Planet while also searching for signs of past microbial life.

Since the previous rovers on Mars have collected evidence of water along with the chemical building blocks of life, Perseverance will provide more in-depth knowledge as scientists think it might be possible that life existed on Mars a long time ago.

Ancient Crater Lake Discovered On Mars

An ancient crater lake in the southern highlands of Mars appears to have been created due to glacier runoff, claimed researchers on March 30 indicating that the Martian Planet could have a cold and icy past. The Researchers at Brown University said in a statement that they have discovered a never-known-before type of ancient crater lake on the Red planet that could give scientists insight into the mysterious past of the planet and its early climate. The latest study on Mars ancient crater has been published in Planetary Science Journal and is led by Brown Universitys Ph.D. student Ben Boatwright.

Image credits: @NASA/NASAPersevere-Twitter
Source: Xinhua| 2021-04-03 01:27:22|Editor: huaxia

Video Player Close

BEIRUT, April 2 (Xinhua) -- Sitting in her wheelchair with a cheerful look, Janet Saad, a Lebanese woman, spends hours every day making and decorating holiday candles for various religious and social occasions.

Saad is among a group of young people with physical disabilities who work at a candle workshop that belongs to the Forum for People with Disabilities in Zahle, the largest city in Lebanon's Bekaa Governorate.

Moving in her wheelchair, she told Xinhua that the economic situation in Lebanon and the measures adopted to prevent the spread of COVID-19 affected the operation of the workshop.

"The workshop used to be filled with visiting families weeks before the Easter holiday," she said.

But nowadays, the workshop is not selling many candles as the demand has dropped sharply from 2,000 to merely 125 during this year's Easter holiday in the city, Saad lamented.

Philip Khoury, a citizen in his 70s who was paralyzed in an unfortunate accident, said the workshop contributes to securing a limited income for dozens of people with special needs in Bekaa.

Khoury told Xinhua that the workshop's operations dropped by 80 percent in the light of the economic deterioration, the collapse of the local currency and the outbreak of the COVID-19 pandemic, but employees have continued working at a slower pace, in the hopes of an immediate improvement in the situation.

Maha Obaid, a supervisor at the workshop, confirmed that productivity at the workshop this year and last year dropped by 75 percent to 80 percent compared with 2019 and previous years, given the deterioration of living conditions and COVID-19 restrictions that banned gatherings during religious events.

She said the collapse of the Lebanese pound led to a 10-time rise in the price of one kg of raw wax, prompting the workshop to sell its products at almost cost price.

Antoine Abdo, a member of the Forum for People with Disabilities, explains that the workshop was built on a plot of land donated by the Zahle municipality, while the construction was funded through donations from local and international associations, charities and Lebanese expatriates.

Christine Risha, an official of the Ministry of Social Affairs in Zahle, told Xinhua that the Forum's workshop receives regular financial aid from the ministry, but the support was delayed in the past two years amid worsening economic conditions.

The latest statistics released by the Ministry of Social Affairs show that the number of people with special needs in Lebanon stands at more than 120,000. Enditem
Christians will on Sunday, April 4, commemorate Easter Sunday, also called Pascha or Resurrection Sunday to mark the resurrection of Jesus Christ.



The New Testament reveals that, the resurrection Sunday occurred on the third day after His burial, following His crucifixion on Good Friday by the Romans at Calvary.



It is said that believers celebrate Jesus Christs defeat of death through His resurrection creating hope of salvation for humanity.



According to the Christian tradition, the death of Jesus Christ paid for the sins of humanity, while His resurrection symbolised believers anticipation of having their own resurrection.



Many Christians across the globe celebrate the day with special church services, candle light and ringing church bells.



The GNA gathered that in Philippines and Spain for instance, processions are held on this day.



In Ghana too, some believers hold processions Sunday dawn, sometimes through cemeteries searching for the risen Christ.



In the gospel, Mary Magdalene visited the tomb, where Jesus was buried and found it empty.



However, an angel told her that, Jesus had risen.



For this reason, Christians have celebrated his resurrection for centuries.



Ahead of the festivities, the Christian Council had asked Christians to mark the Day with strict adherence to the safety protocols.



Follow strictly the safety protocols, especially wearing of nose mask, social distancing and use of hand sanitizers, Reverend Dr Paul Kwabena Boafo, the Chairman of the Council, said in an interview with the Ghana News Agency.



Though this years celebration is restrained due to covid-19 pandemic, churches are expected to hold services, many, virtually.

Source: GNA









Disclaimer : Opinions expressed here are those of the writers and do not reflect those of Peacefmonline.com. Peacefmonline.com accepts no responsibility legal or otherwise for their accuracy of content. Please report any inappropriate content to us, and we will evaluate it as a matter of priority.

Featured Video
A popular restaurant has come under fire after a staff member wrote 'two very annoying Asians' on a receipt to describe a young couple dining at the eatery.

The docket was posted on social media this week after the customers ordered a chicken croissant and fish cocktails at the venue in the heart of Brisbane's CBD.

In the Snapchat post showing the receipt, a manager of the restaurant responded with 'OMG I love my staff', followed by series of laughing emojis.

When quizzed by furious staff members about the description of the customers, the man, believed to be the restaurant joint owner, told them to 'get a grip' and that 'it was just a joke'.

The snapchat refers to two customers to a Brisbane restaurant as 'two very annoying Asians'

Staff members called out the manager, who responded by saying 'give it a rest'

He then told the staff worker to 'get a grip' and that is was 'just a joke'

A staff member responded by telling the manager the conduct was 'unprofessional and inappropriate' and that it was his 'job to call out behaviour like that'.

The restaurant manager told Daily Mail Australia he regretted his actions.

'I personally wish to apologise for the offence and hurt caused,' he said.

'I've been a business owner in the area for more than six years, personally and professionally invested in diversity.

'I'm deeply disappointed and embarrassed at my actions as they go against everything I pride myself on.

'Internally, my team and I will do better to ensure we uphold the diversity and inclusivity that is at our core.'

It comes after another Brisbane restaurant was accused of racism after releasing a takeaway menu offering a 'Wuhan burger' and 'bat wings'.

Japanese eatery Nobunaga Yakitori launched the menu after the Queensland government had banned dine-in service to slow the spread of the coronavirus at the time.

The 'virus-free menu' was slammed by some customers, who accused the restaurant of being racist for making light of the supposed Chinese origin of the deadly pandemic.

Brisbane Japanese restaurant Nobunaga Yakitori came under fire in 2020 after releasing a takeaway menu offering a 'Wuhan burger' and 'bat wings' - it was at the height of the pandemic, which China was accused of starting after a man ate bat soup at a market

The controversial menu featured a $16 'Wuhan Burger' with 'flame grilled bat' - which is actually chicken - with wasabi mayo, lettuce and avocado.

It also featured 'bat wings' - which are actually chicken wings' - with 'China Sea salt' for $6 a piece.

Coronavirus is believed to have originated from Wuhan, the capital city of Hubei in China, after a person ate bat soup at a wholesale animal market.

When he was accused of being insensitive, the owner of the Brisbane restaurant declared 'it was an attempt to add humour' in what was a challenging and unprecedented time for many.
Shahanshahpur (UP):

Prime Minister Narendra Modi on Saturday lashed out at his political rivals, saying for the BJP, politics was not for the sake of votes as it considered the countrys development as the top-most priority.

Some politicians work only when it fetches them votes. But we have been brought up in a different culture. For us, the nation is above all and it is our top-most priority, not votes, he said.

Modi was addressing a public meeting after inaugurating the first Pashu Arogya Mela (cattle health fair) here on the second day of his two-day visit to his Lok Sabha constituency of Varanasi.

Stressing that his governments prime agenda was development, he said Governance is not about politics or winning elections. The priority is the well-being of the nation.

Our (BJP) politics is not for votes, our culture is different. In politics, people do only that task which yields votes, but our character is different, Modi said.

Referring to the mega animal fair spread over 1800 acres of land here, he said these animals dont go to cast their ballot. They are not anyones voters.

He said that by 2022, when the country celebrates 75th year of Independence, every poor, whether in urban or rural area, will get a home.

Modi, who also distributed Pradhan Mantri Awas Yojana certificates to some beneficiaries, said, When crores of houses are built across the country, it will require bricks, cement, iron and wood. It will generate jobs for thousands and open up new avenues of income and employment.

If Modi will not take up such an arduous task, who else will, he posed, noting that crores of families were still homeless.

The Prime Minister also promised to double farm income by 2022 as he congratulated UP Chief Minister Yogi Adityanath for organising the Pashudhan Arogya Mela, which he said will benefit the farmers across the state.

Doubling of farmers income is an area in which significant work is being done, he said and added, Let us build on the strides we have made in the dairy sector. Cooperatives can help in this regard as they have in other parts of the nation.

Modi said proper healthcare of the cattle through such initiatives would help increase milk production in India which is lower than in several countries.

Encouraging farmers to adopt dairy farming and animal husbandry as alternative sources of income, he said such initiatives would lead to a new path of progress that would not only raise farmers income but also the overall national income.

On corruption, Modi said his government had waged a war against black money and graft, for which the poor has had to suffer because of the loot by the dishonest.

He also targeted the erstwhile Samajwadi Party government in Uttar Pradesh for not providing to the Centre the list of homeless requiring houses in the state.

The previous government had no interest in giving homes to the poor. After mounting pressure, they gave a list of only 10,000. But the current (Yogi Adityanath) government has given a list of lakhs of people to avail benefit, he said.

Modi said his government has waged a war against blackmoney, corruption and dishonesty.

A common honest man suffers as the corrupt used to loot him. The campaign for honesty is now moving forward like a festival. The way in which our trader brothers are associating with GST and Aadhar, every penny of the people will be spent for their welfare. We are moving forward fast, he said.

Earlier, Modi laid the foundation stone for toilet units at the village under his pet Swachha Bharat Abhiyaan project.

Reiterating his Clean India message, Modi said he was happy to have got the opportunity to help in construction of toilets for the poor. Swachhata is puja (cleanliness is worship for me). It can save my countrymem from diseases. Cleanliness is a way to serve the poor of India.

Noting that cleanliness was everyones responsibility, he said because of the mentality that someone will spread garbage and others will clean it, we have not made India as clean as it should have been. It is not just to make our villages look good but also for the sake of health.

Referring to his governments cleanliness drive, he quoted a survey and said toilets at home can save up to Rs 50,000 per annum if hygenic practices are adopted.

Praising the people of the village where he laid the foundation of a toilet for naming it as Izzatghar (the home of honour), Modi said I liked this word so much. Where there is Izzatghar, there is honour of our mothers and sisters. I also congratulate the state government for recognising it as Izzatghar. In the days to come, those who are concerned about their honour, will construct more Izzatghar.

The Prime Minister also lauded the Chief Minister for organising health treatment for cattle and said ailing animals have been brought here from different parts to be treated by specialist doctors and hoped that such programmes would be held across the state more often.

He said such fairs and camps would also help poor farmers who cannot afford treatment to their animal due to poverty.

Earlier, he went around the animal shelter (gau shala), spoke to the staff and even patted some cows there. Modi also interacted with children and patted a little girl, who was apparently awestruck over what was going on.

The Prime Minister also said that in Kashi (Varanasi) he had saved crores of rupees by using LED bulbs in homes and street lights. This money can be used on development.

He said many new projects have been launched for cleanliness in Varanasi, including a Rs 600-crore sewer treatment plant and a unit to generate power from garbage.

On the first day of his visit, Modi inaugurated 17 infra projects worth over Rs 1000 crore including the Ramnagar-Samne Ghat bridge and the Balua Ghat bridge.

He also flagged off the third Mahamana Express train between Varanasi, his constituency, and Vadodara in Gujarat, his home state.

As he dedicated schemes to his Lok Sabha constituency, he remarked that unlike previous governments who were driven by political calculations, this government not only launches but completes its projects.

For all the Latest India News, Download News Nation Android and iOS Mobile Apps.
The Victorian government is urging people to keep getting their coronavirus vaccination shots as investigations continue into a case where a man developed a rare blood clotting condition after receiving the AstraZeneca vaccine.

Disability and Ageing Minister Luke Donnellan said on Saturday that the government would take advice from the Therapeutic Goods Administration (TGA) about the safety of all vaccines noting there was no proven direct link between the vaccine shot and the case of the 44-year-old Melbourne man who developed the clots.

The TGA was expected to make a statement later on Saturday following a meeting in the morning.

In terms of the direct link that is something that needs to be looked at ... but we will continue to roll out the vaccine because its just so important, Mr Donnellan said.
Raipur, April 3 : Two Central Reserve Police Force (CRPF) personnel along with three state policemen were killed on Saturday during a gun battle with Maoists in Chhattisgarh's Bijapur district. A total of 20 security forces suffered injuries in the incident.

It was a joint anti-Maoist operation conducted by CRPF's elite unit CoBRA (Commando Battalion for Resolute Action), the District Reserve Guard (DRG) and the Special Task Force (STF) in the Tarrem area in which the shootout began at noon, the CRPF said.

The operation is still on and some Maoists are also suspected to be killed during the exchange of fire.

"Two CRPF personnel and three state police personnel lost their lives during the CASO (Cordon and Search Operation) conducted by a joint team of security forces that included the CRPF, and Chhattisgarh's DRG and STF teams," CRPF IG C.G. Arora told IANS.

The officer said that around 20 security personnel were injured in the operation.

On March 23, five personnel of the District Reserve Guard (DRG) were killed and several injured in an IED blast-- the first major Maoist attack in Chhattisgarh this year -- in what the police said was a Maoist strike targeting a bus carrying more than 20 security personnel.

The security personnel were travelling as part of a Maoist operation in the dense Abujhmad forests when the blast occurred at around 4.15 p.m., on the Kanhargaon-Kadenar road.

Meanwhile, five Maoists, one of them allegedly involved in the killing of four policemen after abducting them in 2015, were arrested last month from two places in Chhattisgarh's Bijapur district.
New Delhi, April 3 : A day before the end of campaigning for the third phase of assembly polls, the BJP on Saturday took a dig on Congress leader Rahul Gandhi's absence from hectic campaigning and said success doesn't come easily.

The saffron party pointed out that on the one hand Prime Minister Narendra Modi, Union Home Minister Amit Shah, BJP Chief J.P. Nadda are campaigning hard across the poll bound states, the former Congress president is busy talking to academicians.

On Saturday, West Bengal BJP co-incharge Amit Malviya tweeted, "At a time when the Prime Minister, National President, Home Minister and other senior leaders of the BJP are campaigning across poll bound states, Rahul Gandhi is busy doing video calls with professors in the US and making puerile statements. After losing, he will crib about lack of democracy and blame the people." Around midnight, BJP National General Secretary (Organisation) B.L. Santhosh tweeted, "Today Prime Minister (PM) Narendra Modi is in Tamil Nadu and Kerala, National President (NP) J.P. Nadda in Assam, Home Minister (HM) Amit Shah in West Bengal. Tomorrow PM in West Bengal, NP in Tamil Nadu, HM in Tamil Nadu and Kerala. Success doesn't come easily." BJP National General Secretary and Tamil Nadu in-charge, C.T. Ravi said, "on one hand, an 88-year old Metro Man E. Sreedharan is working towards building a New India under PM Modi, but a 50 years young forever PM aspirant Rahul Gandhi is busy damaging the India's image across the Globe. Let this sink in." on Saturday, Prime Minister Modi will be addressing three public meetings, one in Assam and two in West Bengal. Shah is holding two roadshows, one each in Tamil Nadu and Kerala. He is also addressing three public meetings, one in Tamil Nadu and two in Kerala. BJP chief Nadda is addressing two public meetings and one roadshow in Tamil Nadu.

-- The story has been published from a wire feed without any modifications to the text
More than 100 employees of regional departments of the State Customs Service of Ukraine, including 17 heads of customs offices and customs posts were suspended from their duties after a meeting of the National Security and Defense Council (NSDC) of Ukraine, the press service of the State Customs Service has reported.

"Now, in addition to personal sanctions against a circle of persons whose activities are associated with smuggling, measures are being taken against customs officials who may be involved in corrupt practices. As of today, the employees have been suspended from their duties in the following territorial bodies: 22 employees in the Odesa customs office; 23 in the Zakarpattia office; 8 in Kyivska office; 23 in the Volyn office; 46 in the Halytska office; and 3 in the Bukovyna office," the State Customs Service said in a report on Friday evening, April 2.

As reported, Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky said after a meeting of the NSDC that dozens of officers of regional departments of the State Customs Service of Ukraine have been suspended from work.

"Dozens of customs officials have been suspended from work. And we are also preparing legislative changes, which will result in the criminalization of inaccurate customs declaration," the president said.

He said the reason for the decision is the losses incurred by the Ukrainian budget due to the ineffective work of customs.

"According to experts, losses due to smuggling reach UAH 300 billion, which the state budget lost. More than UAH 100 billion of them [were lost] due to the ineffective work of customs," the head of state said.

He said that Ukraine will continue fighting very hard against smuggling, as it is "economic terrorism."
Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis (R) on Saturday declared a state of emergency for Manatee County as officials warned the collapse of a gypsum stack at the Piney Point industrial site was "imminent."

The big picture: The old phosphate plant site, in operation from the 1960s until 2001, holds stacks of phosphogypsum, a byproduct of fertilizer production, and large pools of polluted water, Axios' Ben Montgomery, Selene San Felice reported. A leak was discovered in the 77-acre process water pond last week.

Stay on top of the latest market trends and economic insights with Axios Markets. Subscribe for free

The facility was releasing wastewater into Piney Point Creek, which leads into Tampa Bay, according to government officials.

The latest: Manatee County Public Safety Department expanded the mandatory evacuation area around the breached reservoir on Saturday.

Manatee County Administrator Scott Hopes in an update Saturday said, "We're talking about the potential of about [480] million gallons, within a matter of seconds and minutes, leaving that retention pool and going around the surrounding area," per CNN.

Those ponds hold "waste that would be less conducive to life on land and...life in the sea," Hopes added, noting that the population density of the area was fortunately low.

"Pumping the entire pond would take 10 to 12 days," AP noted.

A public safety alert on Saturday told residents, "Evacuate the area NOW. Collapse of Piney Point Stack is imminent. Immediate evacuation of Chapman Road to Airport Road and US 41 to ONeill Road. Leave area IMMEDIATELY," per the Miami Herald.

This content is not available due to your privacy preferences. Update your settings here to see it.

What they're saying: "Due to a possible breach of mixed saltwater from the south reservoir at the Piney Point facility, I have declared a State of Emergency for Manatee County to ensure resources are allocated for necessary response & recovery," DeSantis tweeted Saturday.

Go deeper: Tampa Bay stares down environmental disaster from Piney Point phosphate plant

Subscribe for Axios Tampa Bay 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.
The BCCI remains hopeful of conducting the scheduled IPL matches in Mumbai from April 10-25 despite a massive surge in Covid-19 cases in the city and 10 members of the staff testing positive for the deadly virus.

With just seven days to go for the clash with Chennai Super Kings, Delhi Capitals too has suffered a blow after left-arm spinner Axar Patel tested positive for the virus, news agency ANI reported.



"Unfortunately, Axar has tested positive. he is in isolation and following all the protocols," a source close to the development was quoted as saying.

Indore and Hyderabad have been kept as stand by venues for the IPL in case the Covid situation spirals out of control. Mumbai is scheduled to host 10 games of the cash-rich league.

With in excess of 47,000 cases on Friday, Maharashtra is looking at a potential situation of mini-lockdown. Of equal concern to the organisers is the number of groundstaff at the Wankhede going up from 8 to 10 between Friday evening and Saturday morning.

If that wasn't enough, around six members of the event management team have also tested positive for Covid-19 and have been sent to isolation.

"Yes, it was 8 positive cases yesterday as far as ground-staff are concerned. Today two more positive cases have emerged and all 10 have been sent back home and are isolated.

"We are bringing fresh ground-staff from the Mumbai CA ground in Kandivali for preparations. Also 6 to 7 event management staff hired by BCCI have also tested positive," a senior Mumbai CA official told PTI.

When a senior BCCI office-bearer was asked about the situation, he admitted that BCCI is indeed concerned.

"Look, even if there is a lockdown, the teams are in bio-bubble and also it's a closed-door event. So we are still confident that IPL games in Mumbai will be held as per schedule with Delhi Capitals playing Chennai Super Kings on April 10 on the second day of the tournament.

"But Hyderabad and Indore are there on stand by in case the situation goes out of hand," the office bearer told PTI on Saturday.

As of now, none of the teams currently in Mumbai -- Delhi Capitals, Mumbai Indians, Rajasthan Royals, Punjab Kings -- have access to Wankhede.

"Delhi Capitals ad Punjab Kings for example are taking turns to train at the Brabourne Stadium and Bandra Kurla Complex (BKC) ground. KKR is training in Navi Mumbai at the DY Patil before they leave for Chennai," the official informed.

It is expected that BCCI's medical unit will enhance the testing rate due to the surge of cases in the state.

The event management and operations of IPL till last year, was handled by the IMG but from this year, the board is handling the event on its own.

"We have enough back-up staff to handle as we had factored in that the situation in Mumbai is grim at the moment. But yes, we are closely monitoring the situation," the official added.

(Only the headline and picture of this report may have been reworked by the Business Standard staff; the rest of the content is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.)
New Delhi: Prime Minister Narendra Modi on Saturday said that the people of Assam have rejected violence for development, peace, unity and stability. While addressing an election rally in Bodoland Territorial Region's (BTR) Baksa district, the prime minister blamed the Congress government of encouraging violence.

PM Modi said Congress and its allies have been exposed and that the voters have realised the "Mahajhot ka Mahajhooth (the Grand lies of the Grand Alliance). He said people will repose faith in NDA's agenda of development, stability, peace, goodwill, harmony and unity.

"It's unfortunate that those who divided society and threw crumbs of development at particular sections for their vote bank politics are said to be practising secularism while we, who ensure that development reaches all, are termed communal," PM Modi said.

PM Modi asserted that the NDA government formulates policies that are non-discriminatory and for all sections of society.

"Whenever we think of any scheme, we think of everyone without any discrimination. We want that the benefits of the schemes reach every section of the society, irrespective of whether they are form a vote bank or not, literate or illiterate. We are here to work for the nation and to change the lives of people," he said.

The NDA is committed to moving ahead on the path of development through "peace and goodwill" and it is this that has led to the signing of the historic Bodo Accord, he said.

The prime minister said, in the last five years the "double engine" NDA governments at the Centre and in the state have resulted in "double benefit" for Assam.
Fresh infections in



Telangana have breached the 1000-mark, pushing the tally to over 3.10 lakh, while the toll rose to 1,712 with six more fatalities.

The state witnessed the highest single day spike so far this year with 1078 newcases.

Greater Hyderabad Municipal Corporation (GHMC) accounted for most number of cases with 283, followed by Medchal Malkajgiri 113 and Rangareddy 104, a government bulletin said on Saturday providing details as of 8 pm on April 2.

The total number of cases stood at3,10,819 while the total recoveries reached 3,02,207 with 331patients being cured.

The state has 6,900 active cases and59,705 samples were tested on Friday.

Cumulatively, over 1.03 crore samples have been tested.

The samples tested per million population was over 2.77 lakh, the bulletin said.

The case fatality rate in the state was 0.55 per cent, while it was 1.3 per cent at the national level.

The recovery rate in Telangana was 97.22 per cent, while it was 93.3 per cent in the country.

According to a separate release, as many as 11,38,488 people in the statehave received their first dose of COVID-19 vaccine while 2,45,936 got their second shot also as of April 1.

(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.)
Got some scoop for our reporters or editors? Click on the link below to send us your information.

Send your news
By MICHAEL BALSAMO, NOMAAN MERCHANT and COLLEEN LONG, The Associated Press

WASHINGTON (AP)  A Capitol Police officer has died after a man rammed a car into two officers at a barricade outside the U.S. Capitol and then emerged wielding a knife. It was the second line-of-duty death this year for a department still struggling to heal from the Jan. 6 insurrection.

Video shows the driver of the crashed car emerging with a knife in his hand and starting to run at the pair of officers, Capitol Police Acting Chief Yogananda Pittman told reporters Friday. Authorities shot the suspect, who died at a hospital.

I just ask that the public continue to keep U.S. Capitol Police and their families in your prayers, Pittman said. This has been an extremely difficult time for U.S. Capitol Police after the events of Jan. 6 and now the events that have occurred here today.

This image provided by the U.S. Capitol Police shows U.S. Capitol Police officer William Billy Evans, an 18-year veteran who was a member of the department's first responders unit. (U.S. Capitol Police via AP)AP

Police identified the slain officer as William Billy Evans, an 18-year veteran who was a member of the departments first responders unit.

Two law enforcement officials told The Associated Press that investigators initially believed the suspect stabbed one of the officers, but it was later unclear whether the knife actually made contact, in part because the vehicle struck the officers with such force. The officials were not authorized to publicly discuss the investigation and spoke on condition of anonymity.

Authorities said there wasnt an ongoing threat, though the Capitol was put on lockdown for a time as a precaution. There was also no immediate connection apparent between Fridays crash and the Jan. 6 riot.

Law enforcement officials identified the suspect as 25-year-old Noah Green. Investigators were digging into his background and examining whether he had any mental health history as they tried to discern a motive. They were also working to obtain warrants to access his online accounts.

Police and fire officials stand near a car that crashed into a barrier on Capitol Hill in Washington, Friday, April 2, 2021. (AP Photo/J. Scott Applewhite) APAP

Pittman said the suspect did not appear to have been on the polices radar. But the attack underscored that the building and campus  and the officers charged with protecting them  remain potential targets for violence.

Green described himself as a follower of the Nation of Islam and its founder, Louis Farrakhan, and spoke of going through a difficult time where he leaned on his faith, according to recent messages posted online that have since been taken down. The messages were captured by the group SITE, which tracks online activity.

To be honest these past few years have been tough, and these past few months have been tougher, he wrote. I have been tried with some of the biggest, unimaginable tests in my life. I am currently now unemployed after I left my job partly due to afflictions, but ultimately, in search of a spiritual journey.

President Joe Biden said in a statement that he and his wife were heartbroken to learn of the attack and expressed condolences to Evans family. He directed flags at the White House to be lowered to half staff.

The crash and shooting happened at a security checkpoint near the Capitol typically used by senators and staff on weekdays, though most were away from the building for the current recess. The attack occurred about 100 yards from the entrance of the building on the Senate side of the Capitol. One witness, the Rev. Patrick Mahoney, said he was finishing a Good Friday service nearby when he heard three shots ring out.

Members of the U.S. Secret Service Counter Assault Team walk through the Rotunda as they and other federal police forces responded as violent protesters loyal to President Donald Trump stormed the U.S. Capitol today, at the Capitol in Washington, Wednesday, Jan. 6, 2021. (AP Photo/J. Scott Applewhite, file)AP

The Washington region remains on edge nearly three months after a mob of insurrectionists loyal to former President Donald Trump stormed the Capitol as Congress was voting to certify Bidens presidential win.

Five people died in the Jan. 6 riot, including Capitol Police officer Brian Sicknick, who was among a badly outnumbered force trying to fight off the intruders seeking to overturn the election. Authorities installed a tall perimeter fence around the Capitol and for months restricted traffic along the roads closest to the building, but they had begun pulling back some of the emergency measures. Fencing that prevented vehicular traffic near that area was only recently removed.

Evans was the seventh Capitol Police member to die in the line of duty in the departments history, according to the Officer Down Memorial Page, which tracks deaths of law enforcement. In addition, two officers, one from Capitol Police and another from Washingtons Metropolitan Police Department, died by suicide following the Jan. 6 attack.

Almost 140 Capitol Police officers were wounded in that attack, including officers not issued helmets who sustained head injuries and one with cracked ribs, according to the officers union. It took hours for the National Guard to arrive, a delay that has driven months of finger-pointing between that days key decision makers.

Capitol Police and National Guard troops were called upon soon afterward to secure the Capitol during Bidens inauguration and faced another potential threat in early March linked to conspiracy theories falsely claiming Trump would retake the presidency.

Today, once again, these heroes risked their lives to protect our Capitol and our country, with the same extraordinary selflessness and spirit of service seen on January 6, House Speaker Nancy Pelosi said in a statement. On behalf of the entire House, we are profoundly grateful.

National Guard troops stand guard after a car that crashed into a barrier on Capitol Hill in Washington, Friday, April 2, 2021. (AP Photo/Jacquelyn Martin)AP

The U.S. Capitol complex was placed on lockdown for a time after Fridays shooting, and staffers were told they could not enter or exit buildings. Video showed Guard troops mobilizing near the area of the crash.

Video posted online showed a dark colored sedan crashed against a vehicle barrier and a police K-9 dog inspecting the vehicle. Law enforcement and paramedics could be seen caring for at least one unidentified individual.

More:

Proud Boys leader pleads not guilty to charges he helped to plan U.S. Capitol siege

Pa. woman charged in Capitol riot married to FBI task force member, who wants divorce: report
Mumbai, April 3 : Jacqueline Fernandez on Saturday shared a photograph clicked by "Ram Setu" co-star Akshay Kumar, while announcing that she has started shooting for the film.

The black-and-white close-up shot captures Jacqueline in a classic look, with her head covered by a printed dupatta. Posting the image, the actress talked about how honoured she felt working in the "prestigious film".

"First day of #ramsetu.. extremely honored to be part of this prestigious film! Thanks to the ace photographer @akshaykumar for capturing this moment.. #ramsetu," she captioned the image, on her verified Instagram account, jacquelinef143.

"Ram Setu" also features Nushrratt Bharuccha, and is directed by Abhishek Sharma. The film's unit had earlier performed the muhurat shot in Ayodhya.
Its been seven years since Russia launched its military attack on Ukraine, seizing and occupying the Crimean Peninsula and attempting to annex it.

On March 18, the United States joined the six other members of the Group of Seven countries, or G7, in condemning Russias aggression in Ukraine. In a joint statement, the Foreign Ministers of Britain, Canada, France, Germany, Italy, and Japan called what Russia has done in Ukraine illegitimate and illegal.

We unequivocally denounce Russias temporary occupation of the Autonomous Republic of Crimea and the City of Sevastopol, they wrote. Russias attempts to legitimize it are not, and will not, be recognized.

The G7 foreign ministers cited the UN Charter, the Helsinki Final Act, and the Paris Charter for clearly stating the fundamental principles of respect for the territorial integrity of any State and the prohibition of any use of force to change borders. By its use of force against the territorial integrity of Ukraine, they said, Russia has clearly violated international law and contravened these principles.

They also condemned Russias violations of human rights on the peninsula, particularly of Crimean Tatars, which has included severe human rights abuses, politically-motivated prosecution, and other forms of harassment. We call on Russia to respect its international obligations, allow access to international monitors and to immediately release all those who are unjustly detained, they wrote.

The G7 also expressed its support for Ukraines Crimean Platform, an initiative intended to gather likeminded states in condemning Russias seizure and occupation of Crimea, denounce its militarization of the peninsula, and the human rights abuses it inflicts on the Crimean population, and develop resolutions to address these issues moving forward.

The foreign ministers voiced their firm opposition as well to Russias continued destabilization of Ukraine, particularly in areas of the Donetsk and Luhansk regions. The full implementation of the Minsk agreements is the way forward for peace, they said. They commended the efforts of France and Germany in their roles as participants in the Normandy Format to help pursue a diplomatic path to resolve the conflict.

The G7 affirmed that it remains fully committed to the implementation of sanctions and will continue to stand with Ukraine in support of its independence, sovereignty and territorial integrity within its internationally recognized borders.

Echoing what U.S. Secretary of State Antony Blinken wrote in February about the 2014 Russian invasion, the G7 ministers declared, Crimea is Ukraine.
MY friend George was told in 2018 he had a particularly brutal type of cancer that was incurable, making him eligible for Medical Assistance in Dying. He didnt choose that option, though.

Opinion

MY friend George was told in 2018 he had a particularly brutal type of cancer that was incurable, making him eligible for Medical Assistance in Dying. He didnt choose that option, though.

He entered palliative care at St. Boniface Hospital, where his pain was lessened by medication, his family was allowed to stay at his bedside and his transition from this life was eased by compassionate medical professionals.

To this day, his family is grateful to the palliative-care staff at St. B for supporting them through Georges suffering and death.

I thought of George often in recent weeks as the federal government debated and then passed on March 17 a law that expands access to medically assisted death.

When MAID was made legal in 2017, it was intended for individuals whose deaths were reasonably foreseeable. The new MAID seems to open the door to people with chronic illness or disabilities even if their death is not near.

The debate provoked a variety of highly emotional reactions, including from Conservative Senate leader Don Plett, who is from Landmark, Man. He spoke for many Canadians who sense a significant shift: the old law was a way to expedite dying; the new law seems to offer a terminal alternative to people who feel their suffering is intolerable.

His fellow senators passed the bill despite Pletts emotional plea to them: "If there was ever a time to exercise sober second thought, it is now. It is not often that we can truly say that with this vote we have the opportunity to save lives, to prevent the unnecessary premature death of the vulnerable."

Pletts concern for vulnerable people was amplified by human-rights groups. They fear expanding assisted-death eligibility will devalue people with disabilities, some of whom will feel pushed to end their lives.

As a real-life example, Roger Foley, who suffers from an incurable neurological disorder, told justice committee MPs in a Zoom call from a hospital in London, Ont., that he needed to pay $1,800 per day in hospital costs or be discharged, even though he couldnt get the necessary supports to live at home. When hospital staff mentioned MAID as an option, he perceived it as a "threat."

Another aspect of the new law causing considerable anxiety is that it expands eligibility to people with a mental illness. This part of the law wont take effect for two years, pending a review to establish safeguards and protocols. Thank goodness this review will have a full two years because they need lots of time for the delicate task of defining when the state will help end the lives of people with a mental illness.

With a physical disease, doctors can accurately offer a prognosis of incurable, which was the a criteria for the old MAID law. But with mental illnesses such as depression, the long-term forecast is less definite. One fear is that MAID may now be provided to people who, if given time and treatment, may have successfully fought their mental illness.

Objections to the expanded MAID law also come from people who consider themselves conscientious objectors. This includes doctors who refuse to offer MAID  some wont even steer their patients to medical colleagues who will do it. They feel doctors are life-givers, not life-takers, and should adhere to the Hippocratic oath of not doing harm. Some even ask why the fatal MAID injections must be given by doctors, as lots of other professions are trained to give needles.

Personally, I am a conscientious objector on MAID. For religious/philosophical reasons, I believe in the sanctity of life until natural death. I am also aware, though, that I am currently healthy so my conviction comes without cost.

Also, I believe the decision is personal. I hope I will never judge the choice of people who suffer and seek MAID. If someone has been diagnosed with a horrible disease such as amyotrophic lateral sclerosis, also called Lou Gehrigs disease, it would be merciless for other people to second-guess the victims decision on MAID.

What makes me uneasy is that some people will choose MAID because they dont have access to high-quality palliative care, like my friend George.

A 2018 Health Canada report concludes three-quarters of Canadians would prefer to die at home, but only 15 per cent have access to palliative home-care services. Manitobas residential hospice ratio is 0.8 beds/100,000 residents, woefully inadequate for the aging population.

MAID is billed as a choice. But the choice should include the option of a natural death with pain and stress relieved by palliative professionals.

carl.degurse@freepress.mb.ca

Carl DeGurse is a member of the Free Press editorial board.
Jerry Lett, the ailing, paroled veteran who was ordered back into custody Thursday after the state parole board said it made a mistake in making him a free man in September had his reincarceration postponed Friday after a Montgomery judge granted him a temporary restraining order.

Lett, from Kinsey in Houston County, was sentenced to life in prison after being convicted of trafficking cocaine in 2018 and then paroled in September. But the parole board said during another hearing Thursday that it made a mistake in the September decision because Lett had not served at least 10 years of his sentence.

Letts lawyers argued that Thursdays parole board decision to return Lett to prison violates the Army veterans due process rights.

He was set to be back in custody Friday -- Letts 53rd birthday -- until Montgomery Circuit Court Judge Johnny Hardwick issued a temporary restraining order earlier Friday, citing Letts imminent threat of incarceration, the reasonable likelihood that Lett would prevail on the merits of the case and the lack of harm done to the parole board if there were to be an injunction, among other reasons.

The reprieve stands until Letts case in Montgomery Circuit Court is resolved, Hardwick ruled.

In a September parole hearing conducted via Zoom, the the pardons and paroles board made Lett a free man.

But a lawyer for the Alabama Bureau of Pardons and Paroles told the board at Thursdays hearing that a state law amended in 2019 meant that Lett should not have been eligible for parole until he served 10 years of his sentence.

Several witnesses, including parole officers, testified that Letts model behavior made him an ideal candidate for parole, while Letts lawyer, Allison Ganem, argued that Letts parole should stand because to reverse the decision would violate Letts rights to due process, according to the minutes entry of Thursdays hearing.

The board ultimately sided with the bureau, maintaining that it made an error in granting Lett parole.

Considering the testimony, evidence, and arguments offered by both parties, the board determines that it lacked jurisdiction to act to parole Mr. Lett, the board wrote. At this time, the board orders that Mr. Lett be taken into custody.

The Atlanta-based Southern Center for Human Rights, which has been advocating on Letts behalf, said Wednesday that it would be a miscarriage of justice if the board went through with revoking Letts parole.

The organization said Lett has been in perfect compliance with the terms of his parole, meeting with his parole officer once a week and checking in with a case manager at the Veterans Administration. The nonprofit also noted that Lett suffers from numerous health issues, including advancing heart failure, hypertension and diabetes.
How do you encapsulate one-and-half decades in showbiz, and that too, of a rank outsider? And just as we contemplate on that question, she makes her way towards us, as we ready our sets to talk to her in a star hotel in Hyderabad on a sunny Thursday morning.

The confidence she radiates is evidently visible in the way she walks. As she seats herself next to us, smiling, she begins browsing her phone patiently awaiting our questions for her.

Thats Anjali for you! Straddling a career across four different languages, with over forty films in her kitty, she is unabashed when she slowly corrects us, Forty-eight films, to be precise.

Starting off on that note  of precision and clarity  she, nevertheless, confesses that shes still struggling how to say no to a script in the industry.

If I say No upfront to a film, people think I am arrogant and have an attitude, she quips with a chuckle. At the same time I cannot say yes to a script that I dont like, so I am still figuring my way around that.

All said and done, she has no regrets, for her journey in the industry, she says, has been very satisfying. I have learnt everything on the sets, and I am blessed to be enjoying such longevity in showbiz, she elaborates.

As a newcomer, Id never imagined Id last as long. But all thanks to the filmmakers who believed in me and wrote characters for me, and of course the audience who appreciated me. Of course, the actress does not shy away from giving her constant hard work and approach to work the due credit for her long stint.

New roles waiting

Anjali has been carrying several tags, such as the girl next door and bubbly girl, for a long time essentially because of the roles she took up early in her career. Now, she reveals that it was indeed challenging for her to shed that image.

Perhaps filmmakers have been offering me such roles, and it was challenging to negate such offers and further introduce the believability factor that I am game for intense roles, she explains. However, shes glad things have changed over the last few years.

My cop character in the 2020-film Nishabdham and my intense role in the forthcoming Pawan Kalyan-starrer Vakeel Saab are a step in that direction, she tells us.

As an actor, Id love to explore all roles. So while Id still relish being part of love stories and family drama, the script has to be something out-of-the-box for me to pick it up, adds the actress pointing out that she wants to do more intense and author-back roles.

Speaking of Vakeel Saab which was very enriching, we wonder what Anjali, whos worked with the likes of Mahesh Babu, Allu Arjun, Venkatesh and Ravi Teja thinks of Pawan. But she is matter-of-fact when she calls him a cool co-actor.

I think its his humility that makes him a superstar. In fact, his no qualms of rehearsing approach stand out, says Anjali.

Love forever

From films and her career trajectory, we decide it is safe to move gears to her personal life  her outlooks, plans, etc. For starters, we point out to her, that especially having been part of several love stories, its surprising she hasnt yet fallen in love in real life.

Please dont ask anything about my personal life, she states immediately. But soon after she relents and allows us to ask her a few.

And then without revealing any identity, she admits that she was in a relationship.

But unfortunately that did not materialise, she comments saying that she had a tough time dealing with the breakup.

Just because we are heroines doesnt mean that we are stone-hearted. It took some time for me to get over that phase. It was a very challenging phase. But I drew inspiration from my mother. I have seen her struggle so I was determined not to let the situation get the better of me.

Heartbreak hasnt, however, destroyed her belief in love. But it has to happen organically, she says, adding, but right, now my focus is on my work. Ive been getting interesting characters to play, so I want to continue doing the good work. Marriage is something that can wait.
Miss India 2015 contestant and model Diksha Singh is all set to take the political plunge by contesting the upcoming panchayat elections from Jaunpur.

Diksha Singh, a native of Chittori village in the Baksha area of the district, told reporters at a hotel on Friday that she studied till Class III at the village after which she moved to Mumbai and then to Goa with her father.

Diksha Singh

Diksha Singh has procured a form to contest the elections for a zila panchayat member from Ward No.26 (Baksha).

I have been participating in competitions and political debates since college days and have been coming to the village from time to time. On coming here, I saw that even today, Jaunpur district is far away from development. So, I have come for the Panchayat elections, thinking of some change, she said.

Diksha Singh

Diksha Singh was a BA second-year student when she participated in the Femina Miss India 2015.

Diksha Singh said she had also written a film, Ishq Tera. Apart from this, she has worked in ads of many big products and a web series featuring her is also coming up soon.
The Disappearance Of Lydia Harvey

Julia Laite Profile 16.99

Rating:

In February 1910, Lydia Harvey stepped on to a steamer that took her from her birthplace of New Zealand to Argentina. She was 16, working-class and hopeful, in the company of new friends who had promised her a new life.

A few weeks later she reappeared in London. Her hair was bleached blonde and she had caught scabies and gonorrhea from the men her travelling companions compelled her to have sex with.

Her new friends had introduced themselves in Wellington as Mr and Mrs Cellis, but far from being a respectable married couple, they were actually a pair of sex traffickers named Antonio Carvelli and Veronique White.

Lydia Harvey's new friends had introduced themselves in Wellington as Mr and Mrs Cellis, they were actually a pair of sex traffickers named Antonio Carvelli and Veronique White (above)

The Cellises had promised Lydia a life of fine clothes and gracious independence at the end of her journey. To a girl who had been through the rigours of domestic service, and then worked as a shopgirl, the attraction must have been overwhelming: as Julia Laite vividly describes, the early 20th Century was a time of mobility.

Travel was more accessible than ever before, while new industries and growing cities offered people a chance to reinvent themselves.

But, writes Laite, aspiration could turn to exploitation in the blink of an eye. Whether Lydia knew what her new friends had meant when they said she would have to see gentlemen is uncertain  she had had only one sweetheart before she left New Zealand.

Now she was embroiled in what was then known as the white slave trade, and we would refer to as international sex trafficking.

The white slave trade was the subject of lurid press reports and much public anxiety, little of which seemed to stem from concern for the women being abused. Instead, explains Laite, it was animated by a mix of racism, angst about immigration and fear of working-class women escaping their station.

Traffickers easily escaped prosecution by arguing that their victims had never been of good character anyway.

Lydia was lucky to be an acceptable victim, and theres some trace of her on record. All the same, she never got to give her own account directly inside the stories other people told about her, she disappeared again and again.

With an inventive mix of sources, Laite brilliantly summons up one girls life, dreams and suffering. Its ingenious history writing, but as the author says, its a story being repeated daily for todays victims of traffickers.

Lev's Violin

Helena Attlee Particular Books 20

Rating:

Helena Attlee was at a concert in a small Welsh town when she suddenly felt overwhelmed by the beautiful sound of a violin solo. It was a sound powerful enough to open pores and unbuckle joints, but when she spoke to the violinist she was staggered to discover that his instrument was, in his own words, absolutely worthless.

How could anything so exquisitely beautiful have so little value?

Seeking to answer that question, Attlee embarked on an amazing and somewhat quixotic journey that took her from the Italian city of Cremona, known to music experts as the birthplace of the violin, all the way to Russia, where this particular instrument had once been owned by a musician called Lev.

The story begins in the 16th Century, when a visionary called Antonio Amati created the first violins, radically changing music for ever

The story begins in the 16th Century, when a visionary called Antonio Amati created the first violins, radically changing music for ever. When, a century later, the most famous instrument-maker of them all, Antonio Stradivari, opened shop in Cremona, the citys reputation for unrivalled workmanship reached a peak.

Attlees quest to find the origin of Levs violin takes her down a lot of blind alleys, but one of the joys of her book is the glimpses it affords of forgotten historical byways and of a colourful, sometimes roguish cast of characters.

My favourite of these is an Italian peddlar called Luigi Tarisio who, despite being of humble birth, amassed the 19th Centurys most magnificent collection of violins. His ability to identify and evaluate any instrument prompted one eminent London dealer to declare that he smells a fiddle as the devil smells a lost soul.

When Tarisio died in Milan, he was discovered with two violins clutched to his breast and the modern equivalent of a million pounds stuffed in his mattress.

This is a beguiling and truly original book. It would perhaps benefit from some colour illustrations, but Attlee has such a wonderful way with words that as a reader you almost imagine you can see, as well as hear, Levs violin.

Simon Griffith
A U.S. Supreme Court ruling on Thursday could open the way for a flood of new robocalls, consumer advocates said.

The case was brought against Facebook by a man who said the social media giant sent him unrequested texts warning him about suspicious logins to his account. But the man didnt have a Facebook account and had never given Facebook his phone number, or permission to message him, court records show.

The court sided with Facebook, saying the notifications do not fall under the 1991 Telephone Consumer Protection Act, which requires that automated calls and texts be made only with the consumers consent. It said that the law only applies to autodialing systems that can generate random or sequential phone numbers, which Facebooks system doesnt do.

Justice Sonia Sotomayor wrote the 8-0 opinion, saying the man was probably assigned a cell phone number that was previously used by someone who had a Facebook account.

Consumer advocates say the ruling will make it harder for people to stop unwanted calls and texts that come from automated systems. It will give telemarketers the ability to use computer systems to send text messages or make phone calls without getting a consumers consent first, they said.

Companies will use autodialers that are not covered by the Supreme Courts narrow definition to flood our cellphones with even more unwanted robocalls and automated texts, said Margot Saunders, senior counsel for the National Consumer Law Center (NCLC).

Americans already receive 46 billion robocalls a year. We call on Congress to act immediately to provide needed protection against unconsented-to automated calls and texts so that cellphones are not rendered useless due to the expected huge increase in unwanted robocalls and texts.

Robocalls have invaded consumers privacy and subjected us all to incessant harassment, said George Slover, senior policy counsel at Consumer Reports.

The Telephone Consumer Protection Act was enacted 30 years ago to stop these robocalls unless the caller had the consumers consent, Slover said. Callers have been working ever since to find ways to evade this requirement, by claiming that what they were doing, or how they were doing it, is not covered by the law. They have now succeeded in punching a huge loophole in the laws core protection.

He also called on Congress to take action to protect consumers, who he said are now vulnerable to their phones being tied up by a potentially constant flood of robocalls and texts, with no way to stop it.

Please subscribe now and support the local journalism YOU rely on and trust.

Karin Price Mueller may be reached at KPriceMueller@NJAdvanceMedia.com.
For the next three decades, he approached the issue with the zeal of a convert. From his earliest days as vice president, he pushed President Barack Obama to do more on guns. After the massacre of 26 children and adults at Sandy Hook Elementary School in Newtown, Conn., in 2012, Mr. Obama tasked Mr. Biden with crafting a package of tough gun control measures  an effort that ended in defeat. Six years later, Mr. Biden went viral comforting the families of the victims of the school shooting in Parkland, Fla.

As president, hes taking a much lower profile on the issue, focusing far more intently on efforts to pass his relief bill earlier this year and to champion his infrastructure package. Its a position that extends throughout the administration: A day after the Boulder shooting, Vice President Kamala Harris pressured the Senate to take action, deflecting more than six minutes of questions about what executive actions the president was prepared to take.

This is going to be about your viewers and all of us pleading to the reason, pleading to the hearts and minds of the people in the U.S. Senate, she said. Lets say, Were going to hold our elected people accountable if theyre not going to be with us.

A few days later, when asked about the issue during a visit to a school in Connecticut, she quickly pivoted from guns to promoting the administrations relief package.

Behind the scenes, White House advisers have met with gun control advocates and are working on a series of executive orders restricting firearms. They point to $5 billion for community-based violence prevention programs that was tucked into the infrastructure bill, heralding it as a historic investment. But privately, many worry that the White House may be losing the momentum for political action that comes each time the country is yet again horrified by a mass shooting.

They also realize that the period for a new administration to accomplish big legislative goals before the politics of a midterm election take hold is relatively short. Speaker Nancy Pelosi has signaled that she hopes to pass the infrastructure bill by July 4. Theres also a second part of the legislation that deals with human infrastructure policies, like paid family leave and universal pre-K. Some gun control advocates fear that they are being bumped to the back of the line.

Its dizzying when you think about where we are and the real time we have. Its not a lot, Ms. Brown said. There is no question the administration is working aggressively on the issue internally, but it needs to be communicated with the same passions externally.
Americans Buying Guns in Record Numbers

Americans bought about 2.2 million guns last month, the second-largest March figure on record, according to consultancy Small Arms Analytics and Forecasting. After hitting an annual record of almost 23 million units in 2020, sales of firearms in the United States have continued to sustain momentum.

Gun sales are generally driven by recreation and safety, but there are also concerns over increasing government measures to control guns, with some people even moving to more freedom-friendly states.

Kim Rhode, a six-time Olympic skeet-shooting medalist, in April 2018 sued Xavier Becerra, then-attorney general of California and current U.S. Secretary of Health and Human Services, because a restriction on ammunition purchase for Californians meant she didnt have enough ammunition for her training.

In March 2020, she failed to qualify for the Tokyo Olympic Games.

The ammunition ban and the lawsuit to overturn it against the State of California had a definite effect on my training, Rhodes wrote in an email to The Epoch Times on March 29. She said that she would focus on the Paris Games in 2024. Her case is pending in the U.S. Court of Appeals for the 9th Circuit.

The ammunition restriction has not only interfered, and in some cases eliminated, the ability of competitive shooters to get the ammunition, but also, and perhaps as importantly, recreational shooters, Chuck Michel, Rhodes attorney, told The Epoch Times.

He said that the legislature approves a law but then passes the administration and management of the law to the Department of Justice (DOJ).

And the DOJ is underfunded and unable to do the bureaucratic work required to make these systems function, he said.

Kim Rhode won the gold medal in the Women Skeet competition during the 2019 Pan American Games in Lima, Peru, on Aug. 2, 2019. (Luka Gonzales/AFP via Getty Images)

Taking Personal Safety Into Their Own Hands

Self-defense uses for guns are common, yet they are rarely reported in the mainstream media.

Almost all national survey estimates indicate that defensive gun uses by victims are at least as common as offensive uses by criminals, with estimates of annual uses ranging from about 500,000 to more than 3 million per year, according to a 2013 report commissioned by the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) during the Obama administration.

Heritage Foundation senior fellow Amy Swearer maintains a database that documents self-defense gun uses nationwide. In one such case, a woman with a concealed carry license shot at a man who tried to rob her in the Hyde Park neighborhood of Chicago, in January 2019.

Gun ownership is as much about property rights as gun rights for Patrick Henry, a small business owner in Virginia. He used a pseudonym to protect his business from potential retaliation from groups that may not agree with his views.

I do believe that our founders had it right because they believe that these rights were given to us by God, he told The Epoch Times. And I believe that those who would hand over the responsibility of keeping themselves safe, are in some degrees, making the government their god and making the government their higher power.

Scott Finley (also a pseudonym), a former government agency and current nonprofit executive, explained his expectations of the government: Were supposed to pay taxes for things like roads to be fixed or maintain things like that. Those are the public goods. I think safety as a public good is a very dangerous idea.

The government is certainly supposed to provide safety from foreign invaders. I dont think we would look to the federal government to protect me if someone broke into my house. Thats a silly concept.

Andy Galusha, a landscape architect in Fairfax County, showcased World War I historical records and weapons at a gun show in Manassas, Va., on March 28, 2021. (Terri Wu/The Epoch Times)

Connection to Nature and Family

Andy Galusha, a landscape architect in Fairfax County, has traced his fathers footsteps in Italy and France, where he fought for two years during World War II.

Most of those veterans are very humble, and they dont talk a lot about it, but you realize what they went through and what they sacrificed. Going through this [reenactment], Ive learned about what its like to land on a beach on a landing craft. When that door goes down, you run out of it. Its definitely an experience, said Galusha about his travels and reenactment of World War scenes.

Galusha told The Epoch Times that to him, shooting is stress-relieving.

You come to that level, and then you become very relaxed, and you just feel like all of your troubles melt away from you. You may be having the worst day. You go to the range, and all of a sudden then everything is fine.

He highlighted the connection the sport helps him make.

Its like for some people running or music, it calms them down and takes them to a different place. When you go out in the woods hunting, you feel connected to the past and the future. This is something that people did for hundreds of years before, obviously, not too long ago with guns, but with bows and arrows and spears for millennia.

Retired Army officer Paul Veneziano said that the World War I reenactments he and his friends take part in are a holistic way of enjoying your firearms in experiencing the history, camaraderie, and antique weapons. Both Galusha and Veneziano are members of the Great War Association, whose mission is to keep alive the history of the Great War, and honor those who fought its battles, through battle reenactments and educational events.

Vote With Our Feet

Finley told The Epoch Times that he was alert as he saw freedom being squeezed by the federal government. He also observed a trend of more and more people who thought the government should tell Americans what to do congregating in the Washington metropolitan area, similar to Sacramento in California and Albany in New York.

He said that he had thought of potentially moving to a different state from his current home in Virginia.

You look at the rules and restrictions across the country right now with a pandemic. And, you know, you look at places like New York, where you had all these rules and restrictions; meanwhile, the death toll is through the roof. Then you look at places like Florida and Texas, where there are fewer restrictions, people are doing better by all measures, he said.

I think people are going to gravitate toward red state versus blue state. Unfortunately, its becoming so politicized. But thats the reality, he added.

Henry shared the same concerns.

Were seeing that in certain states like Texas and Florida, certain ideals are being highly regarded. People will choose to remain in those areas and continue to gather in those areas. And maybe we just have to vote with our feet and go and choose to live in areas that still embrace our rights more than others.
Surbhi Jyoti is reveling in the success of her web series, Qubool Hai 2.0, a spin-off of the acclaimed drama Qubool Hai opposite Karan Singh Grover. This week Surbhi took a short break and was on vacation in the picturesque location of the Maldives. Her vacation pics have been setting the internet on fire. See how the week went for Surbhi Jyoti-

Surbhi Jyoti's 'trippy and hippie' week on holiday island the Maldives

Surbhi Jyoti started her week by flying to the Maldives on a private seaplane. Surbhi shared a photo of her sitting on the airstair of the private jet which landed on a waterbed of Maldives. Surbhi captions the picture in Hindi "Fir Se Udd Chale". Co-star Karan Singh Grover commented "Have Fun!!" on the picture.

The other day, Surbhi shared a reel that showed her hotel room which is on the water bed of Maldives island and one could see the ocean water through the glass on the floor. She was seen in a yellow gown stalling in her room then heading to the sliding doors which opened to the beautiful blues of ocean water. Surbhi loosened her robe and dived into the ocean for a swim. The reel played Old Town Road by Lil Nas X and Surbhi captioned it "Loving my Life" with a red heart emoticon. The beautiful hotel view made Bollywood actor Ali Fazal comment "This is beautifulllll yaaa.. I wannnna go here".

Surbhi then shared a string of her pictures of touring in Maldives island. She was seen dressed in a stunning bikini top and a skirt and wore rectangular sunglasses as she posed for the camera. She was seen barefooted as she walked on the wooden bridges of the picturesque location in the sunlight. She captioned it "Stay Trippy, Lil Hippee" and another set of pictures at the same location she captioned it "Trippy and Hippie".

From another set of pictures from her vacation, Surbi was seen munching on her breakfast in the pool. Surbhi was seen in a sexy netted bikini set and as she enjoyed the varieties of food on her platter, the background showed shimmering water of Maldivian sea and clear blue skies. She captioned the image "A good day is this view and a lot of yummy food" with a red heart emoticon.

Surbhi shared a string of pictures while strolling through the mangroves trees on the holiday island. Surbhi was seen wearing a white bralette which she paired with loose shaded pants and a matching cardigan. While posing for the pictures she rounded her look with rectangular tinted glasses to give it a beachy look. She added a couple of Instagram posts in this look and both were captioned "Serenity".

Promo Image Source: Surbhi Jyoti's Instagram

Get the latest entertainment news from India & around the world. Now follow your favourite television celebs and telly updates. Republic World is your one-stop destination for trending Bollywood news. Tune in today to stay updated with all the latest news and headlines from the world of entertainment.
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.
Three people have been rushed to hospital and another 21 treated at the scene after a chlorine leak at a popular public pool.

Paramedics rushed to Apollo Bay Aquatic and Leisure Centre in the Victorian holiday town about 10.50am on Saturday when the leak was reported.

Two of the victims were airlifted to The Alfred Hospital in Melbourne and another taken by ambulance to Geelong Hospital.

Paramedics rushed to Apollo Bay Aquatic and Leisure Centre in the Victorian holiday town about 10.50am on Saturday when the chlorine leak was reported

Victoria's Country Fire Authority said 21 people, including two young children, needed treatment at the scene after being exposed to the toxic gas.

Hazmats teams were summoned to the pool to deal with the 'chemical hazard' but the CFA said there was no threat to the wider community.

'It appears there were multiple people who were inside the building at the time who will be assessed,' Ambulance Victoria said.

Locals are urged to stay informed and monitor conditions.

The CFA has instructed motorists in the area to watch out for emergency vehicles and to pull over when sirens pass by.

The Apollo Bay Aquatic Centre has been contacted by Daily Mail Australia for comment.
The civilian death toll in the crackdown by the Myanmar junta has reached 550 since the February 1 coup, a human rights group has said.

Of those, 46 were children, according to Myanmars Assistance Association for Political Prisoners.

Some 2,751 people have been detained or sentenced, the group added.

Threats of lethal violence and arrests of protesters have failed to suppress daily demonstrations across Myanmar calling for the military to step down and reinstate the democratically elected government.

Anti-coup protesters throw garbage to block a road as a form of a silent protest in Yangon (AP)

Late on Friday, armed plainclothes police took five people into custody after they spoke with a CNN reporter in a Yangon market, local media reported. The arrests occurred in three separate incidents.

Two women reportedly shouted for help as they were being arrested, Myanmar Now news service reported.

One police officer, who was carrying a gun, asked if anyone dared to help them, a witness told the news service.

They pointed their pistols at everyone  at passers-by, and at people in the store, a witness said of two police officers who forcibly took away two other women in the market.

Meanwhile, the Karen National Union representing the ethnic minority rebel group that has been fighting the government for decades condemned non-stop bombings and air strikes against villages and unarmed civilians in their homeland along the border with Thailand.

Security forces stand by on Hledan road in Kamayut township of Yangon (AP)

The group said in a statement: The attacks have caused the death of many people including children and students, and the destruction of schools, residential homes, and villages. These terrorist acts are clearly a flagrant violation of local and international laws.

In areas controlled by the Karen, more than a dozen civilians have been killed and around 20,000 displaced since March 27, according to the Free Burma Rangers, a relief agency operating in the region.

About 3,000 Karen fled to Thailand, but many returned under unclear circumstances.

Thai authorities said they went back voluntarily, but aid groups say they are not safe and many are hiding in the jungle and in caves on the Myanmar side of the border.

A five-year-old boy was amongst those killed by security forces on 27 March in #Myanmar. Military leaders must be held accountable for these atrocity crimes. The people of Myanmar must be protected. pic.twitter.com/yaYLM53DkM  Amnesty International (@amnesty) March 30, 2021

More than a dozen minority groups have sought greater autonomy from the central government for decades, sometimes through armed struggle.

Several of the major groups  including the Kachin, the Karen and the Rakhine Arakan Army  have denounced the coup and said they will defend protesters in their territories.

On Friday, After weeks of overnight cut-offs of internet access, Myanmars military shut all links apart from those using fiberoptic cable, which was working at drastically reduced speeds.

Access to mobile networks and all wireless  the less costly options used by most people in the developing country  remains blocked on Saturday.

The coup reversed years of slow progress toward democracy in Myanmar, which for five decades languished under strict military rule that led to international isolation and sanctions.

As the generals loosened their grip, culminating in Aung San Suu Kyis rise to leadership in 2015 elections, the international community responded by lifting most sanctions and pouring investment into the country.
HOLLAND, MI  The coronavirus pandemic presented a unique challenge to the culinary students at Ottawa County Careerline Tech Center: A national flour shortage.

But thanks to a huge flour donation from King Arthur Baking Company, the students were able to fulfill their baking curriculum this year, and shared the love by using the flour to bake thousands of baked goods for hungry kids in Ottawa County.

We were so grateful, we knew we had to pay it forward, said culinary and pastry arts instructor Austin Gresham, in a prepared statement from the Ottawa Area Intermediate School District (OAISD).

As flour prices increased amid the pandemic, Gresham ran into issues finding the artisan flour needed by students to fulfill their curriculum. The instructor reached out to King Arthur Baking Company when it became clear the usual sourcing channels were unavailable, according to the OAISD release.

When a sales representative from the baking company got back to Gresham, he was blown away to find out King Arthur Baking Companys leadership decided to donate over a ton of flour to the class.

Our King Arthur Baking Company sales representative took it upon himself to not only sort the delivery of flour to us but also worked with leadership to donate the entire amount to our class, Gresham said.

The culinary students decided to pay it forward by donating the baked goods created in the class. The students have since baked and donated over 10,000 pastries to the Holland Rescue Mission and Pack It Up, which sends daily meals home with schoolchildren.

Rebecca English, a culinary arts student and junior at Grand Haven High School, said the donation not only helped students fulfill their curriculum requirements, but also helped the greater Holland community.

The generosity of King Arthur Baking Company gave us the ability to give back to our community and for that we are very thankful, English said in a prepared statement.

Gwen Adams, marketing and public relations coordinator for King Arthur Baking Company, said the company was proud to help out students in their culinary education.

We believe in the power of baking to make a difference  for people and the planet, Adams said in a prepared statement. We look forward to seeing the good Tech students will do in the world.

More on MLive:

First Grand Rapids Promise Zone graduate says everything just switched after the college scholarship

School closures could follow spring break if travel leads to COVID-19 surge, officials warn

This is Michigans most-popular cocktail during COVID-19 pandemic, search data says
New Delhis prestigious St Stephens college has invited applications from Bangladeshi students to join the three-year bachelors programme taught at the premium education institution. The move is part of Indias efforts to cement its ties with Banglades Image Source: IANS News

New Delhi, April 3 : At least 13 students and two non-academic staff of Delhi's prestigious St. Stephen's college have tested positive for Covid-19. This group of students had gone on a trip to Dalhousie recently, where they might have contracted the virus. Many of them were staying in the college hostel. After returning from the trip, these students were found to be positive for Covid-19.

The college administration while taking all necessary precautions has stopped all activities in the college campus for the time being. It also said the Dean of the residence has been informed and all Covid protocols are followed.
Workers making medical masks at a factory in Jishou, Hunan Province, China, on Jan. 28, 2021. (STR/AFP via Getty Images)

Rep. Lynch Urges Americans to Stop Buying PPE From China

Rep. Stephen Lynch (D-Mass.) is calling on U.S. companies and government agencies to stop buying personal protective equipment (PPE) sourced or produced in China.

Reliance on China for products to protect American citizens poses a risk to U.S. national security, Lynch said at a press conference in Boston on March 30.

Weve got China hacking federal agencies, hacking our military, and hacking our domestic companies. Weve had theft of intellectual property, said Lynch. We shouldnt put our future and our safety in the hands of a government thats been hostile to the interests of the United States.

The American Rescue Plan, a $1.9 trillion relief package, is providing billions of dollars to U.S. states, cities, and government agencies to purchase masks and other personal protective products. However, U.S. companies that supply PPE are still sourcing them from China, Lynch said.

Lynch is asking the organizations that were given federal funds to buy PPE made in the United States to support businesses at home.

There are companies across America that are trying to provide personal protective products for American citizens, said Lynch. But that cant happen if people continue to buy those products from China.

Last year, the National Institute for Occupational Safety and Health found that a significant number of N95-style masks from China didnt reach the required filtration standard, putting U.S. health care workers at greater risk.

Certain masks from China may not provide consistent and adequate respiratory protection to health care personnel exposed to COVID-19, the FDA said in a letter to health care providers.

Chinas medical protective equipment has been rejected by a number of European countries due to its poor quality. Meanwhile, shoddy Chinese-made PPE has also been seized in Australia and India. Last year, China confiscated 89 million of its own face masks after worldwide complaints of their substandard quality.
Schools, day-care centres, retail outlets, theatres, hairdressers, museums, cinemas and DIY stores have been closed again in Poland since the beginning of last week. This is the right-wing conservative governments reaction to the escalation of the coronavirus pandemic in recent weeks, which was its own fault.

For the time being, these measures will apply until April 9. It is already clear that this time will not be enough to bring the pandemic under control. In the meantime, the economy is to continue running at full capacity.

Polish miners at the Wujek mine in Katowice (AP Photo / Czarek Sokolowski)

With over 35,000 new infections in one day, Poland set a new, sad record the weekend before last. Conducting around 100,000 tests per day is resulting in a positive test rate of more than one third, raising fears of a significantly higher number of unreported cases.

With 38 million inhabitants, the country has the second-highest number of infections in Europe after France, and the seven-day incidence value has exceeded the 500 mark. In the capital, Warsaw, the incidence rate is already above 700, eclipsing the deadly November 2020 wave and with no end in sight. Around 400 people are now dying every day as a result of COVID-19.

The governments responsibility becomes particularly clear when looking back. Thanks to a comparatively hard lockdown in spring 2020, Poland was hardly affected by the pandemic for a long time. Only during the Europe-wide opening up of the economy at the end of the summer did the numbers slowly increase in Poland, reaching a seven-day incidence level of 50 per 100,000 inhabitants for the first time in early October.

By early November 2020, around 5,000 people had died from the pandemic in Poland. In the five months since then, the death toll has increased thirteenfold and currently stands at 52,400. In the same period, the death toll in Germany has increased tenfold and in the Czech Republic ninefold.

At the beginning of February, the Polish government, like all European governments, decided on extensive relaxations. Although the nationwide incidence rate had only just fallen below 100, schools were reopened to first through third graders, as well as shopping malls, museums, cinemas, swimming pools and other facilities. The World Socialist Web Site warned strongly at the time: Despite the murderous consequences of its policies, the Polish bourgeoisie is hell-bent on ending the lockdown.

In addition to the Mazowieckie administrative area (Masovia) with its capital Warsaw, the much more densely populated industrial and mining region of Slaskie (Silesia) is once again a hotspot of the pandemic. In the first half of last year, at times, half of all infections were in the mining region.

The main reason for this is that despite the lockdown measures, production continued everywhere. The underground coal miners are exposed to particular danger when working in a confined space. Also, due to the long tradition of mining, and insufficient protection, there is a disproportionate share of chronic respiratory diseases. Combined with the generally disastrous level of the Polish health system, this is a lethal combination that particularly affects the Polish working class.

From Czestochowa, the second-largest city in the region, the head of the emergency service, Marian Nowak, reported that children were also increasingly affected by coronavirus infections. The youngest infected child last week was 17 months old, according to a report in Gazeta Wyborcza .

The emergency services are also having to travel ever-longer distances to find free beds for the sick. The Faktach programme on TVN reported on an ambulance that had to travel 700 kilometres with a sick person on board.

Marian Nowak says that one night five of his ambulances drove to Prudnik, 180 kilometres away, because there was free bed capacity there. Upon arrival, the ambulances usually have to wait for hours before they can hand over the patients.

Czestochowas specialist hospital, which a few weeks ago was accepting patients from other regions, is now overcrowded. Although it has only 123 COVID beds, it has accommodated 132 COVID-19 patients. In the city hospital, 124 patients share the official 118 beds. As a result, the 20 beds in trauma surgery will soon be converted into a COVID ward.

However, the creation of further capacity is failing due to the lack of doctors, as Micha Dworczyk, head of the Prime Ministers Office, admitted at a press conference last Tuesday. The number of Polands doctors per 1,000 inhabitants is the fifth worst of all OECD countries.

At the joint press conference, government spokesman Michal Dworczyk, Prime Minister Mateusz Morawiecki and Health Minister Adam Niedzielski tried to argue for perseverance and sought to pull the wool over the eyes of the population. They declared that the vaccination programme was the all-important, final show of strength, the ray of hope, announcing that 20 million people would be vaccinated by June and the entire population by the end of August.

With about 5 million first vaccinations and 2 million second vaccinations, Poland has so far fully vaccinated only 5.1 percent of its population. Although this is slightly above the catastrophic European average, it is still far from having vaccinated the entire population.

The governments grandly announced target of 10 million vaccinations per month would require more than doubling the current vaccination capacity. Expecting such an increase while the health system is collapsing due to the consequences of the pandemic and the vaccination nationalism that also dominated the last EU summit is simply absurd.

Where the priorities of the vaccination campaign lie became clear again only recently. Poland sent 7,000 vaccine doses from its stockpile to NATO headquarters in Brussels to vaccinate military personnel there ahead of time. NATO Secretary-General Stoltenberg thanked Poland for this and remained silent on the question of whether this was morally justifiable when risk groups in Poland were still waiting for the vaccine. Poland occupies a central position in NATOs deployment plans against Russia.

In the past, cases of Polish politicians and celebrities who had themselves vaccinated prematurely by recourse to illegally diverted vaccine doses have repeatedly come to public attention. The vaccination of Interior Ministry officials began the week before last. Police officers, border guards and customs and tax investigators have already been vaccinated by the thousands, while registration of people born in 1962 will not begin until April 12.

It is not surprising that the government cares more about protecting state power than protecting older citizens. The Polish police are increasingly discredited, with only one third of the population still having confidence in it. Even the ongoing protests against the abortion law have repeatedly met with brutal police violence. Particularly notorious is the use of the BOA anti-terrorist unit, which in November beat demonstrators with telescopic batons while in plainclothes.

This contrasts with scenes like those that took place recently at the University Hospital in Wroclaw, where hundreds of people stormed into the vaccination centre to get one of the daily 500 doses.

A hectic vaccination campaign amid a rampant pandemic also poses another danger. As experts warn, the interplay between a high number of active infections and long delays between the first and second vaccinations could lead to mutations against which the vaccines lose their effectiveness.

According to expert estimates, another 25,000 people will die by July, writes Der Spiegel a very conservative estimate. With an average of 400 deaths per day, almost 40,000 people would die in three months. Prof. Andrzej Horban, the governments chief epidemiologist, estimated in an interview with TVN24 that the peak of the current wave has been reached, at just over 40,000 new infections per day. It is unclear what is prompting him to make this assumption. In fact, there is still no sign of the situation calming down due to the measures taken far too late.

Prof. Horban, however, has already attracted attention on several occasions by his trivialising statements and has openly declared his support for a herd immunity policy. Protect a little, infect a little, is how he summarised his strategy. Thus, as late as mid-February he had held out the prospect of further school reopenings if regional differentiations were taken into account. This was even though at that time he already assumed that the British variant accounted for 10 percent of the total. In the meantime, the share of this strain is around 80 percent.

Horban also denies the proven long-term effects of COVID-19 and scoffs at the idea that such a thing exists. At the same time, he relativises the governments responsibility for the scale of the wave, describing the pandemic as a storm, the kind that sometimes comes out of the blue.

The government and its advisers are fully responsible for the current mass deaths. Even without the mutations, the explosion of new infections because of the relaxations introduced was inevitable. Instead of consistently containing the pandemic at the outset, they have relied on the capacity of the health system. The emergency hospitals opened to great media fanfare, such as the one in Warsaws National Stadium, are like Potemkin villages, hiding the reality of Polands ailing health system, whose main problem is the severe shortage of doctors and nurses.

The situation in Poland also highlights the bankruptcy of the European Union, which is organically incapable of taking coordinated and rational action across Europe. This is exemplified by the German-Polish border, which around 70,000 people cross every day for professional reasons.

A week ago, Germany declared Poland a high-risk area and rapidly introduced border controls with mandatory testing. As a result, queues have formed for hours. On top of that, there are not even uniform regulations across Germany. While Brandenburg and Saxony require a test twice a week, Berlin and Mecklenburg-Western Pomerania have a 48-hour time limit.

The measures now adopted in Poland are insufficient and come far too late. As in all countries, the government is deliberately limiting itself to measures that do not endanger the profits of big business, something on which the government and opposition agree.

Right-wing extremists from the Konfederacja party have organised protests against the governments half-baked lockdown measures. Among the best-known organisers are the Goralskie Veto (Veto of the Mountain People) movement led by Sebastian Piton in the Polish Carpathians and OtwieraMY (We Open Up), supported by Sawomir Mentzen, president of the Polish Economic Congress (Kongres Polskiego Biznesu).

As in other countries, these right-wing forces are using the economic problems of the self-employed and micro-enterprises, such as those in the catering and tourism sectors, who sometimes find themselves penniless and without any income after more than a year of the pandemic, for their anti-lockdown campaigns.

But broad sections of the working class also face acute poverty. The number of unemployed is growing; the rate has risen to 6.5 percent. Parents who have to care for their children at home receive 80 percent of their wages. In the face of chronic low wages, this is not enough for many to pay their bills.

While the working class and lower middle class are being plunged into misery, the government has decided on aid programmes worth billions for the banks and corporations. The interest base rate was cut from 1.5 to 0.1 percent a year ago.

The government and the opposition are in absolute agreement about the murderous pandemic policies that place the defence of profits first. Borys Budka, head of Civic Platform (PO), the largest opposition party, constantly criticises the government from the right. For him, too, the interests of the economy come before the health and lives of the population.

Clear criteria for the functioning of all sectors of the economy based on COVID standards are needed, he said at a joint press conference with regional entrepreneurs in Olsztyn at the end of February. Instead, the government has spent over a year constantly closing and opening individual industries without any logic.

One looks in vain for criticism from the opposition of the relaxation measures. This also applies to the new movement Polska 2050 around Szymon Hoownia, which combines economic liberalism with climate policy and an orientation towards the European Union. In recent polls, it has achieved 18 percent, more than the PO with 12 percent.
Kilross burial ground in Ballygawley is one of the most picturesque and historical in Sligo County and is located on the R290 across from Kilross National School.

Local Councillor Thomas Healy is seeking to establish a committee to maintain its upkeep and enhance its aspect.

"We need to respect our dead at all times especially in an historical context, "stated Cllr Healy. "There are structures in the burial ground dating back to medieval times, there are famine graves in it and many local families have loved ones resting here and there are even veterans from the First World War and the War of Independence buried here.

"Due to retirements nobody is maintaining the area at present, I cleaned out and strimmed some of the pathways late last year but we need to have regular maintenance works carried out as the growing season commences again.

"We carried out a very successful graveyard restoration project in Ballisodare in conjunction with the St Fechin's Committee, Sligo Leader and Sligo County Council.

"This was the first project of its kind in the state and was very successful. I am hoping to replicate that work in Kilross but due to the Covid level 5 restrictions it is difficult to convene a group at present. There is funding available for these works and I do not want us to lose it. I am asking anyone interested to contact me by phone and we can organise a Zoom meeting to constitute a community group. These works would be a great enhancement for the area, would allow safe access to the graves and could be a point of interest for the adjacent school."
New Delhi, April 3 : Kinshuk Sen, son of Delhi-based band Euphoria's frontman Palash Sen, is all set to make his Hollywood debut with the film "In A Silent Way". Named after the famous Miles Davis song, the film follows the life of four jazz musicians in Los Angeles, and their efforts to make it in an industry that has no room for them.

"The entire experience was one of the warmest and most fun experiences of my life. I have always cracked a coconut on the first day of any work project. Not only did the team support me in carrying out the tradition, but they all participated actively in doing so!" he told IANS, on working in the Collin Levin film that stars Nicolai Dorian and Kimball Farley.

The 26-year-old recalls going to an audition which "specifically asked for the actor to be able to play the piano at a semi-professional level".

"This was my first official film audition ever. Thankfully, I had prior piano training from a school accredited with Trinity Guildhall," he says.

"(The) callback was one of the most fun experiences ever. Since they were looking to cast a band of four boys who had great chemistry, there were multiple actors, about four for each part, who were asked to come in, and we were all put in different combinations to audition for the casting director, the director, and the producer. Coincidentally, the first group that went in for the screen test ended up being the four that got cast, including me," he adds.

After a few meetings with the director, Kinshuk got the role.

"My manager called to say I had booked the role! I couldn't have been happier. Not only because it was my first movie project, but also because as an Indian actor, you don't get too many parts written for you that are not stereotypical. This part was written with no ethnicity in mind, making it completely devoid of all hang ups that we sometimes see attached to Indian characters in the West," he says.

In the film, Kinshuk plays Anderson, a "young jazz pianist from LA" who, along with his bandmates, tries to navigate the world of the music industry, while trying to handle his band leader Jazzen's "neuroticism and incessant want to be immortalised" as a legend.

"I heavily relied on the director and the script as my basis for my character. Anderson is a sweet, mellow, but very gifted young guy who is trying to impress his more experienced bandmates. He is very 'by the book' and doesn't deal well with Jazzen's unrealistic demands many times, but desperately wants to be in his cool posse," says Kinshuk.

Since this was a musical film with an original soundtrack, Kinshuk got to work with Grammy-winning artistes and musicians including Bob Reynolds, who taught him "their pieces", and helped him become more of a "natural as a pianist".

"He (Anderson) is sort of a combination of Matt Flamhaff's demeanour from "13 Going On 30," Sebastian Wilder's talent from "La La Land," and has Kabir Dewan's attitude of "Zindagi Na Milegi Dobara" -- all mixed and made into a young brown American boy," he laughs.

The film debuted at the American Film Festival last year alongside films by Oscar-winning directors Spike Lee and the late Orson Wells, and is slated to go to a few more film festivals before getting a public release later this year.

"To even be amongst such an amazing group of creators is an honour in itself. Sadly, because of Covid-19, all our release dates got postponed, but I am so glad we are finally getting to showcase this film" says Kinshuk.

Kinshuk also has a new short film coming up on Amazon Prime this year, called "The Book of Martians" and he is set to start work on his second feature film, "Fraud", from writer Arnold Rudnick. The film will be directed by Rich Thorne. Kinshuk will play the protagonist in this action thriller that is set to film later this year.
Russia stock market closed session higher on Friday, 02 April 2021, on the back of bargain buying across the board, with shares in chemical, financial, oil & gas, and metal & mining sectors being notable gainers.

At the closing of Main trading session, the MOEX Russia index increased 0.87% to 3558.22. The index opened 26.35 points higher at 3,553.89 and moved between 3,538.01 and 3,564.31 throughout the day. The turnover in main MOEX Index was at 32.82 billion Russian Rubles.

The RTS Index was up 0.64% to 1,466.71 after moved between 1,462.98 and 1,472.75 throughout the day.

All MOEX ten sectoral indices closed stronger. Among them, the chemical sector index gained 1.42% to 21,735.65, financial index added 1.38% to 11,236.99, and Oil and Gas increased 0.87% to 8,408.

The Metals and Mining Sector Index added 0.67% to 10,689.21, transport sector index jumped 0.61% to 1,324.34, and Consumer sector index rose 0.55% to 9,038.75. The Telecoms Index added 0.49% to 2,302.65 and Electric utilities index inclined 0.26% to 2,253.03.

Among gainers, GDR TCS Group Holding ORD SHS rose 2.79% to 4,696.20, meanwhile Surgut added 2.72% to 37.05. PhosAgro increased 2.71% to 4,240, PhosAgro rose 2.36% to 26.68, and LSR grew 1.67% to 850..

Among losers, PIK SZ fell 2.1% to 919.30, ADS Ozon Holdings PLC ORD SHS dropped 1.07% to 4,387.50, Detsky fell 1.05% to 141.20, and QIWI PLC shed 0.43% to 806.

In the currency market, USD/RUB increased 0.2950 to 23.49.

OTHER NEWS: Russian Deputy Prime Minister Alexander Novak said on Thursday that he hoped global oil inventories, a key parameter for the oil industry, would return to their normal level in 2-3 months. He also said Russia will gradually raise its oil output in May - July in accordance with the decision of the OPEC+ group of leading oil producers. Novak added that Russia's cumulative increase is seen at 114,000 barrels per day during that period.

Powered by Capital Market - Live News

(This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.)
Butte County Sheriff

A hiker walking on federal land near U.S. Route 97 in Northern California on Sunday discovered the body of a 19-year-old woman who went missing from Oakland in January.

Tatiana Dugger disappeared around Jan. 9, at which point her family filed a report with the Oakland Police Department. She had moved from her hometown in Oroville to Los Angeles in October before apparently heading to the Bay Area.
New Delhi: The COVID-19 caseloads in the country is increasing like never before. Everyone has been advised to follow the COVID guidelines. In a recent development, one such list having 21 guidelines has gone viral over the online sphere. The list claimed that it was issued by the Indian Council. of Medical Research (ICMR), a report from The Quint has debunked this viral post.

The fake advisory enlists 21 steps that need to be followed in the course of next six to twelve months in order to stay safe in the global pandemic.

Here are some of the points mentioned in the advisory:

- Postpone travel abroad for 2 years

- Do not eat outside for one year

- Do not go to unnecessary marriage or other similar ceremony

- Do not take unnecessary travel trips

- Do not go to a crowded place for at least one year

This advisory is being shared on various social media platforms such as facebook, twitter, whatsapp

The official website of ICMR has not released any such advisory and it is a fake notice.

The World Health Organization (WHO) has released guidelines that recommends "to was hands properly after handling food packages and before eating." Thus the claim of do not eat outside one year is a false one.

Follow the guidelines given by WHO :

- Clean your hands often. Use soap and water, or an alcohol-based hand rub

- Maintain a safe distance from anyone who is coughing or sneezing

- Wear a mask when physical distancing is not possible

- Dont touch your eyes, nose or mouth

- Cover your nose and mouth with your bent elbow or a tissue when you cough or sneeze

- Stay home if you feel unwell

- If you have a fever, cough and difficulty breathing, seek medical attention

We at Zee News request everyone to please follow these WHO guidelines and stay safe. Do not belive on fake news and refrain from sharing/ forwarding such advisories.

Live TV
February and March are usually quite wet months on the Costa del Sol. The best way to survive the rainfall and flooding is by wearing rubber boots.

Every British person upon seeing rubber boots exclaims 'Wellingtons,' or rather 'wellies.' Meanwhile for Spanish they are just... 'Katiuskas.' While rubber boots are known in England under the name of one of the leading military and political figures of the 19th century, in Spain they were named after a Russian female character of an operetta, exactly 90 years ago.

It is believed that rubber boots made their debut in Britain in 1852, on the feet of Field Marshal Arthur Wellesley, the First Duke of Wellington. However, the invention of rubber boots by the British can be contested by both the Germans and the French.

In the 18th century, the light leather boots known as 'Hessians' were used by German soldiers and also those fighting for the British in the American War of Independence. Later, at the beginning of the 19th century, most of the English nobles wore the same military style riding boots but with polished leather and ornamental tassels. One of them, the Duke of Wellington, asked his shoemaker in London to modify the Hessian boots by fabricating them in soft calfskin leather, removing the trim, and reducing the height to fit more closely around the leg. Eventually, the boot was dubbed the 'Wellington' and the name has stuck in the English language ever since.

In the middle of the 19th century, Wellington boots started being made of elastic rubber. In 1850, Hiram Hutchinson, an American industrialist of British origin, obtained a license from fellow American Charles Goodyear to use his patented vulcanization process. When Hutchinson emigrated to France, he applied the new process to the production of boots, which became an instant success. The boots became very popular especially with farmers. This resulted in France also being considered a pioneer in the production of rubber boots.

During the same period, Scotland started its own production. This was possible because Henry Lee Norris also managed to secure a contract with Goodyear to manufacture rubber and eventually rubber boots. In 1856, he established the North British Rubber Company in Scotland, later to become Hunter Boot Ltd. In contrast to Hutchinson, Norris' clientele were not workmen nor farmers; his target group were aristocratic gentlemen and officers. However, his focus changed during World War I when the North British Rubber Company was asked by the War Office to construct a combat boot suitable for muddy trenches. By the end of the World War II, the public at large i.e. civilians, women, and children, were all wearing them as well. Later, the 'green welly' became the symbol of country life across Great Britain and around the world, especially in English-speaking countries. Nowadays we can see rubber boots on the catwalks - from knee-high chunky Wellington boots by Versace to rubber ankle boots by Christian Dior or Prada's chunky tread soles in playful pink hues. Knee-high wellies are, by contrast, even combined with a silky slip dress for the freshest date-night look.

Since, Lady Diana Spencer was photographed wearing a pair of rubber boots on the Balmoral estate during her courtship with Prince Charles, boot sales for women skyrocketed and have stayed trendy ever since. The Windsors still continue to wear the 'wellies' during inclement weather, including the princesses by marriage - Meghan and Catherine. Actually, 'Kathy' has been synonymous with rubber boots in Spain for the last 90 years.

The name Kathy/Katiuska originally comes from a famous Pablo Sorozabal's zarzuela-operetta about a young lady, a survivor of the Russian imperial family. The premier of "Katiuska, la mujer rusa" ('Katiuska, the Russian woman') took place at the Victoria Theatre in Barcelona on 28 January, 1931. The pretty Katiuska wore short boots and danced a lot on the stage. The audience were impressed by those red boots, and after the performance, many women headed to the shoe shops and asked for boots like Katiuska's. From that point forward, shoe shops began to recognize rubber boots as 'Katiuskas.' Rubber boots for women have since been readily available in many shops but men can only find them for sale in sport shops such as Decathlon.

A Russian resident living in Mijas Costa, Katerina Abramova, is surprised with such a Russian-Spanish name for rubber boots.

"In Russia we just call them 'rubber boots.' Rubber overshoes named 'kalosha, or galosha' that Russians have been using for ages are more popular in my country. Before production of kaloshes became industrial, they were handmade from leather, sometimes even with fur inside. Kaloshes protect you not only from mud, but also from the cold. Here I cannot find them in shops though, I found something similar - foam clogs, known in Spanish as 'zuecos' which in the north of the country are also called 'galochas.'
A European or even World War could be triggered in four in Ukraine after Russia dispatched 4,000 to the disputed border with its neighbour, warns an independent Russian military analyst.

It comes as social media footage footage shows suspected large scale Russian military movements in regions close to rebel-held eastern Ukraine and annexed Crimea.

With tension sharply rising, analyst Pavel Felgenhauer, 69, said it now requires a 'psychoanalyst' to determine Russia's intentions in Ukraine but warned events could see 'war in a month'.

The West has expressed alarm about Moscow's movement of troops and forces, and Felgenhauer says they are right to be concerned as unverified new footage appears to show military movements in Russia's Voronezh, Rostov and Krasnodar regions, along with key railway routes.

'The crisis has the potential to escalate into a pan-European war, if not even a world one,' Felgenhauer warned starkly in an interview with Rosbalt news outlet in Russia.

'But for now, potential. Will it happen or not? Let's wait and see. In the West, they don't know what to do about it.'

A European or even World War could be triggered in four in Ukraine after Russia dispatched 4,000 to the disputed border with its neighbour, warns an independent Russian military analyst. Pictured: Military machinery being moved by suspected Russian troops

It comes as social media footage footage shows suspected large scale Russian military movements in regions close to rebel-held eastern Ukraine and annexed Crimea

Military analyst Pavel Felgenhauer

Russia yesterday vowed to 'take extra measures' if Nato sends forces to Ukraine after the Kremlin dispatched 4,000 troops to the disputed border with its neighbour.

'No doubt such a scenario would lead to a further increase in tensions close to Russia's borders. Of course, this would call for additional measures from the Russian side to ensure its security,' Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov told reporters.

He insisted, however, that Russia was 'not threatening' Ukraine, despite an earlier statement which warned a war in Donbass would 'destroy' its neighbour.

Footage has emerged showing shows dozens of military helicopters close to the frontier, and the movement of tanks and other military vehicles by train.

The United States pledged its 'unwavering' support to Ukraine on Thursday as defense officials said they were aware of thousands of troops newly-deployed to the separatist Donbass territory, which is controlled by pro-Moscow factions.

Asked why Russia may be pushing for a conflict now, Felgenhauer replied: 'Address this question to a psychoanalyst. Do I need to explain?

'The facts are there, everything is already happening.'

Footage has emerged showing the movement of tanks and other military vehicles by train

He claimed all the conditions could be in place by early May when Russian will hold a major Red Square parade to mark the anniversary of victory in World War Two, and he suspected a 'decision has been made already'.

Felgenhauer said factors pushing Russia towards seizing land from Ukraine were 'the closure of pro-Russian TV channels in Ukraine, the threat of arrest and trial of Ukrainian politician Viktor Medvedchyuk, the arrest of Alexei Navalny, [and] President Biden calling Putin a murderer'.

'The threats are growing, and rapidly. Much is not discussed in the media, but we are seeing very bad signs,' he added.

In the third week of March, three large Russian Baltic Fleet landing ships passed south through the English Channel, accompanied by a corvette, he said.

'There will be ten such combat units in total, plus small airborne troops,' he said. 'You can collect up to two divisions, taking into account the air force.'

Russia could be planning a 'Normandy-style landing' between Odessa and Mykolaiv, he claimed.

Putin has huge forces in occupied east Ukraine - which fell under his sway in 2014, and in Crimea which was occupied.

The Biden administration pledged its 'unwavering' support to the Ukraine on Thursday (pictured: Russian president Vladimir Putin, left, and Joe Biden, right)

'Obviously, a major operation is being prepared, and other forces will be brought in as well,' he said.

'Everyone is talking about a possible tank invasion from Belgorod through Kharkiv in the direction of Zaporizhia in order to surround Ukrainian forces on the left bank of the Donbass.'

Putin might 'cut off Ukraine from the sea, create [a new rebel state of] Novorossiya, for example' or he could make a move then pause and start dictating terms to the West, Felgenhauer added.

Or Russia could seek to extend his control devouring Ukraine as far as Transnistria, a landlocked, Moscow-controlled no man's land 'unofficial state' with its own KGB secret service, he claimed.

Felgenhauer predicted that the West's expected reactions to such moves were 'unclear'.

'Some [in the West] say that the Russians should not be provoked, and military intervention is too risky.

'Others, on the contrary, are in favour of unification (of Russia and Ukraine) and open confrontation, because then it will be possible to bargain with Russia.'

Ukraine alleges Russia has 32,700 troops in Crimea, and commands 28,000 separatist servicemen in rebel-held eastern Ukraine.

'Despite significant enemy forces, the Ukrainian army is prepared for all potential scenarios,' said Ruslan Khomchak, the Ukrainian commander-in-chief.

Putin's spokesman Dmitry Peskov defended the troop movement towards border areas.

The Russian Federation moves troops within its own territory at its own discretion,' he said.

The Kremlin said Thursday Ukraine and the West should not 'worry' about Russian troop movements on the Ukrainian border (pictured, a tank of pro-Russian militants of the self-proclaimed Donetsk People's Republic)

'This shouldn't concern anyone, as such actions do not endanger anyone.'

He claimed: 'As you know, intense activity of the armies of NATO member states and other organisations, as well as particular states etc, is being observed on the perimeter of Russian borders.

'We need to stay on guard.'

A NATO official said that the Western allies have 'concerns' over Russian 'large scale military activities around Ukraine'.

An American expert on Russia, Michael Kofman said that while there was 'no strong evidence that an attack is imminent' it was clear 'something is up outside of regular exercises or normal troop rotation'.

He warned: 'Russian intentions are unclear.'

Ukraine, Western countries and NATO accuse Russia of sending troops and heavy weapons to prop up its proxies in Donbass who seized a swathe of eastern Ukraine in 2014.

Russia says it only provides political and humanitarian support to separatist fighters in what it casts as an internal conflict.

Ukrainian military intelligence accused Russia of engineering provocations to create a pretext to send additional Russian military units to Donbass.

'In addition, an attempt to advance Russian occupation forces deep into Ukraine is not ruled out,' it said.
On Friday, a suspect rammed his car into two US Capitol Police officers at a barricade outside the Capitol, killing one and injuring the other. After exiting the car and lunging at officers, the suspect was shot by police. Later, he passed away in a local hospital.

The incident at the Capitol killed a police officer

Officer William "Billy" Evans, an 18-year police veteran, was named the officer killed on Friday. The other officer is in "safe and non-threatening condition," according to Capitol Police.

Three law enforcement sources told CBS News that the suspect was 25-year-old Noah R. Green of Indiana. He was not on law enforcement's radar, police said. According to a federal law enforcement official and a Capitol Hill source, Green, an African American man, was not on any watch lists and appeared to have acted alone.

According to police, Green reportedly rammed his car into the officers at 1:02 PM, then fled his vehicle and lunged at them. Acting Capitol Police Chief Yogananda Pittman said at a news conference Friday that the officers then shot at the suspect. One of the officers was stabbed in the face, several sources said, although it's unknown which officer was stabbed.

Heavily Armed Man Carrying 6 Guns at a Grocery Store, Adds Anxiety in Atlanta

Capitol Police released an initial alert to congress members warning them of a "external security threat." Police issued another warning about an hour and a half later, saying the incident had been "neutralized."

During an afternoon news conference, Capitol Police Chief Yogananda Pittman said the driver stepped out of the car and seemed to be brandishing a knife before being shot by officials. Pittman announced the death of one of the officers at the press conference.

"All I ask is that the public continue to pray for the United States Capitol Police and their families," Pittman said. "Since the events of January 6 and now the events that have happened here today, the US Capitol Police have had an extremely difficult time."

The name of the officer who was wounded was not identified. The event is "not a persistent threat," according to Robert Contee, acting chief of the Metropolitan Police Department.

Pittman noted that Metro Police are still investigating the incident. National Guard troops were seen mobilizing near the scene on video.

The Rev. Patrick Mahoney, one of the witnesses, said he had finished a Good Friday service nearby when he heard three shots. On the Capitol's Senate side, the incident occurred, approximately 100 yards from the building's entrance. The Capitol has begun to open up after the January 6 protests, and barriers that stopped vehicular traffic near that area have recently been lifted, as per KCRA.

Tornado Outbreak Hits Alabama and Georgia, At Least 5 Dead

Capitol incident expected to reignite a debate in Congress

An incident at the United States Capitol on Friday that killed a police officer is likely to reignite a discussion in Congress about how to protect the nation's seat of democracy after lawmakers' security fears and a pro-Trump mob's January storming of the house.

Since lawmakers and visitors enjoy an open campus, security around the Capitol is often a source of debate. However, security risks often necessitate restrictions.

Lawmakers in both houses had openly lobbied authorities and administrators to answer whether the rest of the barriers would be removed, and they had denounced all discussion of permanent fencing. Republicans and Democrats have also proposed measures to block the fencing from being made permanent, USA Today via MSN reported.

After the barrier was put up in February, Del. Eleanor Holmes Norton, D-D.C., introduced her version. Last week, Senators Chris Van Hollen (D-Md.) and Roy Blunt (R-Mo.) joined her in proposing companion legislation. On the Rules and Administration Committee, which manages the Capitol grounds, Blunt is the top Republican.

With the addition of metal detectors, visitor checks, and vehicle tank traps, access to the Capitol has become more difficult over time. Unlike the White House, which is more difficult to approach and needs scheduled visits, officials have aimed to maintain convenient public access to the "People's House" while still ramping up security. The debate regarding improved Capitol security comes despite a surge in attacks against politicians in recent years, as well as concerns after the January Capitol riot, in which rioters were heard making threats against prominent Democrats as they attacked the house.

Video: Unidentified Man Brutally Attacks Asian American Woman, Prompts NY Hate Crime Investigation

@ 2021 HNGN, All rights reserved. Do not reproduce without permission.
Lets have a serious conversation about the purpose of school choice.

A recent Senate Committee on Education hearing in the Texas Legislature revealed a fundamental divergence in our states philosophy of education. One senator admitted proudly the reason Texas has charter schools is to provide pure choice.

Pure choice is not the prevailing narrative that we have been told. Many public school supporters have made concessions for charter schools so kids who are stuck in failing schools have an affordable alternative. But now we know this is not the end game. The end game is simply choice.

The theory behind pure choice is a commodified system of schools, where each school competes against the others in a marketplace. Expensive edvertising is used to convince us our kids will get ahead in life if we choose a certain school. Schools will intentionally attract certain kids  not all kids  to boost their test scores and outcomes, making it look like they are winning in the business of education. We will lose the value of education that our traditional school system provides, as part of a democracy, as a public good.

To parents whose kids are happily enrolled in charter schools, good for you. I do not begrudge you that choice, and I wish your child a successful and fulfilling education. Having choices in education is not the problem. The problem is the deregulated free market, resulting in too much choice that ends up diluting all schools including charters.

Back to the hearing. In the witness chair sat a superintendent of a large suburban school district. He testified against Senate Bill 28, explaining it would allow for a proliferation of charter schools without regard to their impact on his district. He told of his districts loss of revenue because of students leaving his schools for charter schools.

Some senators on this committee  whose responsibility it is to understand the basic formulas of public school finance  were either incapable or unwilling to comprehend the superintendents testimony.

A senator insisted that if tax dollars follow the child to the charter school, then it stands to reason that the district has one less child to educate and therefore requires that much less money. The superintendent politely explained that one less child reduces revenue, but he cannot reduce expenditures to make up for the loss.

If you have trouble following this line of thinking, consider: Five students leave a public school for a charter school. Their tax dollars (lets say, $1,000 each) follow them to that charter school. So now the public school will receive $5,000 less. But the students were spread out across five grade levels and two schools. So the superintendent cannot reduce overhead costs by $5,000. The superintendent cannot cut back on air conditioning or eliminate a teacher. The budget cuts will come in special services such as libraries, art, music, languages and all the other things that make schools good.

Whats more frustrating is that many charter schools are promising to provide these special services and programs that the neighborhood public school can no longer afford to provide.

So, yes, senators, this is an inconvenient truth. We know you want to create a system of pure choice, where each institution only has to look out for itself, be the best it can be, as state Sen. Paul Bettencourt has said. But that only works in a fair competitive market. We are not seeing a fair marketplace. And too many bills this session would like to give charter schools even more of an edge, thereby disadvantaging traditional schools.

We cannot sustain two parallel systems of publicly funded schools with our tax dollars. And I think our senators know this. This is the real end game of their pure choice system.

I would like to tell our senators: Try marriage before divorce. You have not stayed true to your vows to make suitable provisions for our existing public school system. Stop flirting with so many charter schools and the idea of a no-strings-attached marketplace for education, and do the work of tending to your marriage.

Cameron Vickrey is the associate director for Pastors for Texas Children. She also co-founded RootEd, a local parent-led advocacy group for public schools.
Ramallah, April 3 : Dozens of Palestinian protesters were injured during clashes with Israeli soldiers in the West Bank, medical sources said.

Five of the protesters were injured by live ammunition from an Israeli army force that stormed the eastern part of the northern West Bank city of Nablus on Friday, Xinhua news agency quoted the sources as saying.

Six others were injured by rubber-coated metal bullets fired by Israeli soldiers in the village of al-Mughayyir, north of the West Bank city of Ramallah, they added.

Paramedics also treated dozens of protesters who inhaled tear gas fired by the Israeli soldiers.

Meanwhile, witnesses said clashes also broke out in Kafr Qaddum, a village east of Qalqilya city, and Beit Dajan, a village east of Nablus city.

They said the clashes broke out during rallies that the Palestinians organise every Friday afternoon in protest against Israeli settlement and confiscation of land.

The villages of Kafr Qaddum and Beit Dajan now witness weekly rallies against the Israeli settlement activities.
White House chief medical adviser Anthony Fauci listens as President Joe Biden speaks in the Eisenhower Executive Office Building in Washington on Feb. 25, 2021. (Saul Loeb/AFP via Getty Images)

Fauci Says Hes Too Busy to Get Involved With Border Amid Concerns of COVID-19-Positive Immigrants

Infectious disease expert Dr. Anthony Fauci said Friday hes too busy to visit the U.S.-Mexico border and that its not his role to do so, responding to questions about Republican criticism that hes been silent on the throngs of people entering the country from COVID-19-infected regions.

Fox News Neil Cavuto asked Fauci a series of questions about the torrent of criticism from prominent Republicans, who have accused the infectious disease expert of staying mum on COVID-19-positive illegal immigrants and who have complained Fauci is not using his influence to persuade the Biden administration to do more to stem the border surge.

Cavuto cited remarks by Sen. Lindsey Graham (R-S.C.), who in a tweet Friday became the most recent GOP lawmaker to take aim at Fauci, saying he needs to go to the southern border and witness in person the biggest super spreader event in the nationPresident@JoeBidens immigration policies.

These are largely coming from Republicans who have serious animus toward some of the things that you recommend and say, and maybe just you, period, Cavuto said.

Fauci replied by saying he has become a symbol, to them, of anything they dont like about anything that has to do with things that are contrary to them, that are outside of their own realm.

Its a little bit bizarre, Fauci added.

Calling Graham a good person that hes dealt with well over the years, Fauci pushed back against the Republican senators comments.

Equating me with things that have to do at the border. I mean, I have nothing to do with the border. Peter Navarro saying I created the virus? I mean, how bizarre is that? Fauci said, adding, I mean, is that a little weird?

Fauci was presumably referring to a comment by former White House adviser Peter Navarro, who in a recent interview on Fox News called him the father of COVID-19.

Cavuto replied by saying what he thinks Graham was getting at was that, given the COVID-19 outbreak and all the thousands that have been crammed in there, referring to holding facilities along the border, maybe someone with your expertise should be down there just to monitor how worrisome the situation this is.

Do you think it could be a super-spreader event? Cavuto asked pointedly.

Fauci replied by saying that, obviously, it is a very difficult situation at the border, we all know that, but added that he believes the Biden administration is doing all it can to alleviate the problem.

Having me down at the borderthats really not what I do, Fauci said. I develop vaccines, I develop countermeasures. I mean, having me at the border, I dont know why theyre saying I should be at the border.

Cavuto countered by asking whether there was a need to closely monitor whether the influx of migrants, some of whom have tested positive for COVID-19, could be fanning the flames of the outbreak.

Obviously this is a concern to the administration. I mean, the President himself has expressed that. We dont want people to be coming over the border, Fauci said.

Fauci said people crossing the border into the United States are tested, to the extent possible. If theyre positive, theyre quarantined. Thats what I know about it. No one is denying that its not a difficult problem at the border.

I dont know the reason for the animus, Fauci said, adding, quite frankly, Im so busy trying to do some important things to preserve the health and safety of the American people that I cant be bothered with getting distracted with these people that are doing these ad hominems.

In the interview, Cavuto brought up other Republican critiques of Fauci, including a tweet by Sen. Marco Rubio (R-Fla.), who called Fauci a very good public-health official, adding that his job is to advise policy makers & inform the public but NOT to decide what we can do, where we can go or which places can open or close.

And his job is NOT to mislead or scare us into doing the right things, Rubio wrote.

Fauci responded by saying that hes not trying to scare anybody.

What were saying is that we make recommendations based on scientific evidence and data. Because what you want to do is give the American people the information they need to make choices, he said, adding, I dont think anybody would consider me a scare-monger.

It comes after Rep. Mo Brooks (R-Ala.) joined other Republican lawmakers calling on Fauci to use his influence to stop a dangerous new foreign pipeline for COVID-19 along the southern border.

In a March 12 letter, Brooks and other GOP lawmakers sought action from Fauci while taking aim at the Biden administration for resuming what they called the dangerous immigration policy of catch and release along the border.

Hundreds of illegal immigrants have been released at the border on nothing more than a promise to appear at a future hearing, the letter said, adding that the releases were taking place with no testing or quarantine measures despite the fact that Mexico now has the highest per capita COVID fatality rate in Latin America, he wrote.

The Biden administration has eased the Trump administrations Remain in Mexico policy that required asylum seekers to stay south of the border while their cases moved through the system. Since then, the number of children and adults at the border seeking entrance has surged.

More recently, Mark Meadows, the former White House chief of staff, wondered why Fauci hadnt been more vocal on the COVID-19 threat along the border.

There was no policy, medical or otherwise, that Dr. Fauci wouldnt weigh in on when President Trump was in the White House, Meadows wrote in a March 31 tweet.

Curious we havent heard from the same Dr. Fauci on Joe Biden releasing thousands of COVID untested migrants into the U.S, he added, presumably referring to reports, such as one by The New York Post, which noted that some 2,000 illegal immigrants had been released without evidence of submitting to a COVID-19 test.
Sean Sherlock TD says there's little that's new in the report

The launch this week of the 'Our Rural Future' was 'eerily similar' to a launch four years ago of an Action Plan on Rural Development - and Cork East TD Sean Sherlock has expressed fears that the latest policy document might end in obscurity along with its predecessor.

Comparing the two documents, Deputy Sherlock said: "That plan had five pillars and 270 actions.

"In comparison Monday's document has 150 commitments and focuses in on the fallout from the pandemic.

"What will be crucial to its success is the delivery of high-speed broadband, and access to sustainable transport options."

He said there were 'no new concrete financial commitments' in the policy document.

"This strategy can't be another false dawn for rural Ireland. While there is much to welcome in the document, there is little that is specifically new.

"This is a very well-packaged marketing exercise that bundles together proposals that were already planned such as the right to remote working, or the 1bn Rural Regeneration and Development Fund."

According to Cllr John Paul O'Shea, the measures outlined in the document would help reverse the trend over the past decades where young people had been leaving rural areas in search of work.

"As we emerge from COVID-19, we will never have a better opportunity to reverse that long-standing trend," Cllr O'Shea said.

"The move to remote working, underpinned by the roll-out of the National Broadband Plan, has the potential to transform rural Ireland like never before.

"It will allow people to work from their own local communities in Cork County, revitalise our town centres, reduce commuting times, lower transport emissions and most importantly - improve the quality of life of our people."

The document was also welcomed by Cork County Council Economic Development Committee Chairman, Cllr Frank O'Flynn, who described the measures outlined in the document as game-changers in terms of revitalising rural areas.

"The provision of rural hubs would revolutionise rural living - if you're working in Cork of a Friday evening, you'd better leave by 4pm or you won't be able to go home until well after 7pm, such is the traffic.

"COVID has given us this opportunity and the measures in this document are going to change our lives for the better."
Egypt's Suez Canal Authority said Saturday that a shipping traffic jam caused by a giant container vessel getting stuck on the crucial waterway for almost a week has been cleared.

Traffic on the canal, a conduit for over 10 percent of world trade, had begun moving again on Monday evening after the 200,000-tonne MV Ever Given was refloated with the help of international salvage experts.

"All the ships waiting in the waterway since the grounding of the... (MV) Ever Given have completed passage," SCA chief Osama Rabie said in a statement by the canal authority.

The wedging of the Japanese-owned, Taiwanese-operated ship had created tailbacks to the north and south totalling over 420 ships, with billions of dollars-worth of cargo.

Rabie has acknowledged that the blockage, which began when the ship veered off course in a sandstorm, left Egypt's international shipping and wider reputation on the line.

Egyptian authorities have presented the freeing of the mega-ship as a vindication of the country's engineering and salvage capabilities.

"Ninety-nine percent" of personnel who worked to refloat the giant vessel were Egyptian, according to Rabie.

Egyptian President Abdel Fattah al-Sisi has pledged investment to ensure no repeat of the episode, and the SCA has called for new tugboats and dredgers are needed.

Maritime data company Lloyd's List said the blockage had held up an estimated $9.6 billion worth of cargo each day between Asia and Europe.

The canal is economically vital to Egypt, which lost between $12 and $15 million in revenues for each day the waterway was closed, according to the canal authority.

Nearly 19,000 ships navigated the canal in 2020, working out an average of just over 50 per day, it says.

But the president and port authority have ruled out any further widening of the southern stretch of the canal where the boat became diagonally stuck.

Sisi oversaw an expansion of a northern section, which included widening an existing stretch and introducing a 35 kilometre parallel waterway, to much fanfare in 2014-15.

Story continues

But that was achieved at a cost of over $8 billion, without significantly increasing revenues from the canal.

The Suez Canal earned Egypt just over $5.7 billion in 2019/20, little changed from the year before, and similar to the $5.3 billion in revenues earned back in 2014.

"Economically... (further expansion) would not be useful," Sisi declared this week.

The costly blockage is likely to result in litigation, according to analysts, with the ship's Japanese owners, Taiwanese operators and Egypt itself all under the microscope.

hha-emp/dwo/par
Vicky Phelan said she is so relieved as she will receive her first Covid-19 vaccine next week in the United States.

The CervicalCheck campaigner is currently undergoing treatment in Maryland and said once she is fully vaccinated she will explore the area and do more touristy things.

Posting a video to Instagram, she shared the news with her 60,000 followers.

"I am getting the vaccine, I am getting the first dose of the Covid vaccine next Wednesday, she said.

So, Im getting treatment on Tuesday and then my first dose of the vaccine on Wednesday. Im a little bit worried about how Ill be but sure you know what Im normally fairly sick on a Wednesday, so so be it.

Read More

"My doctors have cleared it, I checked with my oncologist and he said it's fine for me to get the vaccine on Wednesday. So, Im really glad Im getting it now because it will give me far more freedom than what I have at the moment.

Ms Phlean said despite not yet being vaccinated, she recently went to see the cherry blossoms in Washington DC as they usually only bloom for two weeks.

However, she said once shes vaccinated she will be able to do a bit more exploring while having peace of mind that she wont catch Covid.

Once Im fully vaccinated I will definitely be doing a bit more of the touristy stuff and visit more of Washington DC while Im here as up until now I havent really done any of that because Ive been too scared of getting Covid and having that interrupt my treatment, she said.

"There was too much of a risk. So, yeah, things are looking up.

Toward the end of the video, the Limerick native got visibly upset as she talked about home and missing her children.

I would just like to say thank you all very much for all your love and support, it really means a lot to me, she said.

"I have found the past two weeks in particular quite hard. Im really starting to miss my kids.

"My son doesnt really want to talk to me on the phone, which Im finding quite difficult at times.

"All of the messages of support Im getting really help to keep me going on days when I really miss my kids and really miss home. So thank you all for that, I really appreciate it.

Read More




The police in Ondo State said on Saturday that they were still searching for the killers of the Olufon of Ifon, Adegoke Adeusi, five months after he was felled by bullets from hoodlums suspected to be herdsmen.

The monarch was killed on November 26, 2020, at Elegbeka, in Ose Local Government Area, while returning to his domain after a meeting in Akure.

The late traditional ruler was crowned in 1997 and had reigned for 23 years before his death.

His death had created several controversies, especially after the Special Police Intelligence Squad at the Force Headquarters invited five traditional leaders of the Ifon community in relation to an allegation of threatening the llife of a herdsman in the community.

The chiefs included Olaniyi Olotu, the Secretary of the Ifon Council of Chiefs; Olijewu; Saliu Omotosho; Ekon; and the Chief Hunter of the community, were also invited to answer questions on missing cows said to belong to one Abdullahi.

The chiefs had through their lawyers raised the alarm over the invitation, querying their invitation, that the police could not find the killers of their monarch but were quick to summon them over missing cows.

They also queried why the force headquarters would be involved in a matter that could be handled by the police command in Ondo State.

When the matter appeared to have been swept under the carpet like many other murder cases, the Ondo State Governor, Oluwarotimi Akeredolu, on Saturday, raised the matter vowing to unmask killers of the traditional ruler.

Mr Akeredolu, at an interdenominational service in honour of the late monarch, said he would leave no stone unturned at unravelling the killers no matter how long it would take.

Mr Akeredolu was represented by the Secretary to the State Government, Oladunni Odu.

He said he would continue to work with security agencies to ensure Mr Adeusi did not die in vain.

He described the late Olufon as a monarch who loved his people and attracted developmental projects to the community.

We are all sad by the manner of the late Obas death, the governor said.

It shouldnt happen to anybody. The Government will leave no stone unturned to fish out the killers.

No update

When PREMIUM TIMES reached out to the police for an update on the case, the Ondo State Commands spokesman, Leo Tee-Ikoro, said the case was still under investigation.

I cannot make any further details on that for now, he said.

All what I can say is we are investigating the matter.

Mr Akeredolu, however, urged the Ifon community to hasten the selection of a new king without hiccups.

ADVERTISEMENT

He told them to abide by all chieftaincy declarations in the State in picking a new monarch.

He also warned that any Regent picked should not be made to reign for a long time.

I want to enjoin you to have a peaceful selection of a new Oba. I know there is only one kingmaker left but hasten the process and follow all chieftaincy declaration to select the next Oba, the governor said.

The Regent you are going to pick shouldnt stay long for there to be peace in the land.
New Delhi, April 3 : Playing multiple genres including Rajasthani Folk, Folk Rock, Sufi fusion, instrumental and Bollywood, Rajasthan-based band 'Swaraag' has carved a distinct niche for itself.

Co-founder of the band, Pratap Singh tells IANS that while travelling across the country, they realised that the audiences connect with them more intimately when they listened to music close to their local language. "This is how we started to experiment mixing multiple genres in a concert. For example, we found that the audience likes to listen to Rajasthani Folk but not hundred per cent. People admire Sufi but not essentially a complete concert devoted to that genre. We start to change the flow after 15-20 minutes, and it has really worked," he says.

Founded in the year 2014, when Singh met Arif Khan for the first time at a concert, the former recalls, "Khan was a freelance musician then. We clicked instantly and continued to meet. There was no doubt in our minds around the possibility of creating a band together. And that is how 'Swaraag' began." Lamenting that it was extremely tough for an independent band or musician to survive and make a mark in the industry dominated by Bollywood, Singh smiles that though it has been a roller coaster ride for them, it is the recognition from their fans and followers that keeps them going. "We have learnt so many things from this industry and we stick with our principle of not using any electronic patches in our live performances." Talking about last year's lockdown and the grim situation ahead considering the second wave of the pandemic, he says, "It is tough to explain how traumatizing it was initially. However, we learned from the unprecedented times. But yes, there were many delayed projects pertaining to album recordings and social promotions which we managed to complete during that period. Lockdown taught us that nothing can replace your quality of work, and the importance of skills to market your work," says Singh.

Talking about novel ways to reach new audiences, the band's co-founder admits that social media has the ability to make things viral overnight. "For the music industry, it has provided support to independent artists and will continue to do so." Stressing that 'Swaraag', which also uses traditional music instruments such as Khartal-Morchang and Zitar is in fact an attempt to bring people in touch with their roots of the traditional music, Singh feels that sometimes 'fusion' is quite a misunderstood term. "In 'Fusion' one can create a blend of any classical & western in 40:60 ratio or 30:70 ratio. It's really hard to define it." Recently a part of HCL Concerts 'Soundscapes', the band members feel that not just the government, but the corporate sector too needs to pitch in when it comes to promotion of arts. "We have been collaborating with HCL for the past three years, and it has been a fruitful partnership. Let's hope some more business houses come in," says Singh.

Adding that experimentation is the key word for them, the co-founder says that while the group boasts of artists belonging to different gharanas, the most important key is the liberty to experiment with the music till one is satisfied. "All of us love to experiment in order to create a unique blend of traditional and modern music," says Singh, as the band is working on an original song which is in the final stages of recording.

(Sukant Deepak can be reached at sukant.d@ians.in)
McLain was a divorced mother of a toddler when she borrowed $35,000 to get her M.F.A. in poetry at the University of Michigan. I had no idea how I was going to pay that money back, she said.

After finishing the program, she taught high school in Vermont, waited tables in Wisconsin and wrote in her free time. In 2003, she was living in Ohio and preparing to discuss A Moveable Feast with a memoir class at a local college when an idea came to her like a bolt of electricity: to write about Hemingways bohemian Paris from the point of view of his first wife, Hadley Richardson. She quit three part-time teaching jobs, planted herself at a Starbucks, and, as she put it in an email, wrote my face off.

When The Paris Wife was published in 2011, it became as ubiquitous on the best-seller list as its characters were in Left Bank cafes, lingering for 31 weeks on the hardcover fiction list and 35 weeks on the trade paperback list. There are now more than 2 million copies in print. The Paris Wife is why I can afford bookshelves instead of ramen, McLain said. She went on to write two more best sellers based on the lives of real women  Beryl Markham in Circling the Sun and Martha Gellhorn in Love and Ruin. She viewed her work as a feminist act, a way to give depth and dimension to unclaimed, missed women.

But one day in the fall of 2017, McLain was walking her goldendoodle, Piper, around a local pond when she had an idea for a different kind of story  a suspenseful one  that morphed into When the Stars Go Dark.

I pictured this troubled missing persons detective who becomes obsessed with a girl who goes missing in a town that meant something to her when she was a kid, McLain said. Before I got home, I could see the whole thing.
(Natural News) Anti-Christian world powers that promote the culture of death are seeking to impose on the worlds population an implicit  though remote and passive  collaboration with abortion. Such remote collaboration, in itself, is also an evil because of the extraordinary historical circumstances in which these same world powers are promoting the murder of unborn children and the exploitation of their remains. When we use vaccines or medicines which utilize cell lines originating from aborted babies, we physically benefit from the fruits of one of the greatest evils of mankind  the cruel genocide of the unborn. For if one innocent child had not been cruelly murdered, we would not have these concrete vaccines or medicines. We should not be so naive as not to see that these vaccines and medicines not only offer a health benefit but also promise to promote the culture of death.

Of course, some argue that even if people do not take these vaccines, the abortion industry will still continue. We may not reduce the number of abortions if we stop taking such vaccines or medicines, but this is not the issue. The problem lies in the moral weakening of our resistance to the crime of abortion, and to the crime of the trafficking, exploitation and commercialization of the body parts of murdered unborn children. The use of such vaccines and medicines in some way morally  albeit indirectly  supports this horrible situation. Observing the response from the Catholic Church, abortionists and those responsible for biomedical research will conclude that the hierarchy has acquiesced to this situation, which includes an entire chain of crimes against life and indeed can aptly be described as a chain of death. We have to wake up to the real dangers, consequences and circumstances of the current situation.

(Article by Bishop Athanasius Schneider republished from LifeSiteNews.com)

Theories justifying the use of abortion-tainted vaccines

The documents of the Holy See (from 2005, 2008 and 2020) that deal with vaccines developed from cell lines originating from murdered unborn children are not infallible decisions of the Magisterium. The arguments put forth in the aforementioned documents regarding the moral licitness of the use of abortion-tainted vaccines are ultimately too abstract. We need to approach this problem in a more profound way, and not remain in a juridical positivism and formalism of abstract theories of cooperation with evil, benefiting from the evil deeds of others, double effect or whatever one wishes to call such justifying theories.

We have to go deeper, down to the root, and consider the aspect of proportionality. This concrete chain of horrible crimes  of murdering, harvesting tissue and body parts from murdered unborn children, and commercializing their remains through the manufacturing and testing of vaccines and medicines  is out of all proportion to other crimes, e.g. benefitting from slave labor, paying taxes, etc. Even the most apparently impressive historical examples, which are sometimes adduced to justify the moral licitness of the use of abortion-tainted vaccines, are incomparable to the issue before us. Indeed, due to the gravity of abortion, and the current reality of an ever-expanding abortion and biomedical research industry, which involves the trafficking and exploitation of aborted baby body parts, the principle of material cooperation, or other similar theories, cannot be applied in this case. It is, therefore, highly anti-pastoral and counterproductive to allow the use of abortion-tainted vaccines in this historical hour. The souls of the murdered babies, from whose body parts people are now benefiting through these medicines and vaccines, are living and have a name before God.

When one uses an abortion-tainted vaccine, one is standing directly and very personally before the vaccine syringe. In paying taxes, one is not directly and personally confronting the process of a specific abortion. A government is not asking you concretely to give your money to this concrete act of abortion now. The government often uses our money against our will. Therefore, the use of an abortion-tainted vaccine is a much more personal confrontation, and a much closer meeting, with the monstrous crimes involved in its production, than for instance paying taxes or benefiting from the evil acts of another person. Should the government tell a citizen directly and personally, I am taking your money to pay for this concrete abortion, one has to refuse, even if it means confiscation of ones home and imprisonment.

In the first centuries, Christians paid taxes to a pagan government, knowing that it would use a portion of the tax revenue to finance idol worship. However, when the government asked Christians personally and individually to participate in the crime of idolatry, by burning just a small grain of incense before the statue of an idol, they refused even at the price of being martyred for bearing witnesses to Gods First Commandment.

The exceptionally grave and unique character of abortion-tainted vaccines and medicines

How can we, with a maximum of determination, be and proclaim to be against abortion, when we accept abortion-tainted vaccines  when their origin lies in the murder of a child? Both logic and common-sense demand that we not accept such vaccines or medicines. In difficult times of great confusion, God often uses the simple and the little ones who tell the truth while the majority swims with the tide. Unfortunately, many people in the Church, and even some Catholic pro-life organizations, are swimming with the tide on the specific question of abortion-tainted vaccines and medicines. It seems that many theologians, and even the Holy See, as well as the vast majority of bishops, are also swimming with the tide, and there remains only a minority in the Church of our day which is saying, Stop. This is not good. This is a danger! As Christians, it is our duty to bear witness to the world by not accepting these vaccines and medicines.

One might ask the proponents of the moral licitness of the use of abortion-tainted vaccines or medicines the following question, If you traveled back in time and witnessed the gruesome murder of an unborn child, the dismemberment of his body, the harvesting of his tissue, and his cells then processed in the lab, even if there were hundreds of chemical processes involved with that particular vaccine or medicine, could you with a clear conscience receive such a vaccine or medicine into your body? It is hard to imagine that you could, as you would have before your eyes the scene of a child being dismembered and you now physically benefiting from the use of his cells.

Vaccines that utilize cell lines originating from aborted fetuses only for testing

The distinction is made between the direct presence of fetal cell lines originating from the murder of an unborn child in a vaccine and their use in testing, and certainly the latter is objectively less grave. But we still cannot accept the use of these cell lines even for testing, as it brings us closer to the crime of marketing the cells from murdered babies. In this case, too, there is an accumulation of horrible crimes. The first crime is to have killed a child. The second is to have used and processed these cell lines. To then use these cell lines for testing is yet another crime. We cannot collaborate in this accumulation of crimes and we cannot benefit in any way from their by-products.

The obligation to resist

Let us imagine the possibility of abortion being entirely forbidden worldwide. Were this the case, the medical and pharmaceutical industries would then have to seek out alternatives to develop a vaccine, and God will provide them if we observe His law, specifically the Fifth Commandment. However, God will punish us if we use the cell lines originating from murdered babies to manufacture and test vaccines and medicines! We have to open ourselves to a more supernatural perspective. We have to resist the myth that there is no alternative  and by using these vaccines or medicines, we cooperate in further propagating this myth. Yet, there are alternatives! The anti-Christian world powers will surely not admit that alternatives exist, and will continue to push abortion-tainted vaccines. But we must resist. Even if there is only a small minority of faithful, priests and bishops who do so, ultimately the truth will prevail. History will look back and say that even some good Catholics yielded, even high-ranking prelates responsible for the governance of the Holy See yielded to an expanding biomedical and pharmaceutical industry that used cell lines originating from the murder of unborn children to produce and test vaccines and medicines. History will say they allowed themselves to be blinded by abstract theories of remote material cooperation, benefiting from the evil acts of others, or other similar theories.

We have to follow the truth. Even if we lose all our friends, we should follow our conscience, as did Saint Thomas More and Saint John Fisher. It is also a sign of the end times that even good people are confused about this important matter. Let us recall the words of Our Lord, who said that even the elect will be also seduced (cf. Mt. 24:24). A time will come when God will reveal to people in the Church, who now defend the morality of using abortion-tainted vaccines, some of the consequences of this choice. Their eyes will be opened, because the truth is so powerful. We have to live for the truth and for eternity.

To remain silent and to acquiesce to the already widespread use of aborted baby body parts for biomedical research, and to argue away this injustice with an abstract theory of remote material cooperation, or whatever one may call such a justifying theory, is a spiritual blindness and grave omission at a dramatic historical moment when Christians instead should stand up and proclaim to the whole world, We will never acquiesce to this injustice, even if it is already so widespread in medicine! It is not allowed to treat unborn children, the lives of the weakest and most defenseless people in the whole world, in such a degrading way, so that the stronger, those already born, may receive a temporal health benefit from their use.

Ivan Karamazov in Dostoyevskys famous novel The Brothers Karamazov asks the fatal question: Tell me straight out, I call on youanswer me: imagine that you yourself are building the edifice of human destiny with the object of making people happy in the finale, of giving them peace and rest at last, but for that you must inevitably and unavoidably torture just one tiny creature, that same child who was beating her chest with her little fist, and raise your edifice on the foundation of her unrequited tearswould you agree to be the architect on such conditions?

Memorable are the words with which Pope John Paul II forcefully condemned any experimentation on embryos, declaring: No circumstance, no purpose, no law whatsoever can ever make licit an act which is intrinsically illicit, since it is contrary to the Law of God which is written in every human heart, knowable by reason itself, and proclaimed by the Church. This evaluation of the morality of abortion is to be applied also to the recent forms of intervention on human embryos which, although carried out for purposes legitimate in themselves, inevitably involve the killing of those embryos. This is the case with experimentation on embryos, which is becoming increasingly widespread in the field of biomedical research and is legally permitted in some countries. Although one must uphold as licit procedures carried out on the human embryo which respect the life and integrity of the embryo and do not involve disproportionate risks for it, but rather are directed to its healing, the improvement of its condition of health, or its individual survival, it must nonetheless be stated that the use of human embryos or fetuses as an object of experimentation constitutes a crime against their dignity as human beings who have a right to the same respect owed to a child once born, just as to every person. This moral condemnation also regards procedures that exploit living human embryos and fetuses-sometimes specifically produced for this purpose by in vitro fertilization  either to be used as biological material or as providers of organs or tissue for transplants in the treatment of certain diseases. The killing of innocent human creatures, even if carried out to help others, constitutes an absolutely unacceptable act. (Encyclical Evangelium vitae, 62-63)

The blood of murdered unborn children cries to God from vaccines and medicines which utilize their remains in any manner whatsoever. We have to make reparation for the accumulated crimes involved in their production. We have to ask pardon not only from God, who searches the reins and hearts (cf. Rev. 2:23), but also from the souls of all murdered unborn children, who have a name before God. We must especially ask pardon from those children whose body parts are used in such a degrading way for the health benefit of the living. It is incomprehensible how churchmen, with the aid of abstract theories from moral theology, can tranquilize the conscience of the faithful, by allowing them to use such vaccines and medicines.

The blood of the murdered unborn children cries to God from abortion-tainted vaccines and medicines! May the Lord have mercy on us! Kyrie, eleison!

+ Athanasius Schneider, Auxiliary Bishop of the Archdiocese of Saint Mary in Astana

Read more at: LifeSiteNews.com and Infanticide.news.
By AbdulSaleem Hasan

It is vital that students return to the classroom in April.

As superintendent of schools in East Orange, I oversee the education of more than 10,000 students and supervise 900 teachers across 22 schools, pre-K-12, as well as a number of collaborating daycare centers.

As the former U.S. Army operations sergeant major of plans in the Directorate of Military Support (DOMS) for the U.S. Pentagon Joint Operation Center, I oversaw the boots on the ground provision of military support by the Army in presidentially declared disasters and other missions requiring major mobilizations of support. I know from my experience in disaster relief that there are key windows of opportunity  and a window lost due to inaction or delay may cause a chain reaction of additional roadblocks and delays that can take months or even years to overcome. And if a stitch in time saves nine, in disaster relief those nine could very well be lives.

Let there be no mistake: the COVID-19 pandemic qualifies as a national and international disaster and the damages of this disaster run deep. The death toll in this country has been shocking and the economic impact staggering. But there has been another loss that is not so readily quantifiable, and that is the education of our nations children. Unless we act quickly, we are on the verge of losing another year and, in some ways, perhaps the potential of a whole generation of learners.

Although the education loss due to the pandemic and remote learning has yet to be quantified, early reports are not encouraging. The Long Road Back offers some details of the difficulties statewide and notes that early returns from school districts along with results from an optional state exam  show what almost everyone expected: More students are failing classes, falling behind academically or ghosting teachers altogether as the coronavirus disrupts a second school year.

For the most part, researchers agree that time away from the classroom can equal social, emotional and learning loss. But for those who are not educators, perhaps you can look to your own experience, and consider for a moment your experience as a student in high school or elementary school and your return from summer vacation when you were in fourth, fifth, eighth or 10th grade. There is a period of readjustment. Or ask any teacher: the first few weeks to a month of school after summer vacation is largely a matter of reacclimating students to school itself and, to some extent, a recap of their studies before summer vacation started.

Thats the process for just two months away from the classroom. Think about what it will be like for more than a year away. In many districts across New Jersey, including East Orange, we now face the prospect of students who have been away from their classrooms in one form or another for more than a year. Most school districts and charter schools across the state have at least partially reopened, but as of March 24, according to Gov. Phil Murphy more than 300,000 children, nearly one in four students across the state, in nearly 90 schools and districts, are still remote.

A May start would begin to give students a chance to start solidifying grade-appropriate learning and skills that may have fallen prey to the pandemic and are still, if you will, remote to them. But April? A full quarter? That is the stuff that dreams are made of  at least if you are an educator. With a full marking period, we can make real inroads into the learning loss of the last year.

And let there be no mistake, with all teachers, daycare workers and school staff in New Jersey now eligible to receive coronavirus vaccines, we have before us a window of opportunity. If we fail to now reengage with our students in the classroom before too long we will miss that window, and find ourselves  and our children  facing that chain reaction of additional roadblocks and delays.

Even when the digital divide is bridged, which itself was no small feat, theres still a divide between online classes and in-person learning  and that gap gets even larger the younger a child is or the greater the need for an individualized education plan. The research also shows that the learning gap increases when heightened food insecurity and working parents unavailable to supervise and assist in the at-home learning of their children is taken into account.

To that end, East Orange this summer we will host a number of enrichment programs for our students designed to mitigate the social, emotional and learning losses due to the pandemic, but it is important that we stop those losses as soon as we safely can.

It is now early April. There is a window to be opened and East Orange is ready to open it  before its too late.

AbdulSaleem Hasan, Ed.S., is the superintendent of schools for the East Orange School District. He previously served as an assistant state education commissioner. He is also a retired police detective and a retired command sergeant major in the U.S. Army.

Our journalism needs your support. Please subscribe today to NJ.com.

Heres how to submit an op-ed or Letter to the Editor. Bookmark NJ.com/Opinion. Follow us on Twitter @NJ_Opinion and on Facebook at NJ.com Opinion. Get the latest news updates right in your inbox. Subscribe to NJ.coms newsletters.
Hundreds of protesters gathered in front of the Georgian parliament in Tbilisi, demanding the end of the curfew in the country

The movement restrictions are in effect in Georgia from 21.00 to 05.00 (20.00 to 04.00 Moscow time). The corresponding ban was introduced in November due to the unfavourable epidemiological situation.

We walked to the parliament and will stay here until 5:00 in the morning. People are tired of these prohibitions, RIA Novosti quotes the rally participant, Naniko Samkharadze.
(Photo : Pexels/Jackson David) Uber ordered to pay for discrimination lawsuit

Uber has been ordered to pay $1.1 million or 795,000 to a visually impaired woman who said she was refused rides on 14 occasions.

Uber hit with discrimination lawsuit

The woman, Lisa Irving, said that on some occasions, drivers were even verbally abusive and harassed her about transporting her guide dog, Bernie, in the car.

One driver even allegedly cut her trip short after falsely claiming that they have arrived at her destination. An independent arbitrator ruled that Uber's drivers had illegally discriminated against her because of her condition.

The arbitrator rejected Uber's claim that the company itself was not liable, because it argued that its drivers had the status of contractors rather than employees, as reported by CNN.

Also Read: Uber is Down, and The Future is Uncertain

Irving, who is from San Francisco, stated that she had worried about her safety after she was stranded multiple times late at night because she was rejected by drivers. She also alleged that canceled rides also led to her being late for work, which contributed to her being fired from her job.

The behaviors from drivers continued despite her complaining to Uber, she said.

A spokesman for Irving stated that of all Americans who should be liberated by the rideshare revolution, the blind and the visually impaired are among those who should benefit the most.

The spokesman added that the bottom line is that under the Americans with Disabilities Act, a guide dog should be able to go anywhere that a blind person can go.

In a statement that was issued to the media following the ruling, a spokesman for Uber stated that the company is proud of the help that it offers blind passengers.

The spokesman for Uber added that drivers using the Uber app are expected to serve riders with service animals and to comply with accessibility and other laws, and they regularly provide education to drivers on that responsibility. He added that their dedicated team looks into each complaint and takes action.

Irving told the San Francisco Chronicle newspaper that she is sorry that it came to this and that she would have preferred that her civil rights be respected. But it sends a strong message that this is behavior is not acceptable.

Uber lawsuits

This is not the first time that Uber has faced a legal battle from the visually impaired community. Back in 2014, The National Federation of the Blind in the US sued the ride-sharing app over guide-dog regulations.

According to The Verge, the lawsuit was settled in 2017 when Uber agreed to ensure that its drivers knew that they were legally obligated to provide service to those with guide dogs.

Uber paid $225,000 to the National Federation of the Blind to settle the lawsuit alleging discrimination against blind riders. The court also required Uber to notify drivers that they must give transport to customers with service animals.

Should a driver break the policy, Uber stated that it will deactivate their account. To ensure the settlement is being followed, the National Federation of the Blind will have visually impaired customers take test rides.

The company said in its statement that their goal at Uber is to make transportation options more accessible to all individuals, including those who are visually impaired, those who have low-vision or have other disabilities.

Uber stated that they are committed to continuing to create technological solutions that support everyone's ability to easily move around their communities.

Related Article: Uber Willing to Follow UK's Minimum Wage Policy for Drivers with Holiday Pay and Pension

This article is owned by Tech Times

Written by Sieeka Khan

 2021 TECHTIMES.com All rights reserved. Do not reproduce without permission.
Tapping into profits: It was not all doom and gloom for those who rely upon dividends

Company dividends took a battering last year as many businesses pulled down the shutters and went into survival mode.

Whether it was in the UK  down 38 per cent  or elsewhere in the world (down 12 per cent) dividends fell, in some cases like stones.

Yet it was not all income doom and gloom for those who rely upon dividends to bolster their household finances.

There was one group of stock market listed companies that defied the odds and did their best to keep paying shareholders an attractive income.

They managed this not by taking risks or jeopardising their businesses, but through drawing upon past financial prudence.

As many hardened Wealth readers will know, I am referring to investment trusts, companies listed on the UK stock market and set up specifically to deliver long-term returns for investors by investing in baskets of shares.

They are managed by some of the most reputable investment businesses in the world - the likes of Baillie Gifford, Fidelity, JPMorgan and Janus Henderson - and in some cases have been around for more than 150 years.

In other words, they've stood the test of time  they are somewhat stoic, reliable and in the eyes of some a little boring (they're the antithesis of a racy tech stock or a GameStop share).

Most investment trusts, especially those that have been around a while, are not focused specifically on the pursuit of income. But many incorporate income growth  as well as capital growth  into their investment objectives.

Some of these trusts invest globally while others concentrate on the usually dividend-friendly market that is the UK. A minority concentrate on income pickings from the United States or across markets in the Far East.

According to data released in the past few days by Link Group, investment trusts collectively paid dividends to shareholders worth 1.88billion in 2020, a 4.2 per cent increase on the year before.

On the surface, this was a somewhat remarkable feat given the dividend wasteland of last year. But it is not that surprising (or suspicious for those cynics among you) when you realise that many investment trusts were able to keep their dividend cheques rolling out to investors by drawing on income reserves accumulated over many years  income squirrelled away for times exactly like 2020.

This income squirrelling is unique to investment trusts  unit trust and investment fund rules don't permit it. This means that in the good years, when company profits are booming and dividend payments are in abundance, investment trusts can tuck away up to 15 per cent of the income they receive in their revenue reserve tank.

Not all do. Some trusts such as BlackRock World Mining prefer to pay out income to shareholders as soon as they can after it comes in. But many like to keep their income tank quite full because it allows them to smooth their payments to shareholders  adding to it in good years and then drawing from it in tough times (2020).

It's one of the main reasons why 19 investment trusts have unbroken dividend growth records going back at least 20 years. Indeed, some, such as City of London, Bankers, Alliance and Caledonia, have more than 50 years of dividend growth under their belt. A remarkable achievement.

HOW THE GROWTH TREND SURVIVED 2020

For those still unconvinced about the income durability of investment trusts, let's look at how a portfolio we put together in early December 2019  and published in these pages  has performed.

It was a portfolio assembled before the General Election and way before the pandemic sent the world grinding to a deadly halt and stock markets into a temporary tailspin.

But it was specifically designed to deliver investors a steady(ish) monthly income equivalent to around four per cent a year, plus the chance (not certainty) of income growth on top  as well as capital growth from increases in the share prices of the ten chosen investment trusts.

Using data from fund scrutineer Morningstar, and drawing on the investment trust expertise of Annabel Brodie-Smith, the excellent director of communications at the Association of Investment Companies, we selected ten trusts that drew their income from various parts of the world. This was a calculated choice, designed to diversify our holdings  diversification is one of the golden rules of successful investing.

One of the 10 investment trusts we picked was BlackRock World Mining Trust

So trusts were selected that focused on the UK (the likes of Lowland and Merchants), Europe (JPMorgan European Income), Asia (Schroder Oriental Income) or all global equity markets (for example, Henderson International Income and Scottish Investment Trust).

We even included an income friendly commodities trust  the aforementioned BlackRock World Mining. Going back to the end of October 2018, we then showed the monthly income the ten trusts would have produced for the next 12 months if we had invested 10,000 in each fund.

The result was income totalling 4,396  spread throughout the 12 months, albeit a little unevenly  plus capital growth of 1,799, equating to an attractive annual income of nearly 4.4 per cent and a total return of 6.2 per cent.

The results did not take into account any purchase charges (including stamp duty of 0.5 per cent) or fees for holding the shares on a wealth platform (the most popular vehicle from which to manage an investment portfolio).

Of course, these fees would have reduced the returns, but their negative impact would be diluted in time as income and capital gains (hopefully) accumulate. So, how did this portfolio survive the stock market falls and dividend ravages of 2020?

Pretty well is the answer. Indeed, damned well (pardon my English).

The table shows the monthly income that these same ten trusts produced in 2020. We have then compared the annual income they delivered  individually and in total  with 2019.

The results will surprise many. The combined income these ten funds paid shareholders was higher in 2020 (4,626) than in 2019 (4,454). It equates to annual income of 4.6 per cent against 4.5 per cent for 2019  an increase of 3.9 per cent.

To reiterate, this is against a backdrop of a double-digit cut in global dividends  and income from savings accounts struggling to break through the 0.1 per cent barrier.

All rather compelling, or as Brodie-Smith says: 'Investment trusts can help investors access a world of income opportunities, from blue-chip stalwarts in the UK and US to emerging businesses in vibrant Asia.'

The icing on the cake is the growth in the share prices of the ten trusts. The 100,000 of shares bought at the end of October 2018 are now worth 108,859. In other words, 8,859 of capital gain (8.9 per cent) on top of the stream of monthly income received.

The emphasis on diversification has paid off handsomely with some of the trusts performing strongly (especially BlackRock World Mining) in share price terms, more than compensating for the share price falls registered by four of the ten.

DO DIVIS HOLD UP?

Dividends are not guaranteed, coronavirus has not been conquered, and some economies could well follow France and go into lockdown again in the coming months causing further business disruption.

But all the signs point to a healthier future for dividends, especially in the UK. The latest data from wealth manager AJ Bell suggests that UK dividends from FTSE100 stocks  the 100 largest companies listed on the UK stock market  could well rise by more than 20 per cent this year.

The biggest dividend payers, it says, will include Rio Tinto (a stock BlackRock World Mining holds), British American Tobacco, Royal Dutch Shell, GlaxoSmithKline and Unilever.

Dividends may also increase in other parts of the world  for example, Japan and the wider Far East  where the pandemic has not been as economically destructive as in Western economies.

This is all positive for income-friendly investment trusts, including the ten trusts in our portfolio. But there are NO givens when it comes to investing. Many trusts only managed to sustain their dividends last year by drawing deeply from their reserves.

This year, they may feel that they need to go back into prudence mode and replenish their income tanks.

If so, it could limit their ability to increase dividends although I imagine the 19 trusts with at least 20 years of dividend growth behind them will do all they can to keep their records intact.

As for our ten trusts, half have at least a year's income tucked away in reserves.

So, the 4.6 per cent income paid last year could well be achievable  even bettered  this year. Fingers crossed.

WANT TO LEARN A LITTLE MORE?

The Association of Investment Companies has created a wonderful online tool called Income Finder. It allows you (without having to invest a penny) to create your own virtual income-friendly trust portfolio  shaping the income according to your needs.

It also gives you information on dividends for individual trusts including past payments and future payment dates. It's a super learning tool. Visit theaic.co.uk/incomefinder.

Happy Easter. Happy income hunting.
Source: Xinhua| 2021-04-03 19:34:50|Editor: huaxia

Video Player Close

BEIJING, April 3 (Xinhua) -- The following are the updates on the global fight against the COVID-19 pandemic.

- - - -

TEHRAN -- Iranian President Hassan Rouhani said on Saturday that the fourth wave of COVID-19 resurgence has been registered in two provinces, the Islamic Republic News Agency reported.

"If people in other provinces do not honor (health guidelines), they may experience the fourth wave as well," Rouhani was quoted as saying.

- - - -

ADDIS ABABA -- The number of confirmed COVID-19 cases in Africa has reached 4,252,676 as of Saturday noon, the Africa Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (Africa CDC) said.

The Africa CDC, the specialized healthcare agency of the African Union (AU), said the death toll related to the pandemic stood at 113,429, while 3,800,130 patients across the continent have recovered from the disease.

- - - -

BEIJING -- More than 133.8 million doses of COVID-19 vaccines had been administered across China as of Friday, the National Health Commission said Saturday.

- - - -

SKOPJE -- Lawmakers in North Macedonia's parliament voted late Friday to postpone the census, which was scheduled to begin on April 1, due to the coronavirus pandemic.

According to the Media Information Agency, 95 lawmakers voted in favor and 12 against the postponement to September this year.

- - - -

MOSCOW -- Russia has recorded 384 new COVID-19 fatalities over the last 24 hours, raising the national death toll to 100,017, the official monitoring and response center said on Saturday.

The country reported 9,021 new coronavirus infections in the past day, taking the nationwide tally to 4,572,077, it added.

- - - -

MANILA -- The Philippines' Department of Health (DOH) reported on Saturday 12,576 new COVID-19 infections, bringing the total number of confirmed cases in the Southeast Asian country to 784,043.

The active cases ballooned to 165,715 while the death toll climbed to 13,423 after 103 more patients died from the viral disease, the DOH said.

- - - -

SOFIA -- Bulgaria registered 4,013 new COVID-19 infections in the past 24 hours, bringing the national tally to 350,340, official data showed on Saturday.

Meanwhile, the death toll in the country has risen to 13,438 after 125 new deaths were reported, while the number of recoveries rose by 3,996 to 266,091, according to the country's COVID-19 information portal.

- - - -

ULAN BATOR -- Mongolia on Saturday confirmed 271 new COVID-19 cases, bringing the national caseload to 9,598, according to the country's National Center for Communicable Diseases (NCCD).

Of the new infections, 232 were found in Ulan Bator, the country's capital and the hardest-hit city, the NCCD said in a statement. Enditem
Burma Myanmar Regime Forces Stop Buses, Beat Passengers in Yangon

Security forces are seen in Yangon in February / The Irrawaddy

The Myanmar military regimes forces beat and kicked bus passengers in Yangons North Okkalapa Township on Friday, according to witnesses.

Regime forces pulled over several Yangon Bus Service (YBS) buses near Kan Thar Yar Park on Thudhama Road, one of the major roads in North Okkalapa Township, and abused the passengers. Eyewitnesses said they saw the regimes forces pull the buses over and beat the passengers.

They told the passengers to get off [the bus] and kneel down. They beat not only the passengers but also the drivers, said a witness.

Following the incident, buses began taking alternate routes through lanes to avoid the security forces on Thudhama Road, prompting residents of the lanes to leave their houses to see what was happening. This in turn prompted security forces to open fire on residential wards.

When residents went out to see what happened after they saw buses driving through their wards, security forces came and fired shots at the wards. They swore loudly and viciously as they shot, said a ward resident.

A passenger who witnessed the beating wrote on her Facebook: They got on YBS [Line No.] 64 and kicked the driver. They kicked the male passengers provocatively at gunpoint, telling them to fight back if they were men. And they also pulled the hair of female passengers and slapped them in their faces.

Security forces also searched some houses and a printing business in Kan Thar Yar, said ward residents.

On March 3, at least 20 people were killed and dozens were injured during security forces crackdown on anti-regime protesters in North Okkalapa. The military regime has also imposed martial law in the township.

You may also like these stories:

KNU Calls for Intl Arms Embargo as Myanmar Regime Targets Civilians in Airstrike

Myanmar Villagers Take Up Homemade Weapons Against Regimes Security Forces

Myanmar Junta Killed At Least 43 Children Since Coup: Charity
Questo comunicato e stato pubblicato piu di 30 giorni fa. Le informazioni su questa pagina potrebbero non essere attendibili.

A detailed analysis report of the Global Military Communication Market has been covered in the report coupled with a thorough description of each company profile with information on the H.Q, future capabilities, key mergers & acquisitions, financial outline, partnerships and new product launches and developments.

The comprehensive value chain analysis of the market will assist in attaining better product differentiation, along with detailed understanding of the core competency of each activity involved. The market attractiveness analysis provided in the report aptly measures the potential value of the market providing business strategists with the latest growth opportunities.

The report classifies the market into different segments based on communication type, component, application and end-user. These segments are studied in detail incorporating the market estimates and forecasts at regional and country level. The segment analysis is useful in understanding the growth areas and probable opportunities of the market.

Final Report will cover the COVID-19 Impact and Recovery on this industry.

Browse the complete Global Military Communication Market Research Report  Industry Analysis, Size, Share, Growth, Trends and Forecast Till 2027 @ https://www.decisiondatabases.com/ip/13313-military-communication-market-report

The report also covers the complete competitive landscape of the global Military Communication market with company profiles of key players such as:

General Dynamics

Thales Group

Harris Corp and Rockwell Collins

BAE Systems

L-3 Communications

Northrop Grumman

Lockheed Martin

Alcatel-Lucent

A detailed description of each has been included, with information in terms of H.Q, future capacities, key mergers & acquisitions, financial overview, partnerships, collaborations, new product launches, new product developments and other latest industrial developments.

SEGMENTATIONS IN THE REPORT:

By Communication Type

Airborne Communications

Air-ground Communications

Underwater Communications

Ground-based Communications

Shipborne Communications

By Component

Military SATCOM Systems

Military Radio Systems

Military Security Systems

By Application

Command and Control

Routine Operations

Situational Awareness

Others

By End User

Land Forces

Naval Forces

Air Forces

By Geography:

North America (NA)  US, Canada, and Mexico

Europe (EU)  UK, Germany, France, Italy, Russia, Spain & Rest of Europe

Asia-Pacific (APAC)  China, India, Japan, South Korea, Australia & Rest of APAC

Latin America (LA)  Brazil, Argentina, Peru, Chile & Rest of Latin America

Middle East and Africa (MEA)  Saudi Arabia, UAE, Israel, South Africa

Download Free Sample Report of Global Military Communication Market @ https://www.decisiondatabases.com/contact/download-sample-13313

The Global Military Communication Market has been exhibited in detail in the following chapters 

Chapter 1 Military Communication Market Preface

Chapter 2 Executive Summary

Chapter 3 Military Communication Industry Analysis

Chapter 4 Military Communication Market Value Chain Analysis

Chapter 5 Military Communication Market Analysis By Communication Type

Chapter 6 Military Communication Market Analysis By Component

Chapter 7 Military Communication Market Analysis By Application

Chapter 8 Military Communication Market Analysis By End-User

Chapter 9 Military Communication Market Analysis By Geography

Chapter 10 Competitive Landscape Of Military Communication Companies

Chapter 11 Company Profiles Of Military Communication Industry

Purchase the complete Global Military Communication Market Research Report @ https://www.decisiondatabases.com/contact/buy-now-13313

Other Reports by DecisionDatabases.com:

Global Power Line Carrier Communications (PLCC) Market Research Report  Industry Analysis, Size, Share, Growth, Trends and Forecast Till 2027

Global Unified Communication Market Research Report  Industry Analysis, Size, Share, Growth, Trends and Forecast Till 2026

Global Audio Communication Monitoring Market Research Report  Industry Analysis, Size, Share, Growth, Trends and Forecast Till 2027

About-Us:

DecisionDatabases.com is a global business research reports provider, enriching decision makers and strategists with qualitative statistics. DecisionDatabases.com is proficient in providing syndicated research report, customized research reports, company profiles and industry databases across multiple domains.

Our expert research analysts have been trained to map clients research requirements to the correct research resource leading to a distinctive edge over its competitors. We provide intellectual, precise and meaningful data at a lightning speed.

For more details:

DecisionDatabases.com

E-Mail: sales@decisiondatabases.com

Phone: +91 9028057900

Web: https://www.decisiondatabases.com/

News Source  https://www.industrynewsengine.com/2020/11/25/military-communication-market-2020-covid-19-impact-analysis-report-2027/
A Russian defense industry executive and alleged intelligence officer has been added to the FBIs most-wanted list for his alleged involvement in the theft of trade secrets from a U.S. aviation company.

The FBI said on April 2 on Twitter it is seeking the arrest of Aleksandr Korshunov, 58, saying he is suspected of conspiring to steal trade secrets from the company to benefit Russia.

Korshunov worked for Russian state-owned aviation company United Engine Corporation (UEC), while also serving as an intelligence officer with Russias Foreign Intelligence Service (SVR), the FBI said.

UEC appointed Korshunov in 2009 as its director of marketing and sales, the U.S. law enforcement agency said in a statement accompanying the tweet that includes a photo of Korshunov.

Korshunovs job was to encourage Western aviation companies to work with UEC to advance Russias aviation technology, the FBI said.

It is alleged that, between 2013 and 2018, Korshunov conspired and attempted to steal trade secrets from an American aviation company, the FBI said. He hired engineers employed by a subsidiary of a large United States aviation company to consult on the redesign of the Russian PD-14 aero engine.

Korshunov was able to acquire the companys confidential, protected, and unique engineering patterns, plans, and procedures for the benefit of Russia, the FBI said.

Korshunov has been sought by the FBI since August 2019, when he was indicted by the U.S. District Court in Cincinnati, Ohio. He was arrested later that month in Italy at the request of the United States.

But his lawyer told TASS that he returned to Moscow in the summer of 2020 accompanied by Russian law enforcement under arrest.

Russian authorities said Korshunov was wanted in Russia to face charges of embezzlement and fraud, TASS said.

He was extradited to Russia under the decision of the Italian Justice Ministry and in accordance with the relevant request, which Italys judiciary had approved before the U.S. sought extradition, the report said.

The original U.S. complaint accused Korshunov and Maurizio Bianchi, the former director of an Italian division of General Electric (GE) Aviation, of hiring former GE employees to prepare a technical report on jet engine accessories using the U.S. companys intellectual property.

GE Aviation is one of the worlds largest suppliers of civilian and military aircraft engines and has a factory in Cincinnati. It completed the acquisition of an Italian manufacturer of aviation components in 2013.

The Russian Embassy in Washington said its diplomats protested Korshunov's detention after it was announced in 2019, calling it illegitimate.

With reporting by TASS
Instead of a new vaccine against variants, however, it may be just as effective for Americans to receive a third dose of the Pfizer-BioNtech or Moderna vaccines in six months to a year, said Dr. Anthony S. Fauci, head of the National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases.

That would keep antibody levels high in each recipient, overwhelming any variant  a more practical strategy than making a specialized vaccine for each new variant that emerges, he said.

My only concern about chasing all the variants is that youd almost be playing Whac-A-Mole, you know, because theyll keep coming up and keep coming up, Dr. Fauci said.

In one form or another, the new coronavirus is here to stay, many scientists believe. Multiple variants may be circulating in the country at the same time, as is the case for common cold coronaviruses and influenza. Keeping them at bay may require an annual shot, like the flu vaccine.

The best way to deter the emergence of dangerous variants is to keep cases down now and to immunize the vast majority of the world  not just the United States  as quickly as possible. If significant pockets of the globe remain unprotected, the virus will continue to evolve in dangerous new ways.

This might be something that we have to deal with for a long time, said Rosalind Eggo, an epidemiologist at London School of Hygiene and Tropical Medicine.

Still, she added, Even if it changes again, which it is very likely to do, we are in a better, much stronger position than a year ago to deal with it.
With a carry-over in excess of $10,000, Harrahs Hoosier Park Racing & Casino has announced a $30,000 Guaranteed Hoosier High-5 pool for Saturday, April 3.

In partnership with the United States Trotting Association Strategic Wagering program and the Indiana Standardbred Association, Harrahs Hoosier Park will offer this signature wager for the action packed 13-race card on Saturday that is set to begin at 6:30 p.m.

The Hoosier High-5, also known as the Pentafecta, is featured in the last race of every program at Harrahs Hoosier Park and features a reduced takeout of 12%. The Hoosier High-5 is responsible for one of the biggest payouts to date last season with a $15,157.36 winning ticket paid out.

Free past performances for Saturdays 13-race card will be available on Harrahs Hoosier Parks website along with free past performances for the Hoosier High-5 available on the United States Trotting Association website. Expert selections and handicapping tools are also available on Hoosier Parks website and The United States Trotting Associations website.

With a daily post time of 6:30 p.m., Harrahs Hoosier Parks 2021 season will feature 160 live racing days. Racing will be held on a Wednesday through Saturday schedule through mid-May before adding Sunday evenings. The full schedule continues through September before dropping back down to a Wednesday through Saturday schedule through December 4. For the first time ever, Harrahs Hoosier Park will also offer live racing on both the night before Thanksgiving and Thanksgiving night. For more information on the upcoming live racing schedule, please visit www.harrahshoosierpark.com.

(Hoosier Park)
Heading into 2021, companies are adopting more technologies, platforms and other assets into their IT environments than ever before. Utilizing this expanding array of resources helps them move faster, become more agile and focus more directly on customer-centric initiatives. At the same time, more resources means more IT complexity, making it harder to keep track of both the hardware and software assets that live inside these environments.

To cut through this complexity, organizations are paying more attention to IT Asset Management (ITAM). ITAM strategies oversee, manage and optimize the licenses of all the assets under ITs control  company-owned IT systems, hardware, cloud instances, networks, processes, software and data.

ITAM isnt a brand new concept. It builds on concepts dating back to the 1960s and 70s  everything from data center management to business service management to IT service management  and puts them under one umbrella. But, new or not, its a concept that will take on added importance as organizations struggle to gain visibility into their increasingly large IT installed bases.

Managing IT assets has always been a difficult task for organizations  small, medium and large. This complexity has been further increased by the way in which organizations now consume IT assets, and create siloed data sets with no single view that is both complete and accurate. They not only have to keep track of the hardware and software assets they have collected  they need to know how each one is contributing, hampering, or, in some cases, both, to a variety of other measures. Is this asset in compliance with evolving regulations? How much is it costing the business? Is the company investing enough in upkeep? Are we covered if were hit with a breach event or an audit? And how vulnerable or safe is the system  for a certain product, process or the company as a whole?

The ITAM process is often further complicated for several reasons. One is that different functions inside companies manage assets through different parts of the assets lifecycle. One group starts the process in the requisition phase  defining what sort of assets you need to have. Procurement and finance professionals pick up the process in the acquisition phase. A new group enters in the deployment stage, putting the IT equipment into practice. This is followed by maintenance, encompassing the routine physical updates, patching and any needed repairs.

The last stage  retirement of the hardware and software assets  is often overlooked and underappreciated. Newer, more powerful equipment can fall out of software license compliance due to the way vendors now measure consumption. Software license keys can easily be lost during the retirement process if not properly harvested for reuse. Its important to be careful with the clean-up process, and not focus only on cost savings when retiring an asset. If this process is being followed, in a very linear manner, it can create benefits. The ultimate goal for ITAM is to provide the most value to the business when it comes to asset consumption.

The expanded role developers play in driving the overall software delivery experience only adds to firms IT asset management challenges. Many in the industry believe that within the next few years, the majority of global enterprises will be running more than two containerized applications in production. That means the developer can install apps and open source tooling on their containerized or cloud-native workloads.

Developers have different experience in compliance, regulation, software licensing, etc. A software asset management program will enable you to make better decisions regarding which software licenses youre willing to spend money on and which assets youre able to utilize open source technologies.

Of the asset management challenges organizations face, the most compelling is the need to get a single-pane-of-glass view for different software stacks within each enterprise. Whenever you load open source apps or software stacks on top of workloads, software becomes less available for discovery. From a licensing and compliance perspective, its important not to forget that every open source aspect or application can be developed on its own by the customer himself. The question is, when will you be open to vulnerabilities and when will you be compliant? With IT asset management you can create a mechanism to alert people when a specific piece of software falls out of compliance, whether thats end of service life, a common vulnerability and exposure, or over-consuming license entitlements.

Here are six best practices to follow to improve the efficiency of your IT asset management component.

Start by determining what your IT asset management ecosystems look like.

The people trying to establish an asset management perspective should ask these critical questions: What assets have been deployed? What has been taken over from a merger or acquisition? Where do these assets sit? Which vendors do you pay the most? What are the cost trends youre seeing year to year, in terms of hardware vs. software investment? What software licensing best practices have you implemented already or are considering implementing? Has the company been exposed to any major compliance audits (internal or external), been fined by local authorities, or in dispute regarding licensing or compliance? Managing your business more efficiently and knowing your environment can eliminate many risks inside and outside of your ecosystem.

Identify the user personas that play important roles across the company.

What people are using each IT asset? And for what purposes? If your employees are under-using certain tools or technologies, which youre paying for, the whole company might be underdelivering on its internal investment. Your users show you where you should be putting your money and driving business value. User personas and usage patterns can aid in portfolio rationalization and determine the solutions youll want to retire versus those to invest in.

Establish a task force or expert office for IT asset management.

This function is often overlooked and minimized in importance. Many companies dont feel the need to have experts inside the company or create a department. They often pay third parties to do it when they could take control of the practice themselves and use the third party to carry out deliverables. An internal task force  composed of professionals or stakeholders from each stage of the IT delivery lifecycle  can be an important investment for a company.

Implement a coherent selection process for choosing the right vendor for asset management.

Selecting an ITAM vendor can be looked at as a massive headache, especially for organizations that have always worked with third parties. The company may not have a huge environment, but it may be scaling up, so it may need to invest more. The most important move is to start your benchmarking exercise by writing down the requirements and gathering input from IT to finance to procurement to legal. Look at requirements you have in your company and manage the process through a task force.

Benchmark the size of your IT asset management investment.

How much IT management do you really need? This investment has to be really smartly benchmarked. You dont go to a store and buy the most expensive solution and expect it to plug in and play. You need expertise and knowhow to extract the data points and analytics and trends from your estate to make smarter and cost-effective solutions going forward.

Dont underestimate cybersecurity.

If an organization follows each of the steps above, the last critical piece of criteria is to ensure that specific assets are secure. This is the foundation for cybersecurity: Can you really be secure if you dont know what hardware and software you have, where it is and how its configured? There will be a lot more cyberattacks. Looking at IT assets through a cyber lens should be a part of IT asset management.

The bottom line

Companies have long tried to create systems to centrally manage IT assets. While its still an uphill battle, implementing a proper ITAM strategy can help your organization stay on top of IT investments and make better decisions going forward. IT assets arent there to perform on their own. They need to be managed and optimized to help IT reduce problems, operate more effectively and spend more time on activities that add value.

At HPE, we see strong customer demand and market growth for Software Asset Management (14-20% CAGR), and our HPE value proposition is evolving to everything aaS where software is key. And we are continuing to invest in enhancements to our customers software asset management experiences. Stay tuned for more!

To learn more, visit www.hpe.com/services/operational

____________________________________

About Roxana Holca



Roxana Holca is a WW Hybrid Cloud Portfolio Leader at HPE, driving key growth programs including SW License and Asset Management, Open Source Support as well as leading new product or service initiatives for the HPE EZmeral platform. She is an international leader with 12+ years of international expertise and proven ability to manage teams, to design and implement models, capabilities as well as strategies based on business strategy and opportunities.

She has a deep DNA within Digital Transformation: Business-IT Alignment, Operational Excellence and Change Management. She has worked across multiple industries including Healthcare and MedTech, Transportation & Logistics, ADTech, Technology and Internet. In her previous role at Johnson & Johnson Swiss Family of Companies she led the Digital Transformation Strategy for the Global Procurement Function. She is currently following the EMBA from Quantic School of Business and Technology USA, additionally she holds a BSC in Economics and a MSc in Online Marketing and Digital Transformation.

About Jeroen Kleen


Jordan's former crown prince has been accused of a coup plot and told not to leave his house except to visit family as 19 others are arrested.

Prince Hamzah bin Hussein, the half-brother of Jordan's King Abdullah II, released a five-minute video accusing the country's leaders of corruption, incompetence and harassment.

In what Prince Hamzah described as his last available form of communication before his satellite internet was cut off, he said the chief of general staff visited him early Saturday morning.

In the five-minute video from his palace in Amman, shared by his lawyer with the BBC, he said: 'I had a visit from chief of general staff of the Jordanian armed forces this morning in which he informed me that I was not allowed to go out, to communicate with people or to meet with them because in the meetings that I had been present in - or on social media relating to visits that I had made - there had been criticism of the government or the king.'

It reportedly comes after the prince made a visit to tribal leaders where he is said to have garnered support. Prince Hamza denied any wrongdoing.

He said he had been isolated inside his home with his Canadian wife Princess Basmah Bani Ahmad and their five young children. Pictured on their wedding day in 2012

General Yousef Huneiti, the army chief of staff, denied reports that Prince Hamzah was arrested but said he was asked to 'stop some movements and activities that are being used to target Jordan's security and stability'. Pictured, Jordan's King Abdullah II in December 2020

General Yousef Huneiti, the army chief of staff, denied reports that Prince Hamzah was arrested but said he was asked to 'stop some movements and activities that are being used to target Jordan's security and stability'.

He said an investigation is still ongoing and its results will be made public 'in a transparent and clear form'.

'No-one is above the law and Jordan's security and stability are above all,' he told the official Petra news agency.

Prince Hamzah, whose title of crown prince was rescinded by the king in 2004, went on to say: 'I am not the person responsible for the breakdown in governance, the corruption and for the incompetence that has been prevalent in our governing structure for the last 15 to 20 years and has been getting worse... And I am not responsible for the lack of faith people have in their institutions.

'It has reached a point where no one is able to speak or express opinion on anything without being bullied, arrested, harassed and threatened.'

He said he had been isolated inside his home with his Canadian wife Princess Basmah Bani Ahmad and their five young children.

Prince Hamzah bin Hussein (pictured), the half-brother of Jordan's King Abdullah II, whose title of crown prince was rescinded by the king in 2004, recorded a five-minute video from his palace in Amman

Prince Hamzah (pictured in 2015) went on to say: 'I am not the person responsible for the breakdown in governance, the corruption and for the incompetence'

Petra had earlier reported that at least two senior officials who formerly worked for the palace 'and others' were arrested for 'security reasons', without providing further details.

What is Prince Hamzah's position in the Jordanian Royal family? Prince Hamzah is the elder son of the late King Hussein of Jordan and his American-born wife Queen Noor. When King Hussein died in 1999, his eldest son Prince Abdullah bin Hussein, from his first marriage, acceded to the throne of Jordan. However, before his death, his father wished that Prince Hamzah succeed Prince Abdullah - rather than one of his own sons. Prince Abdullah made the decree upon his father's death and Prince Hamzah was made Crown Prince. But in 2004, King Abdullah removed Hamzah from the position. In 2009, King Abdullah was named as the new Crown Prince of Jordan, meaning he will succeed his father after his death. Advertisement

The Petra report said Sharif Hassan bin Zaid, the former royal envoy to Saudi Arabia, and Bassem Ibrahim Awadallah, the former head of the royal court, were detained.

Awadallah also previously served as planning minister and finance minister.

The agency did not provide further details or name the others who were arrested.

Jordan has long been a key Western ally and an island of stability in a turbulent region. It borders Israel, the Palestinian territories, Syria, Iraq, and Saudi Arabia.

Abdullah has ruled Jordan since the 1999 death of of his father, King Hussein, who ruled the country for close to half a century.

Abdullah has cultivated close relations with US and other Western leaders over the years, and Jordan was a key ally in the war against the Islamic State group.

The country's economy has been battered by the coronavirus pandemic.

Jordan, with a population of around 10 million, also hosts more than 600,000 Syrian refugees.

Jordan made peace with Israel in 1994, but relations have been tense in recent years, largely due to differences linked to Israel's conflict with the Palestinians.

Jordan is home to more than two million Palestinian refugees, most of whom have Jordanian citizenship.

Abdullah stripped his half-brother Hamzah of his title as crown prince in 2004, saying he had decided to 'free' him 'from the constraints of the position of crown prince'.

He said the move was 'in order to give you the freedom to work and undertake any mission or responsibility I entrust you with.'

The current crown prince is Abdullah's oldest son, Hussein, aged 26.

Abdullah (pictured centre right) stripped his half-brother Hamzah of his title as crown prince in 2004, saying he had decided to 'free' him 'from the constraints of the position of crown prince'. The current crown prince is Abdullah's oldest son, Hussein (pictured right), aged 26

Abdullah (pictured centre next to King Abdullah) has ruled Jordan since the 1999 death of of his father, King Hussein, who ruled the country for close to half a century

Abdullah had originally chosen Hamzah as his crown prince hours after their father died of cancer in February 1999.

The designation was out of respect for Hussein, who is known to have favoured Hamzah the most among his 11 children.

The children were from four different marriages - the last of which was to Queen Noor of Jordan.

American-born Queen Noor, the mother of Hamzah, was married to the King from 1978 until his death in 1999.

Abdullah and Hamzah have not displayed any open rivalry over the years.
Prime Minister said on Saturday that if the BJP comes to power in West Bengal, the PM Kisan Samman Nidhi will be passed in the first cabinet meeting and the farmers of the state will not only start getting the benefits of the Central scheme, but they will also receive the backlog of Rs 18,000.

Addressing an election rally at Haripal in Hooghly district, the Prime Minister said, "If the BJP comes to power in Bengal, I shall come at the oath taking ceremony and ask the Chief Minister to give approval to the PM Kisan Samman Nidhi at the first cabinet meeting so that I can send the money immediately. This will be the first job of the BJP government".

Launched in 2019, PM Kisan Samman Nidhi is a Central scheme that gives Rs 6,000 annual subsidy to the registered beneficiary farmers in three installments of Rs 2,000 each.

Taking a dig at Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee, Modi said, "More than Rs 1.5 lakh crore has been sent to the accounts of 10 crore farmers, but the poor farmers of this state are yet to get this benefit because 'Didi' (Mamata Banerjee) didn't approve the scheme. I assure not only to give the benefits of the scheme, but also the Rs 18,000 backlog to each farmer."

The Prime Minister was referring to the three instalments of Rs 6,000 each given to the farmers which the farmers of Bengal were deprived of because of the opposition from the state's ruling Trinamool Congress.

The Prime Minister also criticised Banerjee for not allowing the Ayushman Bharat Yojana in Bengal claiming that the state government's own project -- 'Swastha Sathi' -- is a better alternative to the Central government's health insurance scheme.

"She might have a project, but what is the harm in accepting the Ayushman Bharat scheme? People would have got an additional health cover of Rs 5 lakh. Moreover, the state-funded project is not accepted outside Bengal, but the Central project is accepted throughout the country," Modi said.

The Prime Minister also assured to start all the Central government projects in the state once the BJP is voted to power.

Confident of winning the ongoing Assembly elections in West Bengal, the Prime Minister said that Chief Minister Banerjee has not only cheated the people of the state, but she has also insulted them by saying that people are gathering at BJP rallies because of money.

Asking the crowd if they came to the rally braving the heat for money, Modi said, "The people of Bengal have fought the British. They have never compromised with the wrong. They are known for their self-respect and this is an insult to them".

Alleging that Banerjee and the syndicate racket of Trinamool Congress are responsible for the plight of the people of Bengal, Modi said, "The old factories are closed and there is no new investment. The people of Nandigram and Singur were betrayed and it is time for 'Ashol Poriborton' (real change).

"Once people used to come to Bengal for jobs and now the people of this state have to go outside in search of work. Election and democracy are not games. They are an effort to work selflessly for the people."

--IANS

saibal/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.)
Declan Ganley has no interest in pulling punches. Official Ireland is ashamed of Christianity, he says. It is ashamed of the Catholic faith. Its embarrassed by it. Its like a truculent 13-year-old in its awkward teenage stage and it doesnt want to be seen with its parents.

The Co Galway-based businessman, famed for campaigning against the Lisbon Treaty, has taken a legal challenge to the constitutionality of closing churches during the pandemic.

He was dismayed by Micheal Martins scant mention of churches in his address to the nation this week. The Taoiseach suggested they might reopen in May, subject to case numbers, but made no reference to the Christian origins of Easter. Ganley was far from surprised.

Practising Christians are despised in Ireland now  thats a fact, he says. The official church in Ireland didnt realise that until quite recently. They thought they were part of the establishment, but the establishment hates them.

Ganley points out that Ireland is one of the few countries that has prohibited public worship under Covid. Churches here have been closed since Christmas, having opened for only a matter of weeks in December.

He says his right to practise religion is being breached and he has gone to the courts to argue that Article 44 of the constitution gives him a right to attend Mass in person. Mr Justice Charles Meenan has given the State until next week to clarify whether there is a legal basis for Covid-19 restrictions on people attending Mass or whether they are merely advisory.

Expand Close Declan Ganley. Photo by Damien Eagers / Facebook

Twitter

Email

Whatsapp Declan Ganley. Photo by Damien Eagers

Aontu leader Peadar Toibin has also been urging the Government to relax restrictions on church attendance.

To be honest, he says, its unbelievable that Ireland shares a notorious club with North Korea and Saudi Arabia when it comes to the practice of Christianity. In the UN Declaration of Human Rights, it is declared that the practice of religion is a human right and for millions of people in this state it is considered essential.

My biggest difficulty is when we ask Nphet [the National Public Health Emergency Team] and the Government to indicate the science behind their decision on safe religious practice. They continuously say its not the issue itself but the message that it communicates to the public about movement in general. We need to treat people like adults.

Last June, the then Archbishop of Dublin, Diarmuid Martin questioned why only 50 people were permitted in large churches. Chief medical officer Tony Holohan said: We think that the restrictions on indoor gatherings are really important ones for us to maintain a high level of compliance with. Nphets advice on indoor groups has only strengthened since.

This weekend marks the most significant date in the Christian calendar, but hopes that churches would be open for Mass at Easter have been dashed for a second consecutive year.

The Taoiseach said he was surprised a fortnight ago when a number of bishops pressed for clarity, and this week Bishop Alphonsus Cullinan of Waterford and Lismore called for proper consultation about public worship.

Garda checkpoints

A small number of clergymen have decided to say Mass in front of a physical congregation in recent weeks, including Fr PJ Hughes in rural Co Cavan. He has been issued with a 500 fine for saying Mass in breach of the restrictions, but he says he will not be paying.

Expand Close Fr PJ Hughes celebrates Mass at Our Lady of Lourdes Church, Mullahoran, Cavan on Sunday morning. Photo: Lorraine Teevan / Facebook

Twitter

Email

Whatsapp Fr PJ Hughes celebrates Mass at Our Lady of Lourdes Church, Mullahoran, Cavan on Sunday morning. Photo: Lorraine Teevan

Garda checkpoints were installed near Our Lady of Lourdes Church at Mullahoran last weekend to stop people travelling to the Mass. A guard told me that I was putting the lives of elderly people at risk, he told an Irish Times reporter who turned up at the church on the Sunday. Its a sad day that three garda cars are circling around this church. Have they nothing else to do? God help us.

Fr Hughes, the parish priest of the Mullahoran and Loughduff, did not respond to an interview request from Review but it is thought that he will be saying Easter Mass in front of parishioners tomorrow.

Riaghan OCallaghan, a devout Catholic from Donegal, is proud of Fr Hughes stance  and she says she wishes more clergy would follow his lead.

Im being told what is and isnt essential to my worship, she says. Theres a complete lack of understanding about the Eucharist and how we dont have any compromises on it. I cant go without the Eucharist for an extended length of time  thats what explicitly makes me Catholic.

OCallaghan is upset that she cannot go to her local church in Ardara for Mass for a second consecutive Easter. She is keen for non-believers and lapsed Catholics to understand why attending in person is so important to her and others. She uses an example in her private life.

Im in a long-distant relationship at the moment. My fiance, Hugh, is in California and Im preparing to marry him. If I said to anyone, Yeah, Im still in a relationship with him but its tough  its all via phone. I dont get to go on dates, I dont get to spend time with him, I dont get to talk to him face-to-face, and if they said, Sure, arent you happy with that? youd think they were crazy because anyone who would say that would obviously not know the very basic parts of what a relationship is.

And, for me, its very similar with the Eucharist. Of course, I can pray to God at home, but the Eucharist is where I literally meet Him and I receive Him and I need that as a Catholic.

It is a sentiment shared by another devout twentysomething, Clodagh Gallagher from Co Waterford. Mass is a sacrament, she says. And what a sacrament is, by its very nature, is something that can only happen in person. Think of another sacrament that people would be very familiar with  a wedding.

A wedding cannot happen without the bride and the groom present. You cant get married over Skype. Sacraments are very physical and Catholics have a physically real faith  we look at the Catholic faith as something thats very real.

For her maternal grandmother, Nora Sweeney, that faith was unshakeable. She died in September and had not been permitted to go to Mass during the final seven months of her life. All my grandmother wanted to do was go to Mass, she recalls. The week before she died  we knew she was dying  we stayed with her and we prayed the rosary with her. And all she wanted was to receive the Eucharist and to go to Mass. How can you deny someone that on their death bed? It just seems so senseless and cruel.

Gallagher says she is unhappy that senior church leaders have not been more vociferous in their condemnation of the restrictions, but she is pleased that figures such as Dermot Farrell, the new Archbishop of Dublin, have been making their displeasure heard.

Read More

Although the Government has agreed to increase the numbers who can attend funerals from 10 to 25, Archbishop Farrell has criticised the decision to wait until April 26 for this easing of restrictions.

In his first Chrism homily as head of the countrys most populous diocese, he said he would continue to lobby the Government for the earliest possible return to public worship. He warned that the easing of restrictions must not be subordinated to powerful commercial interests, even those considered non-essential.

It is not just Catholics who are calling for a return to normal service, albeit with safety protocols in place. Rev Alastair Dunlop, minister at the Howth and Malahide Presbyterian Church, Co Dublin, wants to reopen as soon as possible.

Churches have already demonstrated  in July, August and December  that we could operate with reasonable safety as long as we put various important measures in place, which we did, he says. There is not adequate data to show otherwise.

He says that as a clergyman it is painful to officiate in an empty church. Its very disheartening because it really undermines pastoral ministry and oversight. Whos been missing for a while? Who should I follow up to encourage back? Whos hurting and struggling? I have very little clue because all I see is a camera and empty pews. For 40 weeks.

Rev Dunlop believes webcams offer a poor facsimile. Personal or family devotion at home does not constitute Christian worship since it is far removed from tangible fellowship, he says. We are people, not pixels. The church is an assembly  gathering to worship as one body is intrinsic to who we are.

He also offers a more prosaic reason why online services dont work: Not everyone has access to the livestream or to Zoom meetings.

Some clergy remain concerned about the transmissibility of Covid-19. Fr Tim Hazelwood, who serves the Killeagh-Inch parish in Co Cork and is a spokesman for the Association of Catholic Priests, believes it is too soon to ease restrictions. We need to remember that people are not denied the right to practice their faith, he says. All the ceremonies are online  people can safely practice their faith.

He says it is not right to be given special privileges before other people. How, he asks, can we expect to be put before people whose livelihoods are lost or in danger, people like restaurant owners, hairdressers, beauticians?

The other thing we cant forget is that were making this sacrifice for the good of everybody, especially the most vulnerable. The Christian faith is about sacrifice for the good of others and thats why were doing it.

In my opinion, what the Government are doing at present is very fair  theyre treating everybody equally. Its taking away the idea of pressure groups and we should be supporting the Government in trying to do whats right for the country.

Read More

Its a view shared by another priest, a Dublin-based septuagenarian, who initially agrees to speak on-record but later asks for his name not to be used.

I spoke in favour of Masses going online in the time of this pandemic, he explains, and I got dogs abuse  and from people who say they are deeply Catholic. They werent from my parish, mind. They were people who dont seem to believe that this virus is real and who were angry that I, as priest, wasnt saying what they wanted to hear.

Of course, this is a challenging time for everyone, but we are in the middle of a once-a-century public health crisis and we all have to do whats right to get out of this. Normal life will return and churches will come back as they did before. I cant wait to welcome people back here but theres no point in any of us risking our health and lives  and I say that as someone whos in the vulnerable age category too and waiting on a vaccine.
"During mine clearing operations carried out by the agency in Shusha, missile remnants were found in two different places on March 15," Idris Ismayilov, Chief of Operations of the Azerbaijan National Agency for Mine Action - ANAMA told reporters.

He noted that the code of 9M723 was investigated on the missile.

"It was revealed that these were remains of 'Iskander' missile. The remnants are 780 meters apart from each other. Recent investigations concluded that this is 'Iskander-M' missile. Preliminary research is underway around the site of the explosion," Ismayilov added, Azvision reports.
Modern tech companies commodify the stuff of human nature, the social psychologist Shoshana Zuboff wrote in her 2019 bestseller The Age of Surveillance Capitalism. If thats the case, then website cookies  lines of computer code that track your behaviour online  are a big part of how they do it. Which made it all the more intriguing when Google promised earlier this year to phase out third-party cookies on its popular Chrome browser. This week it announced it was trialling an alternative system.

Where the titans of 20th century industry relied on raw materials such as oil, Silicon Valley giants have built much of their fortunes on behavioural data. Cookies are stored on your device when you visit websites and enable internet advertising to be highly targeted to your tastes, or what it calculates are your tastes. They are the reason you will frequently see online adverts for things you have just been browsing. The practice raises questions about the privacy implications of companies following people as they use the web.

Googles decision marks a potential break with a model that revolutionised the advertising business. Rather than allow other companies to track your individual activity, it is proposing to put users into groups, or cohorts, based on common interests. As the Tech Crunch website put it this week, a cohort is specific enough to allow advertisers to show you relevant ads, but without being so specific as to allow marketers to identify you personally. Users can opt out of a cohort, and Google says the system will allow greater anonymity.

The move comes as company faces competition investigations in the US, the UK and Europe, and it has prompted a number of questions. A key issue that I would see for businesses and for consumers is transparency, says Steven Roberts, head of marketing at Griffith College and author of Data Protection for Marketers: A Practical Guide. Its a fundamental principle within the GDPR [European data privacy law]. Individuals need to know in simple and transparent terms how their personal data is being processed, for what purpose, by whom and for how long. Whatever new systems are introduced to replace third-party cookies, they will need to meet that criterion of transparency. From a privacy perspective, Roberts says that the impact of replacing cookies on Chrome with what Google calls federated learning of cohorts, or FLoC, will take time to establish. While overall, a move away from third-party cookies is to be welcomed, privacy and compliance professionals will need time to get a detailed understanding of FLoC, he says. For example, will groups be created relating to sensitive category data such as health or political affiliation? At what point does a cohort become small enough that those included within it are potentially identifiable? How long will the information be retained? There is also the question of what it means for businesses. For businesses more generally, and from a marketing perspective, they will be watching this move closely, Roberts says. They will need time to understand the implications for their digital marketing activity  in particular, whether this new technology is as effective in reaching specific consumer audiences. Responses to Googles plans have been mixed, with critics highlighting a lack of clarity about what the changes will mean in practice, the continued use of behavioural profiling and the fact that browsers such as Safari and Firefox have already blocked third-party cookies. Google has been at the forefront of the tracking industry for over a decade and has become one of the biggest companies in the world by virtue of that, says Dr Johnny Ryan, a senior fellow at the Irish Council for Civil Liberties and a senior fellow at the Open Markets Institute. When Google says that says advertisers dont need to track people, that signals an enormous change in its approach, if thats a genuine statement. Ryan has previously reported Google to the Data Protection Commissioner over concerns about possible privacy breaches in the way it sells advertising. He mentions Brave, a company he used to work for, which has developed a browser with heightened security protections, including blocking website trackers. If Google is taking an approach that is like Braves, then this a major moment for data protection, he says. Data protection refers to the measures companies, governments and other institutions are expected to take when it comes to safeguarding personal information. Given how easily it allows information to be created, stored and circulated, the internet presents a major challenge. It may be that [Googles plan] makes a big impact on the protection of peoples data and that peoples data may no longer leak out to thousands of companies, Ryan says. The net effect of that is that you wouldnt have data brokers [people who collect and sell information on private individuals and companies] in the same position to build profiles about us. While much of what these changes will mean remains unclear, Ryan says: One thing you can be sure of is Google will not lose.
Guest Column ASEAN's Myanmar Crisis Is Out of Control

A screengrab from Myawaddy TV shows Myanmar coup leader Snr-Gen Min Aung Hlaing delivering his Armed Forces Day speech during a parade in Naypyitaw on March 27.

Myanmars spiraling post-coup violence and bloodshed has become ASEANs existential crisis. It is customary to pin hopes on an ASEAN way of fudging and nudging the main protagonists into some workable, face-saving compromise to save the day, but this time the situation is dire and dark. Unless the 10-member regional organization can make a difference in halting Myanmars descent into uncontrollable violence and potential civil war, ASEAN is at risk of undermining and perhaps ending its success story.

Approaching 54 years of togetherness, ASEAN has come a long way in defying and outfoxing its critics and detractors. In the process, it has become the principal platform for regionalism and regionalization to promote peace and stability, bounded by geographical neighborliness in Southeast Asia and shared interests in strategic autonomy by keeping bigger countries at bay. Adding four members in the 1990ssequentially Vietnam, Myanmar, Laos and Cambodiacompleted the ASEAN make-up and turned the region into one of great potential and promise.

In the 2000s, after earlier launching the Asia-Pacific Economic Cooperation, ASEAN Regional Forum and ASEAN Plus Three, ASEAN became host to premier regional summits, bringing together major world leaders for concrete cooperation and strategic dialogue, from the East Asia Summit and various ASEAN Plus One summits to the ASEAN Defense Ministers Meeting-Plus. A plethora of regular ministerial and departmental-level meetings underlay these top-tier get-togethers. Many may ridicule ASEAN for its endless meetings but this diplomatic community and its bureaucratic processes have prevented interstate conflicts all this time.

The 2010s were ASEANs high decade. After the ASEAN Charter was adopted in November 2007, ASEAN became a legal entity with a document to live by, not just understanding and norms of behavior. The ASEAN Charter was fudged to include both democracy, good governance, rights and freedoms as well as the cardinal non-interference in the internal affairs of fellow member states. ASEANs three community pillars comprising political-security, economic, and socio-cultural were then introduced and pitched to global audiences. The ASEAN economic community, in particular, envisaged Southeast Asias regional grouping as a single market and production base of more than 670 million with a combined GDP of more than US$3 trillion, the fastest-growing region in the world.

ASEANs success narrative is now undermined by a frontal assault from Myanmars blatant coup on Feb. 1. As Myanmars military tries to consolidate its grip on power at all costs against a popular revolt inside the country, led by the Civil Disobedience Movement, the death toll has exceeded 540 with thousands subject to arbitrary arrests and detentions. Brute force and barbaric acts of gunning down peaceful protesters, including women and children, have characterized the militarys ongoing and intensifying nationwide crackdown against the civilian population, who remain defiant and committed to reversing the coup.

Unlike its past coups, Myanmars military has never faced such a determined and broad-based civilian opposition it cannot beat and shoot into submission. This time, the security forces batons and bullets are being met with makeshift shields and safety helmets in a determined resolve not to return to Myanmars dark dictatorship and international wilderness for nearly five decades from 1962.

The civilian opposition, led by the National League for Democracy (NLD), which won a landslide election last November and prompted the putsch, has come up with a competing authority under the Committee Representing Pyidaungsu Hluttaw (CRPH), comprising mainly NLD lawmakers who were denied parliamentary seats by the coup. The civilian authorities, in turn, have outmaneuvered the military by making pacts with Ethnic Armed Organizations (EAOs) among minorities around the country. This alliance between civilian leaders and armed ethnic minorities is unprecedented in the face of military rule. If Myanmars military remains united, a protracted stalemate may ensue that involves civilian insurrection and armed clashes between the army and EAOs.

Suddenly, the ASEAN economic community looks like a mirage. The highly touted connectivity and single market with a streamlined regional production base now seems to have faltered. The political-security community lacks credibility, and the socio-culture community sounds rhetorical. In fact, ASEAN has been further divided by Myanmars coup. Indonesia, Malaysia and Singapore have called for an immediate cessation of military-perpetrated violence against protesters, the release of political detainees, especially NLD leader and State Counselor Aung San Suu Kyi, and the restoration of democratic governance based on a popular mandate from the November polls. Other ASEAN countries have demurred and deferred to the non-interference in internal affairs principle.

Moreover, ASEAN stands between Myanmars domestic slaughter and rights violations and tougher global action in response. Apart from condemnation and targeted sanctions against coup leaders and their material interests, the international community has repeatedly referred to ASEAN to mediate and broker a dialog that can lead to a peaceful outcome. Thus ASEAN is not only ineffectual as a regional organization but is preventing a more effective international response.

The specter of Myanmars internal conflict and violence will impede ASEANs economic cooperation. Until recently, richly endowed Myanmar was one of the fastest-growing economies in the world. Its geographical advantage comprised links not just to the Indian Ocean and the Pacific but also to China. Investors who have piled into the past decade of political liberalization, economic reforms and development progress will now be scarred for the foreseeable future. Investor nightmares, such as a host countrys nationalization of private businesses, are becoming a reality in Myanmar, where military authorities are threatening private banks to comply with junta orders or risk government takeovers.

All of this does not mean ASEAN will break up. Instead, the grouping will likely become more marginalized. As it is divided over Chinas belligerent role in the South China Sea and the Mekong regionand now over a concerted response to Myanmars coup and its aftermathASEAN will be hard pressed to be taken seriously. Frustrations with ASEANs inertia and incoherence have manifested in such arenas as the recent Quad Summit among Australia, India, Japan and the United States. If ASEAN cannot get its act together to stop what some now consider crimes against humanity in Myanmar, then external powers may play a greater role as regional member states become more fragmented and in disarray, losing their collective autonomy and earlier promise to maintain peace and promote prosperity.

A professor and director of the Institute of Security and International Studies at Chulalongkorn Universitys Faculty of Political Science, Thitinan Pongsudhirak earned a PhD from the London School of Economics with a top dissertation prize in 2002. Recognized for excellence in opinion writing from Society of Publishers in Asia, his views and articles have been published widely by local and international media.

This article first appeared The Bangkok Post.

You may also like these stories:

MyanmarYesterday, Today and a New Tomorrow

US Sanctions Pose Huge Risks for Myanmar Businesses

Who Failed Myanmar?
STATEN ISLAND, N.Y.  His next ride will be to a federal prison.

An Annadale man who, authorities said, stole a car at gunpoint in the parking lot of an Eltingville shopping center last fall minutes after robbing a supermarket, has pleaded guilty to carjacking.

Cops busted Joseph Codd, 33, during the early evening hours of last Oct. 24 after tracking him to his home.

The harrowing events unfolded at about 6:30 p.m.

Codd was garbed in a black hat, sunglasses and a black surgical mask when he entered the Stop & Shop supermarket at 4343 Amboy Road, said a criminal complaint.

Codd approached the manager, displayed a black handgun and demanded cash from the registers, the complaint said.

The defendant then put the gun inside a bag as the manager brought him over to the registers, said the complaint.

Cashiers turned over about $5,800, and Codd grabbed two cartons of Newport cigarettes, the complaint said.

The defendant fled on foot across the street to a shopping plaza parking lot.

No longer wearing the mask, he approached a black Honda 2014 Honda Civic at about 6:50 p.m., said the complaint.

Codd displayed and rack(ed) a black handgun and ordered the unsuspecting 29-year-old woman inside the auto to get the f--- out of the car, said the complaint.

Codd then grabbed the woman and pulled her out of the vehicle, the complaint said.

The victims sister was just about to enter the car before the defendant sped off in it, said the complaint.

The women called police, who accessed a GPS tracking device on the sisters phone, which was still inside the car, the complaint said.

They tracked the phone to Codds home on the 5000 block of Amboy Road, less than two miles away, said authorities.

Police arrested Joseph Codd at his home on the 5000 block of Amboy Road in Annadale, on Oct. 24, 2020, in connection with an alleged carjacking reported less than two miles away. (Google Maps)

Shortly after arrival, officers saw Codd leave the residence carrying two bags.

The $5,800 in cash was in one bag, while the two cartons of cigarettes were in the other, court documents allege.

A large, black air gun was found in plain view sticking out from beneath the Hondas drivers seat, said the complaint.

Both women identified the defendant, the complaint said.

Codd was indicted on federal charges of robbery and carjacking.

While the NYPD originally investigated the case, it was turned over to federal law enforcement as part of a new initiative aimed at keeping repeat gun-violence offenders behind bars amid a surge in violent crime across the New York City area.

According to the federal complaint, the robbery affected interstate commerce in that products sold at the store  including the cigarettes  are manufactured outside of New York.

On Wednesday, Codd pleaded guilty in Brooklyn federal court to the carjacking charge to resolve the case.

Federal guidelines call for a prison sentence of between 41 and 57 months, said defense lawyer Patrick J. Brackley.

Judges, however, are not bound by those guidelines.

Hes an individual who took full responsibility and is from a great Staten Island family, said Brackley. He is going to put it all behind him and get on his life.

Sentencing is scheduled for July 22.
The tallest sculpture in Spain is officially called El Nacimiento del Hombre Nuevo (Birth of a New Man) but is better known as El Huevo de Colon (Columbus' Egg) egg. Despite its height, however, this huge bronze egg is not so easy to find, hidden in Seville's surburban San Jeronimo park, which is even locked on weekdays.

The monument was erected in Seville in 1995, although it had been intended to be part of a project celebrating the 500th anniversary of the discovery of America in 1492. The delay has different interpretations. Columbus' Egg is surrounded by a web of dubious explanations and even jokes.

It appears that the idea of putting the giant Columbus in the capital of Andalucia was questioned from the very beginning. The image of the Italian explorer in bronze created doubts, even among people who are able to appreciate abstract vision and extraordinary creativity.

Like a chicken, Christopher Columbus is inserted inside the egg, holding a long map with three ships on it - the Nina, the Pinta and the Santa Maria. The monument was supposed to depict his heading towards the New World. However, it looks like his extended arms are trying to hatch out from the shell made of bronze sails.

Legend

Columbus' egg was created by Zurab Tsereteli, a Georgian-born Russian artist internationally renowned for giant, expensive and sometimes even unwanted works.

It is not known, however, whether Tsereteli had been inspired by a legend that links the explorer with an egg.

The apocryphal story refers to the 15th century when Columbus was seeking financial help for his trip to discover the Far East. Once, when dining with some Andalusian nobles, sceptical about his proposed voyage, Columbus is said to have asked for an egg to be brought to him and placed on the table.

He bet the nobles that they could not make the egg stand on its end, but he would do it without any help from anyone. All of them tried and failed.

The last to try was Columbus, who took the egg and tapped it gently on the table, breaking it slightly so it could stand on its end.

In this way Columbus showed that anything can be done by anyone with the right set of skills, but not everyone knows how to do it. Since then the expression "Columbus' egg" has been often alluded to when discussing creativity.

A big fan

Zurab Tsereteli has been considered a big fan of Christopher Columbus. Indeed he has created many bronze "Columbuses". The Seville one was only the first work for his project devoted to the 500th anniversary of the explorer's voyage.

According to the artist's lofty plans, the second work - Birth of a New World - with a colossal bronze Columbus standing on his ship was especially designed to be installed in the United States.

It's said that US President George H. W. Bush, during his visit to Tsereteli's studio in Moscow in 1991, personally picked one of three Columbus models that he liked best.

However, the already-built monument with a height of above 100 metres was rejected by several American cities, including Miami, New York and Baltimore. In the end, according to claims by Russian mass-media, Columbus' head was replaced by that of the Russian tsar Peter the Great and the enormous sculpture was erected in the centre of Moscow. The artist himself denies this version.

In 1998, Puerto Rican Government accepted a 92-metre-tall 600-tonne bronze Columbus as a gift from Russia and spent a couple of million dollars in public funds to bring it to the island and to store it in the western coastal city of Arecibo. However, it was only in 2017 that Birth of the New World was at last erected and inaugurated.

An expensive gift

The Columbus sculpture in Seville was in fact also a gift from Russia. In the 90s the government of Moscow was very generous to Spain, especially to Andalucia. Not only did the Russians donate the Columbus egg, but they also gave Marbella another bronze man by Tsereteli, this one with arms extended towards the sea, called La Victoria, that is now a landmark in Puerto Banus. Both gifts turned out to be an expense for the local authorities because of the transportation and installation costs.

The monument in Ibiza.

The transportation of the egg from Moscow to Seville was not an easy task. First it was taken by boat to Santurce, a port in the Basque Country, and then delivered by road to Seville. Seven trailer lorries and an additional two special transport lorries were needed to transport 37 large pieces to its destination. The sculpture was inaugurated on 9 October 1995 by Infanta Elena de Borbon and her ex-husband, Jaime de Marichalar.

More eggs

A smaller and modified statue of the Columbus egg in Seville can be found in Paris, outside the UNESCO headquarters.

Moreover, in Spain there is another Columbus egg. This is situated on the main roundabout in Sant Antoni de Portmany - the second-largest town in Ibiza.

It symbolises the local claim that Christopher Columbus was born in the region around Sant Antoni. However, in comparison to the Seville monument Columbus is not inserted into the egg. Instead, it has an opening large enough to encompass a small metal sculpture of the Santa Maria, the ship that Columbus used to sail to the Americas.
~Featuring Nature Related Conservation Projects, News, Science, Legislation and Education for All Six Islands of the Dutch Caribbean~

The Dutch Caribbean Nature Alliance (DCNA) has launched its brand-new website. In a press statement released by the nonprofit nature conservation network created to safeguard nature in the Dutch Caribbean, DCNA gave various highlights on how its new website will facilitate information exchange not only between the members of the nature conservation network but also to the general public.

In a departure from the previous website, the new website will feature various interactive information portals which will make information exchange on nature conservation, management, research, monitoring, and educational projects within the Dutch Caribbean much more accessible.

Interactive news platform

On the new website readers, you can find the latest nature news with a focus on research and monitoring projects coming out of the Dutch Caribbean through a fully interactive news platform named (Bio)News (https://dcnanature.org/news/), also optimized for viewing on mobile platforms. While the website in itself will be in English the various nature news items will be translated into Papiamento, Papiamentu, and Dutch and available on the website. BioNews is kindly supported by the Ministry of Agriculture, Nature and Food Quality.

Nature Conservation in the Dutch Caribbean

An interactive overview of active research and monitoring projects in the Dutch Caribbean will also be featured and readers will be able to learn about the members of the DCNA Network and the DCNA Secretariat. An overview of the various Nature and Conservation legislation and educational projects for all six islands of the Dutch Caribbean will also be accessible. Visitors to the site can also access nature and conservation data through the linking of regional databases, including from the Dutch Caribbean Biodiversity Database (DCBD), and links to websites from DCNA members and partners. Documents specific to DCNA such as the Management Success Reports for the Protected Area Management Organizations for all six islands can also be found in addition to ways in which residents and tourists can be involved in conservation on their respective islands through job vacancies, volunteering, recording nature sightings and potential partnerships.

I would especially like to thank the contractors; Bram Perry, Deviate Design, and Coastal Dynamics, for their help in developing the website as well as the contributors to the DCNA Photobank which helped us showcase the Dutch Caribbeans beautiful nature on our new website. We hope you will enjoy the new website and learn more about nature conservation in the Dutch Caribbean commented Tineke van Bussel, DCNA Research and Communications Officer and project lead for the new website development.

The new DCNA Website www.dcnanature.org, has been made possible through the continued support of the Dutch Postcode Lottery.
In his podcast "Na Slovensku Aj Po Anglicky", Jeremy Hill speaks with 15 foreigners about their experiences learning Slovak.

Font size: A - | A +

https://open.spotify.com/embed-podcast/episode/0q9uDtXl140MWb4pMz1d5O

This episode contains some Slovak swear words. For a censored version, click here.

Slovak has three genders, seven cases, and many frustrated learners.

In the first episode of his "Na Slovensku Aj Po Anglicky" podcast, Jeremy Hill spoke with 15 foreigners about their experiences learning Slovak. Some of them have lived in Slovakia for a longer period of time and can speak Slovak with few problems, while others are just becoming acquainted with the language.

Most agree that Slovak is an especially difficult language to learn, but foreigners here often feel an obligation to at least try to learn it. Whether it's for practical reasons, romance, or an attempt to better understand Slovak culture, foreigners take lessons, study on their own or attempt to strike up conversations with locals to improve their language skills.

This, of course, has led to some amusing encounters.

3. Apr 2021 at 11:20 | Jeremy Hill
The Hague, April 3 : The Netherlands has temporarily halted the use of the AstraZeneca Covid-19 vaccine for people under the age of 60, the Ministry of Health, Welfare and Sport.

The decision on Friday was prompted by possible blood clotting problems as a side effect of the vaccine, reports Xinhua news agency.

Earlier on in the day, the Lareb side effects centre reported that after injecting some 400,000 doses of the AstraZeneca vaccine, five reports have been received concerning women aged 25-65 who developed thrombosis in combination with a reduced platelet count.

One of these five women died after developing an extensive pulmonary embolism within 10 days of the vaccination.

The outgoing Dutch Health Minister Hugo de Jonge said there should be no doubt whatsoever about the safety of vaccines.

"The crucial question is still whether it concerns complaints after vaccination or due to vaccination," he said in a statement, adding that "it is wise to press the pause button now as a precaution".

The Minister wrote in a letter to Parliament that he took this decision pending a further judgment by the Pharmacovigilance Risk Assessment Committee (PRAC) of the European Medicines Agency.

The committee is expected to come with further information about the AstraZeneca vaccine.

Besides the Netherlands, vaccination is underway in an increasing number of countries with the already-authorised coronavirus vaccines.
On the first of April, 1976, Apple was launched, and today, while it has plenty of detractors and copycats, it is the world's most impressive technology company that sets the pace all others follow.

What would the world be like today if Apple wasn't around?

The world's tech companies would have to do their own real R&D, instead of being inspired by Apple, and someone else would have taken up the mantle for elegant and sophisticated hardware and software - or at least, we can only hope so.

Before Apple, Nokia was the company that owned its own OS and created its own hardware, and while Microsoft tried to fill that role, too, with its Windows Phones that worked alongside Windows PCs, the Surface Duo Android smartphone hasn't exactly set the world on fire, and the Surface Neo is still not on sale.

Linux has come a LONG way and has succeeded spectacularly, but it's still far more the province of tech-savvy geeks, rather than everyday people who use Windows PCs or Macs, or iPhones and Androids. And yes, Android is built in a Linux foundation but the average person wouldn't have any clue of this, while every Apple user knows they're using an Apple operating system.

In addition, Apple has become a $2 trillion company with over $200 billion in the bank, with its technologies becoming more popular with each new release and every new year, and profit records being set every year, too.

Unless the world blows itself up in a nuclear war, or some other environmental or financial catastrophe, technology is only going to continue getting better, and helping to augment human minds in the quest to find solutions to environmental and financial problems, and avoid war, with Apple Glasses to come this decade, Apple Cars and much more, including M-powered MacBooks and desktops that have already surpassed Intel's ability to make an inexpensive CPU that doesn't require a fan but has amazing power.

So, what has Apple CEO Tim Cook had to say in a Tweet to celebrate Apple's 45th birthday, and in his company-wide email, republished by the French MacGeneration site?

As Apple celebrates 45 years today, Im reminded of Steves words from many years ago: Its been an amazing journey so far, yet we have barely begun. Thanks to every member of our Apple family for all youve done to enrich lives. Heres to the next 45 years & beyond!  Tim Cook (@tim_cook) April 1, 2021

Note, the date says "April 2" if you're looking at the Tweet in an Australian timezone, but it says April 1 in the US as that's when it was sent. Your timezone location will reflect what date the tweet says it was sent at.

Here's Tim Cook's letter, via MacGeneration.

Team

On April 1, 1976, a company was formed in Cupertino to create transformative products that redefine what technology can achieve and make people's lives better in the process. Forty-five years later, we mark this occasion by rededicating ourselves to that mission  and to keeping it alive for a long time to come  rather than to remember it fondly as something past.

While some things about Apple have changed over these many years, the important things haven't. From the M1 chip to 5G iPhones, from iPads that change the face of education and productivity to a Watch that can look out for your health, to the very best Software and Services that bring them all to life, we have never stopped setting the pace that others try to match. What I can tell you with gut certainty is that there has never been a moment of such great potential as this one, nor have we ever had so talented and dedicated a team. That shouldn't make us rest easy. Great potential obligates great people to meet it.

I know this past year has tested each of us in ways that we never imagined. It's asked all of us to adapt, it's added complexity to our work and it has demanded additional resolve and commitment in areas of our lives that extend well beyond our work. But I also know that what we have each achieved during this time should make us enormously proud. Through a once-in-a-generation challenge, the things we make, and the ways in which we make them, have revealed profound and durable new sources of value to the people who love and count on them. And, on many fronts, we know even brighter days are ahead.

In an email like this one, to mark a much earlier anniversary shortly after I joined Apple, Steve said, "it's been an amazing journey so far, yet we have barely begun." Still true. Remember that none of us will be here for the end of the story, but it's on all of us to make sure it's one worth telling.

Tim
Vials labelled "AstraZeneca COVID-19 Coronavirus Vaccine" and a syringe are seen in front of a displayed AstraZeneca logo in this illustration, on March 10, 2021. (Dado Ruvic/Reuters, Illustration/File Photo)

UK Reports 7 Blood Clot Deaths After AstraZeneca Vaccine

Seven people who had received the AstraZeneca COVID-19 vaccine have died after registering rare blood clot events, the UKs medicines regulator has confirmed.

The Medicines and Healthcare products Regulatory Agency (MHRA) said on Apr. 1 that they had identified 30 cases of blood clot events after the use of AstraZeneca.

Out of the 30 reports up to and including March 24, sadly seven have died, MHRA said in a statement emailed to The Epoch Times.

But the regulator stressed that the benefits of the CCP (Chinese Communist Party) virus vaccine outweighs its risks.

The benefits of COVID-19 Vaccine AstraZeneca in preventing COVID-19 infection and its complications continue to outweigh any risks and the public should continue to get their vaccine when invited to do so, said Dr. June Raine, chief executive of MHRA.

In its most recent weekly summary of COVID-19 vaccine adverse reactions, MHRA said it had received 22 reports of cerebral venous sinus thrombosis, an extremely rare brain clotting ailment, and eight reports of other clotting events associated with low blood platelets, out of a total of 18.1 million doses given by that date.

The regulator said there had been no reports for the Pfizer/BioNTech vaccine.

We are asking healthcare professionals to report any cases they suspect to be linked with COVID-19 vaccination via the Coronavirus Yellow Card website, Dr. Raine said.

Like MHRA, the European Medicines Agency also said the jabs benefits outweigh the risks of side effects.

The EU regulator, which is conducting a review into the blood clot events, said on March 31 that a causal link between the vaccine the blood clots was not proven, but is possible and further analysis is continuing.

At present the review has not identified any specific risk factors, such as age, gender or a previous medical history of clotting disorders, for these very rare events, it said.

Concerns over the blood clots have caused several countries to restrict the vaccines use.

On Apr. 2, the Netherlands temporarily suspended the AstraZeneca vaccine for a second time for people under the age of 60 after a woman who had received the jab died and four other women experienced serious complications.

On March 30, German health officials agreed to restrict the use of the AstraZeneca jab in people under 60 after 31 cases of blood clots were reported out of some 2.7 million doses of AstraZeneca vaccines administered.

France also said in mid-March it decided to limit the vaccine to people for those aged 55 and older.

Lorenz Duchamps and Reuters contributed to this report.
Source: Xinhua| 2021-04-03 04:08:32|Editor: huaxia

Video Player Close

WASHINGTON, April 2 (Xinhua) -- The United States on Friday lifted sanctions against senior officials of the International Criminal Court (ICC) that imposed by the administration of former President Donald Trump.

Secretary of State Antony Blinken said in a statement that President Joe Biden had revoked an executive order against certain persons of the ICC, ending the threat and imposition of economic sanctions and visa restrictions in connection with the court.

"As a result, the sanctions imposed by the previous administration against ICC Prosecutor Fatou Bensouda and Phakiso Mochochoko, the Head of the Jurisdiction, Complementarity and Cooperation Division of the Office of the Prosecutor, have been lifted," he said.

The Department of State also terminated a separate 2019 policy on visa restrictions on certain ICC personnel, he added. "These decisions reflect our assessment that the measures adopted were inappropriate and ineffective."

Blinken, however, highlighted the disagreement between Washington and The Hague-based international tribunal.

"We continue to disagree strongly with the ICC's actions relating to the Afghanistan and Palestinian situations. We maintain our longstanding objection to the Court's efforts to assert jurisdiction over personnel of non-States Parties such as the United States and Israel," he noted.

The United States has not ratified the Rome Statute of the ICC and rejected the ICC's jurisdiction over U.S. persons.

The ICC in March last year authorized an investigation into possible war crimes in Afghanistan, including those that may have been committed by the U.S. military and the CIA, which could lead to the indictment of U.S. military and intelligence personnel.

Trump last June authorized economic sanctions against ICC officials engaged in an investigation into U.S. personnel, which drew criticism from the international community and some U.S. allies.

The ICC was established when the Rome Statute took effect in 2002. It prosecutes crimes of genocide, war crimes, crimes against humanity, and the crime of aggression. Enditem
A Minneapolis homicide investigator said police officer Derek Chauvin used "totally unnecessary" deadly force when kneeling on George Floyd's neck during an arrest last May in testimony at Chauvin's murder trial on Friday.



Chauvin, who is white, was fired by the city's police department the day after he was captured on video on top of a dying Floyd, a 46-year-old Black man in handcuffs, in a scene that sparked protests against police brutality around the world.



"Totally unnecessary," Lieutenant Richard Zimmerman told the jury when prosecutors asked him what he thought of Chauvin pressing his knee on Floyd's neck for about nine minutes. "If your knee is on a person's neck, that can kill them."



Chauvin, 45, has pleaded not guilty to murder and manslaughter charges. Prosecutors from the Minnesota attorney general's office called Zimmerman to testify in part to undermine a central dispute in the case: Chauvin's assertion that he correctly followed his police training.

Here are some of the most important moments from the fifth day of witness testimony:



Zimmerman, who joined the Minneapolis Police Department in 1985 and is now its most senior officer, was at home on May 25, 2020, when he was called to the intersection outside Cup Foods, where Floyd was suspected of passing a fake $20 bill earlier in the evening.



He arrived just before 10 p.m., about half an hour after Floyd had been declared dead at a downtown hospital, and said he helped ensure that evidence was properly secured, and any witnesses were found.



Zimmerman said officers were responsible for the care of anyone they arrested and are trained to give first aid to an injured or distressed detainee even if they know an ambulance is coming.



"His safety is your responsibility, his well being is your responsibility," he told the jury.



He described how officers are trained only to respond to any threat with a proportionate amount of force.



"Once a person is cuffed, the threat level goes down all the way," Zimmerman told the jury after prosecutors called him to testify. "They're cuffed. How can they really hurt you, you know?"



And he warned of the dangers of leaving a person in a prone position.



"Once you've secured or handcuffed a person you need to get them out of the prone position as soon as possible because it restricts their breathing," he said.



He offered harsh testimony against the way his former colleague and other officers at the scene restrained Floyd.



"Pulling him down to the ground face down and putting your knee on the neck for that amount of time is just uncalled for," Zimmerman said. "I saw no reason why the officers felt they were in danger, if that's what they felt, and that's what they would have to feel in order to use that kind of force."



In cross-examination, Zimmerman agreed when Eric Nelson, Chauvin's lead lawyer, pointed out that the lieutenant does not train officers in how to use restraints and that as an investigator he has to use force less often than a patrolling officer.
South Korean President Moon Jae-in, center, and first lady Kim Jung-sook, right, pay tribute to the victims of the April 3 Massacre on Jeju Island in 1948 during the tragedy's commemorating event held at Jeju 43 Peace Park in Jeju Island on April 3. Yonhap





President Moon Jae-in assured Jeju residents and others Saturday that the government will faithfully implement a revised special law on compensating the victims and bereaved families of the April 3 massacre seven decades ago.







He described the legislation as a "blueprint for building a house of history" related to the tragedy, speaking at a memorial ceremony held on the southern resort island.







"(The government) promises to elaborate the blueprint and faithfully implement it," he said in a televised speech at the Jeju April 3 Peace Park.







In February, the National Assembly passed a revision bill on providing legal grounds for broader systematic compensation for the victims of the bloody uprising and surviving bereaved family members. It is officially named the Special Act on Discovering the Truth of the Jeju April 3 Incident and Restoring the Victims' Honor.






New Delhi:

A day before the death, senior journalist KJ Singh had spotted a suspicious man moving around his house, his brother BP Singh told the investigators.

Singh had informed his elder brother that "between 4:00 pm and 6:00 pm, he had spotted a person moving around his house. Not only this, the man has also tried to open the gate of his house as well, the police sources said.

KJ Singh, a senior journalist from Punjab, and his 92-year-old mother Gurcharan Kaur were found dead in suspicious circumstances. Their bodies were found at their Mohali house in Phase 3B2 on Saturday.

Singh used to stay with his mother in a one-Kanal corner house, adjacent to a park. Police have also found some footprints along the railing in the park.

KJ Singh had last spoken to BP Singh, who stays in Sector 41, Chandigarh, around 7 pm, said their nephew Preet Inder. The senior journalist had also exchanged some WhatsApp messages with his friends till about 8 pm.



The double murder first came to light at 1 pm on Saturday when KJ Singhs sister Yashpal Kaur reached his house along with her son Ajay Pal. They were there to give them lunch, said Alam Vijay Singh, deputy superintendent of police (city) Mohali.

Also Read: KJ Singh, senior journalist and 92-year-old mother murdered in Mohali

The two found blood on the main door that was bolted from outside and the blood trail led to the rooms where the bodies were found.

Punjab Police have set up a special investigation team (SIT) to probe the case. Initial investigations reveal that the attackers left the crime scene in the victim's car.

Still now, the motive behind the murder remains unclear and police have ruled out robbery Police have ruled out robbery as the reason behind the double murder.

Apart from KJ Singh's green ford Ikon car (PB 65 0164), his mother's and his mobile phones and an LCD television are also missing.

The senior journalist, who was freelancing for a Canadian magazine, had a studio with expensive recording equipment in the house. But nothing from the studio, including the laptop, is missing. Singhs gold chain was also intact.

Police are investigating the case through scanning footage from two closed-circuit television (CCTV) cameras installed a couple of houses away.

According to the police, KJ Singh was stabbed in the stomach and neck. KJ Singh was first stabbed in the stomach near the main door as one of the slippers that he was wearing was found at that place.

KJ Singh's body was found lying on his bed and his mother was found dead with her legs hanging out of the bed.

By observing the crime situation it seemed that Singh had struggled with the attackers as blood was found all over the floor in the room.

I came around 9 am and rang the bell at the gate, but no one answered, so I returned, Rekha told police. Rekha came back an hour later, but no one opened the door again.

Police said the victims family members, too, had been calling him, but he didnt return the calls. The exact time of the death would be known after the postmortem, said DSP Alam Vijay Singh.

Also Read: Gauri Lankesh murder: Karnataka SIT to take help of Scotland Yard; to question brother, Naxal leaders



KJ Singh was single, taking care of his sick mother dedicatedly. Yashpal Kaur, his sister used to stay with them about five months ago. She still brought lunch for them

Her son Ajay Pal said Singh used to cook breakfast and dinner for his mother and even slept in her room to assist her.

KJ Singh used to read a book before going to sleep. But to ensure his mother was not disturbed, he recently purchased a headlight. On Friday, he even received a parcel of an anti-slip mat for his mother.

Ajay Pal said he had talked to his uncle on Friday noon.

He wanted to eat chhole-bhature and we had bought it for him today, he said.

For all the Latest India News, Download News Nation Android and iOS Mobile Apps.
World Vision, a child-focused Christian relief, development and advocacy non-governmental organisation working in Ghana has lauded the government, development partners, other NGOs, the private sector and non-state actors for ensuring that 80 out of every 100 Ghanaians have access to potable water.



It has, however, reminded the government that six million children and their families still do not have access to potable water.



These were contained in a statement jointly issued by the WASH Technical Coordinator, Mr Yaw Attah Arhin and the Communications Manager of World Vision Ghana, Mr Washington Nuworkpor, to mark World Water Day which falls on March 22 every year, and was on the theme; Every Child Deserves Clean Water.



The child-focused NGO said, On the occasion of World Water Day 2021, World Vision Ghana wishes to congratulate government, development partners, NGOs/CSOs, private sector and other non-state actors for working hard to ensure that 80 per cent of Ghanas population has access to safe drinking water.



We, however, need to remind ourselves, that while we have made some strides, some six million children and their families still lack access to safe water.



Urgent steps needed

Stating that it believes that nothing can be more important to child wellbeing than the access to safe drinking water, World Vision Ghana has, therefore, called on the Government of Ghana to as a matter of urgency, prioritise and increase investments to ensure that every child everywhere has access to safe water.

It also urges the government to explore and invest in alternative water supply systems where underground water is not feasible and Take appropriate steps to protect our water bodies from pollution and degradation to reflect the theme for World Water Day 2021 VALUING WATER.



Further, World Vision wants the government to take immediate steps to address water quality challenges and the inequalities associated with access to water, including those identified in the 2017/18 Multiple Indicator Cluster Survey (MICS) report and also pay attention to the delivery of safe water in schools and healthcare facilities, in order to create a conducive environment for quality education and healthcare.



MICS

With the 2017/18 Multiple Indicator Cluster Survey (MICS) report as the basis for its call, the NGO reiterated the reports finding that close to eight persons in every 10 households had E-coli (faecal contamination) in their drinking water, while close to five out of 10 water sources were also affected.

The same report also reveals clear wealth disparity in basic water access, with the wealthy nearly twice more likely to have access than the poor. Additionally, urban dwellers are more likely to have basic access than those from rural areas.



There is a clear wealth disparity on basic water access, with the wealthy nearly twice as likely to have access than the poor. Additionally, urban dwellers are more likely to have basic access than those from rural areas, the MICS report states in one of its key messages.



The MICS report defines basic drinking water services needed by all, which corresponds to Sustainable Development Goal (SDG) 1.4.1, as an improved source, provided collection time is not more than 30 minutes for a roundtrip including queuing.



Improved drinking water sources, it says, are those that have the potential to deliver safe water by nature of their design and construction, and include: piped water, boreholes or tubewells, protected dug wells, protected springs, rainwater, and packaged or delivered water.



Limited refers to an improved source that takes more than 30 minutes roundtrip, while unimproved sources include unprotected dug wells and unprotected springs.



Surface water (No service) refers to the direct collection of water from surface waters such as rivers, lakes or irrigation channels.



Importance of water

Reaffirming its commitment to partnering government, the private sector, NGOs/CSOs and other stakeholders towards increased access to safe water, World Vision opines that the importance of water to human beings cannot be over-emphasised, as it promotes improved health, livelihoods and general wellbeing.

Indeed, it is often said that water is life and no strategy for poverty reduction can ignore peoples vital requirement for safe water.



Sadly, millions around the world, including Ghana, do not have access to this vital resource. It is not uncommon to find women and children travelling long distances in search of safe water but only ending up fetching water from rivers, streams, unprotected ponds and other contaminated water sources, World Vision laments.



It adds that in several rural and small towns, community members still share drinking water sources with cattle and other animals, while 49 per cent of public basic schools lack access to safe water on their premises, quoting the Education Management Information System (EMIS) 2018.



The lack of water also affects proper sanitation and handwashing facilities which may be fixed or mobile and include a sink with tap water, buckets with taps, tippy-taps, and jugs or basins designated for handwashing.









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
It's been a week for Florida Republican Rep. Matt Gaetz.

First came the news that he was considering resigning from Congress for a job in the conservative media world. That was followed almost immediately by reporting that the Justice Department is investigating a possible sexual relationship between Gaetz and a 17-year-old girl. (Gaetz denied the allegation and insisted that the 17-year-old girl "doesn't exist" and that he was the the victim of an "organized criminal extortion.") Then on Thursday night, CNN reported that, unrelated to the DOJ probe, "Gaetz allegedly showed off to other lawmakers photos and videos of nude women he said he had slept with." And there was this late Thursday from The New York Times: "A Justice Department investigation into Representative Matt Gaetz and an indicted Florida politician is focusing on their involvement with multiple women who were recruited online for sex and received cash payments." (Gaetz denied these allegations too, including that he paid any woman for sex).

Like I said: Not good.

To date, Republican elected leaders have largely avoided making public pronouncements about what Gaetz should do next. (This relative silence is made easier by the fact the House is out of session this week.)

On Wednesday, House Minority Leader Kevin McCarthy said this of the Justice Department investigation: "Those are serious implications. If it comes out to be true, yes, we would remove him [from House committees] if that's the case. But right now Matt Gaetz has said that it's not true, and we don't have any information. So let's get all the information." McCarthy hasn't said anything further as more stories about Gaetz have emerged.

Here's the two-fold problem for Gaetz:

1) Congress won't be in recess forever. The House is slated to return the week of April 12 -- and the new allegations make it impossible for the likes of McCarthy to continue to stall indefinitely on whether Gaetz should be removed from committees (or worse).

2) Gaetz has very few friends -- even within the GOP -- in Washington, meaning that there just aren't going to be a lot of people rallying to help defend him.

It's that second point that is really critical as we consider whether or not Gaetz can hang on to his political career amid this maelstrom of accusations. And it's the biggest argument against Gaetz surviving this series of scandals.

See, Gaetz is a lone wolf in Washington. He's never made any bones about his desire for publicity -- by any means necessary -- or his lack of patience with the slow process of gathering seniority and power in Congress. He is the ultimate showhorse. Which makes lots and lots of workhorses in Congress -- including lots and lots of Republicans -- resent and dislike him.

This, from a story in The Hill earlier this week, captures that sentiment nicely:

"Few of Gaetz's GOP colleagues are coming to the defense of the third-term Floridian following a New York Times report that the Department of Justice (DOJ) is investigating allegations of sexual misconduct with  and interstate trafficking of  a minor roughly two years ago. And a number of Republicans, while warning against jumping to premature conclusions about Gaetz's conduct, also suggested they wouldn't miss him if he were gone."

While not being terribly popular among the entrenched establishment in Washington has long been a Gaetz calling card, it's not a good place to be when you find yourself, as he is now, desperately fighting for your political career. Everyone Gaetz stepped on -- or tweeted an attack about -- on the way up the ladder to being one of Donald Trump's favorite members of Congress (and one of the most high-profile) is sitting back right now and watching him twist in the wind.

One example: Imagine how much a supportive statement from Wyoming Rep. Liz Cheney, the No. 3 ranking Republican in House leadership, would be right now. That is never going to happen. Why? Because Gaetz went to Wyoming in late January specifically to stir up opposition to Cheney following her vote to impeach Trump for his role in inciting the January 6 US Capitol riot. "We are in a battle for the soul of the Republican party, and I intend to win it," Gaetz said while in the state. "You can help me break a corrupt system. You can send a representative who actually represents you, and you can send Liz Cheney home -- back home to Washington, DC."

Even if Cheney knew or believed Gaetz to be innocent of the various allegations being leveled against him, there's a roughly zero percent chance she would issue a statement designed to help him survive. Maybe a less than zero percent chance.

That's not to say Gaetz is entirely without allies. Ohio Rep Jim Jordan, another favorite of the Trump wing of the Party, told CNN's Ryan Nobles on Wednesday that he believed Gaetz. And Georgia Rep. Marjorie Taylor Greene (R) took to Twitter to say: "I stand with @mattgaetz."

But in the main, Gaetz is a man on an island here. And that is a very lonely -- and bad -- place to be.
New Delhi/Kolkata, April 3 : Raising the political temperature in poll-bound West Bengal, the Enforcement Directorate (ED) on Saturday said that it has attached properties worth Rs three crore in the Saradha chit fund case of Trinamool Congress leaders Kunal Ghosh and Lok Sabha MP Satabdi Roy and then director of the group Debajani Mukherjee.

An ED official said that the agency has attached properties in the form of movable and immovable assets worth Rs three crore pertaining to Ghosh, Roy and Mukherjee in the Saradha chit fund case.

The ED action comes a month after it questioned Ghosh on March 2 this year in connection with the case.

According to ED officials, Ghosh, who is a former Rajya Sabha MP from the Trinamool Congress and was also the CEO of media group Saradha, had allegedly received funds from the Saradha group to head the media unit.

Ghosh was earlier interrogated by the agency in connection with the case in July 2019 and in October 2013.

Roy is a Trinamool Congress Lok Sabha member from Birbhum parliamentary constituency and according to the ED she was brand ambassador in Saradha.

According to the ED, Mukherjee was a director in the Saradha Group of companies.

The official said that the ED has so far attached properties having a market value of more than Rs 600 crore during its money laundering probe.

The Saradha scam came to light in April 2013 and is estimated at over Rs 10,000 crore. The ED has filed a case on the basis of the CBI's FIR.

The ruling Trinamool Congress and the BJP are engaged in a bitter war of words in West Bengal as the state heads for Assembly polls.

Polling for the 294-member House is scheduled in eight phases from March 27 to April 29. Till date 60 assembly constituencies have voted in the first two phases. Counting of votes will take place on May 2.
Jimmy Nicholson's season of The Bachelor is currently being filmed in Sydney.

And on Thursday, the 31-year-old hunk was spotted on a steamy date with a blonde bombshell, as the two hit the waves for a surfing session and swim at Bilgola Beach.

In between their chosen activities, things heated up between the pair as they wrapped their arms around each other and learned in to share a passionate smooch.

They can't keep their hands off each other! On Thursday, The Bachelor's Jimmy Nicholson packed on the PDA with a bikini-clad blonde bombshell during a steamy beach date in Sydney

At the beach, the mystery woman stripped down to a burgundy bikini, while Jimmy opted for some striped, navy and white board shorts.

At one stage, The Bachelor put his ripped biceps to work as he waxed the two surfboards the couple ended up using on their beach date.

And it appears the two were VERY comfortable with one another, as Jimmy canoodled with his potential partner multiple times during their cozy date.

Canoodling: And it appears the two were VERY comfortable with one another, as Jimmy canoodled with his potential partner multiple times during their cozy date

Sweet moments: He could be seen whispering what has to be sweet nothing's into her ears, before nuzzling up to her neck

Mr Muscles: Cameras followed the two as Jimmy lifted the blonde into his arms and walked down the scenic beach

He could be seen whispering what has to be sweet nothing's into her ears, before nuzzling up to her neck.

The blonde and her Bachelor braved the choppy waves on a stunning warm day on the northern beaches.

Despite falling into the waves, the couple emerged from the water with smiles beaming from ear-to-ear.

All smiles! Despite falling into the waves, the couple emerged from the water with smiles beaming from ear-to-ear

Wax on, wax off: At one stage, The Bachelor put his ripped biceps to work as he waxed the two surfboards the couple ended up using on their beach date

Adventurous couple: The blonde and her Bachelor braved the choppy waves on a stunning warm day on the northern beaches

Close: The pair held hands on the date

Before heading to the beach, the pair got up close and personal as Jimmy rode his date to their waterfront destination on a motorbike.

The newest Bachelor was seen helping her fit her helmet properly ahead of their road-side journey.

For the date, the blonde beauty donned a pair of faded-black jeans, teamed with an over-sized khaki blouse and some Converse All Star trainers.

However, prior to her ride on the luxury BMW motorbike, she appeared to change into something more fitting to the trip - slipping on a pair of black ankle boots and a leather jacket.

Start your engines! Before heading to the beach, the pair got up close and personal as Jimmy rode his date to their waterfront destination on a motorbike

Safety first! The newest Bachelor was seen helping her fit her helmet properly ahead of their road-side journey

Chic: For the date, the blonde beauty donned a pair of faded-black jeans, teamed with an over-sized khaki blouse and some Converse All Star trainers

She also let her wavy hair hang loose on her shoulders.

Meanwhile, Jimmy also wore black jeans for the occasion, but opted to team them with a plain white T-shirt and a black denim jacket.

In terms of his shoes, he kept his white Reebok trainers with green lining on before hitting the waves.

He also accessorised with sunglasses and leather motorbike gloves.

Bachelor fashion: Meanwhile, Jimmy also wore black jeans for the occasion, but opted to team them with a plain white T-shirt and a black denim jacket

Change of shoes? However, prior to her ride on the luxury BMW motorbike, she appeared to change into something more fitting to the trip - slipping on a pair of black ankle boots and a leather jacket

The production crew was on hand to record the blossoming love story between the two, with camera men and sound folks spotted on the Northern Beaches.

Cameras followed the two as Jimmy lifted the blonde into his arms and walked down the scenic beach.

During his lift, the Bachelor couldn't wipe the smile off his face.

Lights, camera, action! he production crew was on hand to record the blossoming love story between the two, with camera men and sound folks spotted on the Northern Beaches

In February, Daily Mail Australia revealed that the dating series will be shot at a property located in Dural in Sydney's north-west.

The $6.3million property, sits on five acres of land and features French chateau-inspired architecture.

Before setting up in Dural, The Bachelor and The Bachelorette were filmed at a $2.3million property in Oxford Falls, in Sydney's north.

Jimmy is this year's Bachelor, he will be the ninth Australian man to put his heart on the line to find true love.
Late Australian fashion designer Carla Zampatti's daughter Bianca has shared a gutwrenching tribute after her mother's death on Saturday.

Carla, aged 78, passed away a week after falling down the stairs while attending the opening night of the La Traviata opera on Sydney Harbour.

She was knocked unconscious after falling on the bottom steps of the staircase and was then rushed to hospital immediately.

Tragedy: Australian fashion designer Carla Zampatti died on Saturday, one week after being knocked unconscious after falling down the stairs at the opera

Late Australian fashion designer Carla Zampatti's daughter Bianca shared a gutwrenching tribute after her mother's death on Saturday

According to the Daily Telegraph, she went into a coma after the fall and never woke up.

'Today I lost my mother, my inspiration, my mentor and my friend,' fashion designer Bianca wrote alongside two family photos on Instagram.

'I am lost for words and totally heartbroken.'

Carla's death was confirmed via an statement earlier on Saturday.

'Its with great sadness that we announce the death of fashion icon Carla Zampatti AC today,' they wrote.

Farewell: Carla, who was 78, passed away after falling down the stairs while attending the opening night of the La Traviata opera on Sydney Harbour last week (pictured)

'Carla is Australias most successful and enduring fashion designer, launching her eponymous label in 1965,' it continued.

'Carla has long been celebrated for making Australian women feel confident and elegant through her exceptional design, tailoring and understanding of the modern woman.

'A champion of Australian women and a multicultural success story, she continued to thrive as a businesswoman through enormous radical and social change, designing clothes for women fighting for liberation through the womens rights movement in the 1960s to empowering women today in leadership, the workplace, in their home and at major life events.'

They finished: 'The family invite you to share your memories on the Carla Zampatti condolence page through the link in bio.'

Heartbreaking: The designer went into a coma after the fall and never woke up

Statement: Carla's death was confirmed via a statement on her official Instagram account on Saturday

Tributes from high profile celebrities and politicians have been pouring in since the sad news was announced on Saturday.

'Very sad to learn of our dear friend Carla Zampattis passing,' wrote former Prime Minister Malcolm Turnbull.

'One of our greatest Australians - brilliant, innovative, elegant, creative. Embodying the success of our remarkable multicultural nation. Our sympathy and love are with her family.'

NSW Premier Gladys Berejiklian tweeted: 'The world will never be the same without Carla Zampatti. Talented, generous and inspiring. A true trailblazer in every respect. Rest In Peace.'

Gladys is expected to announce a state funeral for Carla at some stage.

Actress and comedian Magda Szubanski wrote: 'So very sad to hear of the death of Carla Zampatti. Such a lovely woman who dressed me on a few occasions with great elegance and empathy. Her tailoring was impeccable and her style divine. My deepest condolences to her family.'

Today Extra host David Campbell also shared his condolences, tweeting: 'I am just hearing Carla Zampatti has died from her fall. This is so tragic. She was a true pioneer in fashion in Australia. A class act. She was an icon who lived with grace. So very sad for her family.'

'Very sad to learn of our dear friend Carla Zampattis passing,' wrote former Prime Minister Malcolm Turnbull

NSW Premier Gladys Berejiklian tweeted: 'The world will never be the same without Carla Zampatti. Talented, generous and inspiring. A true trailblazer in every respect. Rest In Peace'

Actress and comedian Magda Szubanski wrote: 'So very sad to hear of the death of Carla Zampatti'

Today Extra host David Campbell also shared his condolences, tweeting: 'I am just hearing Carla Zampatti has died from her fall. This is so tragic.'

'Absolutely devastated': Sam Armytage also shared a tribute to the late designer

Her family addressed the designer's fall earlier this week, stating that Carla was in hospital for 'observation' following the accident.

A family spokesperson for Ms Zampatti told Daily Mail Australia on Monday: 'Carla Zampatti had a fall at the Opera on Sydney Harbour on Friday night and is currently in hospital for observation.

'Carla is very grateful for the support from medically trained members of the audience who assisted and for the excellent care from the team at St Vincents Hospital.'

Opera Australia chief executive Rory Jeffes told The Sydney Morning Herald that staff looked after Ms Zampatti until an ambulance arrived on the scene.

'My understanding is that they just cared for her, she appeared to be in and out of consciousness and therefore they just made sure she was comfortable until the ambulance arrived,' he said.

'Carla is Australias most successful and enduring fashion designer, launching her eponymous label in 1965,' read a statement following her death

Carla Zampatti's name is synonymous with Australian fashion.

The high-end designer was born in Italy and immigrated to Western Australia in 1950 when she was about eight years old.

She previously said her desire to show her adopted country her talents was the driving force behind her successful career.

'Economically, socially, lifestyle - migration has been a huge benefit for this country,' she said.

Strike a pose! Carla and one of her models pose together during a fashion show in 2008

'This country today is an economic force and I do believe it's primarily because of the wonderful contributions that hardworking ambitious [immigrants bring].'

She said when a person arrives in a new country, there is often a desire to show their value to the country.

'It's interesting coming to a new country, you're an outsider, and you want to prove to the country that has adopted you how good you are - that was my driving force and I do believe everyone who arrives in this country has an ambition on how they could add value to the country.'
Its like thousands of traders working around the clock to help us learn what to invest in and when

Humans have always welcomed other beings in finance: over twenty years ago, some of the best Wall Street traders were outsmarted by Raven, a chimpanzee who picked stocks by throwing darts.

Her index, called MonkeyDex, became one of the biggest sensations at the turn of the century after delivering a 213% gain.

Perhaps because animals are not so easy to fit in offices, people have turned to other kinds of brains to choose equities.

Big institutions are resorting to artificial intelligence (AI) to analyse stocks collating all sorts of information coming from a plethora of sources.

In fact, while investments could previously be assessed based on financial reports and share price movement  what is called structured data  markets have been heavily influenced by unstructured data over the past few years.

These can be anything from earning calls transcripts, major political events but also social media chatter: in 2021, it appears that a tweet by Elon Musk can potentially make or break a stock.

The AI process is entirely rational as it doesnt rely on emotional reactions or the investment managers gut feeling, while its machine learning skills apply previous experience to new data to continuously improve performance.

Whos doing it

Some of the big players have already established in-house AI research centres, such as and .

In 2019, led a US$72.5mln investment round in H20.ai, a software that helps companies automate their internal processes using AI.

The investment bank said the results with their investee were promising and it was planning to look into the use of AI models across the equity trading floor.

Meanwhile, is investigating how to use AI to crack the usually opaque world of private equity to assess risk.

Last year, PLC ( ) launched the AI Powered US Equity Index (AiPEX) family using technology developed by EquBot and IBM Watson.

AiPEX learns from data points such as a company announcement, a tweet, a satellite image of a store parking lot, or even the tone of language a chief executive uses during an earnings presentation.

The information is used to evaluate the 1,000 largest US public companies and select those whose stock prices are poised for growth, with a portfolio rebalancing occurring monthly.

EquBot, one of the project developers, was also the first one to launch ETFs entirely powered by AI in the US.

AIIQ and AIEQ gather information from quarterly releases, news articles, market activity and social media to select stocks with potential to appreciate, all as they keep learning from previous experience.

Unlike other AI-powered funds, which may require big investments to get access to, they can be bought for as little as the price of one share because of their ETF nature.

We like to start with the analogy that it basically replicates thousands of research analysts and traders working around the clock to help us learn what to invest in and when, Equbot chief investment officer and co-founder Chris Natividad told Proactive.

The reality is, it's more than that because all these thousands of traders and research analysts speak a dozen different languages and oh, by the way, they know what each other knows all at the same point in time, because these models dynamically move and adjust as new market data is piped in.

But not all AI is created equal, Natividad noted, so investors can rely on different degrees of technology based on their needs.

Its only the beginning

Equbot reckons that by 2040, 99% of investment management groups will be using AI in some form and others seem to agree.

In a survey on 100 US wealth managers published last December by , most respondents recognised the benefits of adopting AI, but said they were struggling to scale it across their firms.

They said they would adopt it over the next couple of years but were still stuck in the proof-of-concept stage in late 2020.

Up to 80% of managers reported they were either deploying or scaling both client- and advisor-facing AI-powered technology.

Research may prove them right, as hedge funds using AI delivered gains of 34% in the three years to May 2020, compared to 12% across the global industry.

Justina Deveikyte, associate director of European institutional research at Cerulli, which conducted the study, said the figures showed the technology has advanced enough to adapt to unforeseen scenarios.

There has long been suspicion of the ability of AI to react to unexpected events, such as the coronavirus pandemic, she commented.

Humans can stay

As enticing as using an artificial brain sounds, the consensus is that humans will still play a big part when it comes to investment.

There will be always some people who are better than AI Investment managers should take all the useful tools out there, research, gut feeling, depending on their investment style, Spiros Margaris, venture capitalist, influencer and founder-owner of venture capital firm Margaris Ventures, told Proactive.

For me its clear that more AI solutions will come in the market to enhance performance, take out the friction. Because we people cannot deal with this kind of fast information as quickly.

According to Margaris, AI can help for a short-term investment strategy to speed up the analysis process, while long-term investments can be analysed with more calm by people.

Nonetheless, investors should learn more about AI not only for using it as a tool for investment decisions, but also because the very companies they invest in may be applying the technology to boost their own success.

Despite his company is all about AI, Natividad said that people play a key part, whether its about interacting with a client, identifying new sources of information or making operational checks and improvements to the technology.

Going forward, he reckons the investment manager of the future will be a blend with a data scientist.

The data scientist role is becoming increasingly in demand and having subject matter experts coupled with data scientists, effectively allows them to work on other areas of the business that arguably more critical, or more important or involve a greater amount of human interaction depending on the application, he told Proactive.
The decisions were taken at a Central Working Committee (CWC) meeting of the NC.

Kathmandu, April 3 (IANS) Nepal Prime Minister KP Sharma Oli who is in trouble inside his own party, is likely to face tougher days ahead as the primary opposition, Nepali Congress (NC) has decided to seek his resignation and initiate the formation of a new government under its leadership.

NC spokesperson Bishaw Prakash Sharma said the part has decided to seek Oli's resignation as he has not taken any initiative of a way forward despite the House of Representatives, which dissolved in December 2020, being restored.

Prime Minister Oli himself is in a difficult position inside his own party, Nepal Communist Party-UML.

A section of the party led by former Prime Minister Madhav Kumar Nepal is forming parallel party structures within the UML after Oli suspended four senior leaders, including Nepal, for six months.

Oli accused Nepal and other leaders for being involved in anti-party activities and violating rules and norms.

After Oli dissolved the House on December 20, 2020, a section of party leaders upped the ante against the Prime Minister and sought his resignation.

On February 23, the Supreme Court of Nepal reinstated the House but Oli refused to step down.

The apex court on March 7 dropped another bombshell invoking the 2018 party merger between Oli's UML and Pushpa Kamal Dahal Prachanda's Nepal Communist Party-Maoist Center.

Nepal, who was earlier close with Prachanda, returned to his mother party but Oli refused to incorporate them for supporting Dahal when the party was united under the banner of Nepal Communist Party.

After Oli refused to welcome Nepal and his faction inside the old party, the Prime Minister's

party has once again landed in fresh trouble.

After the Supreme Court split the Nepal Communist Party into two, the UML and Maoist Center, now, the Prachanda-led Maoist Center is also preparing to withdraw support lent to Oli in 2018 before the party unification.

If Maoist Center withdrew its support, Oli's party will automatically reduce to a minority government.

In that case, either Oli has to take a vote of confidence or face a no-confidence motion.

Nepali Congress's decision to seek Oli's resignation is a welcome step and time has come to remove Oli, former Prime Minister Baburam Bhattarai said on Saturday.

Time has come for other opposition parties to play their role, Bhattarai said, adding, today our foremost priority is to remove Oli.

Meanwhile, Oli said that he was also aware of what the opposition are doing.

"First withdraw your support to the government. Then I will resign," he said, adding that this is not the first time that his resignation has been sought.

"I cannot resign to meet each and every demand."

Meantime, the Nepali Congress' decision to seek Oli's resignation and unseat him, could create a new political equation in Nepal.

If three opposition parties, Nepali Congress, Maoist Center and Janata Samajbai Party come together, they will easily unseat Oli.

And party leaders have said that now time has come to expedite talks between the opposition to unseat Oli.

--IANS

ag/ksk/
Jay R. Jordan / Jay Jordan, Staff

Three people, including a 15-year-old boy, were injured in a shooting Friday night when a man with a baby opened fire at a north Houston residence, police said.

Witnesses told investigators that a man arrived around 10 p.m. at his ex-girlfriend's residence in the 4700 block of Siegel, following an altercation about child custody, said Lt. R. Willkens of the Houston Police Department.
Prep Golf: Riley Zebroski earns all-conference honors, Arrows take 7th in ESD tourney

MITCHELL  Sophomore Riley Zebroski earned all-conference honors by tying for 5th place on Wednesday in the Eastern South Dakota Conference girls golf tournament at the Lakeview Golf Course.
As allies of an 'embarrassed' Cameron offer our columnist the ex-PM's defence, how the Greensill scandal lays bare Sunak's ruthless ambition, Johnson's broken finances  and the fact that the Tory who tried to scupper Brexit is already a relic of history.

David Cameron has let himself down. And he knows it. 'He was adviser for a company that went bust in a very public way. And he's told me he recognises that's embarrassing,' says a sympathetic Cabinet Minister who spoke to the former Prime Minister last week.

'But he does think all the other stuff is way over the top. This idea he was getting No 10 business cards printed out for all these dodgy people. His attitude is that he had a lot of responsibilities as PM and dealing with the Downing Street stationery wasn't one of them.'

David Cameron has let himself down. And he knows it. 'He was adviser for a company that went bust in a very public way. And he's told me he recognises that's embarrassing,' says a sympathetic Cabinet Minister

Maybe it should have been. That way, he might have avoided last week's revelations that further tarnished his legacy, dragged the Government into yet another lobbying storm, and exposed the political and personality clashes behind the scenes of Boris Johnson's Government.

Westminster scandals can be notoriously opaque. But the allegations underpinning the Greensill saga appear refreshingly simple.

In 2012, Australian entrepreneur Lex Greensill was invited into Downing Street by David Cameron as a 'senior adviser'. He began flourishing business cards and touting his influence.

Then, when Cameron left office, Greensill returned the favour. He appointed him as consultant to his company Greensill Capital  and told Cameron he stood to make as much as 60 million from the arrangement. But Greensill began to run into trouble. Backers started to withdraw funding.

So the former Prime Minister picked up the phone and started texting Rishi Sunak, asking if Greensill could have a piece of the Treasury's multi-billion-pound Covid rescue package. Sunak politely declined.

But the damage had already been done. To Cameron's reputation. To an administration tainted by a fresh whiff of 'Tory sleaze'. And to those companies such as Liberty Steel, which were relying on Greensill's investment and were now facing thousands of job losses.

Yet nothing in Westminster is ever as straight forward as that. And to properly get to the heart of the Greensill affair, you need to understand how it has become inextricably intertwined with a 40-year Etonian psychodrama, the surging ambition of a high-flying Chancellor and the ongoing battle to set a strategic course for the nation.

Thus far, Cameron has done nothing to challenge the narrative of his many critics: that a combination of greed and entitlement drove him to try to squeeze money out of the pockets of the taxpayer and funnel it into his own.

But now  through his allies  he's finally broken cover.

Their first line of defence is excessively legalistic. The sympathetic Cabinet Minister told me 'the whole lobbying thing has been dealt with'  a reference to the fact the Registrar of Consultant Lobbyists cleared Cameron of any wrongdoing.

But they did so on the technicality that he'd been exempt from their rules because he was formerly a Greensill employee.

The Minister also pointed out that reports Cameron was being investigated by the Committee on Standards in Public Life were false.

Which was again factually correct, but only because the committee does not investigate individual cases  but had indicated it would be prepared to look at the Greensill saga as part of a wider lobbying investigation.

Similarly, on criticism that he ventured on a slightly surreal camping trip to the desert to lobby Mohammed bin Salman  just months after the Saudi Crown Prince had allegedly ordered the murder of the journalist Jamal Khashoggi  the friend says: 'Government Ministers met with the Saudi leadership before David went.'

The 'smoking gun texts' which Cameron sent to Rishi Sunak were to the Chancellor's private phone

More convincing is the Cameron camp's argument that Lex Greensill was not the fly-by-night chancer that he's been painted, but the leader of a successful, multi-billion-pound global company, backed by a raft of hard-headed investors.

'David thought he was signing on for an exciting UK-based finance and technology firm. OK, it didn't work out as he'd expected. But others who thought Greensill was worth backing were the likes of SoftBank, Credit Suisse and the private equity giant General Atlantic,' they explained.

Perhaps the most compelling defence is the claim Cameron was simply doing what just about every former Prime Minister has done. Which is to instinctively snatch  remunerated or not  for the levers of No 10 influence even after their period of office is over.

'Half of the work David's been doing has been pro-bono,' says his ministerial ally.

'National Citizen Service, Alzheimer's Research, global poverty campaigning. And he thought with Greensill he was pushing for reforms in government that would make a real difference.'

This justification has more credibility because it's supported not just by Cameron's allies but his critics, too.

'I think he messed up badly,' says another Cabinet Minister. 'As soon as this smiling Australian said, 'You can make 60 million out of this,' the alarm bells should have been ringing.

'But you have to understand what it's like for a former PM. The Americans stuff their ex-President's mouths with gold and tell them to go away. We think that's all terribly un-British, so our guys keep hanging around. Once they've been Prime Minister, it's like they've had a taste of the royal jelly. They can't live without it.'

Many people have speculated that David Cameron's time out of office has been characterised by boredom. Memes abound on social media of him pottering around in his fashionable 25,000 shepherd's hut.

Boris and Cameron have always conducted their rivalry with a quintessentially British public school ruthlessness. Both recognise there's only ever been space for one National Head Boy at a time

But the reality is he's been growing increasingly frustrated. Not just at his enforced early retirement, but at the way he and his administration have been so casually written out of history. First by Theresa May, then  most gallingly  by Boris himself.

Look, for example, at one of the great mysteries of Greensillgate. Namely, how did the story ever surface at all?

The 'smoking gun texts' which Cameron sent to Rishi Sunak were to the Chancellor's private phone. They weren't subject to Freedom of Information or any other form of official scrutiny.

It's a pretty safe bet Cameron didn't brief the story about him unsuccessfully influencing senior Ministers himself. Which means there's only one other possible source  Sunak.

Cameron has told friends he's not pointing the finger. 'Rishi has always thanked David and George [Osborne] for leaving the economy and public finances in good shape,' says his ministerial ally. 'David says he thinks the leaker was just some gobby SPAD [special adviser].'

Which represents an almost touchingly naive reading of events.

Whatever route those texts took to the public domain, ultimately they were ushered there by the Chancellor himself.

Sunak's team insist that once approached by journalists about the text messages, they were morally obliged to confirm their existence. Which is an honourable stance. They also point out that Sunak refused to allow Cameron's intervention to sway the Treasury in Greensill's favour. Which is equally honourable  and does the Chancellor's already glowing reputation no harm at all.

But what is slightly less honourable is that in the days immediately following the emergence of the texts, Sunak went to ground.

There was no public explanation of events. There was certainly no attempt to defend his former Prime Minister. And when Sunak finally did surface, his comments were carefully calibrated to nudge, if not quite throw, David Cameron under a bus.

'I think it's important that, whoever people are, whether they're prime ministers or anyone else, that they follow the rules and the guidelines that we have in place for lobbying,' he said pointedly. 'I think whoever you are, it's important processes are followed properly.'

Ministers I spoke to who are close to Cameron and Sunak agree there is no great enmity between the two men. 'They don't really know each other at all,' one Cameroonian veteran told me.

An ally of Sunak's claimed the Chancellor had simply taken Cameron's messages 'out of courtesy' and left senior civil servants to deal with Greensill's application for funding.

But one of Sunak's ministerial critics has a different take. 'With Rishi, it's only about building his own personal brand now. He doesn't think about pushing a wider Government agenda. He's happy to dump muck on anyone  including the PM  if he thinks it will help him.'

As Boris is only too well aware. Which is why he's been doing everything he can to stay as far away from the toxic sludge of Greensill as possible.

Again, there is an almost touching naivety among Cameron's allies about the extent to which Boris has attempted to defend his fellow Bullingdon alumni. 'If you look at what [Business Secretary] Kwasi Kwarteng was saying when he was asked about it, he came out and clearly said, 'David Cameron has done nothing wrong,' ' says one friend of Dave. 'And he wouldn't have been that unequivocal if he didn't think No 10 backed that line.'

No 10 don't back that line. 'None of this overlaps with the PM,' a Downing Street source told me. 'All this pre-dates Boris's time in office. The approach was made but it was rejected.

'As for all that stuff that happened during the Cameron era, that's a matter for them.'

There are a number of reasons why Boris has decided to cut his fellow Old Etonian loose.

Partly it's because Boris and Cameron have always conducted their rivalry with a quintessentially British public school ruthlessness. Both recognise there's only ever been space for one National Head Boy at a time.

In his illuminating biography of Johnson, Tom Bower says that when Cameron convincingly won the Tory leadership in 2005, Boris 'was shocked to his foundations that the man whom he claimed to have outshone at Eton and Oxford could have leapt over him'.

Now Boris has been handed the opportunity to leap back, he's not going to risk a damaging fall by defending Cameron.

As one ministerial friend of the PM said: 'You have to understand how Boris sees personal scandals like this.

'He could be caught having sex with a Kardashian in the middle of Downing Street and the Red Wall would rise up in acclamation.

'His view is, 'I've had to put up with much worse and I came out OK. You can put up with it as well.' '

But another Minister says there's a more pragmatic reason. 'Everyone knows about Boris's money problems. And he's counting on the fact that he's currently sitting on a lot of unearned wealth. You think he wants people going around saying former prime ministers can't speak to anyone and earn a lot of money lobbying when they leave government?'

Boris doesn't want that  at all. He knows he will have a lot of expensive wallpaper to buy when he leaves No 10. Which is why he doesn't intend to be within a mile of any cash-for-access controversies.

But there is a more fundamental reason David Cameron has been left to twist in the wind. Which is that he and his political philosophy are now expendable.

Expendable to Rishi Sunak. Expendable to Boris Johnson. Expendable to a Government and a party that have decided the Cameron years were all just a bit of a woke embarrassment.

Boris's strategy is to pick up the Union Jack and charge with it headlong into Labour's heartlands. Cameron's was to hug hoodies and huskies. Cameron sought to massage and modernise the Tory brand in an attempt to expand its appeal. Boris opted to drive a JCB digger through the Red Wall.

David Cameron fought with his last political breath to keep Britain in the EU. Boris sided with the legions of Brexiteers and crushed it out of him.

That's what really lies at the heart of the Greensill affair. Not greed, or entitlement  though both are present. But a much more basic struggle for political relevance.

David Cameron was sitting in his posh shed, watching the political project he'd devoted his life to being dismantled before his eyes.

Then the 'smiling Australian' appeared. He had big contacts and bigger plans. And claimed he wanted an expert guide to lead him through the Westminster jungle.

Of course David Cameron picked up the phone. What else was he going to do that day?

Boris Johnson is under pressure to name ALL ministers lobbied by David Cameron as its revealed ex-PM also asked Old Etonian friend at Treasury for Covid cash for Greensill

By BRENDAN CARLIN POLITICAL CORRESPONDENT FOR THE MAIL ON SUNDAY

Boris Johnson is under mounting pressure to reveal the full list of Ministers lobbied by David Cameron when he was seeking Government help for the finance firm he was involved with.

Jesse Norman was yesterday named as the second Treasury Minister approached by the former Prime Minister in a failed bid to get access to Covid loans to help Greensill Capital.

Chancellor Rishi Sunak has already admitted that Mr Cameron had directly contacted him to ask for the loans.

But sources now suspect that Mr Cameron lobbied other Ministers on behalf of controversial businessman pal Lex Greensill's financial services firm.

And last night, Labour and the Liberal Democrats insisted it was now high time that the Government revealed the full list.

Shadow Chancellor Anneliese Dodds said: 'Every passing day brings new reports that Greensill Capital had the run of Whitehall, putting public money and jobs at risk.

'The Conservatives must come clean about how many Ministers have been lobbied by David Cameron on behalf of Lex Greensill.'

Lib Dem frontbencher Alistair Carmichael also called for 'full disclosure' by invoking Mr Cameron's own previous mantra that 'sunlight is the best disinfectant'. He added: 'Boris Johnson will only restore his Government's tarnished reputation by making full disclosure.'

The row erupted when it emerged that Mr Cameron had last year lobbied Whitehall to boost Greensill Capital's access to the coronavirus loan schemes, just months before the firm collapsed.

Mr Greensill had worked for him as an unpaid adviser in Downing Street and Mr Cameron joined his firm in 2018.

But when the finance firm collapsed, the former Prime Minister stood to lose share options which apparently would have netted him over $60 million.

Mr Cameron, who resigned as Prime Minister in 2016, has already been cleared of breaking lobbying rules, but his behaviour has sparked concerns about a so-called 'chumocracy' and under-powered lobbying rules for former Ministers.

According to The Times, Mr Norman, the Financial Secretary, was approached by Mr Cameron even though he was not responsible for the Covid support schemes set up to help businesses in the pandemic.

Insiders pointed out that Mr Norman had been close to his fellow Old Etonian, and his book 'Compassionate Conservatism' was hailed as 'the guidebook to Cameronism'.

Last week, Mr Sunak said that it was 'right' for the Treasury to 'engage with stakeholders' but that 'ultimately the decision was taken not to take the [Cameron-Greensill] proposal forward'.

He insisted all the proper processes were followed. Government sources last night insisted that Mr Norman had similarly followed the rules.

Greensill's collapse has put the future of Liberty Steel, which had Greensill as its main financial backer, in doubt.

Sanjeev Gupta, the boss of Liberty Steel, is understood to have drafted in a 'barrage' of lawyers to defend his empire as lenders threaten to engulf him.

The Treasury did not confirm Mr Norman has been lobbied but said last night: 'Senior officials and Ministers routinely meet with a range of private sector stakeholders and the Government received many representations from the entire spectrum of British business during the pandemic.

'The company was directed to the appropriate officials and, following a consultation process involving several firms in the same sector, their request was denied.'

Both Mr Cameron and Mr Norman were approached for comment.
Before Saturday night gets started we take a pause to remind locals that the local homicide count stands at 42 compared to 39 at this time last year.

Moreover, we're noticing quite a bit of property crime despite so much Prez Biden free money and sketchy promise of more infrastructure cash.

Accordingly, check this roundup of police action, a few mugshots and alleged local misdeeds.

Local Crooks Workout

Thief steals trailer with $15,000 worth of specialized cheer equipment from KC gym OVERLAND PARK, Kan. - A cheer gym in the Kansas City metro is out $15,000 worth of equipment after someone took off with the gym's trailer. "Please bring it back. These are big tools for our kids, and we would love it if you could return it.

Discount Box Store OD Sends Dealer To Jail For Decade

Kansas City man sentenced to 12 years in federal prison for distributing heroin KANSAS CITY, Mo. - A Kansas City, Missouri, man will spend 12 years in federal prison for distributing heroin, according to the United States Attorney's Office. Titus Sanders, 24, was sentenced on Thursday in court. The investigation began after a man overdosed on heroin at a Westwood, Kansas, Walmart.

Driver Confronts Consequences

Man charged in Christmas Day hit-and-run crash that left KCK couple dead KANSAS CITY, Kan. - A 26-year-old Kansas City, Kan. man is facing charges in connection to a hit-and-run crash on Dec. 25, 2020 that left a couple dead. Wyandotte County District Attorney Mark Dupree announced Tuesday that Jesse Acosta has been charged with two counts of first-degree murder, aggravated assault, theft and eluding police.

Gunfire Hits Happy Rock

Gladstone police investigate shooting at apartment complex Wednesday evening Police in Gladstone said they are investigating a shooting Wednesday at an apartment complex.Authorities said one person was wounded.The shooting was reported about 7 p.m. near Northwest 68th Street and North Broadway.No other details have been released. Refresh this page for updates. Police in Gladstone said they are investigating a shooting Wednesday at an apartment complex.

Redux And More Deets After Innocent Killed In The Dotte

Innocent bystander killed in Kansas City, Kansas shooting KANSAS CITY, Mo. - A 50-year-old man looking out the front window of his Kansas City, Kansas house was killed by a stray bullet. The shooting happened about 3:15 p.m. Wednesday in the 6400 block of Farrow Avenue, according to KCK police.

KCK Question Contd

What happened to Rose Calvin and other poor Black women? Families say it's connected to retired KCK detective Roger Golubski Rose Calvin was 39 years old when she was murdered in 1996. She was found dead in an alley in KCK near 10th and Walker. She had ligature marks around her neck. Her case was never solved and the family suspects there's a good reason why- the detective.

KANSAS CITY HOPE AND WORK FOR REFORM!!!

Nonprofit continues to grow in its work helping people find jobs after prison SWAGG, INC. is hosting a job fair Friday, April 2 from 11 a.m. to 2 p.m. at Equal Minded Cafe and Event Space, 4327 Troost Ave, KCMO. Companies like FedEx, Goodwill and All Care Services will be participating and conducting on-the-spot hiring.

Developing . . .
New York City police on Saturday released photos of a man being sought in connection with an alleged anti-Asian hate crime on a Times Square-bound subway.

The suspect used anti-Asian slurs before spitting twice in the direction of an unidentified 44-year-old woman and her three children, the New York Police Department said in a statement.

"The individual then knocked the victim's cellular phone out of her hand and proceeded to kick it out of the back door of the subway car, onto the tracks as the train was still moving," the NYPD said.

NYPD are seeking information after a man assaulted an Asian woman and her children on a southbound 5 train on March 30, 2021 in Manhattan. (via NYPD)

The man got off the train at a nearby stop and headed west, the department said. The woman was stabilized at a hospital after suffering unspecified injuries, police said.

The department indicated the man could face hate crime allegations.

The attack is among several across the nation in which Asian Americans appear to have been targeted as a result of their heritage.

Last month, the Center for the Study of Hate and Extremism at California State University, San Bernardino, found that hate crimes against Asian Americans in the country's largest cities skyrocketed 150 percent in 2020.

Experts have tied the increase to former President Donald Trump's incendiary rhetoric blaming China for the coronavirus pandemic.
The MPs were shown a slide defining empathy. When a person is empathetic, they perceive what others feel, interpret the information accurately, respond to it effectively and check with the person for accuracy, if there is any doubt, it explained. The slide also listed nine core competencies of empathy: emotional literacy, moral identity, taking perspective, moral imagination, self-regulation, practising kindness, collaboration, moral courage and growing changemakers. There was significant discussion about whether empathy was purely an individual characteristic or could be applied to a whole institution, and to what extent Parliament might make people more or less empathetic. Joyce argued MPs became more respectful and empathetic the longer they stayed in Parliament, perhaps necessitating some sort of mentoring system between older and younger members. When they first arrive theyre tribal: rah rah, my tribes the best and your tribes terrible, he said. After a while you actually become mates with people on the other side of the political fence. And thats empathy.

Youre arguing its an empathetic institution, Teh said. It develops into one, it doesnt start as one, said Joyce. Maybe at the start of the process youd make people more aware of people who have been there for a long time. Views differed over whether the workplace culture at Parliament needed more empathy. Hughes stressed it was a very different environment to a bank or mining company, where everyone was nominally on the same team. Parliament and politics by its nature is actually not about compromise, Hughes said. This isnt necessarily an outcome-oriented workplace. Its a political workplace that has quite an adversarial nature at times. At the same time, Hughes said a lot of co-operative bipartisanship took place behind closed doors that wasnt exciting or dramatic enough to be covered by the media, so nobody knew about it. Steggall said it didnt have to be this way. One of the things thats wrong with our politics is the concept that it has to be so polarised and focused on the purpose of winning as opposed to the purpose of good, she said.

Some MPs were concerned empathy training was geared toward stifling, limiting or watering down free speech and robust debate, or enforcing the majoritys morality on everyone. Loading The morals of someone at Nimbin are going to be entirely different to the morals of someone at St Marys Cathedral, but neither of them would think they are personally doing something immoral, Joyce said. He was troubled by people using morality to manipulate rather than re-calibrate. Teh said the point of empathy training was not to impose beliefs or imply the existence of a right and wrong set of values. When MPs encountered different points of view, the aim was to engage with them, not necessarily adopt them. Were not arguing for everyone to become a people-pleaser, she told the MPs.

After the session, Teh said one of the key features of her regular workshops was trying to shift attitudes to problem solving away from a DAD approach (Decide, Announce, Defend) to a DAVE approach: declaring the dilemma (D), acknowledging the issues involved (A), developing a shared vision of success (V) and evaluating how to progress toward that goal (E). In the normal workshop, participants would spend two days covering all nine modules, learning about what makes people outraged and how to balance co-operation with assertiveness. Most peoples empathy skills varied, Teh said. A lot of her course was about how to listen properly. You dont get taught how to listen, Teh said. When you teach people and they feel heard and they can reflect on what the implications are for that, it really changes how they interact with others. Thats what we all want as human beings; genuine connections. Yet we dont get taught how to.
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.
Foreign Minister Chung Eui-yong arrives at a hotel in Xiamen in China's Fujian Province, April 2, where he had a meeting with his Chinese counterpart, Wang Yi, the next day. Yonhap





South Korean Foreign Minister Chung Eui-yong and his Chinese counterpart, Wang Yi, held talks in the southeastern Chinese city of Xiamen, Saturday, to discuss the North Korea nuclear problem, as well as regional and global issues.







Chung's first overseas trip since his inauguration in February has taken on geopolitical overtones, as the U.S. is pushing to tighten a network of democratic allies amid the heightened rivalry between Washington and Beijing.







At their meeting, Chung and Wang were expected to discuss cooperation in preventing the escalation of tensions caused by the North's recent missile launches; high-level exchanges; and preparations for events to mark the 30th anniversary next year of the establishment of bilateral relations.







Issues related to the Sino-U.S. rivalry could also surface, as Washington seeks to close ranks with South Korea, Japan and other partners to shore up its regional leadership and oppose China's policies on Hong Kong, Xinjiang and the South China Sea.







After the talks, Chung and Wang are set to hold a luncheon meeting and issue separate press statements.







The bilateral talks come against the backdrop of Wang's brisk diplomacy toward neighboring countries apparently aimed at enlisting their cooperation amid growing tensions with the U.S.







A South Korean foreign minister last visited China in November 2017. The last foreign ministerial talks between the countries took place in Seoul in November.







Chung is set to return home Saturday. (Yonhap)


One of New Jerseys largest school districts is aiming for five days per week of classroom instruction in most buildings by months end.

Students in Woodbridge resumed a hybrid schedule on March 1 after more than three months of all-remote learning due to the coronavirus pandemic.

Schools Superintendent Robert Zega said Friday that progress has been made in the past five weeks.

We are happy to report that we finally have most of our schools back to 5 days of instruction. Those schools that are not back to 5 days will be hopefully back to 5 days very, very shortly, Zega said in a 5-minute video posted to the K-12 districts website.

It is our goal to have all of our schools offering 5 days of instruction by the end of April, Zega said.

Zega alluded to learning loss and other challenges facing students due to diminished classroom time during the pandemic.

We know that the only sure cure for getting our students where they need to be academically and emotionally is to get them back in school and to get them in-person, in front of their teachers, Zega said.

Thats really the only thing thats going to help them. Not another online platform, not some sort of computer program. They need to be with our teachers and they need to be in-person and they need to be there as often as possible, and we are committed to making that happen, Zega said.

Zega did not specify whether all students will be offered the opportunity to attend classes, five days per week, or the daily hours of in-person instruction.

He did not immediately respond to a request for comment.

Woodbridge has an enrollment of 13,770 and is New Jerseys seventh-largest school district, according to state figures. It is moving forward on expanding classroom access at a time when several other large districts remain on virtual learning schedules and Gov. Phil Murphy is encouraging more schools to resume classroom instruction.

On Wednesday, school district officials in Paterson, the states third-largest city, withdrew a plan to return to classrooms on May 1 and did not set a new date.

The Paterson school district, in a statement issued after the meeting, said that coronavirus cases in Paterson, and Passaic County as a whole, had increased by nearly 50 percent during the past month. It also stated that documented, in-school coronavirus outbreaks this school year  totaling 221 and resulting in 1,002 cases among students, teachers and other employees  had grown by 61 percent in the past month.

Murphys spokesperson, Alyana Alfaro, did not directly respond to the outcome in Paterson, but reiterated on Thursday that his administration continues to encourage districts to pursue in-person instruction as soon as it is safe to do so.

Zega cited several factors in explaining why his Middlesex County school district is moving forward.

He referenced Gov. Phil Murphys March 24 announcement that most schools can move classroom desks three feet apart, instead of six feet, under revised social distancing guidance issued by the federal Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.

This allowed us to increase the capacity of each of our classrooms and allow more students to be in-person at the same time, Zega said.

He said the district reached an agreement with Hackensack Meridian Health, in neighboring Edison, to provide COVID-19 vaccinations to teachers, school bus drivers and other district employees. Thats in addition to the district placing a bulk order for several thousand desk shields, he said.

Students in Woodbridge will be on spring break next week.

When we get back after spring break, and in April, more and more of our schools will be switching to 5 days of instruction per week, Zega said.

New Jersey is in the midst of the pandemics third wave, with statewide hospitalizations for COVID-19 up 28% over the last two weeks. Officials are warning that the latest surge may not peak until mid-May and could extend into the summer, though more than 1 in 5 adults who live, work or study in New Jersey have been fully vaccinated.

Please subscribe now and support the local journalism YOU rely on and trust.

Rob Jennings may be reached at rjennings@njadvancemedia.com.
Honey-glazed ham, garlic mashed potatoes and fluffy dinner rolls might be staples at American Easter meals, but around the world, there are many distinct ways to savor the holiday -- ones that incorporate both local ingredients and unique cultural traditions.

"Italians go all out," said Judy Witts Francini, creator of the Italian food blog Divina Cucina. She's from California but has lived in Florence and Tuscany for decades.

Witts Francini's Easter lunch starts with an assortment of antipasti. For the first course, she serves a savory tart called torta pasqualina, which has 33 layers of phyllo dough to symbolize the 33 years of Christ's life. The second course includes roast lamb, fried artichokes, peas with pancetta and roasted potatoes. Dessert is chocolate eggs (which can be up to 3 feet tall) with a gift inside and a dove-shaped cake, called colomba.

And that's just lunch.

Other countries take a similar "more is more" approach to Easter meals, but a few dishes really stand out. Here are just five.

Italy: Pizza rustica

Before you roll your eyes at the mere mention of this circular classic, know that the pizza Italians crave on Easter bears little resemblance to what you find on most US delivery menus.

Pizza rustica, also known as pizzagaina, is stuffed with meat and cheese and enclosed in a flaky crust. Like most Italian recipes, pizza rustica varies from region to region, town to town and chef to chef. It originally comes from Naples, which is known as the birthplace of pizza.

"It's basically a ricotta cheesecake, but it's super savory -- to the max," said Rossella Rago, an Italian American author and host of the popular online cooking show "Cooking with Nonna" who wrote a cookbook with the same name.

To make the pie, first, you need to make the pastry dough, which includes flour, eggs, salt, milk and lard.

"Everybody always asks me, 'Can I make this with shortening?' And the answer is always: 'No,'" Rago said. "If it's any other time of year, I will say, 'Yes, fine, use shortening,' but when it's actually Easter you have got to use lard."

Inside, the pizza -- at least Rago's version -- contains ricotta, provolone, mozzarella, soppressata (an Italian dry salami), prosciutto, eggs and more.

"Everybody has their own combination that they swear by. If you want Italian people to fight right now, ask them, 'What's the real pizzagaina?' That's what everybody is obsessed with in Italian America," Rago said. "It makes me laugh every single time, because there is no right way. It's ridiculous to think that.

"Italy had 600 languages until its unification," Rago added. "So, you think we have one recipe for anything, absolutely not."

Rago's recipe is from her grandma, Nonna Romana, and is a true Italian American story. Romana is from Puglia, a region in southern Italy where they don't make the dish. She learned about it from other Italian Americans while she was working at a clothing factory in Brooklyn, New York. She took their version and made some additions and subtractions. After years and years of tweaks, she created her own Italian American tradition.

"She swears it's the best," Rago said. Her secret is extra-sharp provolone. Rago said it's one of the most popular dishes on her website, and everyone who tries it says they have success their first try.

Traditionally, this dish is made on Good Friday and served at room temperature on Easter Sunday.

Mexico: Capirotada

When you think of authentic Mexican cuisine, there are many things that come to mind: rice, beans and tortillas, to name a few.

Now, you can add capirotada to the list.

Capirotada is a Mexican dessert that's similar to bread pudding. It's made from bread drenched in syrup and layered among nuts, cheese, fruit and sometimes sprinkles.

"If you are into salty, sweet, soft, crunchy, spongy mixed all together with a dash of spice, this is for you," said Mely Martinez, creator of the blog Mexico in My Kitchen. "Yes, this concoction sounds really weird, but it is an explosion of flavors in your mouth."

Martinez was born and raised in Tampico, Mexico. She serves this dish for dessert every Easter.

To make Martinez's traditional capirotada, layers of sliced white bread are baked with butter and then dipped in syrup made from piloncillo (an unrefined type of sugar), cinnamon and cloves. The bread is placed in a ovenproof dish between layers of cotija cheese, roasted peanuts and raisins. It's baked and then topped with bananas and sprinkles.

Capirotada is usually served at room temperature on Easter Sunday, but many serve it throughout Holy Week.

"It's addicting. Once you start eating it, you can't stop eating it," Martinez told CNN.

Brought to Mexico by the Spaniards, capirotada became popular in Mexico because it's easy to make and uses ingredients people have on hand.

It was originally a savory dish using beef broth, but evolved into today's sweet version using syrup, according to Martinez. Some believe the bread represents the body of Christ and the syrup represents his blood.

There are many variations of capirotada all over Mexico.

My Latina Table blogger Charbel Barker makes hers with milk. Her recipe was created by her "abuelita," meaning grandma.

"My abuelita would always say, it's good but something is missing. It needs more sweetness," Barker said. So she added two types of milk: evaporated milk and sweetened condensed milk.

Barker said the milk adds more flavor and creates a pudding-like texture.

"It tastes like a Snickers," Barker said.

Poland: Zurek

In Poland, a dish that takes center stage on Easter is zurek. It's a creamy and smoky fermented soup made from rye flour starter. This soup is often served with a boiled egg and sausage, and then garnished with spicy horseradish.

Zurek is regarded as something of a national treasure in the Central European country.

"It's sour, tangy and meaty," said Anna Hurning, the creator of the blog Polish Your Kitchen. Hurning was born and raised in Poland and now lives in the city of Szczecin.

She makes zurek every Easter and serves it as an appetizer.

To make the soup, first, you need to make a rye starter: Mix flour and cold water with aromatics (including garlic, allspice, peppercorns, marjoram and bay leaves). Then, let it sit on your counter for several days to ferment. Hurning said this is how it gets its "funky" flavor. Don't be intimated by this step -- she said it's supereasy. You just let nature do the trick.

Next, the sour starter is boiled with the soup base. Hurning's version consists of bacon, carrots, parsnip and onion.

This soup is served all over the country year-round and on Easter with many variations. Some have it with sauerkraut and smoked goat cheese. Others add potatoes and wild mushrooms.

Singapore: Beef murtabak

The cuisine in Singapore is truly a melange of cultures: Chinese, Malay, Indian, Eurasian and Peranakan. Pinpointing dishes authentic to Singapore might seem like an impossible feat, but that's exactly the endeavor chef Damian D'Silva has chosen.

"If I don't do anything to preserve the cuisine of our heritage, one day it will all disappear," said D'Silva, the head chef at Restaurant Kin in Singapore. He has been cooking heritage cuisine professionally for more than 20 years.

"The cuisine is very unique. You can have one dish in Singapore, but you have five different ways of preparing it," he said. "And no one is wrong because every ethnicity puts in their own story and ingredients."

D'Silva grew up in Singapore, and one of his childhood favorites was beef murtabak. His granddad made it on Easter and served it after Mass -- marking the end of Lent. D'Silva remembers looking forward to the savory dish after going 40 days without meat.

"When Easter happened, it was a celebration and, of course when it's a celebration, the thing that comes to mind is meat," he said. "We only ate beef on very, very special occasions."

Beef murtabak is an egg crepe wrapped around ground beef. The beef is marinated in curry powder, then cooked with an onion and garlic paste and spices (star anise, cinnamon and nutmeg). The dish is served with fresh lime, chili sauce and raita.

"The aromatics are the one that lifts the entire dish and bring it to another level," D'Silva said.

D'Silva has tried to find the origin of the dish. But like many Singaporean dishes, it goes so far back that nobody knows where it started.

This Easter, D'Silva is making beef murtabak at Restaurant Kin to celebrate Singapore's heritage.

"Singapore is a lot more than chili crab and chicken rice. It's a lot, lot more than that," D'Silva said. "If you have an opportunity to go to a restaurant that serves Singapore's heritage cuisine, go, because it's mind-blowing: the flavor, the ingredients. Everything about it."

Nigeria: Jollof rice

Loud, large and plentiful -- that's how Lola Osinkolu, who's behind the blog Chef Lola's Kitchen, describes Easter in Nigeria.

Osinkolu, who was born and raised in Nigeria, said after church Easter Sunday morning, her family would go home and start cooking.

"We cook, cook and cook. We would cook for hours."

The dish that was the star of show: Nigerian jollof rice.

Osinkolu compares the tomato-based rice dish -- which likely originated in Senegal and spread to West African countries -- to jambalaya. It's a party staple in Nigeria.

"It's spicy and delicious," she said.

Jollof contains long-grain rice and Nigerian-style curry powder for seasoning, and there are many ways to cook the dish that involve endless permutations of meat, spices, chiles, onions and vegetables.

Osinkolu's recipe, called The Party Style With Beef, comes from her mom. But Osinkolu added her own secret step: roasting the bell peppers, tomatoes, onion and garlic.

"At home, whenever we are having parties, we don't cook our jollof rice on the stovetop. We use open fire, so the jollof rice has a smoky taste, which makes it more delicious," Osinkolu said. "So, I roast the bell peppers to achieve a similar, or very close, taste. It makes a lot of difference."

This year, Osinkolu's Easter version will include goat meat and chicken. Her jollof is so popular that she now knows to always make extra for her guests to take home.

"I get the same comment over and over about how delicious it is," she said.
(@fidahassanain)

The Federal Minister for Science and Technology who also heads National Command and Operation Centre says why UK governments decision to place Pakistan on red list has raised a legitimate question whether choice of countries is based on science or foreign policy.

ISLAMABAD: (UrduPoint/UrduPoint / Pakistan Point News-April 3rd, 2021) Federal Minister for Planning, Development, Reforms and Special Initiatives Asad Umar on Saturday questioned the UK governments decision of placing Pakistan on the red list in wake of COVID-19.

Taking to Twitter, Asad Umar who is also head of National Command and Operation Center (NCOC), said: Every country has a right to take decisions to safeguard the health of their citizens. However, the recent decision by UK govt to add some countries including Pakistan on the red list raises a legitimate question whether choice of countries is based on science or foreign policy,.

British Member of the Parliament Naz Shah also opposed the UK governments decision to place Pakistan on red list of travel ban countries from April 9, and termed it a political move.

She also wrote a letter to Dominic Raab, Secretary of State for Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Affairs, saying that why France, Germany and India which had substantially higher numbers of infections per 100,000 as compared to Pakistan were not added to red list of travel ban countries.

Naz Shah also took to Twitter and raised the same question as to why arent countries which have significant more cases, including the South African variant, not on the red list too. She asked as to Why Pakistan and not France, which has 10 times more cases, on the red list of the travel ban.
HUALIEN, Taiwan  Crawling through the smoky wreckage, she first found her husband and son pinned under luggage lockers and mangled steel, but they werent breathing. Then she called her daughters name. A faint voice responded: Im over here.

Following the voice, Hana Kacaw found her daughter underneath a mass of metal train parts. She tried pulling pieces of the wreckage off, but it was no use. Please hold on, she urged. Someone is coming to rescue us.

I cant hang on any longer, her daughter responded, according to Ms. Kacaw. Those were her last words.

Just like that, Ms. Kacaw had lost her husband of more than 20 years and their 21-year-old son and 20-year-old daughter, both promising athletes in college. They were among the 51 people who were killed on Friday when a train derailed along Taiwans east coast in the islands worst such disaster in four decades. Others who died included the trains two drivers, at least two young children, as well as a French national and an American.
I am no Machiavelli, but having spent the bulk of my career in communications, I have developed a couple of princely rules. One of these is to choose your allies wisely. The wrong ally will bring your cause more thoroughly undone than the most vicious opponent. Zealots, ideologues and activists are exciting to have on side, because they fizz with energy and enthusiasm. Theyre great to make a noise and get things started. But if youre in the business of shifting community attitudes, beware entanglement. Their absolutism will inevitably become a liability and their agendas will override the wider project.

The womens movement inspired by the stories of Brittany Higgins and Grace Tame is at risk of succumbing to the control of such an agenda. Since I have a stake in gender equality, as well as a deep-seated belief in equal opportunity as a principle, this is a plea to avoid being co-opted.

Brittany Higgins has spawned a movement, but will it hit its mark? Credit:Alex Ellinghausen

There are a lot of similarities between the womens movement now and the climate action movement before the last federal election. In both cases, the political response will affect every single Australian.

Just in case it needs to be said, both these causes should be above politics. In order for either to succeed, both movements need a broad base of support which reaches beyond the third of the population that gives its primary voice to either of the major political parties. So when the cause is hijacked to effect a change of government, it takes a wrong turn.
Questo comunicato e stato pubblicato piu di 30 giorni fa. Le informazioni su questa pagina potrebbero non essere attendibili.

Chronic Kidney Disease Market Size, Trends and Growth Analysis By Diagnosis (Blood Test, Urine Test, Biopsy), by Treatment (Drugs, Dialysis, Kidney Transplant), by Indication (Type 1 or Type 2 Diabetes, High Blood Pressure), End- User (Hospitals) - Global Forecast Till 2023

Chronic Kidney Disease Market Landscape

Chronic Kidney Disease Market stocks pulled momentous share marks a slightly higher, as a handful of companies continued to power the new market, despite the ongoing COVID 19 pandemic that has affected most of the markets globally. Market Research Future signaled that the global Kidney Disease Market size could witness more stimulus as it is expected to swell at a CAGR of 5.2% during the forecast period. Moreover, at this pace, the market will be gaining elevated revenue by the end of the year 2023. The entire growth period for the market is calculated to be from 2017 to 2023.

The chief factors liable for the growth of the chronic kidney disease market include the mounting incidence of chronic kidney diseases, technological advancements in the diagnostic tests for kidney diseases, as well as growing early detection. Chronic kidney disease causes a reduction of kidney function and might expand over many years that might lead to end-stage kidney disease (ESRD). The disease has become a massive public health issue.

Request Free Sample Copy of the report  Chronic Kidney Disease Market Research Report  Forecast to 2023 at: https://www.marketresearchfuture.com/sample_request/5744

In the case of point, from a 2019 report by the Center for Disease Control and Prevention, approximately 15% of the adults in the United States account for approximately 37 million people. These are estimated to have CKD. Consequently, a high number of cases of chronic kidney diseases might boost the treatment demand for the products leading to the towering growth of the market.

The mounting cases of this disorder, mainly among the elderly, are probable to become a significant growth-driving factor for the market over the assessment period. On the contrary, the factor of rising competition among diverse chronic kidney disease drugs available in the market is anticipated to become a foremost limiting factor for the market growth for the assessment period.

Chronic Kidney Disease Market Segment Review

The global chronic kidney disease market is studied among the segments of diagnosis, treatment, indication, and end-user.

By the segment of diagnosis, the chronic kidney disease market has included a urine test, blood test, imaging test, and kidney biopsy.

By the segment of treatment, the chronic kidney disease market has included dialysis, drugs, and kidney transplant. Drugs segment is further segmented into angiotensin-ii receptor blockers, ace inhibitors, beta-blockers, calcium channel blockers, and erythropoiesis-stimulating agents.

By the segment of indication, the chronic kidney disease market has included Type 1 or Type 2 diabetes, polycystic kidney disease, high blood pressure, and others.

By the segment of end-user, the chronic kidney disease market has included diagnostic centers, hospitals and clinics, and others.

Chronic Kidney Disease Market Regional Outlook

Geographically, in Europe, the chronic kidney disease market is motivated by the development of the medical device industry and the growing awareness about risk factors for kidney diseases. Additionally, the escalating diabetic population and considerable investments in the medical device sector by significant market players also stimulate the growth of the market. Germany, the largest market for chronic kidney diseases, is mainly driven by the rising government support for research and development, rising emphasis on the development of new drugs, and accessibility of funds for research.

The Asia Pacific is the highest growing chronic kidney disease market owing to the growing prevalent diseases such as diabetes and cardiovascular diseases. Improving hospital infrastructure, the existence of skilled healthcare professionals, and rapid development in healthcare technology are also expected to hasten the growth of the market during the forecast period.

Browse Detailed TOC with COVID-19 Impact Analysis at: https://www.marketresearchfuture.com/reports/chronic-kidney-disease-market-5744

The Middle East and Africa seize the least share of the chronic kidney disease market owing to limitations to technology and unawareness about kidney diseases and their treatments.

Chronic Kidney Disease Market Top Players

The top key plaers in chronic kidney disease market are Siemens, Sysmex, F. Hoffmann-La Roche Ltd, URIT Medical, ACON Laboratories, Inc., ARKRAY, OPTI Medical, 77 Elektronika, Nova Biomedical, Teva Pharmaceutical Industries Ltd., Randox Laboratories , AstraZeneca Plc, Amgen Inc., F. Hoffmann-La Roche Ltd., Pfizer Inc., GlaxoSmithKline Plc, AbbVie Inc., Sanofi SA, and Kissei Pharmaceutical Co. Ltd.

About Market Research Future:

At Market Research Future (MRFR), we enable our customers to unravel the complexity of various industries through our Cooked Research Report (CRR), Half-Cooked Research Reports (HCRR), & Consulting Services. MRFR team have supreme objective to provide the optimum quality market research and intelligence services to our clients.
The hideous process of prejudice and hysteria which led eventually to the outrageous treatment of several honourable men and women has begun again.

The frenzy about alleged 'rape culture' at schools has rapidly lost all touch with reality or proportion.

Perhaps it took off because the allegations were first made against expensive private schools, so reviving the ancient myth that the authorities are covering up the misdeeds of the rich.

It was this utter loss of restraint which brought about the shameful treatment of Lord and Lady Brittan and Field Marshal Lord Bramall (above) prominent people publicly humiliated and their lives hideously and painfully disrupted, on the word of a 'victim' who was not a victim, but a fantasist

But it was quite obvious very quickly that the undoubted poisoning of young minds by pornography is present in all schools, rich or poor. Yet by that time, it did not matter.

The frenzy had begun. And a senior police officer was once again declaring that 'victims' would be 'believed'.

It was this utter loss of restraint which brought about the shameful treatment of Lord and Lady Brittan and Field Marshal Lord Bramall, prominent people publicly humiliated and their lives hideously and painfully disrupted, on the word of a 'victim' who was not a victim, but a fantasist.

Does Mr Simon Bailey, Chief Constable of Norfolk and the national police 'lead' on such matters, have no capacity for learning from mistakes? He was specifically singled out in the report on the Operation Midland fiasco, conducted by the retired judge Sir Richard Henriques.

Sir Richard objected to Chief Constable Bailey's use of the word 'victim', when guilt had not been proved. He said: 'A police officer has a duty to investigate, as part of the criminal justice process, determining whether or not a complainant is proved to be a victim.'

And he advised: 'All 'complainants' are not 'victims'. Some complaints are false.

'Throughout the judicial process the word 'complainant' is deployed up to the moment of conviction, whereafter a 'complainant' is properly referred to as a 'victim'.

The frenzy about alleged 'rape culture' at schools has rapidly lost all touch with reality or proportion. Perhaps it took off because the allegations were first made against expensive private schools, so reviving the ancient myth that the authorities are covering up the misdeeds of the rich

Since the entire judicial process, up to that point, is engaged in determining whether or not a 'complainant' is indeed a 'victim', such an approach cannot be questioned.

'No Crown Court judge will permit a 'complainant' to be referred to as a 'victim' prior to conviction. Since the investigative process is similarly engaged in ascertaining facts which will, if proven, establish guilt, the use of the word 'victim' at the commencement of an investigation is simply inaccurate and should cease.'

Sir Richard added, in a lengthy attack on the police habit of saying that 'victims' will 'be believed': 'Any policy involving belief of one party necessarily involves disbelief of the other party. That cannot be a fair system.'

I thought we had been through all this. Even the unsatisfactory Metropolitan Police chief Cressida Dick said as long ago as April 2018 that she had told officers they must have an open mind when an allegation is made and that their role was to investigate, not blindly believe.

Yet last Monday, on BBC Radio 4's Today programme, Mr Bailey said: 'If parents are aware that their son or daughter has been a victim of abuse then please come forward and report the abuse, your son or daughter, their account will be believed.'

He went on, astonishingly, to urge parents to turn in their own children if they suspected them. The BBC's presenter, typically, offered no challenge to this peculiar and questionable stuff.

It's the current groupthink now, just like the groupthink that led police to believe the warped and ridiculous fantasies of the unpleasant Carl Beech, and so to an inexcusable police raid on Lord Bramall's home. Everyone knows that now. But they didn't seem to grasp it then. A moment's intelligent thought, and the good old presumption of innocence, could have prevented all that.

Well, then, surely it's the duty of the rest of us to throw a bucket of cold water over these frenzied people. No compensation, no reluctant police apology, ever makes up for the damage done by hysteria.

Investigate allegations seriously. But leave it to the courts to decide on guilt or innocence. Presuming guilt is the road to disaster.

I see the Blair creature now says he was not up to being Prime Minister. Of course he wasn't. He is Olympically dim, apart from his other failings. That is why the terrifying Alastair Campbell, who nobody would ever have voted for, did the actual governing.

How odd to recall what we were told in the 1960s, that the laws against pornography were unhealthy and repressive, and that if it was brought into the open, a new age of wholesomeness and sexual health would begin.

Those who tried to object to this, such as poor old Lord Longford and Mary Whitehouse, were unkindly mocked and accused of having dirty minds themselves. Well, now we see the sort of cruel, inhuman muck about sex that has crept into the minds of schoolchildren, it looks to me very much as if Lord Longford and Mrs Whitehouse were right, and all the fashionable lawyers, authors, academics and journalists who jeered at them were seriously wrong.

We'd all be better off if you still had to go to Paris to buy that embarrassingly ridiculous book Lady Chatterley's Lover, and if the avalanche of porn that came after that book's uncensored publication had been prevented.

But who will admit that now?

Masks: Why the big cover up?

A BBC presenter, Justin Webb, last week berated Dr Jenny Harries, the new head of the worrying UK Health Security Agency. Was he concerned that this body would create new excuses for the Government to confine us in our homes and strangle normal life?

No. He wanted her to submit to the line now adopted by the 'impartial' BBC, that the Government did not close the country down hard or fast enough a year ago.

And he wanted her to say that the Government had been wrong not to enforce mask-wearing sooner. In fact, the official advice on masks up to last June, that 'the evidence of the benefit of using a face covering to protect others is weak and the effect is likely to be small', was true then and is still true now.

But the politics have changed, and when I tried to get the Business Department to send me a copy of that advice, they wouldn't. Fortunately for the record, I have obtained one by another route.

But evidence of facts which do not fit the official line on Covid has a habit of disappearing from the internet.

This horrid drug strikes again

Talk about missing the point. Last week's Channel 4 documentary series 24 Hours In Police Custody told the story of the ill-named Justice McCann, 23, now serving a 22-year prison sentence for attempted murder. McCann shot and badly wounded a young Pole, Jakub, more or less ruining his life.

Last week's Channel 4 documentary series 24 Hours In Police Custody told the story of the ill-named Justice McCann, 23, now serving a 22-year prison sentence for attempted murder. McCann shot and badly wounded a young Pole, Jakub, more or less ruining his life

The crime was completely random and pointless, even by the low standards of a robber and drug-abuser such as McCann. The programme showed the police catching McCann and proving he had done the shooting.

There was a fair amount of charging about in vans, with guns, and shouting 'Armed police!' like on Line Of Duty, and a bit of psychobabble. But the key point about McCann, that he had been smoking marijuana since he was eight, and still did so every day, seemed to go straight past the entire criminal justice system and the makers of the programme.

If the police and courts enforced the laws against marijuana possession, something they seem to have forgotten is illegal, a huge amount of crazy violence of this kind (and incurable mental illness) would be avoided. See the website Attacker Smoked Cannabis, compiled by the excellent Ross Grainger, and marvel at just how many insane, brutal crimes are carried out by long-term users of this horrible drug  now on the verge of becoming legal.

If you want to comment on Peter Hitchens click here
HONOLULU (AP)  A tourist from Pittsburgh has been charged with manslaughter after a deadly fight in a Hawaii vacation rental, police said.

A second tourist from Boston who had been arrested was released with no charges filed, police on the Big Island said Wednesday.

Police were called to a Kailua-Kona vacation rental early Monday where a 30-year-old man wasnt breathing.

An autopsy showed that Abhishek Gupta of Pittsburgh was strangled, police said.

A preliminary investigation found that an argument between the men turned physical, police said.

Benjamin Fleming, 37, of Pittsburgh and Alexander Germany-Wald, 31, of Boston were arrested. Fleming was later charged while Germany-Wald was released after police conferred with prosecutors.

The LinkedIn profiles for Gupta and Fleming showed they both graduated from Carnegie Mellon Universitys business school in 2020. It was not clear if the men knew each other prior to the fight in Hawaii. Flemings profile said he was working an internship with a spaceflight professional association based in St. Petersburg, Florida since June. Guptas profile said he was working as a senior consultant in Pittsburgh.

Carnegie Mellon profiled Fleming in November as a an example of how the school helps veteran students-- since Fleming served 18 years in the Army-- but the article has been removed from their website.

A judge on Wednesday declined a request by Flemings attorney to release him or lower his bail. Fleming has a plane ticket to return to Pennsylvania Sunday and pandemic-related restrictions on travel will make it unfeasible for him to return for court hearings, the judge said in keeping his bail at $250,000.

Defense attorney Christopher Eggert also asked to postpone Flemings preliminary hearing to next week and noted that his client doesnt have a criminal history.

A man who answered at a phone number for Germany-Wald declined to comment. ___

READ: Harrisburg man charged with killing truck driver over stupid argument
The New York State Liquor Authority confirmed that its investigating possible violations of COVID-19 protocols at an election-night party held by congressional candidate Liz Joy.

The Republicans indoor event on Tuesday evening was held at River Stone Manor, a 5,000-square-foot banquet facility in Schenectady. At the substantially sized gathering  which was attended by a Times Union photographer on assignment  most attendees did not wear masks while they were talking, eating and drinking together.

The Daily Gazette, which had a reporter at the event, wrote that many of roughly 150 attendees walked around and socialized with drinks in tightly packed groups.

William Crowley, a spokesman for the SLA, confirmed that the authority was now investigating possible violations at the catering hall of Cuomo administration rules, which are meant to curb COVID-19s spread.

The SLA opened an investigation following complaints received alleging violations of COVID-related regulations at an event at River Stone Manor on Nov. 3, Crowley said. The SLAs investigation into this matter is currently pending.

Joy, who lost her congressional race to Democratic U.S. Rep. Paul Tonko of Amsterdam, said in an interview that all state protocols were followed by River Stone Manor: All the staff wore masks, appropriate amounts of food were served, and tables were six feet apart, she said. Many people stood around high tables, which made photographs of the event deceiving, but those people were still around tables, Joy said.

Yet the SLAs website states all consumption of food and drink must be while seated at tables, bars, counters, or similar contrivances. Crowley, the agencys spokesman, confirmed that at such events, patrons can only stand for necessary reasons, such as entering, exiting or using the bathroom.

In past investigations of other establishments, the SLA has cited patrons standing around high tables in their reports on COVID-19 violations.

Weddings and other celebratory events in New York are also currently capped at 50 guests to prevent the spread of the coronavirus. Joy said she didnt know the exact maximum number of people present at any one time on Tuesday evening, but said that many people came to say a quick congratulations to her and left.

Joy called the Gazette report suggesting she was holding an event violating COVID-19 rules inflammatory and just an outright lie.

Its harmful to people, it instills fear, Joy said.

A video of the event shot by Gazette reporter Pete DeMola and posted on Twitter, however, did show several small clusters of people having discussions away from any tables.

On Twitter, Joy shared an image of DeMolas story and a paragraph of text that called the reporter Cuomo Gestapo.

Gazette editor Miles Reed defended DeMolas reporting and called Joys use of a Nazi reference against him ignorant and inflammatory. Its a lazy trope. Petes an outstanding, fair journalist.

Joy said she was unaware of any SLA investigation, and said staff at River Stone Manor was great and followed all rules. The venue required face coverings for entry, though few people wore them once inside.

River Stone Manor did not respond to requests for comment.

In July, the Times Union reported that the venue had been the planned site of a Schalmont High School senior formal. River Stone Manor owner Angelo Skip Sgarlata suggested to a reporter that the venue could put up walls to divide a larger indoor event into separate smaller groups at one time. A spokesman for the Cuomo administration disputed that such a gathering could adhere to state rules.

I was at the park the other day and all the kids were tailgating anyway, Sgarlata said in July.  ... We can follow the rules and do what we are told to do, but we dont have to stop living.

When the Times Union called the school to inquire about the planned formal, officials said it had been canceled due to what they described as lack of interest.
The head of the Atomic Energy Organization of Iran (AEOI) says recent talks has been promising as the deadlock is breaking, Mehr news agency reports.

"The emerged stand-still in the Joint Comprehensive Plan of Action (JCPOA) is being resolved," Ali-Akbar Salehi said in an interview with a number of journalists at the social network Club House on Friday.

"Now the talks on the nuclear deal have entered the technical phase, having left behind the initial controversial debates, which means resolving of the former halt, which is promising," he added.

"It has been agreed that as of next week technical talks will begin in Vienna, after which the pivotal issue of the legal and political aspects of the JCPOA will be dealt with," Salehi said, adding that the ground was paved for entering the political and legal aspects of the job.

Presently we have taken a number of steps forward, since the unjustifiable discussion that they had initially started, or we had started, is now left behind, and this is very promising, said the AEOI chief.

When we will enter the technical talks phase, it means that the issue is being governed and so that after you; no you first discussion is being left behind, he said.
Chirag Alawadhi is the founder of marketing company 'Marketing Moves' and 'MintShint' media/news company. Chirag feels that best benefit of tolerating Digital Marketing as livelihood

is the ability to work from wherever in the world. All you need is an Internet affiliation and a PC and you can work from wherever in the world.

Marketing Moves Media Private Limited a marketing company helping business to fly high in the sky by adding digital wings to there businesses. Businesses that are marketing their services the digital way are profiting at a higher scale through digital marketing technology as they now reach a wider global market. However, it becomes necessary to have a good marketing specialist who not only has the skill but knows how to market your business right.

'Marketing Moves' Handling the promotion of music videos of various internationally renowned artists like Diljit Dosanjh, Ranjit Bawa and record labels like T-Series and Zee music company.

MintShint founded in 2019 is one of the top Media & News company of India. It is well known for its decent content campaigns.

"what separates good content from great content is a willingness to take risks and push the envelope". Among the best digital individual marketers is Chirag Alawadhi renowned for his impeccable strategies of content marketing.

Educational background is very important, and plays an imminent role in providing an idea about how far a person has their reach. So far as this is concerned, Chirag Alawadhi surely does not lack in this. He has always been a keen learner, never backing out and facing challenges with a positive mindset.

He is expert in content strategies, your business can reach the sky with the appropriate strategy, while the wrong strategy or not will bring it down in no time. Strategies are a focal point for running a business, but accurate strategies are the most important aspects to take your business to the next level.

Chirag Alawadhi & his companies 'Marketing Moves' and 'MintShint' is the supreme person to work with when it comes to drawing up the right plans for the growth and development of your business.
The foreign ministers of India, France and Australia are expected to hold a trilateral meeting on April 13 with a focus on boosting cooperation in the Indo-Pacific region, people familiar with the development said on Friday.



The meeting is set to focus on exploring practical cooperation in other crucial areas such as dealing with the adverse impact of the coronavirus pandemic, they added.



Australian Foreign Minister Marise Payne and her French counterpart Jean-Yves Le Drian are scheduled to visit India around April 12 to attend the Raisina Dialogue.



India and Australia are part of the Quad or the Quadrilateral coalition, which is aimed at ensuring a free and inclusive Indo-Pacific region.



The other two members of the Quad are Japan and the US.



The India-France-Australia trilateral will also discuss a range of areas for practical cooperation, said one of the people cited above.

(Disclaimer: This story is auto-generated from a syndicated feed; only the image & headline may have been reworked by www.republicworld.com)
Source: Xinhua| 2021-04-03 19:55:10|Editor: huaxia

Video Player Close

Chinese Ambassador to Vietnam Xiong Bo (front 2nd L) and 30 other members of the Chinese embassy pay tribute to Chinese martyrs at a cemetery in Hanoi, Vietnam, April 3, 2021. The cemetery accommodates 48 Chinese martyrs who died while assisting Vietnam in the battles against French and American aggression and in the country's socialist construction. (Xinhua/Jiang Shengxiong)

HANOI, April 3 (Xinhua) -- Chinese Ambassador to Vietnam Xiong Bo and 30 other members of the Chinese embassy on Saturday paid tribute to Chinese martyrs ahead of the traditional Tomb-Sweeping Day that falls on Sunday.

At a cemetery in Gia Lam District of the Vietnamese capital Hanoi, Xiong and the members of the Chinese embassy observed a moment of silence and made a bow in tribute before laying a wreath to the martyrs' monument.

The cemetery accommodates 48 Chinese martyrs who died while assisting Vietnam in the battles against French and American aggression and in the country's socialist construction.

Xiong said that in the 1950s and 60s, a large number of Chinese people answered the call of the Communist Party of China (CPC) to join forces with the Vietnamese people, and illustrated with their flesh and blood the patriotism, internationalism and revolutionary heroism of the Chinese nation, as well as the China-Vietnam friendship.

"The great spirit of the heroes formed the spiritual legacy of the members of the CPC, and provided rich nourishment for the development of the party over the past 100 years," the ambassador said, calling for efforts to carry on the martyrs' spirit and generate energy for the party to always stay vigorous.

Currently, over 1,400 Chinese martyrs are buried at 40 cemeteries in 19 provinces and municipalities across Vietnam, which are maintained by Vietnamese authorities and regularly visited by members of the Chinese embassy in Vietnam. Enditem
75%

Website cswb.gov.in uses latest and advanced technologies like: JQuery and Boostrap. It is very popular on the web, it's within the 1 million most visited websites of the world at position 494670 by Alexa. It supports HTTPS. The main html page has a size of 72479 bytes (70.78 kb uncompressed).

This CoolSocial report was updated on 2020-08-16, you can refresh this analysis whenever you want.
A murder charge has been filed against a couple jailed on charges of child abuse and concealing the skeletal remains of their adopted 13-year-old daughter after she was found 14 months ago at their west Phoenix home.

The murder charge was added Wednesday against Maribel Loera, 51, and Rafael Loera, 57, in the death of Ana Loera.

They had previously been charged with child abuse, abandonment or concealment of a dead body, and arson of an occupied structure.

Robert Precht, attorney for Maribel Loera, and Miranda Stark, a lawyer representing Rafael Loera, didnt immediately return a call late Friday afternoon seeking comment on behalf of their clients.

Rafael Loera, 57, (left) and Maribel Loera, 51, (right) have been charged with murder following the gruesome discovery of human remains inside their burned Phoenix house last January

The remains of Ana Loera, also known as Charisma Marquez, were found in the Phoenix home

Rafael Loera previously told police that Ana became ill in July 2017 and that he waited several days before trying to seek medical attention.

Police also say Rafael Loera told them the child died on the way to the hospital and that the death wasnt reported out of fear that their other adopted children would be taken away by the state.

The remains were discovered after neighbors reported a fire at the family's home.

When working on ventilation at the home, firefighters discovered human remains atop attic insulation.

Rafael Loera told investigators that he siphoned gasoline from his van and set the house on fire because he was feeling hopeless and suicidal, according to court records.

A little over a week before the fire, another daughter - an 11-year-old - had called police to report that she had been left alone for two days and was hungry and afraid.

The girl, who said Maribel Loera struck her on multiple occasions with knotted extension cords and slammed her head into walls, was removed from the home, but there were no other children there at the time.

Priscilla Marquez (left) came forward last January claiming that the girl whose skeletal remains were found at the home of a Phoenix couple was her daughter, Charisma Marquez (right)

Eight days later, investigators from the Arizona Department of Child Safety removed a nine-year-old boy and four-year-old girl from the home. Shortly after, the fire was reported.

Last winter, an Arizona woman came forward claiming to be the birth mother of the girl.

Priscilla Marquez ended up building a makeshift memorial made up of candles, photos and stuffed animals paying tribute to her daughter, Charisma Marquez, also known as Ana Loera.

The child, who would have turned 14 years old in January had not been seen or heard from since July 2017.

The purported birth mother revealed that Charisma was removed from her care in 2011, along with her two other children (pictured), as she battled drug addiction.

Marquez told AZFamily.com last year that the Loeras' dead foster daughter was her biological child, who was removed from her care in 2011, along with her two other children, as she struggled with drug addiction.

Charisma and her younger siblings ended up in the home of Rafael and Maribel, and Marquez said she had hoped the children were being looked after and cared for by their foster parents.

This was hell for my children, Marquez said. Why did you adopt my children? To torture them? Because you didnt give them a happy home.

The mother added that she had been clean for the past seven years, and she had hoped one day to be reunited with Charisma and her other children, Angelina, now aged 11, and Joseph Jr, nine.

I'm so, so sorry, she said with tears running down her cheeks. If I could switch places with her, I would in a heartbeat.

Rafael identified the girl as Ana Loera, also known as Charisma Marquez, who had not been seen or heard from since July 2017, when she was 11 years old. He claims he was on the way to Phoenix Children's Hospital with the sick child when she died

Court records allege Charisma and the other children at the home were starved, left in rooms strewn with feces, and whipped with extension cords.

Following his arrest, Rafael told investigators his wife would hit the children with various objects, but he did not report her to the police because he was afraid of her.

Rafael was said to her told police that sometime in 2017, Charisma fell ill and died before he could seek medical help for her.

Fearing that the abuse in the household would come to light, Rafael allegedly admitted to wrapping the girls body in a sheet and stuffing her in the attic, instead of reporting her death to the authorities.

Marquez pointed a finger of blame at child services for failing to ensure the safety and well-being of Charisma, her sister and brother.

I dont understand how these people passed a background check to be able to take three innocent children, she said of the Loeras.

Marquez's surviving son and daughter were taken into the custody of child service following the foster parents' arrest.

Marquez broke down in tears saying how she wished she could switch places with her dead daughter. Charisma had not been seen or heard from since 2017

Marquez created a makeshift memorial outside the Loeras' home honoring Charisma last year
Jessamyn Smyth hopes that two shots in the arm may be what finally delivers her from a year in which the lasting effects of Covid-19 wreaked chaos in her life.

Smyth says that after coming down with an acute infection in March 2020, she continued experiencing a constellation of health issues. For months, she has suffered from breathlessness, irregular and rapid heartbeat, diarrhea, and unusual skin rashes. Like many 'long haulers,' Smyth's fatigue was a constant 'knock-down-pass-out-for-15-hours pathological exhaustion,' she explained in an email to CNN.

A writer and humanities professor in Holyoke, Massachusetts, she had difficulty even recalling basic words she used every day, such as 'punctuation.'

Her life as a scholar and an avid swimmer had crumbled.

'In the end, I lost two jobs, the end of my mother's cognitive life and her transition into dementia care, a partner and home, all financial securityand, I feared, my life and identity as an endurance swimmer (and) athlete,' she said.

But then she got her vaccine.

An instant recovery

Within a couple of weeks, her fatigue and cognitive issues were 'noticeably better,' she said. Her rashes were gone. And after her second Pfizer dose, on February 24, her symptoms kept improving.

Stories like Smyth's are gathering steam on social media, offering a tantalizing possibility when specialized clinics don't seem to have the answers for how to treat them. A portion of long haulers could be having vaccine-induced relief. If so, it could be a game-changer for the growing number of people experiencing long-term health issues and even disability; 10% to 30% of those who contract Covid-19 experience long-term symptoms, according to the National Institutes of Health. However, experts aren't yet certain about the science on why this could be happening or how long patients' improvement might last.

In Smyth's case, her resting heart rate, which she had often clocked at 150 beats per minute post-Covid, was back to the strong, slow throb of an endurance athlete, around 50 to 60. (Most healthy adults have resting heart rates between 60 and 100, with those on the lower end having greater protection against heart attacks, according to Harvard Medical School).

'My skin was different. My brain was different. I began to feel like myself for the first time in a year,' she said.

Judy Dodd is another Covid-19 long hauler, sick for a year, who is suddenly improving after her Pfizer vaccination. She might be back to 90% of how she felt before she got sick, she says.

'After my second vaccine, the next day I had a high fever, and I followed up with a couple of days of fatigue and severe headaches,' she said on CNN on Tuesday. 'And then I woke up, it was a Sunday morning ... day four ... And it was like those coffee commercials you see and the sun is just coming up. I felt great. Attitude change. I woke up ready to go. I have energy now. The shortness of breath is gone. The headaches are gone. Mainly the fatigue is gone.'

The science is still coming together

So far, large, formal studies about vaccine recoveries are in short supply.

One recent observational study in the United Kingdom is available in preprint as it has not yet undergone peer review. It compared how those hospitalized with Covid-19 fared after vaccination versus previously hospitalized Covid-19 patients who didn't receive their shots. Some 23% of those vaccinated reported symptom resolution, while 15% of unvaccinated participants also said they felt better.

That study had a small sample size of 44 patients, and while statistically significant, the portion who improved wasn't very large.

'The issue is thus far that it's anecdotal,' said Dr. Anthony Fauci, Director of the National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases, during a hearing of the House Energy and Commerce Committee on March 17. 'Many people get better anyway, and if you get vaccinated and get better, you are not sure whether it's the vaccine or the spontaneous recovery. So you'll have to do a randomized trial in order to determine that.'

Still, though, anecdotal reports can start to stack up, especially for doctors who have been treating long haulers for months.

'It's getting to be a large number of reports, hundreds of reports of patients that we've been caring for with Covid almost a year now,' said Dr. Daniel Griffin, chief of infectious disease at ProHealth and an instructor in clinical medicine at Columbia University. 'They are reporting that following vaccination they're having significant, if not complete, resolution of their long Covid symptoms.'

He estimated that as many as 30% to 40% of his long Covid patients said they were feeling better after vaccinations, and the boost in energy and mental clarity appeared to be coming from all three vaccines currently authorized in the US.

CNN reached out to the three companies -- Pfizer, Moderna and Johnson & Johnson -- whose vaccines have been authorized in the US. A spokeswoman for Pfizer noted that the company 'may capture long term symptoms in individuals who've had Covid' as part of its clinical trials, and that it could choose to look into the question as part of a post hoc analysis of its studies.

Figuring out why vaccines improve long Covid could be a clue into why the persistent symptoms occur in the first place.

'One of the theories to explain long Covid was that maybe there's a subset of individuals -- unfortunately a larger subset than any of us would like to believe -- who could not clear the virus,' Griffin said. 'But then they get the vaccine. Now they're able to have a proper, robust immune response. That may be what it takes to clear the virus.'

That squares with what Dr. Kartik Sehgal, a medical oncologist at the Dana-Farber Cancer Institute and an instructor at Harvard Medical School, believes could be ailing long haulers.

'One of the hypotheses is that this is virus-related, meaning that viruses are hiding behind in the form of a reservoir in the body, whether the actual virus or the genetic material of the virus which is causing long lasting, low level inflammation,' said Sehgal, who co-authored a recent review article about long Covid in Nature Medicine.

Sehgal and Griffin both ventured another hypothesis: Long Covid could cause persistent immune dysfunction even after SARS-CoV-2 had left the body. From that perspective, the mRNA vaccines distributed by Pfizer and Moderna, which teach the immune system how to respond to a spike protein on the surface of the coronavirus, could represent what Griffin called a 'hard reset for the immune system.'

However, anecdotal reports suggest the Johnson & Johnson vaccine, which doesn't use mRNA, may also be instigating long Covid recoveries, and doesn't jostle the immune systems in the same way.

Since there are reports of alll three vaccines helping some long haulers, it's likely they're fighting an infection, rather than fixing lingering immune dysfunction caused by the virus.

'It's starting to get several of us thinking that maybe the viral persistence theory is the most persuasive based upon the data that we have,' Griffin said.

It's too soon to tell, though, if vaccine remissions are permanent, or if long haulers are likely to relapse back to their same symptoms.

So far, none of Griffin's patients who reported vaccine-induced recoveries had relapsed, but it's still early. Through his position as a senior fellow for United Health Group, he is studying 10,000 people over five years and has built questions about the vaccine into the study's questionnaires.

'I am very curious about the durability of this response,' he said.

Vaccine recoveries aren't happening for everyone

But while some long haulers say they improved after the vaccine, they appear to be in the minority.

Some 347 days into his journey with Covid-19, Maneesh Juneja, a digital health consultant in the UK, has kept close track of how his symptoms switch off and on at different points over the past year.

He regularly deals with 'horrible brain pressure' that makes him feel like his brain is about to 'explode,' or fatigue making it feel impossible to lift his head off his pillow.

In the weeks leading up to his first vaccine dose, Juneja's symptoms were a 'mixed bag,' he explained, getting a bit of work done some days, while being totally non-functional on others.

When the day came for his vaccine, he was unlucky. His symptoms revved up again.

'I do feel worse in the three weeks after the vaccine versus the three weeks before the vaccine,' he wrote via email. 'However, there is no way of knowing if the vaccine triggered my relapse or if it was just going to happen anyway during the normal course of my illness.'

He argued that his experiences like his underscore the importance of more recognition and research for long Covid, as quick fixes for most patients are still fleeting.

'Many of the early insights into long Covid and the impact of the vaccine have come from patient-led research,' he said. 'But not every long Covid patient is part of an online patient community, so we do need more comprehensive research to really understand what impact the vaccine has on long Covid patients.'

(Corrects spelling of Dr. Kartik Sehgal)
Liverpool will welcome Roberto Firmino back from injury for Saturday's key Premier League match against Arsenal.

Firmino has been out of action for a month due to a knee injury, last playing in the home defeat against Chelsea on March 3.

The champions sit seventh going into the away clash with Arsenal, five points adrift of the top four, though they hope a win at Wolves prior to the international break will prove a turning point after a miserable run of results.

"Bobby [Firmino] is back," Klopp said at his pre-match news conference on Friday, when he was also asked about other injured players such as Jordan Henderson and Virgil van Dijk.

"All the others not and I have no idea about the Euros. Nothing has changed.

"They are all in the place they should be at the moment. I don't have bad news or brilliant news. If they are ready then they are ready. They are in rehab process.

"Jordan is not here at the moment, he cannot train. He will train in the next days or weeks, for sure."

In the absence of Firmino, Diogo Jota recovered from his own injury to score against Wolves and help the Reds to secure Champions League progression against RB Leipzig.

He followed up that form with three goals in two caps for Portugal.

"Diogo is in a good moment," said Klopp. "It's good. These are the real benefits of an international break.
Every day is an eternity for a young person, Mr. Inslee, a Democrat, said. We just could not wait any further.

In the weeks since most of the governors acted, nationwide cases have started to rise again, which could complicate the effort to get children back in school. Many school staff members have already been offered vaccines, which has reduced the resistance from teachers unions to reopening and, provided staff vaccination rates are high, will limit the opportunities for the virus to spread in schools.

Even so, in areas where cases are increasing sharply, like Michigan, some schools have had to revert to remote learning temporarily because so many students were in quarantine.

But for the time being, at least, the moves by these governors have yielded significant results.

In Ohio, nearly half of all students were in districts that were fully remote at the beginning of 2021. By March 1, that number was down to 4 percent, and it has shrunk further in the weeks since.

In Washington, before Mr. Inslee issued his proclamation, the states largest district, Seattle Public Schools, was locked in a standoff with its teachers union over a reopening plan. Days after Mr. Inslee announced he would require districts to bring students back at least part time, the two sides reached an agreement for all preschool and elementary school students and some older students with disabilities to return by April 5.

And in Massachusetts, Mr. Bakers move has spurred a sea change, with dozens of districts bringing students back to school for the first time since the pandemic began, and hundreds shifting from part-time to full-time schedules.

Its worked exceedingly well, Mr. DeWine, a Republican, said of his decision to offer vaccines to Ohio districts that pledged to reopen. Weve got these kids back in school.
At first glance, Good Friday seems like the ultimate misnomer. If Jesus of Nazareth suffered and died on this day, then why is it called Good Friday?

On one level, the answer is about the meaning of words.

The term Good as applied to Good Friday is an Old English expression meaning holy. Its often called Holy Friday also.

But in another sense, Good Friday is always tied to Easter Sunday, which is a joyful celebration of the resurrection of Jesus. He could not have been resurrected if he had not died first.

Today millions of Christians worldwide observe the somber holy day of Good Friday, which commemorates the suffering and crucifixion of Jesus. The faithful often act it out by carrying a large wooden cross and crown of thorns symbolic of the suffering of Christ.

In Jerusalem, they follow the Via Dolorosa, or Way of the Cross.

Jesus told his followers, Whoever wants to be my disciple must deny themselves and take up their cross and follow me. (Matthew 16:24, New International Version)

The events of Good Friday described in the Bible include the trial of Jesus, the shouts of the crowd to Crucify him! even when given a choice to free Jesus or Barabbas, followed by Jesus carrying the cross and being hung on it to die.

In Christian tradition, Jesus died on the cross at 3 p.m. on a Friday during the Jewish festival of Passover in about 33 A.D.

For Christians, somber reflection on the suffering and death of Jesus on Good Friday is replaced with the joy of Resurrection on Easter Sunday morning.
Police on Saturday fatally shot a man who was reportedly trespassing at a Corvallis hotel and trying to get into guests rooms.

The Corvallis Police Department said officers responded about 3:40 a.m. to a report of the man trespassing at a Days Inn hotel, 1113 N.W. 9th St. A hotel employee told dispatchers the man was acting aggressively and trying to access guests rooms, according to police.

Officers contacted the man, who had a knife, and immediately called for emergency cover, police said. Police shot the man shortly thereafter.

Authorities aided the man, a 32-year-old Philomath resident, but he died at the scene.

Corvallis police did not detail the circumstances that led to the shooting. They said officers were involved in the shooting but did not say how many fired their weapons.

The involved officers have been put on administrative leave, which is standard practice after police shootings. Albany police are leading an investigation.

The fatal police shooting was Oregons second in as many days.

A Salem police officer shot and killed a man after responding to reports of a person in crisis on Friday evening.

Authorities have not publicly identified the men who were fatally shot or the officers involved in either incident.

 The Oregonian/OregonLive
The beginning of the school year when you got to show off your new duds, new cars, new looks!

Sports! Playing, cheering, watching high school athletics.

The arts: Dramatic arts, musical groups and shows, graphic arts groups, debate, etc.

The prom! No dancing the night away or punch bowl antics.

The daily interactions. Just being with the group, hanging with friends and classmates.

Access to college recruiters and advisors  its harder to line up higher education.

Walking onstage to get a diploma while all the family is watching with everyone elses family.

Vote

View Results
PARIS (AP)  France's top diplomat spoke with his Iranian counterpart Saturday and urged Iran to be constructive and avoid further nuclear escalation ahead of talks next week aimed at trying to salvage a global accord curbing the Iranian nuclear program.

The United States and Iran said Friday they will begin indirect negotiations next week, in one of the first signs of progress in efforts to try to get both countries back into compliance with the 2015 accord. Then-President Donald Trump pulled the U.S. out of the accord in 2018, and Iran has been steadily violating its restrictions ever since.

Diplomats from Britain, China, France, Germany, Russia and Iran will take part in Tuesdays EU-brokered talks in Vienna. Those six countries have remained in the accord, known as the Joint Comprehensive Plan of Action, which bound Iran to nuclear restrictions in return for relief from U.S. and international sanctions.

French Foreign Minister Jean-Yves Le Drian spoke Saturday with Iranian Foreign Minister Jawad Zarif to prepare for the talks.

I encouraged Iran to be constructive, Le Drian said in a statement. "I called on Iran to abstain from any further violation of its current commitments in the nuclear domain that could threaten the movement toward resumed discussions."

Iran insists it is not seeking to make nuclear bombs.

President Joe Biden came into office saying that getting back into the nuclear accord and getting Irans nuclear program back under international restrictions was a priority for his U.S. administration. Iran wants sanctions to be lifted first.
New Delhi:

Tamil Nadu Minister for Forests Dindigul C. Sreenivasan has asked for forgiveness from AIADMK cadres and the public for lying about Jayalalithaas health last year.

Addressing a public meeting in Madurai on Friday night Sreenivasan said, "Forgive me my party worker but all of us ministers lied before you when we said Amma is having food and she is alright. Said so many things to make you believe she is healthy but truth is no one had seen her".

He stated that only V.K. Sasikala and her family had access to see Amma rest no one was allowed when she was admitted to Apollo Hospital in Chennai on September 22, 2016.

"Arun Jaitley, Amit Shah, V Naidu, Rahul Gandhi and DMK leaders visited Amma but they could only see Pratap Reddy and Sasikala", Mr Sreenivasan further added.

Read more: AIADMK expels Sasikala, says party to retrieve 'two leaves' symbol

After prolonged treatment for infection and other complications, Jayalalithaa had died of a heart attack on December 5, 2016.

Tamil Nadu Chief Minister K. Palaniswami had announced the government's decision to set up an inquiry commission to probe Jayalalithaa's death which will be headed by a retired High Court judge.

Ever since Jayalalithaa's death, there have been hints of foul play over her death, with critics pointing fingers at the now jailed Sasikala.

For all the Latest India News, Download News Nation Android and iOS Mobile Apps.
Stores and restaurants in airports have been slammed by the pandemic and the falloff in air travel. But travelers are beginning to fly again, offering airport stores signs of hope.

Airline travel in the United States recently reached its highest level since the pandemic began, although it's still around half of what it was pre-pandemic, according to the Transportation Security Administration. On Friday, the US Centers for Disease Control and Prevention said that fully vaccinated people can resume travel at low risk to themselves but that it still wasn't recommended at this time because of rising numbers of coronavirus cases.

The recent uptick in travel is helping stores like Hudson, one of the largest airport retailers in the United States. Hudson temporarily closed more than 700 of its more than 1,000 convenience stores in US airports last year during the height of the pandemic. As of March, 635 of them had reopened.

Hudson CEO Roger Fordyce said in an email that, where Hudson stores have reopened, travelers are spending more than they did before the pandemic.

The company recently opened Hudson Nonstop, a cashier-less store using Amazon's "Just Walk Out" technology, and plans to introduce the concept to new stores later this year.

"We do believe that the recent uptick in travel is driven by the pent-up demand for family visits and vacations by leisure travelers," Fordyce said. "We are hopeful this trend will continue."

Signs of recovery

Others in the industry are cautiously optimistic about a rebound.

"We're encouraged that we're starting to see traffic coming back," said Rob Wigington, executive director of the Airport Restaurant & Retail Association, a trade group for the industry. "But it's still coming back very slowly, and it's very erratic across the country."

Caroline Andreotti, executive vice president of global travel retail at beauty giant Coty, said in an email that while business travel has suffered, "high spenders and leisure [travelers] are still visiting holiday and resort destinations." Coty licenses Gucci, Marc Jacobs and other luxury brands' beauty lines and sells such products at airport stores.

"There are very positive signs of recovery across Asia, and you can see improvements in the US travel retail market," she said.

Prior to the pandemic, the airport retail industry was thriving. It was growing at around 8% a year thanks to more travelers flying internationally and the rise of budget airlines, which opened up airline travel to new passengers. Companies like Coty, Estee Lauder, which licenses fragrances such as Tom Ford, Michael Kors and Tommy Hilfiger, and Moncler were expanding their footprints in airports as an alternative to malls and department stores.

But the pandemic battered airport shops.

"The pandemic has driven the most corrosive and sustained downturn in airport retail history," said Martin Moodie, founder of the Moodie Davitt Report, a travel retail intelligence provider. "The hit for virtually every player has been severe."

Swiss-based Dufry, which owns Hudson convenience stores, posted a 71% sales drop in 2020 to $2.5 billion.

Overall, airport shops and restaurants in the United States lost $3.4 billion in revenue in 2020, according to estimates from the Airport Restaurant & Retail Association.

Wigington said that before the pandemic, around 125,000 people worked in US airport shops and restaurants. He estimates that number today has dropped by more than half.

Moodie said a full recovery for the airport retail industry depends on an increase in passengers and will vary by country depending on travel restrictions imposed by governments.

Domestic travel has been the first to recover and shorter regional travel will be next, he said. But long trips and business travel may not recover for several years, which may dampen a full airport shop revival.
Dutch nationals holidaying on Curacao, or working as interns there, are being urged to return to the Netherlands as quickly as possible because of the mounting coronavirus crisis on the Caribbean island. The situation on the island is very worrying and medical care cannot be guaranteed, the Dutch diplomatic mission on the island said in a post on Facebook. Hundreds of people have continued to travel to the islands for holidays, despite the governments urging to stay at home. Now, the number of infections on the highlight has soared  yesterday 431 people tested positive  and the islands only hospital to treat coronavirus patients is full. The Dutch authorities have urged people to contact their airline or travel organization to make plans for a return. The call to come back does not apply to people stationed on the island for a longer period, such as the army. On Thursday, the foreign affairs ministry revised its travel advice for the island and Aruba to orange, meaning but all but essential travel should be avoided. Travelers returning from the island must be tested for coronavirus before their departure and go into quarantine when they arrive back in the Netherlands.

Credits: DutchNews.Nl
The emergency services reported various road accidents across Luxembourg on Friday.

At 1.10 pm, a collision between two cars in rue des Bruyeres in Howald resulted in one person being injured. He was taken care of by an ambulance from Luxembourg City and the Hesperange fire brigade.

The fire brigade and ambulance of Luxembourg City were called at about 2.45 pm to an accident involving two cars in rue des Trevires in Bonnevoie. Here, too, one person was injured.

At around 3.20 pm, three vehicles were involved in an accident on rue Principale in Saeul. Two ambulances from Redange-sur-Attert were sent to the scene to take care of the two injured, as was the Tuntange fire brigade.

Four people were injured in a car crash on rue de Medernach in Larochette at around 4 pm. The local fire brigade came to the scene as well as ambulances from Lintgen and Larochette.

One person was injured in a collision between two cars at around 6 pm at the esplanade in Remich.

At 6.24 pm, there was another accident between two cars, this time in Eschdorf, which resulted in two injured.

At 8.52 pm, a motorcyclist was hit by a car on route de Thionville in Hesperange.

A final accident occurred at 11 pm on rue de l'Eglise in Petange. One person was injured from the car accident.
French Foreign Minister Jean-Yves Le Drian said on Saturday that he asked his Iranian counterpart to be constructive during the planned talks next week that will seek to revive the nuclear deal

PARIS (UrduPoint News / Sputnik - 03rd April, 2021) French Foreign Minister Jean-Yves Le Drian said on Saturday that he asked his Iranian counterpart to be constructive during the planned talks next week that will seek to revive the nuclear deal.

"I have encouraged Iran to be constructive during the discussions that are set to take place," Le Drian said in a statement after a phone call with Javad Zarif.

He said he had asked had asked Tehran to avoid any further violations of its nuclear commitments.

Le Drian said that negotiations, which will take place in Vienna, would help signatories to the 2015 nuclear pact and the United States to identify steps needed to return to full compliance.

Zarif said in a Twitter post that he had urged his French opposite number to "show a constructive stance." The Iranian diplomat said he had "called on France to honor its commitments under the accord, and to cease abiding by illegal sanctions imposed by the US."
(Natural News) Lawmakers in the Canadian parliaments lower chamber have found out that a refund on unused ventilators is unlikely. The government operations committee of the Canadian House of Commons scrutinized the purchase of ventilators worth 700 million Canadian dollars (about US$556 million). It discovered that around 98 percent of the purchased machines were in storage, as hospitals did not need them for COVID-19 patients.

Members of the Commons Standing Committee on Government Operations and Estimates were told that only 27,025 ventilators were delivered out of a total order of 40,557 units. Of these, only about 500 ventilators were used. Despite this, Blacklocks Reporter pointed out that payment for the ventilators  now stored in a warehouse  will not be refunded.

Bloc Quebecois Member of Parliament Julie Vignola questioned Public Services and Procurement Minister Anita Anand if the government would be reimbursed at the end of the day for the unused ventilators. The minister gave an unclear answer, saying: We have a commitment with the manufacturers. Unsatisfied with the answer, the MP for Beauport-Limoilou in Quebec continued to press Anand for a yes or no answer.

Anand then replied that the Canadian government had received over 27,000 ventilators. She then added that her department is now working to halt the deliveries of the remaining ventilators. She acknowledged Vignolas concern toward taxpayers money, remarking that she also has the Canadian taxpayers interests at heart.

Conservative MP Pierre Paul-Hus remarked: We are looking at 25,000 [ventilators] that are useless. The legislator representing the Charlesbourg-Haute St. Charles district in Quebec province continued that the remaining ventilators yet to be delivered translate to CA$375 million (US$298 million) in potential savings. Thats the equivalent of taxes paid by 25,000 middle-income Canadians, Paul-Hus said.

Canadas excess ventilators contrasts with New Yorks lack of them

The Canadian government spent CA$720 million (US$572 million) for the ventilators without asking for competitive bids. The Public Health Agency of Canada and Minister of Health Patty Hajdu provided the sole-sourced contracts, enabling purchase of the machines. (Related: Overreliance on ventilators led to coronavirus deaths, study shows.)

The federal health department enlisted three firms to provide the ventilators. Two Montreal-based companies  Baylis Medical Company and CAE Inc.  were awarded contracts worth CA$282.5 million (US$224.6 million). Ontario firm Thornhill Medical won a third CA$200.5 million (US$159.4 million) contract for the ventilators.

According to Anand, it was unclear how many ventilators would be needed in preparation for any eventuality. During the early days of the pandemic, ventilators were endorsed as a vital tool in addressing the possible surge in emergency room cases  which never materialized. These contracts were put in place a year ago prior to the information coming forward that we may now know, the minister for procurement said. (Related: Coronavirus patients laid face down on ventilator may suffer permanent nerve damage.)

Canadas excess supply of ventilators would have been of assistance to the U.S. state of New York, which suffered a shortage of these medical machines. Back in April 2020, Gov. Andrew Cuomo revealed that the state only had 2,200 ventilators in its stockpile. With 350 units required every day for critically ill patients infected with COVID-19, it would take about six days before the stocks are used up.

Right now, we have a burn rate of about six days in the stockpile. We have extraordinary measures in place that can make a difference if we run into a real ventilator shortage, Cuomo said that time. However, he warned that any increase in that burn rate will definitely use up all the remaining ventilators in the state.

Cuomos remarks came after his office released 400 ventilators for hospitals in New York City and an additional 200 for hospitals in Long Island and Westchester. He commented: I can say with confidence [that] we have researched every possibility, every idea  [and every] measure you can possibly take to find ventilators.

Visit Pandemic.news to read more news about the use of ventilators on patients struck with COVID-19.

Sources include:

LifeSiteNews.com

Blacklocks.ca

NYDailyNews.com
(Natural News) As state legislatures look to protect their citizens free-speech rights with social media anti-censorship laws, we often hear that Section 230 of the federal Communications Decency Act of 1996 preempts any such state laws. That line of thought is certainly what Big Tech wants people to believe, but that is also a misapplication of Section 230, which only shields Big Tech from civil liability suits regarding the censorship of sexually obscene or excessively violent material. In the vast majority of cases, political speech and cultural commentary are not sexually obscene or excessively violent.

(Article by The Heartland Institute republished from RedState.com)

Whenever investigating the reach and application of a law, the first thing a person should do is examine the language of the law itself. There are several plain-language reasons why Section 230 of the Communications Decency Act does not apply to political free speech.

First, the title of the law is the Communications Decency Act. It is not the Communications Ban Anything You Want Act, the Communications Political Correctness Act, the Communications Politeness Act, or the Communications Arbiter of Truth Act. The explicit purpose of the legislation is listed in its title: to allow Internet platforms to block indecency if they so choose.

Second, the section of the Actsection (c)(2)(A)that provides internet providers civil protection is titled, Protection for Good Samaritan Blocking and Screening of Offensive Material. The title of this section, like the title of the Act itself, shows the purpose is to grant protections for censorship of a finite, explicitly defined category of materialoffensive and indecent material.

Third, the Act provides explicit examples of offensive and indecent material that internet platforms may censor. Every explicit example involves sexual obscenity or excessive violence, which fit clearly and comfortably within the title of the Act. Content that is explicitly subject to censorship is that which is obscene, lewd, lascivious, filthy, excessively violent, harassing, or otherwise objectionable. None of these explicit examples are even remotely connected or similar to political speech or cultural commentary.

So how do Big Tech apologists argue that Section 230 gives them carte blanche power to censor and ban any speech they wish? They claim that the final three words in section (c)(2)(A)or otherwise objectionablemean that Congress intended to allow internet platforms to censor and ban anything they please, well beyond material that is indecent and offensive. Of course, that begs the common-sense question: Why would Congress explicitly title the Act the Communications Decency Act if Congress intended to grant censorship protections regarding decent and indecent material alike? Why would Congress place civil protections for censorship under Good Samaritan and offensive material if Congress intended to grant censorship protections to everything else as well?

Fortunately, we dont need to rely solely on common sense. Congress provided additional clear instruction.

The language of the Communications Decency Act explicitly states that it is Congress policy to encourage the development of technologies which maximize user control over what information is received by individuals, families, and schools (emphasis mine). Congress is instructing us that these narrowly defined censorship protections are not to be applied broadly and that, other than these narrow exceptions, Congress is emphasizing that users themselves (rather than internet platforms) should determine what they share and receive from one another.

Also, the explicit language of section (c)(2)(A) states that internet platforms must make a good faith determination that material runs afoul of the statute in order to have immunity from civil suits. However, interpreting the final three words of section (c)(2)(A) to allow internet providers to censor and ban anything they wish makes the statutes requirement of good faith determinations unnecessary and silly. One can reasonably assume that Congress would not include a requirement for a good faith determination that certain material qualifies for censorship protection if literally everything in the world qualifies for censorship protection.

Now, lets turn to another very important issue. Let us assume for the sake of argument that despite all of the above, the language and intent of the Act was to give tech platforms full civil immunity for censoring and banning anybody, any material, and any speech they choose. Even so, the explicit language of the Act only applies to civil liability. Subsection (A), under section (c)(2) provides the censorship grant of immunity. Yet section (c)(2) is titled, Civil Liability. It is not titled Criminal Liability or Civil and Criminal Liability. The section and its grant of immunity for certain acts of censorship explicitly apply only to Civil Liability. Accordingly, even if Big Tech apologists dubiously yet successfully contort Section 230 to provide Big Tech with full civil immunity for censoring and banning anything they please, there is nothing that prohibits states from enacting criminal penalties for platforms that censor political free speech or block people based on their political free speech.

Tying all of this together, states should not feel constrained by Section 230 of the Communications Decency Act when contemplating enacting statutory causes of action against internet platforms that censor political free speech or cultural commentary. There is nothing in Section 230 that prevents states from imposing, for example, civil fines of $100,000 per instance of an internet platform censoring political speech. Moreover, even if a dubious interpretation of Section 230 is imposed to immunize Big Tech from state-law civil causes of action, states can nevertheless impose criminal penalties on internet platforms that censor political free speechsuch as fines of $100,000 per act of non-indecency censorship.

Despite Big Techs best propaganda efforts, states are not powerless to protect the political free speech of their residents.

Read more at: RedState.com
By Diane Wong

In Atlanta, on March 16, a white man drove to three different massage parlors and deliberately shot and killed eight people, including six Asian women. This type of racialized gender violence against Asian women is systemic in nature and connected to generations of racism, sexism, empire, and imperialism. Of the 3,800 anti-Asian hate incidents reported since the start of the pandemic, nearly 70% of victims were women.

There has been an alarming increase and series of violent hate crimes against Asian Americans since the pandemic began. In the last two months alone, Pak Ho, a 75-year-old Chinese American, was killed in Oakland Chinatown; Vicha Ratanapakdee, an 84-year-old Thai man, was violently shoved to the ground and killed in San Francisco, and Noel Quintana, a 61-year-old Filipino man, was slashed with a box cutter on the subway in New York City. These attacks became high profile and covered by the media but there have also been hundreds of other instances that have occurred in the last few months alone. The majority of these incidents involve verbal harassment, shunning, physical assault, as well as being coughed and spat on in public spaces.

Genforward data from April of 2020 indicates similar experiences for Asian American youth, almost one-third or 32% of Asian American young adults indicated that they have recently experienced discrimination because of their race or ethnicity since the start of the pandemic. This is higher than the percentage of Black (28%), Latinx (20%), and white (9%) youth who indicated that they recently experienced discrimination.

While these numbers are alarming, the sort of anti-Asian climate we are witnessing today is not unprecedented. In fact, journalists and scholars have quickly responded to the current moment and contextualized what is happening within a longer history of anti-Asian violence and exclusion. This narrative often begins with the 1882 Exclusion Act and moves through decades of yellow peril fears used to justify endless imperial violence abroad in the Philippines, Vietnam, Laos and Cambodia, and the incarceration of more than 120,000 Japanese Americans on the domestic front with Executive Order 9066.

The solution to anti-Asian violence is not more policing, however. Instead of investing more resources in the police and oppressive systems that fail to keep our communities safe, more should be done to reimagine community wellness that does not reproduce harmful carceral logics. According to Genforwad data, young adults of color are already leading the way in these conversations, 72% of Asian American, 69% of Black and 64% of Latinx youth support divesting from police departments and putting their budgets toward investments in other areas such as healthcare, education, and housing.

There is also much to learn from organizations that have long fought against anti-Asian violence without expanding the power of law enforcement. For instance, CAAAV: Organizing Asian Communities, an organization that works with low-income Asian immigrants and refugees in New York City, has a long history of fighting anti-Asian violence in all its forms from evictions to police brutality to labor rights for sex workers, undocumented workers, domestic workers, street vendors, and garment workers.

Red Canary Song was founded in the aftermath of Yang Songs death  who fell to her death after fleeing law enforcement during a targeted raid at a massage parlor in Flushing, Queens  as the only grassroots Chinese massage parlor worker coalition in the country and organizes around the intersections of sex work decriminalization, migrant rights and police abolition.

Despite the horrific violence we are witnessing against Asian immigrant communities, Asian American women are at the frontlines in the community organizing happening in response to such violence, leading conversations around community safety, wellness, justice  and what it would mean to disinvest from all forms of punitive violence. The current moment also highlights the possibilities of Asian migrant workers building in solidarity and alignment with Black cisgender, queer and transgender women, femmes and non-binary folks, who are particularly vulnerable to violent policing tactics.

The work of the Asian American Feminist Collective is especially instructive, particularly their Black and Asian Feminist Solidarities project with the Asian American Writers Workshop in building an intersectional feminist politics for mutual liberation. On the West Coast, queer Asian American femmes have been on the frontlines building in alignment and deepening coalitional relationships with Black communities to mobilize solidarity rallies, mutual aid resources, and community-led public safety initiatives that help us to imagine otherwise. We interrupt violence as we have always done  we stand witness, we organize for true transformation.

Dr. Diane Wong is an assistant professor in the Political Science department at Rutgers University-Newark.

Our journalism needs your support. Please subscribe today to NJ.com.

Heres how to submit an op-ed or Letter to the Editor. Bookmark NJ.com/Opinion. Follow us on Twitter @NJ_Opinion and on Facebook at NJ.com Opinion. Get the latest news updates right in your inbox. Subscribe to NJ.coms newsletters.
MLB Georgia voting, Psaki

the President had voiced his support for MLB making a decision about the All-Star Game in Georgia. Im wondering, when can we expect a final determination from the President about the United States participating in the Beijing Olympics, given that he said the Chinese President doesnt have a democratic bone in his body?

more details or full transcript can be found here

some user comments can be found here

youtube
Australias most celebrated fashion designer Carla Zampatti has died at age 78.

Ms Zampatti died in St Vincents Hospital on Saturday, one week after she was knocked unconscious by a fall at a gala opera premiere on Sydney Harbour.

Beloved as a trailblazer for women and the matriarch of Australian fashion, Ms Zampattis death prompted an outpouring of grief across the arts, fashion and political spectrums on Saturday.

Legendary fashion designer Carla Zampatti has died a week after a fall. Credit:James Gourley

Prime Minister Scott Morrison released an official statement marking the death of the designer, describing her contribution to the nation as timeless, just like her designs.
by Vladimir Rozanskij

In the East, the term worship only applies to the Cross of Christ. A homily by Starets John Krestiankin, for many years hegumen of the only male monastery allowed by the Soviet atheist government, is offered for reflection. Russias latest protests come ahead of the Apocalypse.

Moscow (AsiaNews)  While Catholics celebrate the Sacred Easter Triduum, the Orthodox Church ends the second week of the Great Lent Fast with the Third Sunday called  (Krestopoklonnaya), or Worship of the Cross.

In the East, since there is no Eucharistic worship, the term worship applies only to the Cross of Christ, while veneration is reserved for sacred icons.

On the website of the Orthodox Liturgical Calendar, the Moscow Patriarchate proposes a meditation on a homily by Elder (starets) John (Ioann Krestiankin, picture 2). Hegumen of the Pskov-Caves Monastery during the long years of Soviet atheist oppression, he was able to pass on true Orthodox spirituality in the only male monastery allowed by the Soviet regime. John died in 2006, living long enough to bless Russias religious revival.

In one of his homilies for Lent, he mentioned the words of the liturgy: Come, ye faithful, we worship the Life-Giving Tree! Through the centuries, Golgotha has come close to us, invading our conscience with the memory of his way of salvation, since upon it the Cross was raised, which is the ladder to reach heaven, and on the Cross, we worship the One who said: I am the way and the truth and the life (Jn 14:6).

The life-giving wood of the cross, the Cross of Christ, is planted in the heart of the earth by God's love for humans, that it may transform itself from a cross of damnation  like the tree of knowledge of good and evil, which humans took for themselves disobeying the divine command  to become an instrument of salvation, with which to open the gates of Paradise.

Remembering Christs sufferings along with those of humanity, Father John noted that every person inherits from birth the cross of their forebears, unfailingly carrying it upon themselves until the end of their earthly days. Indeed, the earth is the place of exile and weeping, full of suffering and sorrow.

Accepting the cross means becoming self-aware, for every person in their life experience must carry their own cross. There are many crosses, but only mine can help me heal my wounds, carrying it with the help of God who imposed it on me.

Let us not build artificial crosses, let us go down the laid-out road, let us not seek unnecessary suffering, not even with the best of intentions. Only this way can one join the Cross of Christ, and not believe the great deceiver.

Russian priests are trying to pass Starets Johns great message by urging the faithful, especially the youngest, to follow the ascetic path, preserving Russia from the confusions of protests and claims, a reference to recent demonstrations against the authorities.

A young follower of Krestiankin, Fr Konstantin Bely of Pskov (picture 3), gave an interview to a local channel in preparation for the Sunday of the Cross. It made a great impression, since he announced the pending Apocalypse.

According to Father Konstantin, a true Christian is a soldier, used to go into action spiritually. The war starts, shops close, fighting over food begins; then hunger sets in for everyone . . . but Christians are accustomed to fasting. It is normal for them to give up food and comfort.

The priest compared modern upheavals, like the pandemic, to the 900-day siege of Leningrad (St Petersburg) by the Nazis during World War II. At that time, the death rate among true believers was much lower because the food rations during the siege were greater than those during the Lenten fast.

Metropolitan Panteleimon (Kutovoy, picture 4) of Krasnoyarsk also insisted on comparing fasting to wartime conditions. It is better to seek death than to be dominated by the enemy and by fear . . . Let us not give in to the fascination of the protests, let us defend the homeland that our parents have bequeathed to us.

The sufferings of the past, together with the contradictions of the present, force Russians to seek the True Cross that shows the face of Christ, but above all, as John Krestiankin noted repeatedly, the true face of humanity.
Source: Xinhua| 2021-04-03 20:20:38|Editor: huaxia

Video Player Close

Staff members unload COVID-19 vaccines purchased from China at Tbilisi International Airport, Tbilisi, Georgia, April 3, 2021. Georgia on Saturday received the first batch of COVID-19 vaccines purchased from China as the country's latest endeavor to curb the spread of the pandemic. (Health Ministry of Georgia/Handout via Xinhua)

TBILISI, April 3 (Xinhua) -- Georgia on Saturday received the first batch of COVID-19 vaccines purchased from China as the country's latest endeavor to curb the spread of the pandemic.

The newly-arrived vaccines manufactured by China's Sinopharm Group are the third type of vaccine Georgia has introduced in the country so far.

"This vaccine is currently used by dozens of countries," Georgian Deputy Health Minister Tamar Gabunia told local media on Saturday.

She noted that relevant studies conducted on the vaccine have indicated positive results.

Georgia on March 15 launched a nationwide inoculation campaign against COVID-19 after getting its first vaccine batch from COVAX.

According to the government's plan, people working in the health sector will be eligible to get vaccinated first.

Georgia plans to vaccinate at least 60 percent of the country's population by the end of 2021.

The country on Saturday registered 580 new COVID-19 cases in the last 24 hours, bringing its total to 283,369, according to Georgia's National Center for Disease Control. Enditem
A mother who lost a legal battle with her daughter-in-law over her son's 815,000 estate has returned to court alleging she poisoned him.

Pensioner Mary Farrell claimed Amanda Burden, 57, 'hastened his death by deliberately giving him inappropriate medication' for her 'personal financial gain'.

But a bid for a new inquest into Ray Farrell's death was rejected this week by High Court judges who ruled there was no basis for the mother's allegations.

Mr Farrell died aged 53 in October 2016 from mesothelioma, a cancer caused by asbestos, to which he had been exposed as a fitter's mate in his teens.

The court was told the electrician from Overton, Hampshire, stopped work five years before his death when doctors estimated he had six months to live and underwent chemotherapy.

He decided not to tell his two children or friends about the disease and until his death, only his parents and Miss Burden knew.

Pensioner Mary Farrell (left) claimed Amanda Burden (right), 57, 'hastened his death by deliberately giving him inappropriate medication' for her 'personal financial gain'

Mr Farrell and Miss Burden, a pensions consultant, married eight months before his death in an unusual private ceremony at home attended only by his parents. He also signed a new will, witnessed by his parents without seeing it.

A 2019 court case over his estate was told Mr Farrell left 150,000 to each of his children from a previous relationship and the 'residue' of 515,000 to Miss Burden.

His mother went to court to claim 130,000 she said she and her husband had loaned their son to help buy his house. Miss Burden argued the money was a gift.

With no documentation to prove the loan, Judge Peter Wulwik ruled Mrs Farrell was not entitled to a penny of the estate and must pay 100,000 in lawyers' bills instead.

Undeterred, she represented herself in the High Court in London last month in a bid for a new inquest into her son's death.

Mr Farrell's daughter Kelly had 'raised questions' about about finding two carrier bags of medicines the day after his death. They were unused prescriptions.

Several months later Mrs Farrell told police her son may have been poisoned. After making inquiries with the coroner, the police 'took the matter no further'.

Mrs Farrell, a registered nurse in her 80s, then launched her legal bid for a fresh inquest.

A judgment by Lord Justice Popplewell, backed by two other judges, said Mrs Farrell's suspicion of 'deliberate drugging and financial motive' were based on the unusual wedding and new will.

He concluded that there was 'no realistic possibility' of a new inquest finding anything in her suspicions, which were 'without any real foundation'.

He added: 'The interests of justice do not require that Mrs Farrell be given a platform to air her unjustified suspicions.'
DUBAI, (UrduPoint / Pakistan Point News / WAM - 03rd Apr, 2021) Dubai is set to host the regions first Cybertech Global event, an international exhibition and conference for the cyber industry, at the Grand Hyatt Dubai from 5th to 7th April, 2021.

The 8th edition of the largest security networking event to be held outside the United States is being hosted by the Dubai Electronic Security Centre (DESC). A total of 50 delegations and 52 companies will be participating in the event.

The event also highlights Dubais various efforts in this domain. The Dubai Cyber Security Strategy was among the initiatives launched in the emirate by His Highness Sheikh Mohammed bin Rashid Al Maktoum, Vice President, Prime Minister and Ruler of Dubai, to provide integrated protection against the dangers of cyberspace and support innovation in cyberspace and the growth of the emirate and its economic prosperity.

Organised by Cybertech, the event will draw high-level stakeholders, start-ups, government entities and organisations from across the world, to foster existing and create new business opportunities, as well as discuss the evolving challenges in cyberspace.

Yousuf Hamad AlShaibani, Director-General of the Dubai Electronic Security Centre, said, "By hosting Cybertech Global Dubai, we seek to highlight Dubais successful experience in embracing the digital revolution. The Government of Dubai has made significant strides in digital transformation and seeks to continue enhancing its cooperation and sharing its expertise with countries and entities both regionally and globally."

"This event comes as the world recovers from a global pandemic and begins to address its repercussions at various levels. This challenging period has highlighted the role that digital technologies serve in our lives, and the tangible impact they can have," he added.

"The centre is keen to support and coordinate with regional and international bodies to exchange ideas in the field of cybersecurity.

This allows us to achieve our vision, which aims to enhance Dubai's status as a leading city for innovation, safety and security globally," AlShaibani said.

Amir Rapaport, Founder of Cybertech Global, said, "We are very excited to host Cybertech Global for the very first time in the Gulf Corporation Council (GCC), and are pleased to collaborate with the DESC along with local and international agencies and organisations to make this event a great success. We strongly believe that Dubai is an ideal hub to host an international event of this kind that addresses the new threats and opportunities that come with the evolution of the cyber domain."

The conference will bring together leading figures and experts including Yigal Unna, Director-General of the Israel National Cyber Directorate; General Wesley Clark, former Supreme Commander of the NATO forces in Europe, and General David Petraeus, the former Director of the CIA, among others.

Cybertech Global Dubai will offer a wide spectrum of sessions and events covering artificial intelligence (AI), advanced internet of Things, big data, cloud, and blockchain across different sectors ranging from finance and insurance, mobile and communications, health industry, smart mobility and more. Additionally, the event will feature an extensive exhibition for companies of all sizes along with a Start-up Pavilion dedicated to young and innovative start-ups.

The event will also feature a session to discuss cybersecurity post-COVID-19 and the impact of the pandemic on digital health sector systems, country strategies and cloud computing.

Due to the global pandemic, the past year was marked by monumental changes with an increase in the use of technology. A large part of Cybertech Global Dubai will be dedicated to cybersecurity challenges, strategies and repercussions in a wide range of sectors and disciplines such as fintech, retail, insurance, aviation, economics and politics.
The minds of plants aeon (Douw)

Video captures deer flying through a school bus windshield BBC. Looks like the deer was OK.

Seal Alliance asks walkers to give the animals space as lockdown eases BBC

In an anti-tick effort, officials call for more moose-hunting permits in NEK VTDigger (resilc)

Where billions of cicadas will emerge this spring (and over the next decade), in one map Vox (resilc)

Drones Flying Over Arlington to Measure Deer Population Newsroom (resilc)

Overuse of antibiotics threatens Chinas fish farms, scientists warn South China Morning Post

Meet Boston Dynamics next commercial robot, Stretch ars technica (resilc). So much nicer: Walking machine test YouTube

Not so vanilla: The mission to spice up our favourite flavour New Scientist (Dr. Kevin)

A towns water is contaminated with forever chemicals  how did it get this bad? Guardian

The Trouble with Brain Scans Nautilus (Anthony L)

#COVID-19

Indian state of Maharashtra to go into lockdown unless cases fall https://t.co/TXDBrdvwrm  BBC News (World) (@BBCWorld) April 3, 2021

China?

Old Blighty

New Cold War

Cuba erects giant concrete flag in front of US embassy France 24

Syraqistan

Is a choked up Suez Canal just a taste of the future? Fortune

Should UN Intervention in Myanmar Be Off the Table? The Diplomat (resilc)

Imperial Collapse Watch

The Marine Corps Is About to Reinvent ItselfDrastically Popular Mechanics

Biden

1 officer dead, 1 injured after car rams Capitol barrier; suspect fatally shot The Hill

Vulnerable Dems fret after getting a shock: AOCs campaign cash Politico (Kevin W)

Is Traditional Liberalism Vanishing? Matt Taibbi

Derek Chauvin Murder Trial

Lt. Richard Zimmermans testimony so far is utterly devastating to Chauvins defense. He was never trained to kneel on anybodys neck, and there was no reason to do so to George Floyd. This from the most senior officer in the Minneapolis p.d. Kaboom.  Eugene Robinson (@Eugene_Robinson) April 2, 2021

North Carolina Cop Who Choked, Bodyslammed K-9 Resigns Ahead of Termination Sputnik (Kevin W)

New Yorks Legal Weed Law Could Still Screw Over Black People Vice

MLB moving All-Star Game, draft out of Georgia following outcry over voting law Reuters

Talk about odd bedfellows:

Wow. Something is happening on the right. https://t.co/zh9FH2Yc5L  Matt Stoller (@matthewstoller) April 2, 2021

Dish blasts T-Mobile for plans to shut down CDMA network Axios (UserFriendly)

The joke is on Volkswagen after April Fools name change debacle Al Jazeera (Kevin W)

Head of Googles self-driving car project steps down Financial Times

Full Bull Run Heisenberger Report (resilc)

Class Warfare

Rahm Emanuel Headlines Event For Group Fighting $15 Minimum Wage David Sirota

Antidote du jour (CV):

And a bonus (guurst):

First outing from a maternity den at the Wrangel Island nature reserve, known as the world's largest maternity hospital for polar bears. As one of the reserve's inspectors noted, judging by the tags in her ears, mother bear is a 'US citizen'. Pictures by Pavel Kulemeev pic.twitter.com/rnSywXyTOu  The Siberian Times (@siberian_times) March 31, 2021

And another bonus:
When I have contested from Nandigram, I will indeed win there and blacken your face, she said

Kolkata: West Bengal Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee on Friday told Prime Minister Narendra Modi not to suggest that she would be fighting from another seat in the ongoing Assembly elections in the state. Exuding confidence of winning from Nandigram, the Trinamul Congress supremo also threatened to blacken his face while asking him to exercise control on Union home minister Amit Shah, alleging that his provocation was behind the unrest in the state.

"I do not belong to your party that you can control me and give a suggestion of fighting from another seat. When I have contested from Nandigram, I will indeed win there and blacken your face. I do not agree to work on your advice. I work on people's advice," Banerjee said at a TMC rally in Dinhata of Coochbehar of North Bengal. She was replying to Modi's jibe on Thursday about whether she had plans to fight from another seat in fear of losing in Nandigram to Shuvendu Adhikari of the BJP, her former aide.

Training her guns on the Union home minister, who was in North Bengal during her campaign, Banerjee argued, "How can Shah be a saviour? He first needs to decide the place where he will stay. He is someone who neither runs the country nor the Union home ministry. He only indulges in goondaism and kills people by orchestrating riots. I ask the PM: You first control your home minister before coming to control us."

Countering Shah's latest claim of BJP victory in at least 50 out of 60 seats in the first two phases, the Trinamul chief said, "We have been able to turn those areas which were minus earlier into plus. We also made sure how to turn the opposition minus into those areas where we are in plus."

She also alleged, "I am sorry to say the Assembly polls are not being conducted by the Election Commission but by Shah. On his order the CRPF, whom I respect, resorted to atrocities in Nandigram though our party was being attacked. One of our workers got injured and is in coma now. In another district another party worker was killed. I am still remaining silent waiting for the polls to be over. None of those attackers will be spared. I also know very well how to fight back and give a fitting reply."

Banerjee slammed the BJP over indulging in electoral malpractices after an EVM was found in a BJP candidate's car in Assam. "Police are casting votes there," she alleged.
Three men and a boy have been charged with over 50 sex offences after allegedly luring three teenage girls to a party where they drugged and raped them.

Queensland detectives from crime and child protection units swooped on the alleged perpetrators at addresses in South Brisbane on Thursday morning with the assistance of the tactical police and the Dog Squad.

The men aged 24, 21 and 20, and 16-year-old boy were arrested on Thursday morning at homes in South Brisbane.

Three men and a boy have been charged with over 50 sickening sex offences after allegedly luring three teenage girls to a party before drugging and raping them (stock image)

They allegedly invited the girls to a party at a house in Toowong, Brisbane, last year where they were 'drugged and sexually assaulted multiple times'.

The quartet was arrested after the girls contacted police in December and an investigation was opened into the disturbing allegations.

Each of the four have been charged with seven counts of rape, three counts of administering a stupefying drug to commit rape, two counts of sexual assault, contravene direction and drug offences, police said.

The men appeared in Brisbane Magistrates Court on Saturday but no bail applications were made. They were remanded in custody.

Anyone who may have any information is urged to contact police.
A new coalition of several Big Tech companies has been formed to quash misinformation and promote transparency online, a report says.

Formed by Adobe, Microsoft, Truepic, Arm, Intel and the BBC, the Coalition for Content Provenance and Authenticity (C2PA) aims to "advance the work of open specification development toward broad adoption of provenance standards" and touts itself as a "formal coalition for standards development."

But whose standards are these? There is an implicit bias in whichever standards the coalition will build given that these Big Tech companies are often under the wing of high level politicians.

Furthermore, the C2PA is described by Adobe as a "mutually governed consortium" that aims to build an architecture for a "verifiable integrity in media" through "cryptographically verifiable facts about content." This means that there will be better measures to enable the efficient and more precise tracing of content to a single user through his or her unique digital signature.

According to CBN News, this digital signature will be a way to track any type of content back to the original creator, whether it be a post, photo, or video, transforming any person's device into an informant.

Breitbart investigative tech reporter and author Allum Bokhari wrote that while it is not a "bad idea" to track down sources of malicious, deceptive, misleading and false information, those who are tasked to do so should be able to carry out their duties without any bias.

Bokhari, who wrote "#DELETED: Big Tech's Battle to Erase the Trump Movement and Steal the Election," argued that the organizations placed in charge of governing false information have their own biases and Big Tech companies in Silicon Valley have abused their position to silence and censor sources of information and viewpoints that they are opposed to and used such a position as a "tool of political interference."

Big Tech will soon be using smartphones and other gadgets to monitor users' movements and Bokhari believes that the entire left wing media and establishment is "on board with cracking down on so-called 'misinformation.' It's how they've censored the internet over the past four years."

And they continue to do so today. According to the New York Post, former President Donald Trump was once again censored by Big Tech on Thursday night when his interview with his daughter-in-law, Lara Trump was taken off Facebook. The former Commander-in-Chief told Real America's Voice that it was a "very nice interview" that was taken down by Facebook, which he described as a "disgraceful" act.

Facebook defended their move to take down the interview posted by Lara Trump, saying that the video "featured President Trump speaking" and that "further content posted in the voice of Donald Trump will be removed and result in additional limitations on the accounts" of the former president, which are current still blocked, awaiting the decision of the Oversight Board as to whether Trump's accounts should be reinstated.

"What's happening now in this country, nobody ever thought would happen. It is total censorship," the former president said, attacking Big Tech. "You don't have free speech in this country. But you know what happens, they take it off and now people talk about it more."




Haiti - Politic : High-level meeting on the effectiveness of international aid to the country





Prime Minister Joseph Jouthe chaired this week a high-level meeting with Haiti's technical and financial partners who are part of Haiti's International Development Assistance Coordination Framework.



This meeting, attended by ambassadors or representatives of countries friendly to Haiti and of international institutions, made it possible to review the impact of aid from these countries, particularly in a difficult socio-political context.



International partners have communicated to the Government their recommendations for better aid management, aiming for concrete and effective results for the benefit of the Haitian population.



During this meeting, the interventions converged in the direction of revitalization, "of strengthening and concertation of international action for a better coordination of external cooperation in order to pose the real problems of the country with regard to the real needs and priorities of Haiti."



As Chairman of the Committee for the effectiveness of this aid, Prime Minister Jouthe underlined the need to continue these discussions "within the framework of a dialogue of permanent actions in order to strengthen cooperation for good governance".



HL/ HaitiLibre


















Dominic Valente/Hulu; Christopher Hirsheimer

Padma Lakshmi on hero Madhur Jaffrey



Padma Lakshmi had known about Madhur Jaffrey since college. A native of Delhi, the elegant Jaffrey broke barriers  first in the U.K., then in the U.S.  as an award-winning Shakespearean actress, TV host and food writer whose landmark 1973 book, An Invitation to Indian Cooking, is credited with introducing Indian cuisine in the West. She is a great writer and a great artist, says Lakshmi, 50, who immigrated to the U.S. from India at age 4. I just never saw a career like that anywhere else. There were not very many Indian women who were known outside of India for anything but being Bollywood actresses. I always admired her ability to be herself and rise.

When the two women first met in the early 2000s  Lakshmi's then-husband was an old friend of Jaffrey's  Lakshmi was in the process of inventing her own hyphenate career as a model-actress-writer-food expert. I still didn't know what my professional life was going to look like, admits the longtime judge on Bravo's Top Chef and host of Hulu's Taste the Nation. I had a great admiration for Madhur, but I don't think I appreciated her accomplishments then the same way I do today. Now I know what it takes to have done the things she did, especially at the time she achieved them.

In Jaffrey, Lakshmi found not only a role model but a mentor and friend. The older woman had learned to cook as an adult, via recipes that her mother mailed to her while she was a theater student in London, so she has a studied and intense relationship with the discipline  an intensity she recognized in Lakshmi. When Padma really got into food, it was very interesting for me to watch how she explored the area, especially the way she brought attention to cuisines from Asia and around the world, says Jaffrey, 87. I have a lot of admiration for her for doing this. It's how our relationship grew.

The two share a conviction that food is more than just sustenance and sensory pleasure. People often don't take food seriously, but it's a very serious aspect of a culture, because it has roots in history, religion, geography and just about everything else, Jaffrey notes. It's an important part of learning about a country, about a people, about every aspect of their lives.

Adds Lakshmi, Food is a way for people to pass their heritage and culture on to their children. Her international cookbook Tangy, Tart, Hot & Sweet was recently rereleased in paperback.

Asked how she feels about being a pioneer in bringing Indian food to American palates, Jaffrey responds that she doesn't think about it much. I don't focus on being the first, she says. Instead, I think about people carrying on the work that I started. It needs people to take it in all kinds of new directions. I'm so happy to see Padma carry on the work in a wonderful way.
I told my six-year-old son this week I was preparing to write a column about superannuation. Superannuation, I briefly explained, is when you save money to buy things when youre old and dont want to work anymore.

You gotta have enough money until you die, he responded, perfectly summarising longevity risks in one easy sentence. A proud mamma moment, indeed!

Regulators are stepping in to weed out underperforming super funds. Credit:Andrew Dyson

You could just keep on working, he continued. Or, you could be a robber when youre a grandma. Ok, well work on that last bit.

If you feel guilty sometimes that you havent paid enough attention to your super, dont worry. Neither have successive Australian governments.
March 25

Identity theft was reported at the 2700 block of W. 4th St. on March 25.

Identity theft was reported at the 100 block of NW Alpine St. on March 25.

Police arrested 33-year-old Angel Nicole Gonzales during a traffic stop at E. 6th and Beech St. on March 25. Gonzales was found to be in possession of methamphetamine. She was charged with manufacturing/delivery of a controlled substance, which is a felony.

Public intoxication was reported at the 2000 block of W. 25th St. 36-year-old John Henry Galvan was arrested on March 25 for charges of public intoxication and for active felony warrants.

Shoplifting was reported at the 1000 block of N. Interstate-27 on March 25.

March 26

Criminal mischief was reported at the 1900 block of Smythe St. on March 26. Damaged property was reported.

Mail theft was reported at the 2000 block of Houston St. on March 26.

Theft was reported at the 700 block of N. Interstate-27 on March 26. The suspect took a phone without the owners consent.

Shoplifting was reported at the 2400 block of N. Columbia St. on March 26. Nicole Marie Kelly, 46, took bottles of body wash from a store at the location where she had previously been issued a criminal trespass warning and her entry to Amigos was forbidden, according to the police report. Kelly was found to have active warrants and was arrested. She was charged with criminal trespass, active warrants and theft of property valued at less than $2,500 with two or more previous convictions, which is a felony.

Shoplifting was reported at the 2400 block of N. Columbia on March 26.

March 27

A burglary was reported at the 1500 block of El Barrio Road on March 27.

A theft was reported at the 2400 block of N. Columbia St. on March 27.

A theft was reported at the 1500 block of N. Interstate-27 on March 27. A victim shopping at the store realized their wallet was missing at check out. The wallet was located and $90 was found to be missing.

An assault was reported at the 700 block of W. 23rd St. on March 27.

A crash resulting in vehicle damage was reported at the 100 block of SE 4th St. on March 27.

Forgery was reported at the 2200 block of W. 5th St. on March 27.

A theft was reported on March 27 at the 500 block of W. 5th St.

Officers responded to the 2900 block of W. 20th St. on March 27. A 58-year-old man was asked to leave a backyard but refused. Officers arrived and told the suspect he was asked to leave. The suspect got up and a can of gold spray paint was found on the ground along with a clear plastic baggie that contained the paint. The paint was also observed to be on the suspects nose. The individual was charged with possession or use by inhaling/ingesting a volatile chemical and with inhalant paraphernalia use/possession to inhale.

Criminal trespassing was reported at the 900 block of Ash St. on March 27.

March 28

Shoplifting was reported at the 1500 block of N. Interstate 27 on March 28.

Theft was reported at the 800 block of W. 11th St. on March 28.

A stolen vehicle was reported at the 600 block of W. 11th St. on March 28. A victim let a friend borrow their vehicle for a trip to the bank and the friend never returned.

Police arrested a 15-year-old individual on March 28 at the 1300 block of Smythe St. The individual was charged with unauthorized use of a vehicle, which is a felony.

Criminal trespass was reported at the 900 block of N. Columbia on March 28. The victim reported damages to a door after someone tried to break in.

Monday, March 29

A hit-and-run crash that resulted in vehicle damage was reported on Monday at the 500 block of Joliet St.

Police were called to the 3600 block of Grandview on Monday in reference to criminal mischief. Damage to a vehicle was reported.

Theft was reported at the 1500 block of N. Interstate-27 on Monday.

A crash resulting in vehicle damage was reported Monday at the 1100 block of Industrial Blvd. A Toyota Corolla traveling west on the 1000 block of Industrial Blvd. veered into the oncoming lane striking a Dodge Ram.

An assault was reported at the 1200 block of Raleigh on Monday. The female victim reported unwanted touching by a male. Another report for aggravated assault was reported at the same location. A male reported being assault with a knife by a female.

Tuesday, March 30

Harassment by phone was reported at the 1500 block of Yonkers on Tuesday. The victim reported harassment by an ex.

An assault was reported at the 1600 block of N. Date St. on Tuesday. A victim was struck with body force.

Officers responded to the 1900 block of W. 7th St. on Tuesday in reference to trespassing.

Hinacio Contreras, Jr., 30, was arrested at the 700 block of Portland St. on Tuesday for a felony warrant.

Check forgery was reported Tuesday at the 800 block of W. 11th St.

Criminal mischief was reported at the 200 block of S. Holiday on Tuesday. A damaged window was reported.

Police arrested a 15-year-old individual on Tuesday after the individual stole a vehicle and later led police on a foot chase. The reporting party told officials her son lived with his father in New Mexico before moving to Plainview and stole a vehicle from his father, which was reported stolen. The teen was also reported as a runaway. The reporting party told officers she tried to make contact with the individual and he hit her car and fled. The vehicle was later found abandoned at the 1200 block of Nassau St. The juvenile fled the area on foot. He was later found at the 1100 block of Oakland after a foot pursuit. The teen was found in possession of marijuana after he was searched. He was arrested for evading arrest, possession of marijuana, an accident involving damage to a vehicle and unauthorized use of a vehicle, which is a felony.

Theft from a bank was reported at the 2500 block of 26th St. on Tuesday. A suspect transferred funds without the consent of the property owner.
As Portland-area elementary schools reopen, students face glaring disparities in the amount of time they get face-to-face with teachers and classmates  differences that are strongly linked to race and class.

That is the stark conclusion of an analysis by The Oregonian/OregonLive that tracked the number of hours of in-person teaching time elementary students have gotten and are scheduled to be offered by school years end in the areas 18 largest districts.

Most began teaching elementary pupils in person last week or will in the next few days.

Districts serving the highest share of Black, Latino and Indigenous families are offering the fewest in-person hours for elementary students  less than seven per week, in every case except in Hillsboro, the analysis found.

The scant in-person class time is compounded by the fact that the districts serving the highest shares of Black and Latino students  notably Reynolds, Parkrose, David Douglas and Centennial on Portlands outer eastern reaches and further east in Multnomah County  are among the very last to reopen. Reynolds does not plan to start teaching elementary pupils face to face until April 8.

Lake Oswego and West Linn-Wilsonville, which serve a very low share of Black, Indigenous, Latino or low-income students, began teaching elementary pupils in-person 11 hours a week in late February. Sherwood, with a similar student population, did the same starting in early March.

In the Oregon Trail district, which spans from the outskirts of Gresham to Mount Hood, elementary students have been attending school in-person since mid-February.

The Monday after spring break, half the pupils in Jessica Minchs fourth-grade class at Kelso Elementary near Sandy sat diligently at their desks, spaced six feet apart to comply with state rules.

The other half of the class beamed in for the four-hour session, their Google Meets session projected onto a screen beneath a cursive alphabet display.

Unlike their peers in the classrooms, the students appearing virtually were unmasked.

Teaching and learning is a tough job. You know whats just as tough? Parenting. Oregon Trail Superintendent Aaron Bayer

In both spaces, the group of about two dozen fourth-graders moved through their classroom routine as if it was born of muscle memory.

Mylee Hoover, 10, masked and clad in light pink headphones and a blue hoodie, focused her attention on her notebook during the lesson. Near the back of the classroom, Claire Arnold, 9, hunched over a laptop, the seat of the stool she perched on just an inch lower than the desk holding her computer and water bottle.

Their pandemic classroom routine is old hat by now.

The kids are screened for COVID-19 symptoms before they set foot in the building. Each has a personal water container to sip from throughout the day  trips to the water fountain are a no-no.

And every time someone steps out for a bathroom break or sneezes into the crook of their arm, its followed by a 20-second visit to a hand-washing station.

Superintendent Aaron Bayer said hes seen an improvement in both teachers and students moods since kindergartners returned to the building Feb. 18. Hes also heard from parents happy to see their kids in classrooms again.

For students in Jessica Minchs fourth grade class at Kelso Elementary School in Boring, the day-to-day rituals of in-person instruction are old hat. (Beth Nakamura/Staff)The Oregonian

Teaching and learning is a tough job, Bayer said. You know whats just as tough? Parenting.

According to district surveys and public testimony, families in the Portland area have differing views on when and whether its best to have their children return to classrooms amid the pandemic, despite the general consensus among educators, researchers and pediatricians that virtual learning does not to meet childrens social, emotional and academic needs.

Families in whiter, affluent districts are seeing their children get significantly more classroom time than in high poverty and high minority districts. The result may be the further widening of existing disparities and the so-called achievement gap.

DEMOGRAPHICS AFFECT WHO GETS TO RETURN

On the highest end of the spectrum, the Estacada district schedules elementary students whose parents want them to get in-person instruction for 13 hours of it every week.

The bell schedules for Estacadas River Mill and Clackamas River elementary schools arent too different now than what students were used to a year ago, complete with a half hour for lunch and recess.

The difference, spokesperson Maggie Kelly said, is that students are only on campus two days per week compared to four days in pre-pandemic times.

Otherwise, were running relatively normal days, she told The Oregonian/OregonLive.

Nearly 78% of students in the rural Clackamas County district are white, the most of any district surveyed by The Oregonian/OregonLive. Twelve percent are Latino and 2% of students are Asian while another 2% are Black.

Only one district gives students more face time with their teachers every week.

In Hillsboro, children in pre-kindergarten, kindergarten, first- and second-grade will spend 17 hours every week in the classroom  four hours and 15 minutes every Monday, Tuesday, Thursday and Friday.

District spokesperson Beth Graser told The Oregonian/OregonLive that HIllsboro officials decided late last summer to keep class sizes small for those grades, about 20 per teacher.

Schools officials saw the writing on the wall when the Oregon Department of Educations initial guidelines for operating schools during the pandemic called for 35 square feet of space per student, among the strictest reopening measures in the nation.

No classrooms contain the 700-plus square feet it would take to accommodate 20 students and a teacher under those conditions.

But when the department lowered that to nine square feet, reflecting the updated recommendation from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, Hillsboro officials realized their decision to go with such small class sizes in the earliest grades would pay off.

Entire classes would be able to come back to learn in person on a daily basis.

That was an over-the-summer decision that was very purposeful, just knowing how important it is for students to learn how to read and establish their connections, Graser said.

The academic and emotional benefits Hillsboro anticipates from the extensive hours of in-person education for its youngest learners square with Audrey Luceros findings.

The University of Oregon College of Education professor, who specializes in language, literacy and bilingualism, told The Oregonian/OregonLive last September that young students need plentiful time in front of a teacher.

Theyre learning how to read instead of reading to learn.

How do you choose a book to read? And how do you sit in a classroom or library and read it? How do you talk to others about how you read it? Lucero said. These kinds of practices take a lot of repetition and they take a lot of practice on the part of little people. You need to have those routines down pat.

Elementary students in Portland's Harvey Scott Elementary School will get eight hours of in-person instruction per week  two hour sessions over four days. (Dave Killen/Staff)The Oregonian

The Hillsboro districts older elementary students, those in third, fourth and fifth grade, will spend two days in the classroom per week for four hours and 15 minutes each  about half as long as their younger peers.

The Hillsboro districts 19,000 students are predominantly non-white. Just over 40% are Latino, 7% are Asian and 2% are Black.

DISTRICTS EAST OF PORTLAND OFFER FEWER HOURS

On the other side of the metro area, Multnomah Countys Parkrose district will offer elementary students the fewest number of hours in front of a teacher among the 18 districts: 4.5 every week, a little more than Hillsboro kindergartners will get every day.

By the end of the academic year, that means elementary students in one of the states most diverse school districts in a high-poverty section of Northeast Portland are scheduled to see the inside of a classroom for fewer than 50 hours.

By contrast, an elementary student in well-off West Linn will receive nearly 200.

A slight majority of districts have chosen to offer their elementary students four half-days of in-person instruction per week or two nearly full days of it.

But nearly half of them, including Parkrose, Reynolds and Portland, are offering students what amounts to just two half-days a week. And Parkrose is offering the shortest half-day slots: just 2 hours and 15 minutes in front of a teacher.

About 38% of the Parkrose districts 3,000 students are Latino and 16% are Black, according to state enrollment data. Another 12% are Asian and 3% are Pacific Islander.

Thirty percent of Parkrose students are white, among the lowest in the metro area.

Understandably, a lot of our staff have anxiety about being in crowds. Reynolds Executive Director of Schools Angela Freeman

Superintendent Michael Lopes-Serrano said he decided not to assign teachers to simultaneously teach children in-person and on video or reshuffle teaching assignments so that some teachers could teach in-person all day.

We did not want to deeply impact online students because they made the choice to stay home by assigning another teacher, he told The Oregonian/OregonLive in an email. We decided to keep our classes together online in the mornings and have tried to maintain online instructional time while creating smaller in-person cohorts for afternoons.

The districts kindergartners are scheduled to start in-person school Monday. The district will survey parents after two weeks to see if any more families will opt into sending their children to school part-time.

We are keeping the door open for families to decide if they want to return later in the year, Lopes-Serrao said.

In Oregon Trail, a district that is 76% white and where elementary students see their teachers in-person for eight hours per week, some parents felt similar trepidation over sending their children back into the classroom.

Bayer, the superintendent, said 1 in 5 of the districts 1,900 elementary students were still learning virtually when Oregon Trail schools opened their classrooms in mid-February.

Many holdouts cited lingering fears over Clackamas Countys coronavirus infection rates. Others said two four-hour sessions per week didnt seem worth it.

But as the weeks went on and the Oregon Trail district didnt register any school-based cases and word-of-mouth spread about the big improvement in childrens moods as they returned to the classroom, families began to opt in at a rate of about one or two per grade level every week.

Jessica Minchs fourth grade class at Kelso Elementary has about eight students in the room at any given time. The rest of her pupils beam in through Google Meets. (Beth Nakamura/Staff)The Oregonian

HOW DISTRICTS STACK UP

Three of the Portland areas largest districts offer just five hours per student, a half hour more than Parkrose: David Douglas, Gresham-Barlow and Reynolds.

In the Centennial, Forest Grove and North Clackamas districts, elementary students get face-to-face time with their teacher for six hours per week.

The states largest district, Portland Public Schools, will have students in the classroom for eight hours per week. Students are assigned to either a morning or afternoon cohort and spend two hours in class on Mondays, Tuesdays, Thursdays and Fridays.

Prekindergartners spend 15 minutes more in the building each day, totaling an extra hour of classroom time.

The district only recently inked an agreement with its teachers union detailing working conditions for educators through the end of the year.

The document controversially requires students and teachers to remain 6 feet apart when inside school buildings, a standard the CDC and Oregon Department of Education dropped the day after the Portland school board approved the agreement.

Schools Chief Shawn Bird told union negotiators in December that the 6-foot requirement would only allow for 10 or 11 students in a classroom at a time. Relaxing it would more than double the number of children allowed in the districts buildings.

Spokesperson Karen Werstein told The Oregonian/OregonLive that other factors limit the number of hours students spend in elementary classrooms.

School buses must ensure proper distancing, limiting the number of students who can ride at a time. Teachers also get some time to plan their lessons during the school day.

And custodial staffers clean classrooms and common areas between cohorts.

Its basically an operations thing, Werstein said.

Nearly 17% of Portland Public Schools 47,000 students are Latino. Another 9% are Black and 6% are Asian.

The district began in-person instruction for its kindergartners Thursday, more than two months after Estacada started hybrid classes for its youngest students and more than a month behind neighboring Lake Oswego.

Noah Conklin, 10, washes his hands at Kelso Elementary School in Boring. (Beth Nakamura/Staff)The Oregonian

UNCERTAINTY LINGERS

As of Friday, Reynolds was still planning to begin in-person classes for elementary pupils next Thursday. But it did not have an agreement with its teachers union on what working conditions would look like.

Thats been a work in progress, said Angela Freeman, the districts executive director of schools. And understandably, a lot of our staff have anxiety about being in crowds.

Reynolds, which borders Parkrose to the east, has about 10,000 students.

Nearly 43% of students are Latino and 10% are Black. Asian students comprise 7% of enrollment and Pacific Islanders are 3%.

Freeman, like Parkrose Superintendent Lopes-Serrao, hopes more families opt to send their children for part-time in-person learning after they see Reynolds schools operate those classes safely. About 1 in 3 families decided to continue virtually, according to a district survey compiled just before spring break.

I think that we probably will, in my opinion, have a lot of folks that will need to see it for themselves to know that their kids are safe, Freeman said.

Laura Gunderson, Brad Schmidt and Andrew Theen of The Oregonian/OregonLive staff contributed to this report.

--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.
Taipei, April 3 : Flags will be flown at half mast across Taiwan for three days from Saturday to mourn the 50 victims of a fatal train derailment in Hualien county a day earlier.

On Friday morning, the Taiwan Railways Administration (TRA) No. 408 Taroko train en route from Shulin, New Taipei, to Taitung, suddenly derailed as it entered the Daqingshui tunnel, The TRA said the derailment involved a maintenance truck which slid from a slope near a construction site above the rail track.

The from of the eight-carriage train with 492 passengers and four crew members hit the vehicle shortly before entering a tunnel, dpa news agency quoted officials as saying.

Prosecutors in Hualien were seeking an arrest warrant for a construction site manager believed to have failed to engage the vehicle's brake properly, state-run Central News Agency reported on Saturday.

The manager was released by a court on Saturday on bail of 500,000 Taiwanese dollars ($17,516) and is not allowed to leave the country.

Prosecutors said they would protest and seek an arrest warrant again.

The Taiwan government revised the death toll, bringing it down from 51 to 50 due to a counting error.

The TRA on Saturday named 44 of the victims, which included children and a 27-year-old French man, as authorities sought to identify the other bodies.

Official statistics released on Saturday suggest that at least 178 people were injured in the accident.

Forty of the injured would have to remain in hospital, including four patients in intensive care.

Deputy Minister of Transportation and Communications Wang Kwo-tsai told a news conference on Saturday that the lack of a safety fence around the construction site, as required by the contract, was a huge management mistake.

The TRA said that the accident is the worst train accident in the past seven decades in Taiwan.

The Taiwan Railway Union urged the TRA to review its corporate culture, adding that, in recent years, the Administration had faced manpower shortage, a factor leading to insufficient control over the quality of contract companies.

The TRA on Saturday said it would review its ticket policy as 120 passengers had standing tickets when the derailment occurred on the first day of a four-day break for Taiwan's annual tomb-sweeping tradition, which sees many Taiwanese people return home to pay tribute to their ancestors and clean up family tombs.

The operator on Saturday began to remove damaged carriages stuck in the tunnel.

President Tsai ing-wen visited injured people and victims' families in Hualien.

Tsai also expressed appreciation for the international community's offer of condolences to families affected by the crash.

-- The story has been published from a wire feed without any modifications to the text
1 A Goat Gored A Guy To Death, Then Defended The Body For Almost An Hour

Living thousands of feet above sea level and able to climb almost vertical cliffs, the nimble mountain goat is unquestionably the GOAT of goats. And while they can be aggressive in protecting their young, mountain goat attacks on humans remain extremely rare. Which was why a group of hikers in Olympic National Park werent too panicked when they came across an aggressive ram in 2010. The most experienced hiker, a beloved local nurse and musician named Robert Boardman, urged his companions to move away down the trail while he hung back to shoo the goat away from the group. Unfortunately, this was no ordinary goat. This goat was out for blood.

Darklich14/Wikimedia Commons Scouting for prey.

Continue Reading Below Advertisement

Park rangers later said they had been tracking the ram, known as Klahhane Billy, for at least four years after receiving numerous complaints about unusually aggressive behavior. The goat was known for charging at people, and would even follow them ominously along the trail. On at least one occasion, rangers were forced to drive the 370-pound goat away by blasting it with nonlethal bean bag rounds. On another, he chased a terrified hiker down six switchbacks. Which kind of sounds like it should have been soundtracked by Yakety-Sax, except that theres nothing funny about what happened next.

During that final incident in 2010, the goat lunged forward and fatally gored Boardman with its horns. But its reign of terror didnt end there. It proceeded to stand over Boardmans body for almost an hour, driving off all attempts to help him, even as other hikers and rangers arrived on the scene. Throwing rocks and yelling proved futile, and the goat was ultimately only scared away after a quick-thinking park employee suggested waving a reflective silver space blanket at it.

Oregon Dept. of Fish & Wildlife A goat so dangerous only its own reflection could scare it.

Continue Reading Below Advertisement

None of this was exactly standard goat behavior. The park called it extremely strange and unusual, and nobodys been able to find another case of a mountain goat killing a human. Klahhane Billy was later shot, hopefully with a silver bullet, and tested for any diseases that could explain the attack. But the tests found nothing conclusive. It seems that this one park was just home to the worlds angriest goat. And theres probably a good lesson in that: No matter what the statistics say, exercise caution in dealing with any wild animals. Because you never know when youre about to come across the Klahhane Billy of chipmunks.

Top image: Dmitry Demkin/Shutterstock
MSU Alumna Creates Pen Pal Program

By West Kentucky Star Staff





MURRAY - Lauran Young, an alumna of Murray State Universitys Teaching English to Speakers of Other Languages (TESOL) program and a Fulbright grant recipient, has partnered with teachers at Mayfield Elementary School for a pen pal program with students from Spain.The Fulbright U.S. Student program provides grants for individually designed study/research projects or for English Teaching Assistant programs. Candidates submit a Statement of Grant Purpose defining activities to take place during one academic year in a participating country outside the United States.During their grants, Fulbright recipients meet, work, live with and learn from the people of the host country, sharing daily experiences. The program facilitates cultural exchange through direct interaction on an individual basis in the classroom, field, home and in routine tasks, allowing the grantee to gain an appreciation of others viewpoints and beliefs, the way they do things, and the way they think. Through engagement in the community, the individual will interact with their hosts on a one-to-one basis in an atmosphere of openness, academic integrity and intellectual freedom, thereby promoting mutual understanding.Young, a 2020 Murray State graduate, was slated to begin her Fulbright to Spain in September 2020, but her travel was pushed back to January 2021 due to the COVID-19 pandemic. Since her arrival in Spain, she has been working at FEC Nuestra Senora a La Piedad in Najera, La Rioja with seven other teachers and up to sixteen classes with students from 3-16 years old.For her Fulbright project, English Language Learning (ELL) primary students from both FEC in Najera and Mayfield Elementary School are partnered in an international pen pal program to promote multiculturalism, target language practice, and create new friendships during the difficult time of a pandemic. They also participate in a shared flip-grid classroom where they can post regulated videos to practice reading, writing, and speaking skills along with target vocabulary in a monitored setting.Currently, each school has about 25 participants. From FEC, the students are in Third Primary, and from MES, the students are in third and fourth grades. Each letter and video's subject matter has already been decided to fall in line with the grammatical and vocabulary content students are learning in class.Students have already exchanged one letter and plan on exchanging at least two more  one for March and April, says Young. They areso excited about writing their new friends and cannot wait to get to know them more.To make all of this happen, Young partnered with two teachers she works with in Spain, along with Ginny Garner, Amanda Edwards, Cassandra Huizar and Veronica Velazquez from Mayfield Elementary. Young serves as the contact point for both schools and has regular planning meetings with Garner."When Lauran approached me about participating in this project with her and her students, I was thrilled because this is such a uniqueopportunity to bring to our EL students here in Mayfield, says Garner. I love how even though our students are on different sides of the world, they still have so much in common, one of which being that they are all English learners.We have written and received our first round of letters and the students absolutely love it! Their faces lit up when they read the letters from their pen pals and I was so proud of the effort they put forth in responding, says Garner. They ask me all the time when we are going to write them again, and are anxious to see what their friends wrote back.As of right now, the letters are virtual and uploaded to Google Drive, says Young. However, in May, we are planning on letting the students decorate envelopes for their new friends before organizing them to be mailed. Each student will receive the envelope with all of the letters they have exchanged, so they can have the real letter to hold on to.I think not only is this a wonderful opportunity for our students to practice their writing skills, which is always a positive thing, but they are also learning about other parts of the world, says Garner. I hope they take away that even if someone is different from you somehow, even from somewhere far away, that we all have more in common than we do that divides us. This connection to others and to the world on a global scale is a powerful thing!"Since 1922, Murray State University has provided a collaborative, opportunity-rich living and learning community that fosters personal growth and professional success through a high-quality college experience. Students receive support from inspiring faculty and staff and will join a distinctive campus community  the Racer Family. With nearly 10,000 students, Murray State prepares the next generation of leaders to join more than 75,000 successful alumni who make a difference in their community, across the country and around the world. We are Racers. The Universitys main campus is located in Murray and includes five regional campuses in Ft. Campbell, Henderson, Hopkinsville, Madisonville and Paducah. To learn more about Murray State University, visit murraystate.edu.
Refurbishment works are now complete at Wicklow District Hospital which will reopen as an 18-bed short stay facility for older people in June.

The hospital was originally closed in October 2010 due to 'significant physical infrastructural concerns' following a fire audit of the building.

At the height of protests against the closure, over 3,000 people took to the streets of Wicklow to voice their anger.

Deputy John Brady has welcomed the reopening of the hospital.

'This is positive news, eleven years after they first closed the hospital. This comes following the completion of refurbishment works at the premises.

'The HSE have informed me that the intention is that the refurbished premises will be opened as Wicklow Community Nursing Unit.

'The unit will be an 18-bedded short stay facility for the rehabilitation and convalescence of older persons who may require additional support following an acute hospital stay. It will also provide short term respite for older persons living in the community.

'The HSE are currently engaged in a campaign to recruit nursing and care staff and that process is nearly finished. It is intended to induct and train staff during the month of May to allow for first admissions to Wicklow Community Nursing Unit in June 2021.'

Deputy Brady remains critical of the initial decision to close the hospital, despite the huge campaign against the closure organised by the Save Wicklow Hospital Campaign.

'Ultimately it was a political decision of the then Fianna Fail and Green government that allowed the hospital to close. They hid behind a report from HIQA which showed that minor works were needed in the hospital.

'Evidence was shown at the time that the work could be done quickly and economically to ensure the hospital could remain open. This reopening shows that we were right in 2010 in our opposition to the closure.'

Work is also currently under way to refresh the former Wicklow Day Services building on Glenside Road, which had been used for Community Covid Testing and a Community Assessment Hub until recent weeks.

Deputy Brady added: 'The HSE have advised me that as restrictions are lifted for older persons attending community services, they will gradually reopen the Day Services as it is deemed safe to do so with all infection prevention controls in place.'
Thailands Central Retail Corporation plans to invest $1.1 billion in Vietnam in the next five years to expand its stores network.

It said Vietnams wholesale and retail sector grew 7 percent year-on-year in the last quarter of 2020, and growth is likely to be strong this year, making it one of the most attractive markets in the world.

Philippe Broianigo, CEO of Central Retail Vietnam, said the five-year plan would focus on multi-sector and multi-platform development.

The company opened four shopping centers last year in central and southern Vietnam, and renamed five Big C supermarkets as "GO!".



It plans to invest $211 million for expansion this year, opening stores in the northern provinces of Thai Nguyen, Thai Binh and Lao Cai and the southern provinces of Ba Ria-Vung Tau and Tay Ninh.

Over nine years in Vietnam, foods have proven to be a key product for Central Retail, contributing 70 percent of its revenues.



With 37 shopping centers and 230 stores in 37 cities and provinces, it serves an average of 175,000 customers a day.
A Dallas woman has been sentenced to five years in prison after causing the death of a nightclub dancer by performing illegal butt injections on her.

Nitica Deonte Lee, 49, was found guilty of involuntary manslaughter after she injected a silicone substance into the buttocks of 22-year-old Daysha Phillips in St. Louis, Missouri in 2015.

Prosecutors said that Lee had travelled from her Dallas home to a hotel in the suburb of Edmundson where she performed the illegal cosmetic procedure. Phillips died four days later after the silicone entered her bloodstream and became trapped in her lungs.

Three other women had accompanied Phillips to the Drury Inn near St. Louis' main airport, but one backed out, and the two others who received injections didn't appear to suffer any ill effects from the procedure.

Nitica Deonte Lee (left), 49, has been sentenced to five years in prison for causing the death of 22-year-old exotic dancer Daysha Phillips (right) in Missouri through illegal butt injections

Investigators said that Phillips had trouble breathing after the injections and relatives rushed her to the hospital, but her condition quickly deteriorated and she was taken off life support four days later.

Phillips' sister Kimberly Sanders told FOX2now: 'She was basically dying a slow death when she left there.'

Phillips was an exotic dancer at the Pink Slip nightclub in Brooklyn, Missouri, where she performed under the stage name Milani Mulan. Her sisters said she also spent two years in the US Navy Reserve.

Following the sentencing on Thursday, Sanders and Philips' other sister Tereesha Patterson revealed that Lee had written the family a letter in which she she said she wanted to attempt to convey her 'deepest regret and sympathy over the death of Daysha'.

The letter obtained by FOX2now went on to read: 'I had a brief opportunity of meeting Daysha and I can truly appreciate why she was beloved by her family and friends.

'I had no intentions on bringing harm to Daysha's life There is nothing I can do or say to undo this tragedy.'

Phillips's sisters say she had been trying to achieve the sort of body that is idolized on television when she went to the hotel in St. Louis seeking a butt enhancement

Lee had previously served a four-year prison term on convictions for robbery, burglary and theft, the St. Louis Dispatch revealed.

She was charged shortly after Phillips died, but evaded authorities for five years before being arrested in her hometown of Dallas in July 2020. Prosecutors said she spent some of her time as a fugitive in Mexico.

Patterson and Sanders said their sister had been trying to achieve the sort of body that is idolized on television when she went to the hotel in St. Louis seeking a butt enhancement.

'I think you need to be very careful  women, who they hang around with, and who influences them,' Patterson told FOX2Now.

Tereesha Patterson said Daysha Phillips had been trying to achieve the sort of body that is idolized on television when she went to the hotel in St. Louis seeking a butt enhancement

Investigators said that Phillips had trouble breathing after the injections and relatives rushed her to the hospital, but her condition quickly deteriorated and she was taken off life support

'We have a lot of stars and actresses and actors, I don't want to say any names because it's not fair to them, but they're out there, in the music industry. It's glamorized.'

Butt augmentation, which averages roughly $4,000 when done legally, typically involves using implants, sculpting by using fat from elsewhere in the patient's body, or a combination of both, according to the American Society of Plastic Surgeons website.

Black market practitioners sometimes use silicone sourced from hardware stores and deaths from such illegal procedures have occurred around the U.S.

In Dallas, 34-year-old Wykesha Reid died in February from what authorities said was a blocked lung artery linked to illegal silicone injections meant to expand her butt. Two salon workers, Denise Rochelle 'Wee Wee' Ross, 43, and Jimmy Joe 'Alicia' Clarke, 31, were charged with murder.

Phillips (pictured) was an exotic dancer at the Pink Slip nightclub in Brooklyn, Missouri, and her sisters say she also spent two years in the US Navy Reserve

Prosecutors in North Carolina charged a man with second-degree murder in January in connection with a butt injection that led to a woman's death in March 2014.

The man, Vinnie Taylor, also was indicted on federal charges alleging he sold and injected food grade liquid silicone into people. Prosecutors allege he injected seven women with silicone between September 2013 and September 2014.

In June, a former Philadelphia madam who performed illegal 'body sculpting' was sentenced to 10 to 20 years in prison in the death of a dancer whose heart stopped after nearly half a gallon of silicone was injected into her buttocks.
Luke Ball

Luke Ball is exiting his position as communications director for Rep. Matt Gaetz as the Justice Department inquiry into Gaetzs possible connections to sex trafficking continues.

Ball started out in Gaetzs office as an intern in 2017. In addition to serving as his press secretary, he was deputy campaign manager in the representatives 2018 re-election campaign and deputy digital director for Ron DeSantis for Governor, according to Balls LinkedIn profile.

He is also the founder of Rightlife Media, a video production and website design company.

The New York Post said that Ball had scrubbed any mentions of Gaetz, from his Twitter biography by midday Thursday.

The Office of Congressman Matt Gaetz and Luke Ball have agreed that it would be best to part ways, a statement from Gaetzs office said. We thank him for his time in our office, and we wish him the best moving forward.
Four United Nations peacekeepers from Chad were killed in an attack by jihadists on their camp in Aguelhok in northern Mali and 19 others were injured, U.N. officials said Friday. The U.N. mission in Mali said helicopters were dispatched to the scene to evacuate the wounded from the camp, which houses mostly Chadian peacekeepers.

The mission said that the attackers suffered heavy losses and had abandoned several of their dead at the site of the attack. U.N. Secretary-General Guterres condemned the attack by armed elements in the strongest terms and commended the courage and bravery of the peacekeepers who robustly repelled the attack, U.N. spokesman Stephane Dujarric said.

Guterres reiterated that attacks targeting peacekeepers may constitute war crimes under international law and that sanctions can be applied against those responsible, Dujarric said. The U.N. chief called on Malian authorities to spare no effort in identifying and promptly holding to account the perpetrators of this heinous attack, the spokesman said. The Secretary-General reiterates the solidarity of the United Nations with the people and government of the Republic of Mali in their quest for peace, Dujarric said. Mali has been trying to contain an Islamic extremist insurgency since 2012.

Islamic extremist rebels were forced from power in Mali's northern cities with the help of a 2013 French-led military operation. However, the insurgents quickly regrouped in the desert and began launching frequent attacks on the Malian army and its allies fighting the insurgency. The extremists have expanded their reach well into central Mali, where their presence has inflamed tensions between ethnic groups in the area.

(Disclaimer: This story is auto-generated from a syndicated feed; only the image & headline may have been reworked by www.republicworld.com)
One of them is the addition of a 283 ci small-block V8 engine that was introduced specifically for 1957 and then carried over to the third-generation series as well. Until then, the Bel Air was available with a choice of three engines comprising two straight-six units  215 and 235, and one 265 ci V8.The new 283 ci unit developed over 280 horsepower, and it could be ordered with an improved Turboglide transmission, though the previous two-speed automatic continued to be offered as well.The example that you see here retains pretty much everything from the original model, boasting a package that could easily catch the attention of someone looking for an unmolested 1957 Bel Air Pulled from a barn quite recently after spending 25 years in the same place, the Chevrolet obviously doesnt come in its best shape, though youll probably be able to figure out what needs to be fixed and what doesnt after a thorough cleaning. However, eBay seller 1966hardtop guarantees the frame, the trunk, and the body are extremely rust-free.The 283 engine still comes with the car, but on the other hand, we dont know if its working or not. I have not tried to run the engine or work on the brakes as of yet, the seller explains.The VIN confirms this is a 1957 Chevrolet Bel Air 2400 fitted with a V8 engine and assembled in St. Louis, Missouri.No information has been provided on the mileage, but a closer inspection is recommended anyway, especially after cleaning the body to determine just how rust-free everything really is.As for the price of the car, this Bel Air doesnt come cheap. Its not listed for auction but with a fixed price, and it can be yours today if youre willing to pay $27,000 for it.
.......... .......... .......... .......... .......... .......... .......... .......... .......... .......... .......... .......... .......... .......... .......... .......... .......... ..........

A few weeks ago this column focused on the need for citizens who are unhappy with the state of our political and justice systems to speak up about their concerns.

Your opinion cant be counted if you stay silent, I wrote, or as one of my readers put it, We now have the government that we have earned but not the government our children deserve.

Apathetic mainstream voters have allowed a minority of outspoken activists to dominate the national conversation on myriad topics: defunding police, immigration, selective prosecutions, federal spending and lots more divisive issues. I urged citizens to get in touch with elected officials so all views can be considered.

Well, judging from the amount of mail Ive gotten, citizens are, indeed, contacting their representatives. The problem? Politicians are ignoring them.

ADVERTISEMENTSkip



................................................................

I email my U.S. senators frequently to encourage them, or at least make them aware that there are other points of view out there, Sara Karl wrote. I have not got a response in over a year, not even their form letters. Karl believes her elected officials are too consumed with reelection to care about what she thinks.

Same here in N.J., wrote L. Grace. I do get a response, but it is a canned, elitist political speech extolling the vapid virtues of the very thing I am writing against.

Steve Robel in North Carolina declared voters absolutely must Hold them accountable while they are in office. Robel supports term limits.

Gregstocks2005 emailed to say, Our government officials, both local and federal, are nothing more than echo chambers, busy listening to one another. They are not interested in either their constituents voices or the voices of common people.

And reader Thomas Spencer appears ready to give up trying to contact his representatives. With little or no response from them I know they do what they like. Most of the time I receive an email justifying their actions with the invisible middle finger hidden in the words. Ouch.

So, whats a citizen supposed to do when their own member of Congress wont listen or respond? Reader Sally Grave said she wrote directly to the speaker of the House. I have tried to contact (U.S. Rep. Nancy) Pelosi to complain about her actions, but because I am not a resident of California I cannot, she said.

Well, that doesnt seem right, does it? If Speaker Pelosi controls the House of Representatives, shouldnt she be responsive to all Americans?

A warning to politicians everywhere. Beware. The tide of apathy is lifting, and dismissive treatment has a way of sticking in a voters mind on Election Day.

From Pat Wittorf in Oklahoma: As for contacting my representatives, I do that with sufficient regularity that I have a mental image of their staff seeing my email address and muttering, Not her again!'

A defeated Cindy Merrill appears to have given up trying to get someone to listen to her opinions. We cant debate, she wrote. If we try were called racists.

A Mr. Gato emailed to say, They know what we want. And too many of them are too corrupt with their own power and egos to care. We must keep speaking out!

Carl Morris made an intriguing point by suggesting many of us are victims of learned helplessness. He wrote, The public is being trained/gaslighted into feeling like no matter what they do they are wrong and will be punished, so they may as well give full control to someone else. Never a good idea, I say.

Messages of political dissatisfaction came in from across America. Yet many expressed determination to keep politicians feet to the fire. From Ohio, Robert Runkle advised, Even if they ignore you keep writing, calling and emailing. Flood their offices with calls and mail!

Emailer Texas Patriot Gal wrote, We didnt get into this mess in 1 or 2 cycles. It will take time and diligence to get it back on track, but the freedom in the United States of America is worth fighting for, and we can make the changes necessary.

If you are unhappy with the direction the United States is taking, get involved. Write, call, demand transparency and a response. And let your politicians know you are a motivated voter.

www.DianeDimond.com; email to Diane@DianeDimond.com.
SHELTON  Residents can expect a tax decrease if Mayor Mark Laurettis 2021-22 budget is approved as proposed.

Lauretti, in his annual address to the Board of Aldermen and Board of Apportionment and Taxation Thursday in the City Hall auditorium, said he is proposing a $128,225,767 city budget, a $43,728 increase from the present fiscal year.

If the mayors budget is approved as proposed, the mill rate would be 22.03, a 1.74 reduction from the present fiscal year. The proposed spending plan projects a 98.85 percent tax collection rate, according to Finance Director Paul Hiller.

Laurettis budget included a modest increase for the Board of Education budget, which has been $72,765,000 for the past two years. Lauretti's education proposal stands at $72,900,000  a $135,000 increase over the 2020-21 fiscal year budget but more than $2 million less than the school board requested.

This year, the Board of Education has approved a 2021-22 budget request of $74,944,205  a $2,179,205, or 2.99 percent  hike from the previous year.

Last year, the theme was uncertainty, Lauretti said, and, for the most part, were in the same situation this year.

Next years budget will look like this years budget, he said, with the only jumps because of contractual increases.

Lauretti said the citys budget depends on the economy rebounding and clarification on the use of federal stimulus monies coming to municipalities and the boards of education across the state  all of which remain unknown. Money coming to municipalities cannot be used to buy down the tax rate, but what it can be used for has not been finalized.

The mayor was speaking about funds coming to Shelton from

The recently passed $1.9 trillion American Rescue Plan includes $16.8 million earmarked for Shelton, with $4,898,000 designated for education, according to data released from Congressman Jim Himes office.

The breakdown aims $4,060,000 in federal relief funds to the city as well as an additional $7.86 million, due in part because Connecticut has no county government and part of the state funding was allocated money for county governments to bestow.

Regarding the education budget, Lauretti said at some point before the final adoption, the Board of Aldermen can and will modify that number once there is clarification on those federal stimulus monies that have been made available.

Lauretti acknowledged that there are new and important educational programs  such as Eureka math, Wit and Wisdom for reading as well as social/emotional learning offerings  necessary to aid learning in the wake of the pandemic. He also noted a new social studies curriculum, mandated by the state, which comes at a cost.

"This is just the beginning of a process in which many conversations and discussions will take place, Board of Education Chair Kathy Yolish said after the budget presentation. Our Board of Education members will work with our superintendent and his central office leadership team to review each line-item request in preparation for joint meetings with the Board of Apportionment and Taxation and the Board of Aldermen. We will present our information and justify our needs. ... (and) we will be afforded a final budget that will be beneficial to our taxpayers but most importantly to our students.

Due to the effects of COVID-19, we have a long road ahead of us to get our kids caught up in their academics, their social/emotional learning and their overall growth and development, Yolish added. With the proper funding, this can be accomplished.

School Superintendent Ken Saranich said his budget proposal would maintain current staff and services while meeting necessary contractual obligations. The reductions, he said, will not impact on the districts offerings but will reduce capital requests that would have gone to the city.

brian.gioiele@hearstmediact.com
STATEN ISLAND, N.Y. -- A website for the New York State Office of Cannabis Management (OCM) has been launched to educate the public about new laws surrounding legalized marijuana.

The site includes new cannabis laws, and information about what is now allowed concerning smoking, growing, buying and selling marijuana.

The OCMs regulatory structure will include a Cannabis Control Board, which will oversee the licensure, cultivation, production, distribution, sale and taxation of medical, adult-use and cannabinoid hemp within New York State.

The website also provides resources for individuals seeking medical cannabis practitioners, caregivers and medical cannabis IDs, as well as businesses seeking licensure to participate in adult-use, medical and cannabinoid hemp industries.

Legalizing cannabis was the first step in this historic endeavor to right the wrongs of the past, Governor Andrew Cuomo said. The Office of Cannabis Managements website provides critical preliminary information pending the creation of the Cannabis Control Board about the future of this industry, as well as resources for individuals and businesses seeking information on the future of cannabis in New York State. The website outlines the comprehensive reforms this legislation enacts, and I know will be a valued resource for many as we move forward.

On March 31, Governor Cuomo signed legislation legalizing adult-use cannabis. The bill establishes the Cannabis Control Board and the Office of Cannabis Management to implement a comprehensive regulatory framework that covers medical, adult-use and cannabinoid hemp.

The bill also expands New York States existing medical cannabis and cannabinoid hemp programs. The legislation provides licensing for marijuana producers, distributors, retailers, and others in the cannabis market, and creates a social and economic equity program to assist individuals disproportionately impacted by cannabis enforcement who want to participate in the industry.

NEW NYPD POLICIES

Following the approval of legal adult-use of marijuana in New York, the NYPD is advising officers against full vehicle searches based solely on their sense of smell.

Driving while impaired by marijuana is a crime and the smell of burnt marijuana can be considered probable cause of impairment. However, the offense now is considered a violation rather than a misdemeanor.

Officers can search the passenger compartment based on the smell of weed, but in order to search the trunk theyll need another reason to believe it contains evidence of a crime, according to the new guidelines.

Additionally, street-level sales of the drug also will be policed differently.

STATE REVENUE EXPECTED

The development of an adult-use cannabis industry in New York State under this new legislation has the potential to create significant economic opportunities for New Yorkers and the State. Tax collections from the adult-use cannabis program are projected to reach $350 million annually, according to the Cuomo administration. Additionally, Cuomo said there is the potential for this new industry to create 30,000 to 60,000 new jobs across the state.

The website for the New York State Office of Cannabis Management can be found here.

*** CLICK HERE FOR COMPLETE COVERAGE OF CORONAVIRUS IN NEW YORK***

FOLLOW TRACEY PORPORA ON FACEBOOK and TWITTER
Wesley Belisle, 4, died in April 2018 when he was swept into the Atlantic Ocean while on a vacation in North Carolinas Outer Banks with his parents, Lindsey and Derek Belisle. At the time, authorities said Wesley was walking along a beach with his mother when he was pulled out to sea by a rogue wave.
The European Commission is now dusting down measures to redraw company taxes. Photo: Yves Herman/Reuters

Irelands corporate tax strategy could come under further pressure as the EU mulls a revival of a decade-old multinational tax plan.

The European Commission is to set out a holistic and ambitious vision for business taxes at the end of the month, where it will take stock of stalled talks on a proposal known as the common consolidated corporate tax base (CCCTB).

However, the exact timing and focus of the draft are still in flux given US president Joe Bidens recent move to onshore multinational taxes and his bid for a strong minimum tax at global level in talks led by the Organisation for Economic Cooperation and Development (OECD).

A public consultation on the Commissions plans closed on Thursday and proposals to revive the CCCTB were supported in two submissions.

The Danish Chamber of Commerce said the CCCTB should be promoted and taken more seriously by member states, while Dutch-headquartered travel platform Booking.com said it would be interesting to look into the possibility of relaunching it.

Read More

A decision on whether or not to adopt a CCCTB is ultimately a political one to be taken by the member states given that it will involve them giving up or pooling part of their tax sovereignty, said Chris Morgan, head of global tax policy at consulting firm KPMG, in his submission to the consultation.

A CCCTB should reduce any tax competition between member states and provide greater transparency over the tax charge.

The CCCTB proposal dates back to 2011 and sets out to end profit-shifting between companies in large groups, treating them as one entity in the EU for tax purposes.

It was revived in 2016 and split into two draft laws, with the first setting out a single definition of taxable profits, including deductions, reliefs and credits.

The second, more controversial, law would force large firms to pay their final tax bills where their sales, assets and payroll are based.

In its corporation tax roadmap in January, the Department of Finance said efforts to stop profit-shifting were best handled by the Paris-based OECD in its Inclusive Framework, which is due to report back in July.

The OECD process has been revived by support from the Biden administration after the Trump presidency killed it.

The longstanding CCCTB proposal remains under discussion, albeit with limited momentum, the roadmap said. Ireland continues to believe that the work at the Inclusive Framework on realigning taxing rights globally remains a more appropriate approach to corporation tax reform.

The Commission will set out its thinking on business taxes in a communication due for release on April 27.

It will also look at an EU-wide digital levy, which it had pledged to table by June if there was no progress in OECD talks.

In a document issued with public consultation, the Commission said the single market and digitalisation had intensified tax competition and risked a race to the bottom on tax revenues.
Alabamas largest school district announced Friday that Mobile County schools students, teachers and visitors will keep wearing masks after Gov. Kay Iveys mandate expires April 9.

Superintendent Chresal Threadgill said he decided to keep a mask rule after meeting with local health officials and seeing a preliminary spike in cases after Spring Break.

My office has received numerous calls in support of lifting the mask requirement. While this is a difficult decision to make, I take my job to protect every student, faculty, and staff member to heart, Threadgill wrote in a letter to parents Friday. We have successfully made it close to the end of a very tough year, and I am determined for us to end the year on a positive note.

Ivey and other state and federal officials still encourage people to wear masks as an effective way to prevent COVID-19 transmission, but Ivey said she wants individuals to take personal responsibility for the decision.

I am a firm believer that we, as #TeamMCPSS, have been able to make it through this difficult year because of the precautions we have taken, Threadgill said. We only have six weeks of school remaining after the states official mask mandate ends, and our students have adapted to wearing their masks very well.

Neighboring Baldwin County School District has decided to lift its mask rules after Spring Break. Hoover City Schools said in a letter to parents Friday that they would keep masks, citing in part the fact that some teachers have still not been able to get vaccinated.

Elsewhere in the state, school boards are making their own decisions; state Superintendent Eric Mackey declined to make a recommendation of how to handle the end of the mandate.

The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention still recommends mask-wearing in school and most public settings; the Alabama Department of Health still encourages masks as well.

The departments school COVID tracker recorded a slight bump in reported cases over the past week, from 181 to 236 cases, but schools on Spring Break did not report numbers.
Despite a landmark report this week concluding that Britain is a model for other countries when dealing with matters of race, a chorus of voices from the Left have condemned its findings.

Among the most inflammatory attacks on the Commission on Race and Ethnic Disparities' report were that it 'sweeps the history of slavery under the table', and that it is 'patronising' and 'historically illiterate'.

But such comments gloss over detailed research in the report that provides a fascinating insight into today's multi-racial Britain.

Education expert Dr Tony Sewell (pictured) led the Commission on Race and Ethnic Disparities

Led by education expert Dr Tony Sewell, the commission did not claim that racism doesn't exist in the UK but that racial inequalities have narrowed in education and employment.

It argued that many problems blamed on racism are complicated, varied and linked to tradition, economics, class and other social factors  as this snapshot of the findings in the 258-page report makes clear.

Poverty affects educational achievement more than race. Poor pupils lag more than two years behind in areas such as Blackpool, Knowsley and Plymouth  all almost exclusively white.

The pay-gap between white and ethnic-minority groups has closed to 2.3 per cent. Chinese and Indian employees now earn 'notably more' than the white average.

The report argues that many problems blamed on racism are complicated, varied and linked to tradition, economics, class and other social factors

Life expectancy and mortality rates show that ethnic minorities do better overall than the white population and have better outcomes for many of the 25 leading causes of death. Britain's worst life expectancy is in the North East  which is one of the whitest regions.

Statistics show that last year, 15 per cent of all families were single-parent  but 63 per cent of black Caribbean children, and 43 per cent of black African children, grow up in one-parent households. The figure is just six per cent for Indian families.

Although ethnic minorities represent 16 per cent of the population, nearly 50 per cent of doctors working in NHS hospitals are from an ethnic minority  as are 21 per cent of lawyers.

Poor white boys achieve the lowest GCSE grades. Only 39.1 per cent of white boys got grade 5 or above in English and Maths in 2019, compared with 49 per cent of Asian boys.

Last year, white students were least likely to go to university (32.6 per cent), compared with nearly half of black pupils and 71 per cent of Chinese. However, ethnic-minority students are more likely to drop out, achieve lower exam results or have lower earnings after graduating.

Keith Fraser, 54, the former police superintendent and chair of the Youth Justice Board for England and Wales, was also part of the commission

The children of recent migrants perform particularly well at school, but long-term analysis suggests that such attainment tails off in subsequent generations.

The proportion of people, according to opinion polls, who believe that you must be white to be 'truly British' has declined from 18 per cent in 2006 to seven per cent now.

Rather than 'racism' being a factor, employers may hire in their own image and choose new staff based on their 'cultural fit', or 'chemistry' because of 'affinity bias'. The report says: 'All people, not just white people, are subject to these biases.'

Black Caribbean and Arab women earn more on average per hour (12.09 and 12.49 respectively  based on figures for 2019) than white British women, who got 11.21 an hour.

Born in Kenya, Mercy Muroki was part of the commission. The 25-year-old attended a school with no electricity. Aged five, she arrived in West London with her parents and sister

Black people are three times more likely to be arrested than white people  but juries are not more likely to convict ethnic minority defendants. Gangs and gang-related violence are linked to broken families, and not restricted to black communities. In the North, they are largely linked with white communities.

Black African men were almost 3.4 times more likely to die of Covid-19 in the first wave of the pandemic than white British men. But this was related to an increased risk of infection  living in multi-generational households, working in public-facing jobs  rather than from any difference in treatment or their ethnicity alone.

Some ethnic-minority groups live longer and are less likely to be diagnosed with cancer than white people, despite living in more deprived communities.

Racism and discrimination is not widespread in the health system, as is claimed. Both black and white patients report being equally satisfied with treatment.

Equalities minister KEMI BADENOCH: Good people who compiled the race report were torn apart for revealing a complex truth

This last week has shown how difficult it is to have a nuanced discussion on race issues in the UK, especially when you belong to an ethnic minority, WRITES KEMI BADENOCH.

The Commission for Race and Ethnic Disparities was set up last year following the emotional outpouring of Black Lives Matter and evidence that Covid-19 was having a disproportionate impact on minority groups. It was established to understand the root causes of these inequalities and to find solutions.

Equalities minister Kemi Badenoch (pictured) writes that the commission was established to understand the root causes of inequalities and to find solutions

Its members represent a cross-section of people, all but one from an African, Asian or Caribbean background. They are not a part of the race-relations industry, but come from all walks of life and include a space scientist, a police officer and a teacher as well as Dr Tony Sewell, an educationist who runs a charity helping young black people into science and maths careers.

They are united in their desire to make this country a better place for everyone, whether they are black, brown or white. And their mandate was to produce recommendations based on data and evidence, not just personal opinion.

Cambridge don's 'Goebbels' jibe A Cambridge University professor has sparked outrage by comparing the chairman of the Government's race commission to Joseph Goebbels. Dr Priyamvada Gopal initially questioned whether Dr Tony Sewell even had a doctorate. Dr Priyamvada Gopal initially questioned whether Dr Tony Sewell even had a doctorate After finding out that he possesses one from the University of Nottingham, she made the comparison to Adolf Hitler's minister of propaganda. Dr Gopal, a professor of post-colonial studies, wrote on Twitter: 'Okay, established. It is, in fact, Dr Sewell. Fair enough. Even Dr Goebbels had a research PhD. (University of Heidelberg, 1921).' The tweet drew widespread criticism. Former ITV News presenter Alastair Stewart said: 'This is obscene and devalues anything and everything you have to say.' Cambridge University distanced itself from Dr Gopal's 'gratuitous comment' but defended her right to express her views. Advertisement

The way they have been treated since the report's publication has gone well beyond the boundaries of robust debate, however. And this clearly highlights one of the reasons why conversations on race have become so toxic. The fact is that some people have made it their mission to punish any member of an ethnic minority who steps out of line and dares to give an alternative view. This creates a chilling effect.

I know that many black and brown people disagree with the usual suspects who dominate the discussion. Yet they say nothing because the fear of being maligned is too great. In the past few days, the Commissioners have faced death threats, harassment at their places of work and an unbelievable amount of abuse on social media.

Their staff and colleagues have been vilified. Dr Priyamvada Gopal, a well-known Cambridge academic, questioned whether Dr Sewell had a PhD and compared him to Nazi propagandist Joseph Goebbels. Labour MP Clive Lewis brandished an image of a white hood and compared Dr Sewell  a black Caribbean man  to a member of the Ku Klux Klan. To say this is grossly offensive is an understatement.

Dr Sewell's request that teachings of slavery in the Caribbean should also recognise that black people preserved their humanity and triumphed over adversity has been distorted to suggest he was claiming they enjoyed their subjugation.

The report does not deny racism. In fact, it acknowledges that overt racism persists in the UK  but states that this is different from institutional racism. The report's authors explain how they came to these conclusions and propose solutions to the disparities they have identified. Theirs is not a controversial view. Yet there is now a concerted attempt to claim that anyone who holds this view is a racist or an apologist for racism.

And, partly as a result, the report's 258 pages, its findings and recommendations have barely been discussed. Genuine solutions that could help heal divisions in society have been ignored. What message are we sending people who would like to enter public life?

The commissioners do not have the support of any political party. They are accomplished people who came together in public service but now are paying a price for giving an honest opinion. They deserve a fair hearing.

The Sewell Commission was an opportunity to move away from discussions of 'culture wars' towards a balanced, informed discussion about race and opportunity in the United Kingdom. I know most people in this country want that, too. I would encourage them to read the report and come to their own conclusions.
Starting Monday, all Michigan residents age 16 and older will be eligible for a COVID-19 vaccine.

But many are skeptical about coronavirus vaccines, especially since it was developed in record time.

How to find a COVID-19 vaccination appointment in Michigan

Below is a closer look at the vaccine, what we know and what we dont know.

Myth: The vaccine will give you COVID-19.

Fact: None of the vaccines used in the U.S. involve injection of the virus itself, and it is impossible to get COVID-19 from any of the three vaccines approved by the Food and Drug Administration.

Its true that, historically, vaccines produced an immune response by injecting weakened live cells or dead cells from the virus into an individual.

But two of the vaccines approved so far -- the Pfizer and Moderna shots -- use a revolutionary new process. These mRNA vaccines get our cells to make a protein that triggers the production of antibodies that protect us from the COVID-19 infection.

So essentially, it fools your body into creating a tiny part of the virus, and then your body creates antibodies to that tiny part, Dr. Darryl Elmouchi, president of Spectrum Health West Michigan, a division of Spectrum Health in Grand Rapids, told MLive in December. Its amazing and its far different than all vaccines weve used before. Its actually far more elegant and makes a lot of sense.

This is the first time where you use your bodys own machinery to make those pieces, Elmouchi said. The reason this is so effective is that your body will make a whole lot of those pieces -- and the more exposure to those pieces that are not dangerous to you, the more antibodies youll make. Thats why were getting rates of 95% effectiveness.

He and others said that scientists have been working on this technique for a decade, but this is the first time its being used for a vaccine.

The Johnson & Johnson shot uses a different technique. It also employs a genetic code to stimulate an immune response, but this vaccine delivers it via a common cold virus called adenovirus 26 that is genetically engineered. (The cold virus is modified so it cannot give people a cold and cannot spread in the body.)

Myth: The vaccine was developed too fast to trust its safety.

Fact: The truncated timeline for the vaccine development involved the bureaucratic and manufacturing processes, doctors say.

In fact, the COVID-19 went through the same safety process as other vaccines, and the real-world usage in recent months has borne out that the vaccines are safe and effective.

So why were they able to develop the vaccines so fast?

For openers, scientists developed the genetic code for the virus almost immediately. That was available in February 2020.

Secondly, the high number of COVID cases in the summer and fall meant clinical trials went faster than expected because people in the placebo group were getting sick at a faster rate than anticipated.

Remember, the trial has to prove that people who get the vaccine dont get the disease and the placebo folks get it, Elmouchi told MLive in December. Well, when you have so much disease, you can prove that much more quickly.

Also, Pfizer, Moderna and Johnson & Johnson all started manufacturing the vaccine while it was still undergoing approval by the FDA, with the understanding that the doses would have to be thrown out if vaccine was not approved. That meant distribution of the vaccines could begin as soon as each was OKd by the FDA.

Myth: The vaccine will alter your DNA.

Fact: Not true.

The mRNA in the vaccines does not integrate with the bodys DNA, nor does it enter the nucleus. The mRNA vaccines cause the bodys cells to create the spike proteins used by the coronavirus to infect healthy cells, but not the coronavirus itself. This is what triggers an immune response, training your body to defend against the virus, says a fact sheet from McLaren Flint Hospital.

Myth: The different vaccines vary in effectiveness.

Fact: Clinical trials found a 95% efficacy rate for the Pfizer and Moderna vaccines compared to 67% for the J&J shot.

However, experts say thats an apples-to-oranges comparison because the J&J conducted its clinical trials later than the other two when COVID-19 variants were emerging. And among the countries where J&J tested its vaccine were South Africa and Brazil, which have particularly problematic variants.

Moreover, the clinical trials did show the J&J shot was comparable to the Moderna and Pfizer vaccines in preventing severe cases of coronavirus that could led to hospitalization or death. The lower percentage for J&J was in regards to symptomatic disease, including the more common mild cases.

The J&J shot has an advantage over the other two in that its only one shot, which is more convenient for both providers and patients. It also means that individuals getting the J&J shot are fully immune within two weeks compared to the five- or six-week process for the other two vaccines.

Myth: The vaccine has dangerous side effects.

Fact: The vaccines can have some side effects such as headache, fatigue and/or fever, particularly after the second dose. But those symptoms tend to go away after 24 hours, and theyre a sign that the vaccine is properly stimulating an immune response.

There are a few isolated cases of people having a severe reaction to the vaccine, and those individuals are typically people with a history of severe allergic reactions. Individuals with a history of reaction to immunizations should check with their doctor before being vaccinated.

But on the whole, the health risks of contracting coronavirus are astronomically higher than those associated with the vaccines, said Dr. Liam Sullivan, a Grand Rapids infectious disease specialist with Spectrum Health.

Consider this: In the past month, there have been 1.3 million Michigan residents who have gotten vaccinated vs. about 85,000 who caught coronavirus. The 2,600 people currently hospitalized for COVID-19 and the 558 deaths reported since March 1 are because of the latter, not the former.

And even people who arent hospitalized risk a case of long COVID. Its estimated that 10% to 30% of coronavirus patients have lingering symptoms that last for weeks or months.

Myth: People who already had coronavirus dont need to be vaccinated.

Fact. False.

Having COVID-19 does create natural immunity, but experts dont yet know exactly how long that natural immunity lasts.

There have been many recorded cases of people becoming infected with COVID-19 more than once, and thats particularly true in regards to the variant strains now circulating.

The federal Centers for Disease Control strongly recommends vaccines for those who have recovered from COVID-19.

Myth: Once youre vaccinated, you dont need a mask.

Fact: It takes some time for the vaccine to kick in, and even after that, there will be times youll need to continue wearing a mask.

Full immunity occurs about two week after your final dose. Thats a six-week process for the Moderna shot, a five-week process for the Pfizer vaccine and two weeks after the single J&J shot.

Even once you are considered fully immune, realize that the vaccine is about risk reduction, not risk elimination.

That means your chances of contracting or transmitting COVID are significantly reduced, and even if you do get infected, the vaccine substantially reduces the chance you will have a severe case. All that said, the risk is not zero.

So once you are fully immune, you can go without a mask if youre with others who also are vaccinated or at low risk of serious illness because they are healthy and under age 65. However, you should continue to wear a mask when youre in a public place with strangers or a private event where you dont know the health status of everyone in the room.

Myth: The vaccine causes miscarriages and/or infertility.

Fact: There are no studies that show that.

At this point, there is no data showing the vaccines present a danger to pregnant women. That said, safety data is limited and ongoing regarding this specific population.

One argument for getting vaccinated, especially considering the high coronavirus transmission rates in Michigan rate now: Pregnant people are at an increased risk for severe illness from COVID-19 when compared to non-pregnant people. That severe illness could result in intensive care admission, mechanical ventilation, or death. Additionally, pregnant people with COVID-19 might be at increased risk of adverse pregnancy outcomes, such as preterm birth, compared with pregnant women without COVID-19, the research suggests.

Moreover, pregnant or breastfeeding mothers who are vaccinated against COVID-19 can transfer antibodies to their child according to a recent study published by the American Journal of Obstetrics & Gynecology.

The CDC suggests that pregnant women talk to their doctor when weighing the pros and cons of vaccination.

Myth: Youll need to get a COVID-19 booster every year.

Fact: Maybe. But we dont know yet.

Perhaps the biggest question mark around the vaccines: How long will the immunity last?

That will take time to tell, experts say. Some vaccines offer lifetime immunity, but more often booster shots are needed, and its possible that people will require to be regularly vaccinated against coronavirus.

Its also possible booster shots will be needed to protect against variants.

Myth: An individuals decision of whether to get vaccinated doesnt impact others.

Fact: Vaccinations protect not only the individual, but the people around them. People who decide to remain unvaccinated will still be able to transmit the virus, and theres still a chance they could infect a vaccinated friend or family member.

Also, the quickest and most effective way to achieve herd immunity and end the pandemic is for as many people to get vaccinated as quickly as possible.

Read more on MLive:

Michigans COVID-19 numbers increasing at troubling pace. Whats going on?

Gender gap in pandemic unemployment shrinking, but mothers still left behind

When congregations cant congregate: Pandemic forces Michiganders to rethink church

FOX 2 Detroit anchor Maurielle Lue describes her terrifying COVID battle: I literally cant breathe

COVID-19 cases in Michigan nursing homes drop 96%, deaths drop 99% since late December
Prospects for a passenger rail line connecting Baton Rouge and New Orleans got a boost this week after the Biden administration proposed $80 billion for passenger rail in its massive infrastructure program and Amtrak released plans to add 30 new routes that include the long-discussed service.

It was a really, really good day, said John Spain, executive vice president of the Baton Rouge Area Foundation and a longtime advocate for passenger rail service. Weve got a lot of work to do, but this is the closest weve ever been.

The proposed Baton Rouge to New Orleans Amtrak line would include many of the elements recommended in a 2014 rail study, commissioned by BRAF, the Capital Region Planning Commission and the New Orleans Regional Planning Commission. There would be stations near the Electric Depot on Government Street and in the Bluebonnet-Essen-Perkins medical district, both in Baton Rouge, in Gonzales, LaPlace and at Louis Armstrong International Airport, with the final stop at the Union Passenger Terminal near the Superdome.

"Amtrak said the work we've done, they're going to do," Spain said.

It would take about an hour to ride the whole route, close to the same time it would take to drive the same distance. The study called for eight round trips a day, with round trip tickets costing about $15.

The 2014 report estimated it would cost $262 million to get the rail service going. The biggest expense would be $62.1 million to replace the 1.8-mile wooden rail bridge across the Bonnet Carre Spillway, where trains now crawl at 10 miles per hour.

Proponents say passenger rail from New Orleans to Baton Rouge gaining momentum The effort to develop a passenger rail line linking New Orleans and Baton Rouge could be gaining momentum.

The plans are there, said Spain, the former chairman of the Southern Rail Commission. There are federal funds that would cover half the costs of building train stations and would help pay for the upgrades to the rail line. One of the next steps would be for the Louisiana Department of Transportation and Development to apply for grants to cover the rail upgrades.

Next year, Amtrak is set to restore the rail line from New Orleans to Mobile, Alabama, that was canceled after Hurricane Katrina. Extending passenger rail to Baton Rouge is the logical next step," said Knox Ross, secretary-treasurer of the Southern Rail Commission.

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

New Orleans to Mobile passenger rail gets closer after $4.36M grant for first-year operations Efforts to restore passenger rail service along the Gulf Coast got a boost Thursday when the U.S. Department of Transportation awarded a $4.36

Amtrak is focused on developing rail service between city pairs, like Baton Rouge and New Orleans. Ross said a line between the state capital and the Crescent City checks the boxes the agency is looking for: public support (a recent survey of south Louisiana residents found that 85% said it was "very important" or "important" to have a rail line connecting Baton Rouge and New Orleans); good population density; and a trip time thats competitive with driving. Plus, theres political muscle behind the effort. Gov. John Bel Edwards supports the measure, along with former U.S. Rep. Cedric Richmond. The New Orleans Democrat is now working in the White House as a senior adviser to Biden.

Would you use it? New survey examines possible railway connecting Baton Rouge, New Orleans A 2010 study of a possible passenger rail service between Baton Rouge and New Orleans forecasts that 39,000 riders could be zipping between th

It also doesn't hurt that the president has the nickname "Amtrak Joe" from the daily train commute he made from his home in Delaware to Washington, D.C.

Louisiana is uniquely situated to get this done, Ross said.

Another factor working in favor of the rail line is Canadian Pacific Railways proposed purchase of Kansas City Southern. While Canadian Pacific has a great relationship with Amtrak, Spain and Ross both note the service isnt running on the KCS network at all. We think theres a new opportunity to talk to new management, Spain said.

Even with all the energy and momentum behind the push for rail service, there are still some obstacles that need to be overcome. The transportation bill needs to make it through Congress, and there's been some concern about the $2 trillion price tag.

This is not an insignificant project, Spain said, but the fact theyve announced something to the public is exciting for us.

The last passenger train to serve Baton Rouge, the Southern Belle, rolled through on its way to New Orleans on the morning of Nov. 3, 1969, after the Interstate Commerce Commission gave the Kansas City Southern Railroad and its subsidiary, the Louisiana & Arkansas Railway, permission to drop the service amid falling revenue.
Source: Xinhua| 2021-04-03 19:15:54|Editor: huaxia

Video Player Close

File photo taken on March 16, 2021 shows a general view of the entrance to the building where the Medicines and Healthcare products Regulatory Agency (MHRA) offices are located in London, Britain. The MHRA has received 30 reports of blood clots out of a total of 18.1 million doses of AstraZeneca COVID-19 vaccine given by March 24 and its review into these reports is ongoing, according to the latest information from the MHRA. Seven people have died from unusual blood clots after getting the AstraZeneca vaccine in Britain, the BBC reported on Saturday, quoting the country's medicines regulator. (Photo by Ray Tang/Xinhua)

LONDON, April 3 (Xinhua) -- Britain's Medicines and Healthcare products Regulatory Agency (MHRA) has received 30 reports of blood clots out of a total of 18.1 million doses of AstraZeneca COVID-19 vaccine given by March 24 and its review into these reports is ongoing, according to the latest information from the MHRA.

These blood clot cases include 22 reports of cerebral venous sinus thrombosis (CVST) and eight reports of other thrombosis events with low platelets, the MHRA said in an analysis report updated on Thursday.

Seven people have died from unusual blood clots after getting the AstraZeneca vaccine in Britain, the BBC reported on Saturday, quoting the country's medicines regulator.

On the basis of this ongoing review, the benefits of the vaccines against COVID-19 continue to outweigh any risks and people should continue to get their vaccine when invited to do so, the MHRA said.

More than 31.3 million people in Britain have been given the first jab of the coronavirus vaccine, according to the latest official figures.

To bring life back to normal, countries such as Britain, China, Russia, the United States as well as the European Union have been racing against time to roll out coronavirus vaccines. Enditem
Research reveals why redheads may have different pain thresholds

BOSTON - New research led by investigators at Massachusetts General Hospital (MGH) provides insights on why people with red hair exhibit altered sensitivity to certain kinds of pain. The findings are published in Science Advances.

In people with red hair (as in numerous other species of animals with red fur), the pigment-producing cells of the skin--called melanocytes--contain a variant form of the melanocortin 1 receptor. This receptor sits on the cell surface, and if it becomes activated by circulating hormones called melanocortins, it causes the melanocyte to switch from generating yellow/red melanin pigment to producing brown/black melanin pigment. Earlier work by David E. Fisher, MD, PhD, director of the Mass General Cancer Center's Melanoma Program and director of MGH's Cutaneous Biology Research Center, demonstrated that the inability of red-haired individuals to tan or darken their skin pigment is traced to inactive variants of this receptor.

To investigate the mechanisms behind different pain thresholds in red-haired individuals, Fisher and his colleagues studied a strain of red-haired mice that (as in humans) contains a variant that lacks melanocortin 1 receptor function and also exhibits higher pain thresholds.

The team found that loss of melanocortin 1 receptor function in the red-haired mice caused the animals' melanocytes to secrete lower levels of a molecule called POMC (proopiomelanocortin) that is subsequently cut into different hormones including one that sensitizes to pain and one that blocks pain. The presence of these hormones maintains a balance between opioid receptors that inhibit pain and melanocortin 4 receptors that enhance perception of pain.

In red-haired mice (and therefore, possibly humans), having both hormones at low levels would seemingly cancel each other out. However, the body also produces additional, non-melanocyte-related factors that activate opioid receptors involved in blocking pain. Therefore, the net effect of lower levels of the melanocyte-related hormones is more opioid signals, which elevates the threshold for pain.

"These findings describe the mechanistic basis behind earlier evidence suggesting varied pain thresholds in different pigmentation backgrounds," says Fisher. "Understanding this mechanism provides validation of this earlier evidence and a valuable recognition for medical personnel when caring for patients whose pain sensitivities may vary."

Fisher adds that the results suggest new ways to manipulate the body's natural processes that control pain perception--for example, by designing new medications that inhibit melanocortin 4 receptors involved in sensing pain.

"Our ongoing work is focused on elucidating how additional skin-derived signals regulate pain and opioid signaling," adds co-lead author Lajos V. Kemeny, MD, PhD, a research fellow in Dermatology at MGH. "Understanding these pathways in depth may lead to the identification of novel pain-modulating strategies."

###

This work was supported by the National Institutes of Health, the Melanoma Research Alliance, the U.S.-Israel Binational Science Foundation, and the Dr. Miriam and Sheldon G. Adelson Medical Research Foundation.

About the Massachusetts General Hospital

Massachusetts General Hospital, founded in 1811, is the original and largest teaching hospital of Harvard Medical School. The Mass General Research Institute conducts the largest hospital-based research program in the nation, with annual research operations of more than $1 billion and comprises more than 9,500 researchers working across more than 30 institutes, centers and departments. In August 2020, Mass General was named #6 in the U.S. News & World Report list of "America's Best Hospitals."

This story has been published on: 2021-04-03. To contact the author, please use the contact details within the article.
Source: Xinhua| 2021-04-03 22:15:37|Editor: huaxia

Video Player Close

LONDON, April 3 (Xinhua) -- Protesters are rallying in central London and 24 other towns and cities across England and Wales on Saturday against the British government's new crime bill, local media reported.

Police in London have warned people against joining the protests, writing in an online open letter that anyone who attends a gathering that breaches coronavirus restrictions may be committing an offence.

Deputy Assistant Commissioner Jane Connors, who is leading the Metropolitan Police's strategic response to COVID-19, said in a statement: "While we welcome the limited relaxation of rules, we don't want to become complacent. We are hugely grateful to the vast majority of Londoners who have played a vital part in controlling the spread of the virus up to now. After a long and difficult few months, let's not undo all of that hard work now."

"Wherever possible, we should continue to be vigilant, minimise our contact as much as possible, wear a face covering where required and keep ourselves safe. That means avoiding any large gathering," Connors said.

The latest demonstrations came after several protests against the British government's Police, Crime, Sentencing and Courts Bill turned violent last month in Bristol, a populous city in southwestern England.

Officers in riot gear and dogs were sent in to clear the streets while 10 people were arrested last weekend during the "Kill the Bill" demonstration.

It is understood that the bill would give the police in England and Wales more power to impose conditions on non-violent protests, including those deemed to be too noisy or a nuisance. Those convicted under the bill could face a fine or jail.

COVID regulations have since been relaxed and protests are now lawful in England and Wales. However, protest organizers must submit a risk assessment and take steps to limit the potential transmission of coronavirus, according to The Guardian newspaper.

Last month, police in Bristol were criticized for crackdowns on three protests against the bill, with officers in riot gear and dogs sent in to clear the streets three times in the city in the space of a week.

Protesters have attacked police in Bristol after thousands of people turned up to a demonstration that officers had "strongly advised" against attending.

Officers suffered broken bones and police vans were set alight as angry scenes unfolded in downtown Bristol, British media reported.

The coronavirus reproduction number, or R value, in England is between 0.8 and 1, according to the latest government figures.

This is compared to a figure of between 0.7 and 0.9 for the whole of Britain last week.

The latest government figures showed that more than 31.3 million people have received their first dose of COVID-19 vaccine in Britain.

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
Advertisement

British holidaymakers could be allowed to visit the Caribbean islands in as little as six weeks as Boris Johnson prepares to open up travel to countries with the best vaccination rates.

The Prime Minister is set to confirm plans for a staged lifting of the ban on foreign holidays on Monday following months of restrictions introduced in a bid to avoid the spread of mutant Covid-19 variants.

Downing Street sources have claimed Mr Johnson will not commit to reopening travel to popular European holiday spots due to fears of a third wave of the virus, which has seen infection rates surge in Italy, France, Germany and Poland.

These destinations will likely be out of reach until at least August, but Mr Johnson's framework will not rule out the possibility that some international travel could resume from May 17.

Only places with high vaccination rates, low prevalence of mutant variants with good capabilities for detecting them and low infection rates are likely to make it onto the low-risk 'green list'.

This means holiday spots such as the Cayman Islands, Anguilla, Antigua and Barbuda, Bermuda and Barbados could soon reopen due to advanced vaccination programmes on the Caribbean islands.

The US, Maldives and Malta are also among the contenders due to their higher vaccination rates. All three have rates of about 45 per 100 people. By comparison, the UK's vaccination rate is 53 per 100 people.

Other possible destinations are Gibraltar, Israel, the Seychelles and the United Arab Emirates.

But quarantine-free holidays to traditionally popular destinations such as Greece, Italy and Spain may be some way off amid the EU's sluggish vaccine rollout. The countries' vaccination rates are all around 17 per 100 people.

Mr Johnson is expected to tell Britons to hold off on booking holidays until the situation is clearer.

All non-essential overseas travel is currently banned under Covid-19 restrictions, with fines of up to 5,000 for those who do not follow the rules.

The latest travel development comes as:

Former boss of NHS warns patients could wait two years for vital operations due to 'frightening' backlog

Hundreds gathered in street parties as Britain recorded the lowest number of Covid cases since September

Pakistan, Kenya, Bangladesh and the Philippines are put on Britain's travel 'red list' but not for seven days

Boris Johnson offers to set a 'time limit' on vaccine certificates to answer critics' fears on civil liberties

Vaccine centres are urged to make the most of Easter weekend by critics who warn 'the virus doesn't sleep'

Care home residents will be allowed to have two visitors from April 12 enabling to see their grandchildren

Destinations which could be among the first to reopen to British holidaymakers due to their high vaccination rates

The first destinations to reopen could include the Cayman Islands (above), Anguilla, Antigua and Barbuda, Bermuda and Barbados due to advanced vaccination programmes on the Caribbean islands

The Prime Minister is expected to unveil a roadmap for the return of non-essential travel on Monday following months of restrictions introduced in a bid to avoid the spread of mutant Covid-19 variants. Pictured: Anguilla island

Under the Government's traffic light system, each traveller will have to take at least two tests on holidays to low-risk 'green' destinations, potentially costing at least 600 per family

It is understood Mr Johnson will provide the rough outline of an anticipated 'traffic light system', which will ban travel to 'red' countries while requiring a combination of pre-travel testing and quarantine for those returning from medium-risk 'amber' nations.

Only those visiting 'green' countries will travel without quarantine, though Britons will still be expected to provide a negative test up to 72 hours before boarding flights back to the UK.

A Whitehall source said: 'It is still too early. At the moment, we have vaccinated half of the adult population but we still don't know how strong our wall of defence is until we see more of the data.

'We are not going to do anything that threatens the roadmap and will take a cautious approach until we better understand the impact of the vaccines.'

Among the destinations which could reopen to British holidaymakers next month are the Cayman Islands, a British Overseas Territory which encompasses three small islands - Grand Cayman, Cayman Brac and Little Cayman - in the western Caribbean Sea.

The islands are popular for their white sand beach resorts and deep sea diving excursions, with the smallest of the three, Little Cayman, home to diverse wildlife, from endangered iguanas to seabirds such as red-footed boobies.

Airports are currently closed to all scheduled international passenger flights until further notice, but the Cayman Islands Government has contracted British Airways and Cayman Airways to provide a limited service with the UK, USA, Jamaica, Cuba and Honduras.

At present, only people who have been pre-authorised are able to enter the Cayman Islands. They are subject to mandatory quarantine for a period of 14 days in a government facility or pre-approved home isolation.

Anguilla may also open for British holidaymakers from May 17. The British Overseas Territory in the Eastern Caribbean currently requires travellers to provide evidence of a negative Covid-19 test, taken three to five days before the intended date of arrival.

Those approved will then be tested for the virus upon arrival, and spend ten to 14 days in quarantine.

Bermuda, popular for its pink-sand beaches and the sweeping Horseshoe Bay, currently requires Britons to apply for Travel Authorisation and undergo a pre-departure Covid-19 test five days before arrival.

Britons must then quarantine for four days on the North Atlantic island.

Similar restrictions are in place in Barbados, an eastern Caribbean island which requires British holidaymakers to arrive with a negative PCR test taken by a certified or accredited laboratory three days prior to departure.

Travellers will undergo a rapid antigen test upon arrival, and those who test negative will be required quarantine and undergo further testing five days later.

Others tipped to be at the front of the queue include Gibraltar, Israel, the Seychelles, Dubai, Malta, the Maldives and Singapore. Pictured: Valletta, Malta

Pictured: Old town and port of Jaffa and modern skyline of Tel Aviv city, Israel, which could be a destination for holidaymakers

Dubai, which became a popular destination for British influencers to visit during the pandemic, is also expected to reopen

The latest update comes as it emerged families could be forced to fork out hundreds of pounds for Covid-19 tests to go on foreign holidays this summer if travel bans on some countries are lifted by the Government. Pictured: Barbados

Travel bans will be in force for 'red list countries', and Britons who return from them will have to quarantine in hotels, costing up to 1,750 per person, also being tested on days two and eight

Those hoping to travel to Gibraltarare currently subject to testing requirements, with those arriving having to present proof of a negative result from a PCR test taken within 72 hours prior to arrival.

Malta is another nation which could be on the UK's 'green-list' from May 17, though commercial flights have been restricted between the two countries since December 22.

All arrivals are required to provide a negative PCR test no more than 72 hours prior to travel. They will take another on arrival, and would currently be subject to a 14-day quarantine.

In the Maldives, an archipelagic state in the Arabian Sea of the Indian Ocean, all visitors must present a negative Covid-19 test. However, there are no quarantine requirements for tourists arriving for idyllic beach holidays.

Britons are currently unable to enter the US, though it has been suggested this could soon change for those who have been vaccinated.

Israel is in lockdown at present, with those who are eligible to enter required to quarantine for 14 days.

Visitors to Dubai, which became a popular destination for influencers earlier in the pandemic, must take a Covid test no more than 72 hours before departing.

It is unclear whether any of these travel restrictions will change should they be placed on the UK's 'green list.'

The famous Rock of Gibraltar as seen from the Mediterranean coast of Southern Spain. Those hoping to travel to Gibraltar will be subject to testing requirements, with those arriving having to present proof of a negative result from a PCR test taken within 72 hours prior to arrival

Cruise ships anchor in waters offshore of Georgetown Harbour in Grand Cayman

Among the destinations which could reopen to British holidaymakers next month are the Cayman Islands, a British Overseas Territory which encompasses three small islands - Grand Cayman, Cayman Brac and Little Cayman - in the western Caribbean Sea

The latest update comes as it emerged families could be forced to fork out hundreds of pounds for Covid-19 tests to go on foreign holidays this summer if travel bans on some countries are lifted by the Government.

Under the Government's traffic light system, each traveller will have to take at least two tests in order to embark on holidays to low-risk 'green' destinations, potentially costing at least 600 per family.

One would be taken 72 hours before boarding a UK-bound flight with another two days after arrival. The latter would be for detecting whether travellers have picked up any mutant strains while abroad.

Last night it was claimed that people who have had two doses of the vaccine could avoid quarantining when returning from a medium-risk 'amber' country.

Those who are fully vaccinated may only have to have one test upon arriving back in the UK, the Daily Telegraph reported, compared with multiple tests and a ten-day quarantine for the unvaccinated. It was also claimed that vaccinated holidaymakers could return to the UK from a green list county without having to do a test.

A Downing Street insider said: 'For amber countries, you would remove home quarantine. The debate is whether there will be any testing required instead of quarantine.'

There could be as few as 12 countries on the Government's 'green list' for quarantine-free travel initially, with more travel options potentially delayed until July or August.

Hesitancy towards the vaccine across parts of mainland Europe may mean that traditionally favoured continental destinations among British holidaymakers are deemed more high-risk than the likes of the US and Israel, where vaccination rates are good.

Plans under consideration by the Government's global travel taskforce could mean holidaymakers who have been fully vaccinated will be able to return from 'green list' countries back to Britain without any tests on arrival, as long as they have negative results from a test taken before they left.

The Prime Minister is expected to unveil a roadmap for easing a ban on non-essential travel on Monday, though Downing Street sources have said Mr Johnson would not commit to reopening of travel to some popular European holiday spots due to fears of a third wave of Covid-19

The pre-departure test before boarding a UK-bound flight could even apply to fully vaccinated travellers

Those who have not been vaccinated would require another test when they get back to the UK.

Fully vaccinated travellers from countries on the 'amber list' might need just one further test upon arrival, and avoiding the 10-day home quarantine.

But those who have not been vaccinated would still need to self-isolate for 10 days, being tested on days two and eight.

Care home residents will be allowed to have two visitors from April 12 Care home residents will be reunited with more loved ones in a major easing of restrictions. Lockdown rules will be relaxed so they can have two regular visitors from Monday, April 12, instead of the current one. Residents will be able to meet two nominated relatives or friends indoors and hold hands but the guests will have to wear PPE and be tested in advance. Babies and very young children will also be able to join in for the first time without being counted as one of the visitors. It means some grandparents and great-grandparents will be able to meet the newest members of their families for the first time. Care minister Helen Whately said: 'We want to go further and our aim is to make visiting to care homes as normal as possible by the summer.' The Daily Mail has been campaigning for an end to cruel visiting bans that have seen some residents separated from loved ones for longer than a year. New guidance came into force on March 8 stating all residents should be allowed indoor visits with one designated relative or friend. But campaigners have warned there has been a cruel lottery with some care home bosses still refusing to let visits take place. Boris Johnson said last night: 'Reuniting family and friends has been a priority each time restrictions have eased and the next step will be no different. 'I'm particularly pleased to allow residents to have more visitors.' Guidance on the new arrangements will be published on Monday before it comes into effect as part of the next stage of lockdown easing on April 12. A care home resident with two children will now be able to have both to visit indoors  either together or separately  rather than just picking one. However, they will have to stick to the same two nominated visitors. Existing rules allowing extra visitors outdoors or behind a screen will remain in place. Fiona Carragher, of the Alzheimer's Society, said: 'Visits are vital to care home residents with dementia, who have been isolated from their loved ones and as a result experienced a devastating increase in their symptoms over the past year.' Advertisement

Travel bans will be in force for 'red list countries', and Britons who return from them will have to quarantine in hotels, costing up to 1,750 per person, also being tested on days two and eight.

Studies submitted to ministers considering how to unlock foreign travel show two-test systems are more effective at controlling the spread of infection.

But arranging pre-departure tests abroad could prove a logistical nightmare and alone add at least 400 to the cost of a holiday abroad for a family of four. The second post-arrival test could put on a further 200.

Destinations are also likely to retain demands for a pre-holiday test to be shown at the border for people not fully vaccinated, potentially adding hundreds more pounds to the cost of a getaway.

Although ten-day post-arrival quarantine would be dropped for holidaymakers arriving from 'green' destinations, many families will be put off by the additional costs and hassle of arranging the tests.

It is understood the pre-departure test before boarding a UK-bound flight may even apply to fully vaccinated people.

Croatia yesterday became the latest country to announce Britons would be welcome this summer.

But unvaccinated visitors will have to show a pre-holiday test taken within 48 hours upon entry.

Holidaymakers staying for two weeks would be required to take a second test by the tenth day.

It means unvaccinated tourists on longer stays would face having to take four tests in total even if the country makes it on to the Government's green list.

Travel industry leaders have warned failure to reopen for the summer would put more than a million jobs at risk and could stall the post-pandemic recovery.

Tim Alderslade, chief executive of Airlines UK, said: 'We have to start somewhere  for the sake of jobs, the billions our sector provides the Treasury and any realistic concept of a Global Britain future.'

Heathrow Airport chief John Holland-Kaye said he believed holidays would be possible to many countries within four months as vaccination rates catch up with the UK's.

He told Times Radio: 'I would expect that by the time we get to July, when people are thinking about their summer holidays, a lot of countries to have opened up.'

He said the US 'should be at the front of the queue' for relaxed border restrictions, and cited Israel as another contender due to its low infection and high vaccination rates.

More than 100 UK and US business chiefs have pleaded with Mr Johnson to prioritise a transatlantic holiday corridor by harnessing both countries' successful vaccination schemes.

In a letter, they said thousands of UK tourism, hospitality and retail firms relied on the 4billion spent here annually by US visitors.

They warned that the economy would continue to take a 32million hit for every day of delay in lifting travel restrictions between the nations.

They said: 'Each year, 4.5million US citizens visit the UK. Similarly, 4.8million UK residents visit the US, including a million visits to see friends and family.

'We know there remains significant demand in the USA for a return to travel to the UK.

'The reopening travel between the US and the UK needs to be a priority to support the recovery of our economies.'

Tory MP Henry Smith, chairman of the all-party Future of Aviation Group, said: 'Across the UK, we have strong ties with the US, from businesses who trade with the US to those travelling for leisure and those looking to visit family and friends.

'These cultural, economic and social bonds will be vital to our economic and social recovery from the pandemic and there is little reason to continue keeping transatlantic travel grounded.

'These vital routes have been shut for too long.'

But a senior scientist has warned that international travel should reopen slowly, with any traffic-light system having the potential to be 'leaky' to Covid variants.

Professor Robin Shattock, head of mucosal infection and immunity at Imperial College London's department of medicine, said an ideal scenario would be for people to quarantine when they return from any country - though this was unlikely to be seen as a practical option.

Travel industry leaders have warned failure to reopen for the summer would put more than a million jobs at risk and could stall the post-pandemic recovery. Pictured: Barbados

A senior scientist has warned that international travel should reopen slowly, with any traffic-light system having the potential to be 'leaky' to Covid variants. Pictured: The Maldives

In a wide-ranging interview, he said it was possible coronavirus will become 'much more of a fairly trivial infection' for most people while it was still uncertain whether the entire population would need to be vaccinated again each winter.

Prof Shattock said: 'I suspect there will be pressure to start international travel again, probably still with self-isolation/quarantining when you come back to the UK.

'There may be some implementation of a scheme where if you've had the vaccine you're allowed to travel.

'I don't know that it will necessarily be mandated by governments, but it may well be mandated by different carriers.

'Or you may find that different governments around the world put in place requirements so it may not be that the UK says you can't travel without a vaccine, but if you're going to a holiday destination they might say, 'well we're opening it up to people who have been vaccinated'.

'It's a very fluid picture. I'm sure that, over time, we will start to return to international travel.

'I think it's going to be slow, I think it's going to be cautious and I don't think it's likely to take off in a big way until at least the autumn when everybody has had hopefully one, if not two, doses of a vaccine.'
New Delhi: Amid surge in COVID-19 cases in the country, the registration for Amarnath yatra commenced on April 1.

The 56-day yatra to the Himalayan cave shrine is slated to begin from the twin routes of Pahalgam and Baltal in Jammu and Kashmir on June 28 and will culminate on August 22. The registration process can be done through 446 designated bank branches across the country  316 branches of Punjab National Bank, 90 of Jammu and Kashmir Bank and 40 YES Bank branches.

For more information about the pilgrimage, the devotees can visit shriamarnathjishrine.com/.

Meanwhile, the Shiv Sena demanded the Jammu and Kashmir administration to exempt the pilgrims from paying toll tax at the toll plazas on Lakhanpur-Jammu-Srinagar highway and to repair the national highway.

Keeping in mind the coronavirus scare, authorities in Kathua district on Friday (April 2) directed officials to ensure proper evacuee management of travellers entering the Union Territory through Lakhanpur bordering Punjab.

The chief medical officer of Kathua was asked to ensure 100 per cent sampling for COVID-19 of the travellers and sufficient staff for ensuring hassle-free management at sampling counters at Lakhanpur.

The order, passed by District Magistrate and Chairman of District Disaster Management Authority, Kathua, Rahul Yadav, cited the increase in COVID-19 cases and the likely rise in the number of travellers due to the upcoming Navratra festival and Amarnath yatra.

(With PTI inputs)

Live TV
Bengaluru, April 3 : Karnataka health minister K. Sudhakar on Saturday ruled out possibilities of bringing any change in a series of restrictions that were enforced by the state government due to the rise in Covid-19 cases.

Sudhakar told reporters that the state government decided to enforce these guidelines after several rounds of discussions with various departments concerned and this decision was not taken in haste.

Karnataka on Friday ordered the shutting down of boarding and residential hostels for primary and secondary schools and optional attendance for students of Classes 10, 11 and 12. Besides, the government also reintroduced 50 per cent occupancy rules in all film theaters.

In its order issued on Friday, the government had also ordered gymnasiums, party halls, club houses and swimming pools to be closed in the state while occupancy in buses should not exceed beyond the seating capacity.

Sudhakar said that the second wave, as per the Technical Advisory Committee (TAC), will last till May end and from the first week of June as only then one can expect to see a fall in the Covid cases.

The health minister contended that if no precautions are taken in these two months and cases continued to rise, critics are likely to blame the authorities.

"The government can not close its eyes on such serious issues related to people's health. We all are facing tough times, there is no doubt about that. These tough times certainly deserve tough decisions too. The government cannot compromise on people's health," he argued.

He added that the government's top priority is to take care of the children in the state. "The CM has taken this decision after considering the suggestions and reports submitted by the Technical Advisory Committee, ministers and officials. This is not a decision taken in haste or to satisfy one's ego. Cases are on the rise, it is there to see for all," said Sudhakar.

Launching a veiled attack on the film fraternity which is demanding 100 per cent occupancy in theatres, the health minister said that the state government had agreed to allow all activities as the pandemic had come under control after an eight month long lock down.

"No government is willingly taking this decision. This is a world over phenomenon. Even during the second wave many countries across the globe re-introduce harsh decisions like night curfew and lockdown. But, we have not taken such a decision so far. If we do not control this pandemic now, we may have to go back to the same situation where lockdown could only be a solution," he said.

He added that there should not be politics dragged into such matters. "I suggest our opposition members not indulge in politics at the cost of people's health," he said.

Answering to a question, the minister maintained that Covid restriction were also applied to political rallies and the Election Commission of India has already issued guidelines to respective states where elections are happening.

Latest updates on Coronavirus (COVID-19)
Forced COVID-19 Vaccination Widespread in China, Sources Say

The Chinese Communist Party (CCP) has been imposing COVID-19 vaccinations upon the public, amid concerns over efficacy and health implications, according to people familiar with the situation.

A female netizen named Duan Da Dan posted in Chinese on social media site Weibo on March 31: Im really annoyed that my employer forces me to receive shots even if Im planning to get pregnant. [They] never consider the possible impact on the fetus.

Another internet user claimed in a Chinese-language Weibo post on March 30 that she had broken out in hives twice, indicating she suffers from allergies, yet her employer was still pressuring her every day to get vaccinated.

No Vaccination Certificate, No Entry

The Epoch Times has learned that a local market authority in Hainan Province has ruled that no one is permitted to enter the market without a vaccination certificate. A vegetable retailer with the surname Liu in the Honggang Market of Sanya city, Hainan Province, told The Epoch Times that no one can enter the market without having received the vaccine.

We didnt receive the notice until March 23. But we have to get vaccinated on March 24, Liu said. He added that reduced customer traffic had led to a one-third drop in sales.

Its true in the whole city of Sanya. Its mandatory.

Nobody wants it.  Nobody can tell what impact it will have on our health.

A seafood retailer with the surname Wang reported that early on March 24, more than 100 urban administrative and law enforcement personnel showed up to guard the market. They examined every visitors health code before letting them in.

Vaccination: A Critical Political Task

Getting the shot is deemed an important political task to be performed in all of Chinas enterprises, schools, and community centers.

Recently, Sokon Group, a large private firm in Chongqing city, demanded that its employees complete vaccination as a critical political task, according to an internal notice obtained from the company by The Epoch Times.

The document, dated March 25, required all units under the group to take vaccination as a critical political task and perform their responsibility to ensure it be applied in principle to all employees between the ages of 18 and 59 except pregnant or breastfeeding women  and the vaccination should be completed at local town hospitals by April 30, 2021.

Internal document from Chinas Sokon Group mandating vaccination within the company except for pregnant or breastfeeding women or other ineligible persons, in March 2021. (The Epoch Times)

Whichever unit or individual fails to respond to the vaccination properly or commits an error will be held accountable, the notice said.

Even though its a private firm, Sokon has links to the CCP. Company Chair Zhang Xinghai is a deputy to the CCPs National Peoples Congress, its website says.

CCP branches are also available in the company, whose Chinese-language site says, The CCP committee of the company always adheres to the partys leadership, maintaining a high degree of consistency with the Central CCP Committee in terms of ideology and action.

Likewise, vaccination is also at the top of the agenda in many other parts of China.

An online image dated March 25 shows a notice issued by Kuliushu village of Shunyi district, declaring that residents who fail to be vaccinated by April 6 will be banned from entering the community.

A man with the surname Li from Simajia town, Jiamusi city, in Heilongjiang province told The Epoch Times that local authorities issued a notice on March 29 to residents via WeChat that vaccination was required. To emphasize its importance, the notice was reissued on the morning of March 30. It was also broadcast on loudspeakers in individual villages already set up for the shots.

The notice highlighted unconditional vaccination, unless people show a recent medical record indicating ineligibility for vaccination.

Those who refuse vaccination will have to bear all expenses when they contract COVID-19 and will be held legally responsible for spreading the virus to others, the notice threatened.

In parts of Beijing, community centers promised benefits to encourage vaccination, including tickets to visit Beijings Lama Temple, extra holidays, and other incentives. In some cases, elderly people could be given one or two boxes of fresh eggs if they consent to the vaccine.

Hesitant Staff at State-Run Enterprises

Likewise, employees from Beijings state-run enterprises feel pressure as well, according to Chinese news reports.

A photo from social media site Weibo, showing that the CCPs community centers in Beijing have launched a campaign to encourage vaccination by offering benefits, on March 29, 2021. (Screenshot/Weibo)

A female staffer with the surname Hu said her employer posted a notice requesting all employees to be vaccinated as soon as possible, according to a Chinese-language report in VOA on March 15.

She revealed that the utility management company in their office building had ordered a vaccination rate of more than 90 percent of tenants and that all units must collect relevant data. Though she hated implementing forced vaccination, Hu was afraid she would face investigation or punishment if she didnt comply.

Another staffer with the surname Ho, also from a Beijing state-run company, corroborated Hus statement, adding that all local state enterprises followed similar policies regarding COVID-19. He told VOA that he had decided not to take the vaccine because he was preparing to have a child and was concerned about its impact on the fetus.

Security Concern Leads to Hesitancy

There is vaccine hesitancy among the Chinese public due to concerns over the vaccines efficacy.

In mid-February, a survey of 756 medical workers in Zhejiang province demonstrated that only 28 percent of respondents wanted to get vaccinated after the shots were available, according to the Chinese Journal of Vaccines and Immunization.

Evidence suggests that Chinese authorities are concerned about the current rate of vaccinations, which has been slower than expected, although more than 100 million shots have been administered, according to Chinas state media outlets.

An internet user nicknamed TuCaoFakeNews expressed strong skepticism in a March 31 post, with an image of a local informed consent notice for inactivated vaccines against COVID-19. When it came to vaccine clinical trial data, it read in Chinese, There has not been human observation data available; and we cannot root out the possibility of increased condition of a vaccine taker when he or she contracts COVID-19 after receiving shots.

A study suggested that Chinas Sinopharm vaccine efficacy rate is only 11.5 percent to 33 percent, according to a March 10 report on Speevr, a California-based financial technology platform.

In Hong Kong, 11 residents died after receiving shots of CoronaVac, a vaccine developed by Chinese drugmaker Sinovac. The deaths are under investigation, according to Hong Kong media.

Additionally, Brazils findings in a late-stage trial show that CoronaVac was found to be only 50.4 percent effective.

Activist Lawyer: CCP Treats Public as Guinea Pigs

An activist lawyer with the surname Wu told the Chinese-language Epoch Times that Chinas public servants are also being forced to receive shots, although its said they have priority.

He emphasized that Chinese-made vaccines are unreliable, and noted that its impossible for China to develop a safe product within a short time period, given the history of previous vaccine accidents that have led to childrens deaths and adult disability cases.

Wu says its shocking that Chinese authorities are promoting China-made vaccines to more than a billion citizens while they are clearly of poor quality.

Theyre really taking citizens lives for granted, he said.

Gu Xiaohua, Hong Ning, and Zhang Yujie contributed to this report.
Three missing girls were found seriously unwell in the street after they created a pact to die by suicide, it has emerged.

The shocking details have been revealed by police investigating an online chat group that led to suicidal crises among a young peer group.

Twelve girls, aged 12 to 16 from across the South of England, were part of a disturbing Instagram chat group that described its participants as a Suicide Squad.

Its existence was discovered when three of them travelled by train to Chingford, East London, and were found by officers in the street after being reported missing.

The shocking details have been revealed by police investigating an online chat group that led to suicidal crises among a young peer group

They were taken by ambulance to hospital for emergency treatment and one of the girls revealed they had first met online and created the pact. The girls phones were seized following the incident on March 1 and officers were able to trace another nine youngsters who were part of the same chat group.

Seven of the 12 girls had already self-harmed before they were identified by British Transport Police (BTP) officers.

Police officers from five forces have been part of an investigation into the incident, which was revealed after a briefing note was published online by a local authority.

The note, adapted from a letter sent by BTPs Assistant Chief Constable Charlie Doyle and first reported by the BBC, said that peer-to-peer influence increased suicidal ideation [formulation of ideas] among the children involved to the extent that several escalated to suicidal crises and serious self-harm.

The memo also warned that regrettably, it is likely that a similar scenario may come to notice in the future. Shockingly Facebook, which owns Instagram, said it has reviewed the reports but found no content that broke their rules, meaning the chat group has not been removed from online.

Last night, Dr Bernadka Dubicka, the Royal College of Psychiatrists chair of young people and childrens faculty, hit back at the social media firm and said their rules are not good enough.

They cant be setting their own rules, it needs to be regulated, she said. They need to be doing a lot more, acting a lot quicker and thinking of harmful effects on children and young people instead of their shareholders first.

If they feel theyve not been breaking their own rules then their rules are not good enough.

Its good that the police are investigating this but its the tip of the iceberg. Its so easy to get access to suicide references on the internet.

It is understood a second social media page, which reportedly encouraged harmful behaviour, is subject to a police investigation and has been removed. In November 2020, Instagram introduced technology to recognise self-harm and suicide content on its app.

Fears about the impact of this content on young and vulnerable people have been raised since 2017 when 14-year-old schoolgirl Molly Russell killed herself after seeing graphic images on the platform.

A Facebook spokeswoman said: Mental health, suicide and self-harm are serious issues with devastating consequences, and our deepest sympathies are with anyone affected by them. We are co-operating with the police on this important investigation and reviewed reports but found no content that broke our rules, nor in fact any suicide or self-harm related content.

A spokesperson for BTP said they were called in the early hours of March 1 following concern for the welfare of three teenage girls who were taken to hospital before being discharged. They added: An investigation is currently ongoing into a report of a social media page encouraging harmful behaviour, which is also believed to be linked to a second concern for welfare incident in London later that day. The page has now been deleted, and these are believed to be localised incidents.

Anyone can contact Samaritans FREE any time from any phone on 116 123, even a mobile without credit. This number wont show up on your phone bill. Or you can email jo@samaritans.org or visit www.samaritans.org.
Searches for missing Oxford Brookes student Richard Okorogheye in Epping Forest today entered their third day as police appealed to the teenager to 'let us know you are safe.'

Detectives moved their search to Essex after a confirmed sighting showed Mr Okorogheye, 19, walking alone on Smarts Lane, Loughton, towards the woods at 12.39am on March 23.

He is understood to have left his family home in Ladbroke Grove, west London, on March 22 and was reported missing two days later.

Police enquiries later established that Mr Okorogheye then took a taxi towards the residential street in Loughton.

Detectives today confirmed 'nothing of relevance' has been found in Epping Forest, which they have been combing for two days in a bid to track down the missing student.

They also issued an appeal directly to Mr Okorogheye, asking him to make contact with detectives or another trusted person 'to let us know you are safe.'

Police investigating the disappearance of Richard Okorogheye from his family home in Ladbroke Grove, London, are now searching parts of Essex

Police officers searching for Richard Okorogheye are combing through parts of Epping Forest in Essex today, after arriving on Wednesday

Parts of the forest have been cordoned off as officers from Metropolitan Police search the area

Mounted units have been patrolling the Essex woods in search of the teenager since April 1

Detective Superintendent Danny Gosling, Head of the Met's Central West Public Protection Unit, said: 'People can go missing from home for any of number of reasons. Our job is not to cast judgement but to work to find them and bring them home safely.

'My message to Richard is clear. Our only concern is your safety. You are not in trouble and have done nothing wrong.

'If you read or hear this message we would ask you to contact us, or someone you trust, to let us know you are safe.

'Your loved ones and many other people who you do not even know, are very concerned.

Police are searching the water in Epping Forest on Thursday. Det Insp Danny Groom said officers do not know why he travelled to Loughton on the night he disappeared

As well as searching the water and woods around Epping Forest, police have been making door-to-door enquiries with locals

Det Supt Gosling said police had detected 'no activity' on Mr Okorogheye's phone since he went missing 10 days ago

Marine search units were deployed today, after specialist horse and canine teams were deployed on Wednesday night

'I would also like to thank the public for their continued support in sharing our appeals, checking doorbell and dash cam footage and passing on any information.

'As our efforts to find Richard continue, the eyes and ears of ordinary members of the public will be essential tools in our search.'

The Metropolitan Police added they are keeping an 'open mind' about the disappearance, repeating an appeal for anyone with information to come forward.

The search continues today after Det Supt Gosling told the BBC there had been 'no activity on his phone that we are aware of,' since the 19-year-old's disappearance.

Detective Chief Inspector Nicki Beecher, from the from the Met's Area West Public Protection Unit, said: 'It has now been nine days since Richard was last seen in person and we remain as committed as ever to locating him and bringing him home to his family.

The 19-year-old Oxford Brookes University student was spotted on CCTV walking alone on Smarts Lane, Loughton towards Epping Forest at 12.39am on March 23

Following the discovery of CCTV footage showing Richard in Loughton, police descended on Epping Forest on April 1, and remain there today

Det Insp Groom said the search 'strikes a chord' with him, as the officer also has a teenage son

Prior to his disappearance, Richard Okorogheye, who has sickle cell disease, had been shielding during the Covid-19 pandemic and would only leave the house to go to the hospital for his regular blood transfusions

Specialist search teams, horses and dogs began searching Epping Forest on Wednesday night

'Our officers are working extremely hard to piece together the facts in order to build a picture of Richard's movements on the evening of Monday, 22 March.

'Latest information suggests he was last seen in Loughton in Essex and we are now focusing our attention here with specialist search officers from across the Met brought in to assist.

'Our enquiries also continue in the Ladbroke Grove, W10 area where local officers have been carrying out search patrols and also community patrols to gather information from local residents.

'I would once again like to renew our appeal to the public for any information which may assist with our enquiries. If you may have seen Richard - particularly in the Loughton area - or have any information at all, please contact police.'

The Met said Mr Okorogheye, who was in his first year of a business and IT degree at Oxford Brookes, left his home and headed in the direction of Ladbroke Grove on March 22 at approximately 8.30pm.

Richard's mother last saw her son on March 22 when he told her he was going to a friend's house. Police are searching Epping Forest today

Officers have been carrying out door-to-door enquiries and searches of the area after the student was spotted on the residential street (GV of the street pictured)

The Metropolitan Police said the 19-year-old (pictured) left his home and headed in the direction of Ladbroke Grove on March 22

What is sickle cell disease? Sickle cell disease is the umbrella term for a group of inherited conditions that severely affect red blood cells. Around 15,000 people in the UK are sufferers and it is particularly common in people of African or Caribbean descent. Healthy red blood cells - produced by stem cells within bone marrow - are biconcaved discs that can bend and flex easily. However, in those with sickle cell disease, faulty stem cells produce red blood cells that are crescent shaped. They are rigid, unable to squeeze through smaller blood vessels and prone to causing blockages that deprive parts of the body of oxygen. Sufferers are not expected to live beyond 60 and treatment mainly focuses on alleviating symptoms, such as pain and infections, through blood transfusions and painkillers. Advertisement

He was seen boarding the 23 southbound bus in Ladbroke Grove at 8.44pm and CCTV footage showed the student wearing an all-black outfit and carrying across his lower back a black satchel-bag featuring a white Adidas logo.

Police said it was unknown at which stop Mr Okorogheye got off the bus.

Mr Okorogheye's mother, Evidence Joel, previously said her son had spoken of 'struggling to cope' with university pressures.

She also said her son, who has sickle cell disease, had been shielding during the Covid-19 pandemic and would only leave the house to go to the hospital for his regular blood transfusions.

In a new statement on Tuesday, she said: 'Richard we love you and miss you very much, please can you come home? We aren't angry at you. We just want to know that you're okay.

'For anyone reading this, we are desperately missing our son. If you know anything or know where he might be, please come forward and speak to the police.'

Ms Joel last saw her son on March 22 when he told her he was going to a friend's house.

She had returned home from a nursing shift at around 9pm and assumed her son was in his room.

The alarm was raised after a locksmith helped her gain entry to her son's room where the student's wallet, bus pass and bank card were found.

Anyone with information is asked to call police on 101 quoting 21MIS008134, or they can call 999 in an emergency.

Mr Okorogheye was seen boarding the 23 southbound bus in Ladbroke Grove at 8.44pm on March 22
Questo comunicato e stato pubblicato piu di 30 giorni fa. Le informazioni su questa pagina potrebbero non essere attendibili.

The Report Provides Detail Information about and Strategies Used by Top Key Players in the Industry. The Report also Gives a Broad Study of the Different Market Segments and regions and Specific Expertise in Segments to Inspire Surge in Pharmaceutical Contract Manufacturing Market Growth Rate.

Pharmaceutical Contract Manufacturing Market Overview:

The global report on the pharmaceutical contract manufacturing market reveals a projected analysis of the market with 7.2 % CAGR between 2017 and 2023, which Market Research Future (MRFR) considers to be the forecast period. Increasing activities related to research and development is set to inspire a better intake of the assistance of pharmaceutical companies. The global market for pharmaceutical contract manufacturing can further get influenced by the constant pressure that the pipeline of approved drugs. At the same time, companies are also fighting over the advantage they can have if they launch their product first. This is heaving pressure on various pharmaceutical companies who are trying to maximize their profit margin by getting into the market first. Pricing pressure is also huge, which can determine the significant change in the coming years. Pharmaceutical companies are trying to channelize their efforts and maximize their production rate by focusing on specific issues. Hence, the incorporation of pharmaceutical contract manufacturers.

Get Premium Free Sample Copy At https://www.marketresearchfuture.com/sample_request/1532

However, several factors can also provide a headwind to the market. Maintaining manufacturing standardization and utilization of the capacity can be an issue for the manufacturers. Bot pharmaceutical companies often try to save the cost of production by handing the production to some other company. This type of production also has heightened lead time and logistics costs, which can affect the profit margin. Such changes can hold back market growth.

Competitive Landscape:

The market report on the pharmaceutical contract manufacturing market suggests a growing demand for the involvement of such companies in the sector. This could lead to the market ahead. The strategies they would initiate would trigger better growth for the market. These companies are known for their detailed plans about how to take the market forward. MRFRs profiling includes Boehringer Ingelheim, Catalant, Pharmaceutical Product Development, Grifols International, S.A, Lonza AG, Patheon Inc., Vetter, AbbVie Inc, and others.

In December 2019, Entera announced that the company developed technology that would ensure oral delivery of proteins, peptides, and other large molecules. This has piqued the interest of Amgen, a pharmaceutical contract manufacturing company, who inked a deal with the former for USD 270mn. Such a collaboration is to ensure a faster production rate.

Segmentation:

The global pharmaceutical contract manufacturing market can be studied on the basis of type. This segmentation can have a strong impact on how the market can achieve growth in the coming days.

By type, the global market report covering the pharmaceutical contract manufacturing market includes active pharmaceutical ingredient manufacturing, finished dosage formulation market, and others. The active pharmaceutical ingredient manufacturing has the potential to dominate the global sector using the restructuring plans initiated by several pharmaceutical industries across the globe. The market would gain much from the changing manufacturing scenario that is impacting the infrastructural scope of various companies.

Regional Analysis:

The growth prospect of America is quite high as the regional market has countries like the US and Canada where well-developed technologies have been included as a major pointer for industrial development. Extensive capacity to fund the research and development sector and support the manufacturing process can boost the market scenario for the coming years. The technology is also going to inspire better pipelining of drugs and assist the market in meeting the regional market standard.

Browse Complete 108 Pages Premium Research Report Enabled With 121 Respective Tables And Figures At https://www.marketresearchfuture.com/reports/pharmaceutical-contract-manufacturing-market-1532

Europe has the capacity to become the second-largest market. Government funding for various research and development products can ensure a hike in various development-related activities. France, Germany, the UK, and others can also make sure that the market gets a better understanding of how to perform in the coming years.

The Asia Pacific region has several countries taking part in global development. These countries like India, Japan, China, and others are also taking down the drug price and making it more competitive. The regional market can find better traction from the growing investment in the pharmaceutical sector.

About US:

Market Research Future (MRFR), enable customers to unravel the complexity of various industries through Cooked Research Report (CRR), Half-Cooked Research Reports (HCRR), Raw Research Reports (3R), Continuous-Feed Research (CFR), and Market Research & Consulting Services.
Within southeast Michigan's Middle Eastern and North African community, those who worry about deportation or believe they've been treated unfairly are likely to face more adverse conditions associated with poor health, including food insecurity and financial distress.

The MENA people who face several of these barriers are also more likely to report chronic illness and mental health issues as well as worse overall health.

That's according to a new study by the University of Michigan Rogel Cancer Center, the University of Michigan School of Public Health, and the Arab Community Center for Economic and Social Services.

There are numerous health disparities for the MENA community that are not that different from other racial and ethnic groups where we're trying to close the gap. The data show us that this is an important population where we should be focusing our efforts to address health needs." Minal R. Patel, Ph.D., M.P.H., associate professor of health behavior and health education, U-M School of Public Health and member of the Rogel Cancer Center

This is the latest in a series of papers based on data from an extensive survey designed to better understand the population within one of the geographic areas the Rogel Cancer Center aims to serve. The researchers paid special attention to MENA people because metro Detroit is home to one of the United States' largest MENA communities, with about 210,000 residents hailing from Lebanon, Egypt, Syria, Iraq, Yemen and other Arab countries.

Previous state surveys had revealed significant health disparities for the MENA population, similar to what Michigan's African-American and Hispanic groups experience. However, Patel and her research team knew more specific data was needed to determine MENA people's unmet health needs as well as the impact that discrimination has on their health.

Through questionnaires distributed in community venues -- including grocery stores, mosques, and health care clinics -- to about 400 people who identified as MENA, researchers found that almost 60% of respondents felt they had experienced discrimination. Close to half did not believe the government was trying to improve life for Arab-Americans. Although fewer people worried about deportation or thought they had been treated unfairly, those who did often faced more adverse conditions associated with poor health, such as food insecurity.

More unmet health needs were also found among people who were not born in the United States (58% of the study's sample); who had lived in America for fewer years; who spoke Arabic at home; and who were from Egypt, Syria, or Yemen -- countries with unstable political environments and high poverty rates.

Public health researchers and media outlets alike have previously called attention to the physical and mental toll of immigration-related concerns on Latino immigrants. Patel says this data illustrates how the MENA people fit into that discussion.

"We were able to highlight that even though we don't share a border with a Middle Eastern country, we still have a sizeable population right next door to us that have concerns about immigration," Patel says. "This is another community where we can bring in that national conversation and think about how it is specifically impacting health."

Among risk factors that limit optimal health in the MENA population, transportation issues for health care visits, food insecurity, and financial strain were the most common, followed by unemployment and unstable housing.

Patel said she was surprised at the prevalence of food insecurity in particular given the number of grocery stores and restaurants in areas with large concentrations of the MENA population.

"When you drive through Dearborn, where much of the survey took place, it doesn't look like the makeup of your typical food desert," Patel says. "So we need to unpack that. Food insecurity is multidimensional, and the availability of food is only one component."

Overall, experiencing more risk factors for poor health, e.g., food insecurity and unemployment and unstable housing, was linked with more chronic diseases, including cancer, diabetes, high blood pressure, depression and heart conditions. In addition, mental health and general health were poorer for the people who faced multiple societal conditions that limit optimal health.

This survey was conducted in 2019, and Patel says all the issues discussed have likely worsened for the MENA community since then due to the increased stressors of the pandemic.
The FBI conducted 4,691,738 background checks for firearm sales this March, a single-month record for the U.S.

Why it matters: The surge in background checks may be a result of gun control bills recently passed by the House and gun restriction recommendations by President Biden in the wake of three mass shootings in March.

Stay on top of the latest market trends and economic insights with Axios Markets. Subscribe for free

Context: Last month, the House passed a bill that would require background checks for all gun purchasers.

Congress passed another bill aimed at closing a loophole that allows firearm dealers to complete sales after three days if a buyer's background check has not been finished by the FBI.

Biden urged the Senate to pass the two House bills and called on Congress as a whole to renew bans on assault weapons and high-capacity magazines.

By the numbers: Of the top 10 days for most background checks in the country's history, six were in March 2021, according to FBI data.

The FBI performed 236,295 background checks on March 17 alone  the busiest day for checks in U.S. history.

The big picture: A gunman killed four people, including a 9-year-old boy, in Orange, California, on March 31.

Another assailant shot and killed 10 people in Boulder, Colorado, on March 22.

Eight people were killed in shootings in Atlanta, Georgia, on March 16.

Like this article? Get more from Axios and subscribe to Axios Markets for free.
Chennai, April 3 : Only a sum of Rs 136,000 was found in DMK President M.K. Stalin's daughter Senthamarai's residence by the Income Tax (IT) officials on Friday, said R.S. Bharathi, a Rajya Sabha member.

Speaking to reporters, Bharathi said the IT officials were able to find cash of Rs 136,000 at Senthamarai's residence on Friday and they went back with disappointment.

He said the duly accounted money was kept at home for household expenses.

On Friday, tax officials carried out searches in the residence of Senthamarai here.

Senthamarai is married to V. Sabarisan, who is said to have a major say in the DMK affairs.

Tax officials also searched Karthik, son of Mohan, DMK's Anna Nagar constituency candidate and couple of other places belonging to persons connected with the DMK.
Email Whatsapp Menu Whatsapp Google Reddit Digg Stumbleupon Linkedin Comment

ELCA pastor: "I have friends who are in wonderfully healthy poly relationships".

The Christian Church has taught for 2000 years that sexual intercourse is for one man and one woman within the bond of holy matrimony. The Church has never endorsed polyamory (having multiple sexual partners at the same time). But Pastor Clint Schnekloth, a pastor of the Evangelical Lutheran Church in America, has recently posted this: "...I have friends who are in wonderfully healthy poly relationships. Mutuality, consent, health, these are critical. I don't know what I would do about a throuple seeking a church blessing or marriage. It hasn't come up. I'd probably start by learning from them."



So it appears that Pastor Schnekloth, rather than pastorally urging a "throuple" to repent of such behavior, would listen and learn from them. Schnekloth also states: "I perceive most arguments of slippery slope to arise out of unwarranted fears. I prefer to recognize that if something causes no harm then perhaps the church labeling it as sinful is misguided. If there are great benefits I can clearly perceive together with other Christians in those relationships then I tend to think bigotry has snuck into our theology under the guise of "God's will."



Pastor Schnekloth does not explain what the "great benefits" of polyamory might be, but he thinks endorsing such would not begin a slippery slope.



The ELCA is not at the beginning of a slippery slope, it has slid all the way to the bottom. The ELCA has practicing homosexual pastors and transgender pastors, and has also had two practicing homosexual bishops. The ELCA pays for abortion in its denominational healthcare plan. So why not also endorse multiple sex partners? Pastor Schnekloth is overseeing an ELCA congregation. Recently ELCA head bishop Elizabeth Eaton has written that the ELCA is not an "everything goes" church. Will the ELCA discipline Pastor Schnekloth? If not, and I am almost certain it will not, then indeed the ELCA has become the church of "anything goes."
Its been almost a year since Maria Duran attended Mass in person.

During that year, she listened to sermons online, occasionally interrupted by the various distractions at home, but she was determined to keep the faith.

Then her parents fell ill with the very virus keeping her and her family from church. In January, they both died.

It was a difficult time. But her faith kept her strong, as she prayed at home for her loved ones, waiting for the day when she could return to hallowed ground and focus on her spiritual needs.

Friday was that day.

On ExpressNews.com: San Antonio's San Fernando passion play coming to screens for Good Friday

Donning a mask, Duran, 50, attended the Good Friday outdoor service at the serene Our Lady of Lourdes Grotto on the campus of the Oblate School of Theology.

Taking her place at one of several benches, she followed along as Father Tom Ovalle led the group of about 150 faithful in the 14 Stations of the Cross, recognizing the steps of Jesus Christs last journey, from the time when he was condemned to death to carrying the cross and falling to the crucifixion to his body placed in the tomb.

As Ovalle recited each station, Duran and the others knelt in place briefly. Then they would stand and then kneel again for the next station.

I was deep in prayer, Duran said afterward. I was really in need of coming back.

While Duran and the others stood and knelt at the benches, others listened to Ovalles voice over the loudspeaker and walked to the individual sculptures marking each of the Stations of the Cross on the grounds.

Typically, thats how the Stations of the Cross are done: Ovalle leads a large group from station to station. However, to help promote safety, the priest recited the Stations of the Cross at the front and kept most of the audience near their benches, socially distant from each other.

Ovalle noticed this years service was more somber.

Theres a lot of suffering, he said. Families are grieving, families are torn.

But he and other church members try to make the Grotto feel like home for whoever visits.

Rose Campos grew up coming to the Grotto, making a point to visit the grounds once a month as an adult. After a yearlong hiatus, she made the 40-minute drive across town again, bringing her husband and 10-year-old nephew with her.

Its different not having services, she said. She misses the in-person interaction but has worked on growing her faith while physically away from church.

Now she feels like shes being reintroduced to everything as coronavirus restrictions are eased, including attending church services.

On ExpressNews.com: Passion play's cancellation doesn't faze faithful Catholics

Just Tuesday night, the Archdiocese of San Antonio adjusted coronavirus safety protocols in time for Good Friday, allowing churches to open all pews instead of closing every other one and reducing social distancing guidelines from 6 feet to 3 feet.

The Grotto, which is a replica of the cave where the Virgin Mary appeared to St. Bernadette in Lourdes, France, was dedicated Dec. 7, 1941.

It has been hosting outdoor services despite the pandemic since May 19, making sure attendees are wearing masks and socially distancing. But it didnt have the Good Friday and Easter services in 2020 because the crowds would likely have been large.

The largest issue with worshipping at the Grotto during the pandemic has been when it rains. When this happens, the congregation has to go inside, which can fit only about 60 people, Ovalle said.

Other churches have also gotten creative with worship this year, with Catholic Television of San Antonio recording San Fernando Cathedrals traditional passion play instead of having its live performance. The hourlong production is available to view on social media and cable television.

Church leaders are hopeful that next year, the cathedral members will be able to have the live passion play, and Ovalle hopes for a more normal Good Friday, too.

Hopefully next year we can journey and make the stations all together, he said.

liz.hardaway@hearst.com | Twitter: @liz_hardaway
The tribute to Anne Kane in the front window of the Drogheda Independent.

Anne receiving her lifetime award from the NUJ in 1998, pictured with Richard McCullen and Niall Moonan

They say that journalism is the first rough draft of history. So, in remembering Anne (Anna) Kane, she could be described as one of the country's greatest ever historians.

When Anne retired ftom the Drogheda Independent in May 1998, she said goodbye to 45 years in the business. At that time, she was the longest serving female journalist in regional newspapers. It was something she could be duly proud of.

Her death last week sparked memories of a wonderful writer with a great nose for a story. Usually when Anne said she had a good story coming - it was good!

Her coverage of community events knew no equals - her style and great wit - appreciated by colleagues, friends and readers alike.

She had an inimitable prose style, put to good use at a council meeting, in a courtroom or in day to day stories of people.

Her strength was telling the stories of people - using solid judgement and care - and helped many people on their journey to justice.

Expand Close Colleagues from the Drogheda Independent provide a guard of honour / Facebook

Twitter

Email

Whatsapp Colleagues from the Drogheda Independent provide a guard of honour

A few months after her retirement she was honoured with Hon Life Membership of the National Union of Journalists, joining her former editor, George O'Gorman.

Then NUJ President, Mark Turnbull, said the regional media in Ireland had survived because of the dedication and commitment of people like Anne, and he knew she had always been a valued colleague, especially to new staff members and was always available to pass on her vast knowledge.

Anne wrote thousands and thousands of stories and was comfortable in all areas. Indeed, she had a world exclusive in the 1990s when she wrote of DNA tests being done on the relic of St Oliver Plunkett's head.

After her retirement, Anne played her beloved bridge with her many friends and partnered the likes of Helen Williams, May Farrelly and others to some very notable results.

At her funeral mass, celebrated by Very Rev Patrick Canon Carroll, her son, Cavan, said the Drogheda Independent defined her - Drogheda and Independent.

She immersed her soul in the people of the town and their stories. 'She wasn't sensationalist - she told it as it was.'

Anne's obituary writing was world class, possessing an incredible ability to put people at ease in such troubled times.

On Sundays, Anne would be preparing the Sunday dinner and the phone would ring and if a breaking event called, she had to go, even if her dinner got cold.

She passed on valued writing skills and experience to the 'cub reporters' and she took a keen interest in them and how they got on in the world.

Anne was born in 1935 to Anthony and Annie Mathews and was one of a family of nine.

Before she got the results of her Leaving Cert, she got a job in the DI after being published in the Readers Digest.

She married Pat Kane in 1958 and they spent time in England she worked in the Gloucester Citizen amongst other papers. When they returned, Shop Street beckoned again.

Cavan said she was an 'early Maeve Binchy' - always keen to stop and chat to people, no matter where.

She loved a flutter and a game of cards and she was never happier than on European bridge tours, playing with May Farrelly, Helen Williams and Eilish Sheehan during the day and hitting the roulette tables at night.

She had no real interest in money, it was the thrill of the gamble.

He summed her up in the words of Kenny Rogers:

'Every gambler knows

That the secret to survivin'

Is knowin' what to throw away

And knowin' what to keep

'Cause every hand's a winner

And every hand's a loser

And the best that you can hope for

Is to die in your sleep'.

Anne (Anna) Kane (nee Mathews), of Ballsgrove House, and formerly of Thomas Street, passed away on March 23, peacefully at Our Lady of Lourdes Hospital, the beloved wife of Patrick and loving Mum to Cavan, Elton and Ronan. She is sadly missed by her husband, sons, daughters in law Grainne and Mary Anne, grandchildren Kerry Ann, Cahal, Daniel, Ariane, Evelyn and Matt, brother Gervaise, brother-in-law, sisters-in-law, nephews, nieces, relatives and friends.

Her funeral was on Thursday last (March 25th) to St Peter's Church, West Street.

Anne strode into a male dominated world in 1953

There are many words to describe Anne Kane, our esteemed colleague and friend. Professional, reliable, loyal, integrity, personable, funny, dutiful, shy, softly spoken - any or all of these will fit the bill. It is often said of those who live a long life that longevity brings with it respect, deference and honours. These titles were mot bestowed on Anne - she earned them.

In 1953 when Anne joined the editorial staff of the Drogheda Independent Anne would have been one of the few women journalists in the country, a rare breed indeed. At 17, shy and diffident, she was plunged into a male-dominated world but she soon found her niche in the daily round of reporting duties including coverage of courts, Drogheda Corporation, Drogheda Chamber of commerce, Drogheda Trades Council, social and what later came to be known as community news. Her "speciality" was obituary writing, and she was adept at this because she had known very many of the people who had died. It was often joked in the newsroom that you hadn't died until Kane had written your obituary!

She was a quiet presence in the newsroom, working away in her corner, sometimes strolling up from the office in Shop Street into West Street. There might also be the occasional visit to Dunnes Stores but it was always guaranteed that beside grocery shopping Anne would come back with a few titbits for the paper - all in the line of duty for a local reporter. There were times when an editor's antenna for a looming story would start twitching. The signal was the donning by Anne of a pair of headphones, followed by the clattering of typewriter keys as Anne literally "banged out" a story, with the informant speaking animatedly on the other end of the phone. One of these occasions provided a local newspaper with a "dream scoop" and Anne's byline deservedly appeared in large bold type over a story about a son of a former Mayor of Drogheda (Donal Fairtlough) who had the good fortune to become special assistant to Marcia Clark , prosecutor in the O J Simpson trial. The paper was lucky, too, in that the former Mayor had not stopped being a good contact when he emigrated to the US.

The Drogheda Independent, because of its close proximity to Dublin, saw many journalistic and managerial comings and goings. Anne was witness to these departures but she was never tempted by the big city lights. She was a constant presence in the paper for 45 years, a lifetime for some people. Those journalists who left never forgot her and her kindnesses to them when they were learning the ropes. The great newsroom in the sky will be a happier place because of her dear presence.

By Paul Murphy
Two-thirds of Catholics say Biden should receive communion: Pew

Email Print Img No-img Menu Whatsapp Google Reddit Digg Stumbleupon Linkedin Comment

A new poll from the Pew Research Center found that an overwhelming majority of American Catholics believe that despite his support for abortion, President Joe Biden should be allowed to receive communion.

Bidens outspoken support for abortion puts him at odds with the official teaching of the Roman Catholic Church, of which he is a member. The Catholic Church teaches that abortion is gravely contrary to the moral law. In a 2004 memo to then-Washington, D.C., Cardinal Theodore McCarrick and Wilton Gregory, who served as Bishop of Belleville, Illinois, at the time, Cardinal Joseph Ratzinger, who would later become Pope Benedict XVI, outlined the factors that determined an individuals worthiness to receive communion.

Regarding the grave sin of abortion or euthanasia, when a persons formal cooperation becomes manifest (understood, in the case of a Catholic politician, as his consistently campaigning and voting for permissive abortion and euthanasia laws), his Pastor should meet with him, instructing him about the Churchs teaching, informing him that he is not to present himself for Holy Communion until he brings to an end the objective situation of sin, and warning him that he will otherwise be denied the Eucharist, he wrote.

When these precautionary measures have not had their effect or in which they were not possible, and the person in question, with obstinate persistence, still presents himself to receive the Holy Eucharist, the minister of Holy Communion must refuse to distribute it, the memo continued.

Bidens position led a priest in South Carolina to deny him communion as he campaigned in the state ahead of the 2020 Democratic Party's presidential primaries. There is division among American Catholics about whether Biden and other Catholic politicians who support abortion should receive communion.

According to the Pew poll, which was released Tuesday, 67% of Catholics disagree with the idea that Biden should be denied communion, while 29% believe that his support for abortion should prevent him from receiving the sacrament. A majority of Catholic Republicans and those who lean Republican (55%) believe that Bidens support for abortion should disqualify him from receiving communion, but their view is canceled out by the 87% of Catholic Democrats and Democrat leaners who feel otherwise.

As a whole, respondents gave an identical response when asked if politicians who disagree with the Churchs teachings on abortion should be able to receive communion. Sixty-seven percent said no while 29% said yes. However, the partisan breakdown differed slightly.

Republican and Republican-leaning Catholics were split almost evenly on whether priests should deny communion to a generic Catholic politician who is at odds with Church teachings on abortion, while 82% of Democrats and Democrat-leaning Catholics said a Catholic politicians support for abortion should not disqualify them from communion.

Additionally, members of Catholic Church leadership have offered differing reactions to the action taken by this particular priest. High-ranking American Cardinal Raymond Burke described the priests decision to deny Biden communion as right and just while Gregory, who now serves as Archbishop of Washington, D.C., said that he would serve the then-President-elect communion in spite of his position on abortion.

The polls release comes as a statement made by Archbishop Joseph Naumann, the chair of the United States Conference of Catholic Bishops Pro-life Committee, has drawn intense reaction from both sides of the abortion debate.

Two liberal groups, Faithful America and Faith in Public Life Action, have started a petition seeking the removal of Naumann from his position after he declared that Biden should refrain from calling himself a devout Catholic in light of his position on abortion. As of Friday morning, the petition had amassed nearly 20,000 signatures.

President Biden regularly demonstrates how important faith is to his personal life and to his commitment to justice and the common good. Yet instead of following the pastoral model of Pope Francis and other bishops who are building bridges with only the second Catholic president in U.S. history, the chairman of the U.S. bishops pro-life committee has questioned Bidens faith and even praised a priest who once denied Biden communion, the petition stated.

In addition to asking for Naumanns removal, the petition asked the U.S. Conference of Catholic Bishops to select a new leader who will refrain from attacking the presidents personal faith, speak consistently about all life issues, work through sincere differences with respect, and join Pope Francis in seeking common ground with the administration. It also claimed that bishops like Naumann weaponize the sacraments (and) malign the faith of sincere Catholics while accusing Naumann of choosing the culture wars over pastoral leadership.

Meanwhile, the group CatholicVote has written a letter in support of Naumann that is still collecting signatures. As of Friday morning, the letter had received more than 44,700 signatures. We understand that your admonition of President Joe Biden, whose campaign was both funded and endorsed by Planned Parenthood, the nations largest abortion provider, did not make you popular in some quarters, the letter states in part.

In publicly noting that the Presidents unequivocal advocacy for abortion on demand makes him ineligible to receive Holy Communion, you have followed St. Pauls directive to Timothy: Proclaim the word; be persistent whether it is convenient or inconvenient; convince, reprimand, encourage through all patience and teaching. For the time will come when people will not tolerate sound doctrine. (2 Tim 4:2-3) We thank you for your courage in transmitting sound doctrine and for your commitment to defending the most vulnerable among us.

The Pew poll, which was conducted between March 17, also asked Catholics whether Catholic politicians who disagree with some of the Churchs other teachings should be able to receive communion. Seventy-nine percent of Catholics believe that a Catholic politician who disagrees with the Churchs teachings on homosexuality should be eligible for communion. This view is held by 85% of Catholic Democrats and those who lean Democratic and 68% of Catholic Republicans and Republican leaners.

Higher numbers of Catholics believe that Catholic politicians who divert from the Churchs positions on the death penalty (79%) and immigration (86%) should still be allowed to receive communion. Among Catholics who identify with or lean toward one party or the other, the difference in views about the eligibility of Catholic politicians who disagree with the Churchs teachings on both issues is negligible.
(Newser)  Thousands of people demonstrated in dozens of English and Welsh cities Saturday against proposed legislation that would broaden the ability of police to shut down protests. In London, crowds marched from Hyde Park to Parliament, hearing speeches against the bill in both places, the Guardian reports. Protesters and officers clashed in Parliament Square. The legislation, which is moving through Parliament, would let police break up peaceful demonstrations if they think they're disruptive. The bill is "part of an authoritarian drive from this government," a Labor Party MP told the crowd in Hyde Park. "We can see it in everything they have been doing recently, from voter ID registration to anti-union laws and now anti-protest laws." The "Kill the bill" protests were also held in Birmingham, Liverpool, Oxford, Cardiff, and other cities.

story continues below

Women carried anti-sexism signs, including "Don't tell us how to dress, tell them not to rape," per the AP, and chanted, "Women scared everywhere, police and government do not care!" The messages are references to the aftermath of the killing of Sarah Everard in London last month as she walked home. Speakers on Saturday represented groups including UK Black Lives Matter, Global Majority, Extinction Rebellion, and the Gypsy, Roma and Traveller communities. Former Labor leader Jeremy Corbyn told the demonstrators outside Parliament that protest movements have changed history, a process that is now under threat from legislation that "effectively criminalizes peaceful protest. (Read more protests stories.)
SoftBank founder Masayoshi Son / Korea times file



By Kim Jae-heun



SoftBank Chairman Masayoshi Son is thinking of introducing Coupang's overnight delivery system in Japan through his e-commerce firm Yahoo Japan.



During an interview with a Japanese television news program on Monday, Son said he is in talks with Yahoo Japan to review the possibility of introducing Coupang's overnight delivery system there.



Reuters also reported that Son will adopt Coupang's system through SoftBank's subsidiary Z Holdings. SoftBank said that the chairman wants to open a Coupang-like service in Japan rather than launching Coupang itself there.



SoftBank is the biggest investor of Coupang, which its venture capital fund Vision Fund spent over 3 trillion won to acquire a 33.1 percent stake in the e-commerce firm.



On March 1, Naver's Japanese subsidiary Line and SoftBank's Yahoo Japan launched the joint venture Z Holdings in Japan to raise competitive power against No.1 player Amazon Japan and No.2 player Rakuten.



Naver said it will open its Smart Store platform in Japan in the first half of this year. But Son believes this is not enough.



Amazon Japan has already adopted a same-day delivery system for premium membership customers, who can also designate the day they want to receive their orders. The service delivers fresh food orders within two hours at the fastest and overnight at the slowest  although this service is limited to certain areas.



This led Amazon Japan to surpass Rakuten and dominate the local market back in 2010. Son believes Coupang's overnight delivery system could raise Yahoo Japan to the level of Amazon Japan and Rakuten. But Yahoo Japan still has a lot of catching up to do.



The biggest problem lies on the logistics system, working environment and culture differences of the customers.



In Japan, delivery drivers have to deliver directly to the customer, hand to hand. According to Japan's Ministry of Land, Infrastructure, Transport and Tourism, delivery drivers have to come back later to complete the delivery in 11.4 percent of cases.



In Coupang's case, its overnight delivery system here is possible because workers can just drop items at customers' front doors.



Japan's biggest logistics firm Yamato Logistics has established 5,400 safe drops across the country to resolve the issue, but Japanese customers are still uncomfortable with the system.



There aren't enough delivery workers in Japan, either. Japan's transport ministry said the country will lack 240,000 delivery vehicle drivers in 2027.



Nonetheless, Japan's e-commerce market is desirable as its size ranks fourth after China, the U.S. and the U.K. Japan's Ministry of Economy, Trade and Industry said the online market grew by 6.76 percent to reach 19.3 trillion yen (200 trillion won) in 2019 compared to the previous year.



The COVID-19 pandemic has boosted the transition to online shopping, but the e-commerce market still comprises only 7.9 percent of the total. This means the market still has more to grow.


A federal judge dismissed a lawsuit challenging a federal agencys findings that a Dunmore meatpacking plants COVID-19 safety practices did not place employees in imminent danger.

U.S. District Judge Malachy Mannion said, while he shares concerns about how the Occupational Safety and Health Administration handled the complaint against Maid-Rite Specialty Foods, the court has no jurisdiction over the matter.

Justice at Work, a Philadelphia-based workers rights group, filed suit on behalf of the plants employees in July, alleging Maid-Rite failed to implement adequate safety precautions to protect workers from contracting COVID-19.

The suit sought to compel the U.S. secretary of labor to order an immediate inspection of the plant. That issue became moot after the department conducted the inspection, which was completed in December and resulted in no citations against the company.

Mannion allowed the suit to proceed, however, to address the underlying issue of whether employees had the right to challenge OSHAs determination that no imminent threat existed.

The case hinged on a legal technicality involving the process by which the federal court system can intervene.

The U.S. Department of Labor argued the law only allows the courts to intervene if an OSHA inspector finds an imminent threat exists but the secretary of labor fails to act on the finding. The employees attorney urged Mannion to reject that argument, saying it would leave employees no recourse if they believe OSHA inspectors abused their discretion.

In a 34-page ruling, Mannion agreed the court had no right to intervene in the case because there was no finding of an imminent threat, therefore the issue never went before the labor secretary for a ruling.

No OSHA inspector has found that the plant presents an imminent danger to its employees and, consequently, no recommendation had been made to the secretary, he said.

Although he dismissed the suit, Mannion said he was concerned it took OSHA so long to respond to the employees concerns. He also expressed concern the law provides employees no remedy to challenge OSHAs rulings if they believe an investigator acted inappropriately.

Ultimately, however, Plaintiffs remedy lies with the legislature and not the court, Mannion decided.

Attorneys for Justice at Work said they are considering appealing the decision.
The head of a leading private school last night called for an end to 'gender wars' in the wake of thousands of allegations of sex abuse.

More than 11,000 testimonies have now been uploaded to the Everyone's Invited website, which compiles reports of sexual abuse in schools.

Education Secretary Gavin Williamson has condemned the alleged assaults as 'shocking' and suggested any schools implicated could face government measures.

The head of a leading private school last night called for an end to 'gender wars' in the wake of thousands of allegations of sex abuse

Jane Lunnon, the new head of the 20,000-a-year Alleyn's School in Dulwich, south-east London, suggested the solution should see young men become 'part of the conversation'.

'A gender war helps no one, and pitting girls against boys or 'othering' the opposite gender is no solution,' she told The Times.

More than 11,000 testimonies have now been uploaded to the Everyone's Invited website

'Our young people must learn how to tackle these things head on; how to listen to each other generously and with respect, and how to ex-press their concerns and their hopes openly together.'

Schools have been accused of trivialising sexual violence by boys, with official figures showing the number of pupils suspended for it has almost halved in a decade.

There were 1,866 suspensions for sexual misconduct last year  a 44 per cent decrease on the 3,350 of ten years ago. Exclusions also fell.

Natalie Collins, an expert in addressing male violence and author of Out Of Control, said: 'These figures are very worrying. Anyone working in schools will be aware that significant numbers of boys are sexually harming girls, with increased access to pornography part of this.

'That there has been a significant fall in suspensions and expulsions for sexually harmful behaviour is an indicator that schools are failing to recognise and respond appropriately to boys' sexual harassment and assault of girls.

'For girls, this may mean having to move school or endure the trauma of sitting in lessons or assemblies with a boy who has raped or otherwise sexually abused them.'

A Department for Education spokesman said last night: 'Where schools are failing to meet strict safeguarding standards, the Department for Education will not hesitate to take action.'
France urges Iran to avoid nuclear escalation ahead of talks View Photo

PARIS (AP)  Frances top diplomat spoke with his Iranian counterpart Saturday and urged Iran to be constructive and avoid further nuclear escalation ahead of talks next week aimed at trying to salvage a global accord curbing the Iranian nuclear program.

The United States and Iran said Friday they will begin indirect negotiations next week, in one of the first signs of progress in efforts to try to get both countries back into compliance with the 2015 accord. Then-President Donald Trump pulled the U.S. out of the accord in 2018, and Iran has been steadily violating its restrictions ever since.

Diplomats from Britain, China, France, Germany, Russia and Iran will take part in Tuesdays EU-brokered talks in Vienna. Those six countries have remained in the accord, known as the Joint Comprehensive Plan of Action, which bound Iran to nuclear restrictions in return for relief from U.S. and international sanctions.

French Foreign Minister Jean-Yves Le Drian spoke Saturday with Iranian Foreign Minister Jawad Zarif to prepare for the talks.

I encouraged Iran to be constructive, Le Drian said in a statement. I called on Iran to abstain from any further violation of its current commitments in the nuclear domain that could threaten the movement toward resumed discussions.

Iran insists it is not seeking to make nuclear bombs.

President Joe Biden came into office saying that getting back into the nuclear accord and getting Irans nuclear program back under international restrictions was a priority for his U.S. administration. Iran wants sanctions to be lifted first.
Source: Xinhua| 2021-04-03 01:09:25|Editor: huaxia

Video Player Close

HARARE, April 2 (Xinhua) -- Zimbabwe has outlawed the importation of vehicles older than 10 years in a move that is meant to revitalize the local motor industry, reduce the import bill and cut greenhouse emissions.

Under Statutory Instrument 89 of 2021 which came into effect on Friday, second-hand vehicles manufactured 10 years ago, except commercial vehicles and those for agricultural purposes, will no longer be permitted into the country.

Critics say imports of substandard used vehicles are contributing to road carnage as well as worsening pollution that hampers efforts to mitigate the effects of climate change.

The new law is expected to drive the demand for locally produced vehicles.

Last year Finance Minister Mthuli Ncube announced that Zimbabwe would start to locally manufacture buses for the mass public transport system as part of government efforts to revive the country's once-vibrant automobile industry. Enditem
Advertisement

Pope Francis led prayers to celebrate Easter as thousands of pilgrims packed Jerusalem to mark Good Friday after Covid restrictions were eased following the success of Israel's vaccine roll-out.

In Latin America, penitents from Mexico and Guatemala to Paraguay carried tree branches covered with thorns and large crosses in Passion Plays reenacting the crucifixion of Jesus Christ.

Christians in the Holy Land marked the day without the mass pilgrimages usually seen due to coronavirus restrictions, and worshippers in many other predominantly Christian countries where the virus is still raging observed their second annual Holy Week with tight rules on gatherings.

In Jerusalem, many holy sites were open, thanks to an ambitious Israeli vaccination campaign. It was a stark contrast to last year, when the city was under lockdown. In neighboring Lebanon, Christians observed Good Friday under a lockdown and suffering a severe economic crisis.

At the Vatican, Pope Francis laid down in prayer at the Good Friday Mass for the Passion of the Lord at St. Peter's Basilica as Christians across the world celebrated.

In Jerusalem the masses - many wearing face masks - flooded down the Via Dolorosa towards the Church of the Holy Sepulchre as they carried crosses to commemorate the route that Jesus walked to his crucifixion.

In the Vatican, which is subject to strict social distancing rules, Pope Francis had earlier visited a vaccination centre where volunteers have spent the past week administering some 1,200 doses of the Pfizer jab to the poor and homeless.

In Australia, which has had very few coronavirus cases, worshippers took to the streets of Sydney for processions of the cross and were able to gather inside churches without wearing masks.

Catholic devotees in the Philippines flouted restrictions to whip themselves bloody during self-flagellation rituals to remember how Christ was beaten by the Romans before his execution.

The virus is still raging throughout much of Europe where services were constrained by lockdown rules.

Spanish Prime Minister Pedro Sanchez relaxed the rules today so that people would be allowed to sing In Spain, while in the Czech Republic a newly-imposed lockdown meant congregations were limited to ten per cent.

The fire-ravaged Notre Dame Cathedral in Paris remained closed after Emmanuel Macron imposed a third national lockdown, while a lone crucifix standing in London's Trafalgar Square was the only sign of the holy day in Britain's heavily-restricted capital.

MEXICO: An actor who plays Jesus Christ is crucified as part of the Viacrucis representation on April 2 in Itztapalapa, Mexico

PARAGUAY: The crucifixion of Jesus Christ is reenacted in a Passion Play on the plaza of the Our Lady of Candelaria Catholic Church that remained closed due to coronavirus restrictions

GUATEMALA: Penitents participate in the tradition of the 'gateadores' on Good Friday in San Andres Sajcabaja, in the department of Quiche

VATICAN CITY: Pope Francis lies down in prayer prior to celebrate Good Friday Mass for the Passion of the Lord at St. Peter's Basilica in the Vatican, April 2

VATICAN CITY: Pope Francis presides over the Via Crucis (Way of the Cross) ceremony in St. Peter's Square, at the Vatican, Friday

VATICAN CITY: Pope Francis celebrates Good Friday Mass for the Passion of the Lord on April 2, 2021 at St. Peter's Basilica in the Vatican

VATICAN CITY: Pope Francis lies down in prayer prior to celebrate Good Friday Mass for the Passion of the Lord today

VATICAN CITY: Pope Francis leans his forehead against the cross during the Veneration of the Cross as he celebrates Good Friday Mass

VATICAN CITY: Children and young people of Rome observe the Stations of the Cross during the celebration of the Way of the Cross (Via Crucis) led by Pope Francis as part of Good Friday

VATICAN CITY: Pope Francis prays as he celebrates the Mass for the Passion of Christ, at St. Peter's Basilica, at the Vatican, Friday, April 2

ISRAEL: The masses - wearing face masks - flooded down the Via Dolorosa towards the the Church of the Holy Sepulchre as they carried crosses to commemorate the route that Jesus walked to his crucifixion

IRELAND: People take part in a Solemn Procession on Good Friday at the Papal Cross in Dublin's Phoenix Park, as churches remain closed due to coronavirus restrictions

ISRAEL: Christians walk down the Via Dolorosa (Way of Suffering) in Jerusalem after restrictions were eased following the tremendous success of the country's vaccine roll-out

ISRAEL: Christian worshippers take part in a Good Friday procession along the Via Dolorosa amid eased coronavirus disease (COVID-19) restrictions, during Easter Holy Week in Jerusalem's Old City

VATICAN CITY: The Pope visits a vaccination centre in the Paul VI Hall where the poor and homeless are being inoculated

ISRAEL: Christians carry a large wooden cross down the Via Dolorosa amid loosened covid restrictions following the success of the country's vaccine programme

PHILIPPINES: A man whips himself bloody to mark Good Friday, the day of Jesus' crucifixion, on the streets of Manila

FRANCE: Archbishop Monseigneur Aupetit (C-L) performs during the Stations of the Cross ceremony as part the Good Friday procession at the Sacre-Coeur (sacred heart) basilica atop Montmartre overlooking Paris

INDONESIA: A Catholic plays the role of Jesus during a Good Friday celebration outside a church in Pekanbaru

SRI LANKA: Soldiers patrol outside the St. Lucia's Cathedral during the Good Friday mass in Colombo. The city was rocked by Islamist attacks on churches on Easter Sunday in 2019

BRITAIN: The choir performs whilst observing social distancing during the Good Friday morning choral service, which took place without members of the public present due to Covid-19 regulations, at Truro Cathedral

PHILIPPINES: Catholics whip themselves across their bloodied backs on the streets of Manila as they flout Covid rules to mark Good Friday

INDIA: Catholics re-enact the crucifixion, with men dressed as Romans surrounding Jesus at Saint Mary's Bethany Convent in Hyderabad

ISRAEL: Women are seen wearing masks as they carry a wooden cross through the Church of the Holy Sepulchre, which is built on the site where Jesus was crucified

CZECH REPUBLIC: eople wearing masks and respirators and pushing wooden rattles walk through the streets during an Easter procession on Good Friday in the city of Ceske Budejovice

AUSTRALIA: A man portraying Jesus carrying a cross during a Good Friday Crucifixion Walk, in Martin Place, Sydney

SPAIN: People play drums outside their home as part of Good Friday's 'Rompida de la Hora' (Breaking of the hour), after annual Holy Week processions were cancelled due to the coronavirus disease (COVID-19) in Calanda

Last year, Jerusalem was under a strict lockdown, with sacred rites observed by small groups of priests, often behind closed doors.

This year, the Church of the Holy Sepulchre, built on the site where Christians believe Jesus was crucified, died and rose from the dead, is open to visitors and expecting a few dozen.

After the morning prayer service they will retrace Jesus' final steps along the Via Dolorosa.

'Things are open, but cautiously and gradually,' said Wadie Abunassar, an adviser to church leaders in the Holy Land.

'In regular years we urge people to come out. Last year we told people to stay at home... This year we are somehow silent.'

Israel has launched one of the world's most successful vaccination campaigns, allowing it to reopen restaurants, hotels and religious sites.

But air travel is still limited by quarantine and other restrictions, keeping away the foreign pilgrims who usually throng Jerusalem during Holy Week.

The main holy sites are in the Old City in east Jerusalem, which Israel captured along with the West Bank in the 1967 war.

Israel annexed east Jerusalem and considers the entire city its unified capital, while the Palestinians want both territories for their future state.

Israel included Palestinian residents of Jerusalem in its vaccination campaign, but has only provided a small number of vaccines to those in the occupied West Bank, where the Palestinian Authority has imported tens of thousands of doses for a population of more than 2.5 million.

INDONESIA: In the wake of a church attack in South Sulawesi on March 28, soldiers and personnel carriers sit parked outside the St. Mary of the Assumption Cathedral during Mass on Good Friday

NIGERIA: Parishioners wearing face masks to protect against coronavirus take part in a Stations of the Cross service during the Good Friday service, at the Holy Cross Cathedral in Lagos

IRELAND: Fr Declan Kelly, Curate of Church Ss. Peter & Paul in Dunboyne, Co. Meath, carries a crucifix in preparation for the Celebration of the Lord's Passion service on Good Friday

INDIA: Catholics offer prayers as they take part in a procession to re-enact the crucifixion of Jesus Christ on Good Friday in Chennai

JERUSALEM: Christians take part in a procession of the cross along the Via Dolorosa on Good Friday

PHILIPPINES: A man lies across the ground in Manila to be whipped during Catholic Good Friday celebrations

BRITAIN: A crucifix placed in Trafalgar Square, in locked-down London, on Good Friday, for the Christian holiday commemorating the crucifixion of Jesus and his death at Calvary

PHILIPPINES: A Catholic lies across the road, his back bloodied from self-flagellation, a Good Friday ritual in the Philippines

AUSTRALIA: A Catholic man acting the part of Jesus takes part in celebrations on Martin Place on Friday

SPAIN: Devotees attend the Church of 'La O' to visit the Jesus Nazareno and the Virgin of La O during the celebrations for the Good Friday in Seville. The PM relaxed rules today so that congregants would be allowed to sing

CZECH REPUBLIC: People wearing masks and respirators and pushing wooden rattles walk through the streets during an Easter procession on Good Friday

PHILIPPINES: A man whips himself across the back as children watch on during Good Friday celebrations in Manila

INDIA: A Christian takes part in a re-enactment of the crucifixion in Hyderabad on Good Friday

INDONESIA: An armed policeman stands guard as nuns walk to church in the Muslim-majority country on the resort island of Bali

INDONESIA: A man playing a role of Jesus Christ is tied to a cross during a performance outside a church on Good Friday, amid the pandemic in Pekanbaru, Riau Province

Israeli authorities said up to 5,000 Christian Palestinians from the West Bank would be permitted to enter for Easter celebrations.

Abunassar said he was not aware of any large tour groups from the West Bank planning to enter, as in years past, likely reflecting concerns about the virus.

Abunassar said most Christians in the region celebrate Holy Week in their local parishes. The Good Friday services in the Old City are only expected to draw a small number of people, mainly priests and foreigners who reside in the Holy Land.

At the Vatican, Holy Week events are being celebrated before limited numbers of masked faithful to respect COVID-19 health and social distancing norms.

ISRAEL: Men carry the cross along the Via Dolorosa, the path that Jesus walked towards his crucifixion, towards the Church of the Holy Sepulchre, traditionally believed by many to be the site where Jesus was crucified

ISRAEL: A pilgrim carries a cross along the Via Dolorosa towards the Church of the Holy Sepulchre as a man wearing an Arab headdress walks in the foreground

GERMANY: A minister leads a socially-distanced service at the Protestant Berlin Cathedral on Good Friday

ISRAEL: Christian worshippers take part in a Good Friday procession along the Via Dolorosa amid eased coronavirus restrictions

AUSTRALIA: Nuns take part in a service at St Mary's Cathedral in Sydney on Friday

INDIA: A congregation marks Good Friday at All Saints' Cathedral in Allahabad

CZECH REPUBLIC: People wearing white masks during a Catholic procession through the city of Ceske Budejovice on Good Friday

SOUTH AFRICA: Members of The Golden Apostolic Faith Healing Mission Church pray during a religious ceremony to celebrate Good Friday in Soweto

PHILIPPINES: Barefoot men flagellate themselves across their blooded backs on the streets of Manila on Good Friday

ISRAEL: Christian worshippers take part in a Good Friday procession along the Via Dolorosa amid eased coronavirus disease (COVID-19) restrictions, during Easter Holy Week in Jerusalem's Old City

AUSTRALIA: Worshippers at the St Mary's Cathedral in Sydney where there are no restrictions on church services

INDONESIA: Soldiers stand guard while people have their temperatures scanned outside St. Mary of the Assumption Cathedral in Jakarta

INDIA: A woman reaches out to touch a figure of Christ on the cross during a service in Chennai on Good Friday

In France, a nationwide 7pm curfew is forcing parishes to move Good Friday ceremonies forward in the day, as the traditional Catholic night processions are being drastically scaled back or cancelled.

Nineteen departments in France are on localized lockdowns, where parishioners can attend daytime Mass if they sign the governments 'travel certificate.'

Although a third lockdown 'light' is being imposed Saturday, French President Emmanuel Macron has wavered on a travel ban for Easter weekend, allowing the French to drive between regions to meet up with family on Friday.

Fire-ravaged Notre Dame will not hold a Good Friday mass this year, but the cathedrals 'Crown of Thorns' will be venerated by the cathedrals clergy at its new temporary liturgical hub in the nearby church of Saint-Germain-lAuxerrois.

INDONESIA: Men playing Roman soldiers and a man acting the role of Jesus outside a church in Pekanbaru during a Catholic celebration of Good Friday

INDIA: A woman reads an order of service at St. Joseph's Cathedral in Prayagraj on Good Friday

GERMANY: Worshippers wearing masks bow their heads during a service at the Protestant Berlin Cathedral

INDIA: A woman kneels and prays at St. Joseph's Cathedral in Prayagraj on Friday

PHILIPPINES: Barefoot flagellants whip their bloodied backs as penance outside a closed church, defying government orders to avoid religious gatherings and stay home to curb the spread of the coronavirus

PHILIPPINES: The replica of the Black Nazarene is taken on a pickup truck around a village to mark Good Friday in Quezon City, Metro Manila

In the Philippines, streets were eerily quiet and religious gatherings were prohibited in the capital, Manila, and four outlying provinces.

The government placed the bustling region of more than 25 million people back under lockdown this week as it scrambled to contain an alarming surge in COVID-19 cases.

The Philippines had started to reopen in hopes of stemming a severe economic crisis, but infections surged last month, apparently because of more contagious strains, increased public mobility and complacency.

In Australia, masked churchgoers sat in rows of socially distanced chairs at a street in Sydney as actor Timothy Watkins carried a cross in his portrayal of the crucifixion of Jesus Christ during a Good Friday observance.
A senior figure within the HSE has said it is hoped the new 48-bed Acute Medical Unit at the Mallow General Hospital (MGH) will be ready to accept its first patients within 12-months.

The interim CEO of the Cork University Hospital Group, Dr Gerard O'Callaghan also confirmed the new extension will include future provision for a 40-bed recovery and rehabilitation 'step down' unit.

Late last year it emerged that the new unit would be built on the site of the old Fever Hospital at a cost of approximately 29 million, with ground-works commencing on site earlier this year.

At last week's meeting of the Southern Regional Health Forum, Macroom area County councillor Eileen Lynch, placed a motion on behalf of her party colleague Cllr John Paul O'Shea seeking a progress update on the project.

Replying to the motion the Dr O'Callaghan, confirmed the new unit would increase bed capacity at the MGH to 70 inpatients beds.

"The beds in the new extension will all be single occupancy, en-suite accommodation. The building will be manufactured in segments off-site by ESS Modular and transported to the site for assembly," wrote Dr O'Callaghan.

He said the extension would consist of four floors and a machinery basement, connected too the western end of the existing main hospital.

"Two of the four floors will be fitted out for inpatient beds. The remaining two floors will brought to a shelled finish to allow for the future development of a 40 -bed rehabilitation unit," wrote Dr O'Callaghan.

He said an executive project board had been formed to oversee the build, provide a staffing plan and an equipment programme.

"Subject to finalising the building project plan, the estimated date of delivery for the project twill be the end of quarter one, 2021," wrote Dr O'Callaghan.

Thanking Cllr Lynch for raising the issue through the forum on his behalf, Cllr O'Shea said it was great to see the plan for the new extension coming to fruition.

"This will be a wonderful addition to the facilities and Mallow General and I am really looking forward to seeing this project develop over the coming months," he said.

"I also welcome comments by Dr O'Callaghan about the rehabilitation unit, which will hopefully come on stream shortly after the extension is finished," he added.
SAN DIEGO, April 2, 2021 -- Summer will be a lot safer at the beach this year if twin brothers Milton and Michael Willis have their way.

The brothers, World Champion Giant Wave Surfers are busy getting the word out on how to escape rip currents the Surfers Way.

For years lifeguards have advocated swimming parallel to the beach to escape rip currents. Milton exclaims this method is obsolete and incomplete. He explains Lifeguards tell swimmers to go parallel to escape rips, they don't say how far, in which direction or where to come in.

The Willis brothers are not alone in denouncing this antiquated lifeguard method. Dr. Jaime MacMahan of the Monterey Institute of Oceanography, who received a substantial grant to study rip currents, has stated swimming parallel to escape rip currents is more dangerous than simply floating and letting the rip take you.

MacMahan maintains the rip current will take a swimmer out and eventually circle around bringing them back to shore.

Milton and Michael endorse Think Waves the Surfers Way. Michael explains waves are always going to the shore, common sense if a swimmer wants to get to the shore swim toward the waves. Thus he says rips out waves in.

Rip currents and waves are like transports of the sea. For years surfers have used the sea's energy and natural occurring currents to get out beyond the breakers and waves to get back in to the shore, it's that simple.

When it comes to avoiding rip currents the Willis brothers say lifeguards will tell you to stay out of the water, Milton and Michael will tell you stay in front of the waves.

The Surfers Way is tried true and proven for hundreds of years by experienced Surfers worldwide the brothers add.

Good news N.O.A.A. who establishes rip current policies has adapted the Surfers Way in pictograph format and now appears in new posters along with "Know your Options".

This isn't enough, Milton says, as most lifeguards despite N.O.A.A.'s endorsing the Surfers Way Think Waves remain unaware of this highly valuable life saving method.

Milton and Michael both know about saving lives. Milton was awarded the Certificate of Life Saving Merit from the City and County of Honolulu for successful rescue under extremely hazardous surf conditions. Michael is credited with rescuing Hawaiian Lifeguard and legendary surfer Titus Kinimaka, the most dramatic rescue in surfing history.

For more information visit ThinkWaves.org

SOURCE Think Waves

Related Links

https://www.thinkwaves.org


Two-time world champion surfer Tyler Wright has allegedly been ripped off by a family friend in a $1.5 million fraud scheme.

The Australian surfer, 27, has been on the World Surf League tour since she was just 14 and hired a bookkeeper to look after her finances.

Shane Maree Hatton, 53, has now been charged with defrauding the Shoalhaven, NSW, waverider and Wright's two pro surfer brothers, Owen and Mikey, over the past decade.

Detectives arrested Hatton in a Wednesday morning raid on her home in Vincentia on the south coast of NSW.

Two-time world champion surfer Tyler Wright is the alleged victim of a million-dollar fraud scheme carried out by a family friend

The beloved Australian surfer, 27, has been on the World Surf League tour since she was just 14 and had employed the services of a bookkeeper to look after her finances

Officers searcher her home and seized documents and electronic devices for forensic examination.

Hatton was taken to Nowra Police Station and charged with 749 counts of dishonestly obtaining a financial advantage by deception.

Police were only alerted to the alleged fraud scheme in October last year when Wright's celebrity agent Nick Fordham found inconsistencies in her finances.

'There is a trend of family friends and relatives, who are less than qualified, managing large amounts of money and they can't resist the temptation of taking some of the money for themselves,' State Crime Command director Detective Chief Superintendent Darren Bennett told the Daily Telegraph.

He said it was an all-too-common for big-money earners to be taken advantage of by those close to them.

'The first thing they need to do is employ reputable companies, not family friends to handle their careers,' Chief Superintendent Bennett said.

'They need to get contracts, and with legal advice. Then they need to take an interest in their money day to day and the movement of money in their bank accounts.'

Shane Maree Hatton, 53, was arrested in a Wednesday morning raid at her home in at a home in Vincentia on the South Coast of New South Wales

The woman was taken to Nowra Police Station and charged with a staggering 749 counts of fraud

Hatton worked for Wright's mum and dad's family plumbing business years before taking control of the surfer's finances.

Investigators believe the money allegedly stolen by Hatton may never be retrieved with more than $1.2 million gambled away on poker machines, police allege.

Wright is currently in Newcastle preparing for the second stop on the World Surf League tour.

She has won 14 world events in her stellar career and claimed two world titles in 2016 and 2017.

Hatton was granted bail and will face court on April 26.
Washington: U.S. National Guard members stand guard in front of the U.S. Capitol building in Washington, D.C., the United States, on April 2, 2021. (Xinhua/Liu Jie/IANS) Image Source: IANS News

Washington: U.S. National Guard members stand guard near the U.S. Capitol building in Washington, D.C., the United States, on April 2, 2021. (Xinhua/Liu Jie/IANS) Image Source: IANS News

Washington, April 3 : A police officer was killed after a person rammed his vehicle into barriers surrounding the US Capitol complex, according to authorities.

The driver, identified as Noah Green, a 25-year-old man from Indiana, was shot by police at the scene on Friday afternoon and died in hospital, reports Xinhua news agency.

Green is a Nation of Islam follower, according to MSNBC, citing Facebook content that was thought to be posted by him.

The authorities have not yet specified a motive.

The slain police officer was identified by Capitol Police as 18-year veteran William "Billy" Evans.

"It is with profound sadness that I share the news of the passing of Officer William 'Billy' Evans this afternoon from injuries he sustained following an attack at the North Barricade by a lone assailant," acting Capitol Police Chief Yogananda Pittman said at a news conference.

"This has been an extremely difficult time for US Capitol Police," Pittman said, noting the attack underscores that the Capitol Hill remains a potential target for violence.

After ramming his car into the barricade, the suspect exited the vehicle with a knife, started lunging at and was killed by the police, he said.

"The suspect entered what we refer to as the north barricade of the Capitol. The suspect rammed his car into two of our officers and then hit the north barricade barrier.

"At such time the suspect exited the vehicle with a knife in hand. Our officers then engaged that suspect. He did not respond to verbal commands," Pittman added.

The attack occurred about 91 metres from the entrance of the building on the Senate side of the Capitol.

Immediately after the attack the complex was placed under a lockdown. It was lifted two hours later.

White House Press Secretary Jen Psaki told reporters that President Joe Biden, who landed at Camp David on Friday afternoon to spend the Easter weekend, is "aware" of the Capitol incident.

House Speaker Nancy Pelosi ordered the flags at the Capitol to be flown at half-staff to mourn the death of the police officer.

Following the attack, there was a heavy police response outside of the Capitol, including a helicopter landing on the premises.

Washington Field Office of the Federal Bureau of Investigation said it also provided support to the Capitol Police.

The D.C. National Guard also deployed an Immediate Response Force to the complex to support the Capitol Police.

It was the second line-of-duty death in the Capitol Police this year.

Capitol Police officer, Brian D. Sicknick, died a day after the January 6 riot staged by supporters of former President Donald Trump.

He passed away "due to injuries sustained while on-duty".

Two other Capitol Police officers have died by suicide in the wake of the riot.

Barbed wire fencing has been set up around the Capitol complex since the riot.

Several thousands of the National Guard troops still remain in Washington, D.C. over security concerns.
New Delhi, April 3 : An astute Kathak danseuse of the Lucknow Gharana, Rani Khanam has dared to differ in her dance practice. Integrating Islamic verses and Sufiana Kalam of mystic Sufi poets in her Kathak practice for over 20 years, she has carved a global niche as a pioneering Muslim Kathak classical dancer. She has also used choreographed productions as a medium to raise awareness on causes like HIV/AIDS, rights of women, including Muslim women, and persons with disabilities.

The founder director of 'Aamad Kathak Dance Centre' in east Delhi, Khanam recently performed on the compositions of Bulleh Shah and Hazrat Amir Khusrau. Excerpts from IANSlife's interview with her on the sidelines: How did you take to dancing and Kathak?

Khanam: I have been dancing since childhood. Everything I have done so far, is a contribution to this field. In fact, since a very early age I have seen and understood things through dance's perspective. I pursued Kathak as it is one of the classical dances of the North and carried on with it since then. For me Kathak is like a meditation, a sadhana which is there in my everyday practice.

You are a practising Sufi, how do you incorporate it into your dance practice? Please also tell us about the historical research undertaken by you on the Islamic influence on Kathak.

Khanam: Sufi is not a practice, it is a thought. To blend with Sufi in one colour without any discrimination is a way to connect with the supreme power above - the almighty. Sufi has a very simple way, let it be through devotion or Sufi, it's the same thing. Alongside, I have done research and been working on Islamic verses, Sufiana kalam of renowned poets for the past more than 20 years. I have performed on it at an international level and collaborated with international artists and Sufi dancers.

You have defied many odds during your dance career...

Khanam: Every artist, every human has odds in their life and it is very natural. But when you are focussed on your goals you don't realise when you have surpassed those odds. Being a Muslim, I had little obstacles as at those time dancing was not pursued openly. But with conviction, power and passion I was able to overcome all these and till today I am working in the society by maintaining all due respect.

How did you keep refining your practice during 2020's lockdown? What did it mean to you? Khanam: For the past one year, due to Covid, life has given us time for us to think positively. Being an optimistic person, I believe that if things go wrong there must be a good reason behind it. It needs us to improve. This was a refinement period for me. I took classes, participated in virtual programmes with the kids and other artists. I have been a part of various online discussions. So, last year I tried to be as constructive as possible.

You performed 'Holi Khelungi Keh Ke Bismillah' by Bulleh Shah at Kathak Kendra. Please tell us about it.

Khanam: Kathak Kendra's event 'Swadheenta Ke Rang, Phalgun Ke Sang' is a very nice concept where they have invited all the Kathak artists along with artists from other art fields on the occasion of Holi. I performed a few Bandish, one of them was of Hazrat Amir Khusrau's and is based on Raag Basant Bahar Mishr. The second bandish was by Baba Bulleh Shah's 'Holi Khelungi Keh Ke Bismillah'. The way I portrayed was the Almighty is the actual painter who has painted the entire world with the colour of love. He combined all the true colours of love and unity and came with a rainbow. All the colours on the earth like sea, leaves are all given by God. I am glad that people admired my performance during the show.

(Siddhi Jain can be contacted at siddhi.j@ians.in)

-- The story has been published from a wire feed without any modifications to the text
The COVID-19 relief bill did more than deliver $1,400 stimulus checks to Americans; it also will give nearly 7 million Americans free health coverage through the federal health insurance exchange.

Congress authorized billions of dollars in financial assistance for health care consumers under the American Rescue Plan when it was signed into law last month.

This means more than half a million Texans without health insurance will now qualify for free plans on the marketplace. Nationally, four out of five adults will be able to find a good plan for $10 or less per month.

These changes went live last week on healthcare.gov.

A special enrollment period that was set to run from Feb. 15 to May 15 has been extended to Aug. 15, allowing the public more time to visit the website for a cheaper plan or to check for additional savings on their current plan.

U.S. Health and Human Services Secretary Xavier Becerra said Thursday that President Joe Biden is delivering on his promise to immediately bring down health care costs.

For two years, these provisions will extend subsidy eligibility for individuals who earn between $51,040 to $76,560 a year or for families of four with a household income of between $104,800 and $157,200 a year.

The passage of the American Rescue Plan increases the number of individuals eligible for subsidies by 20 percent, from 18.1 million to 21.8 million, according to a report by the Kaiser Family Foundation.

On ExpressNews.com: Coronavirus-weary San Antonio consumers have more choices in federal health insurance exchange

Those who already qualified for a federal subsidy to offset the cost of monthly premiums will be able to save even more money. Federal officials say premiums will be cut by an average of $50 to $85 per person per month.

People should not wait until the last minute to review their respective plans, said Ana Maria Garza Cortez, vice president and chief development officer at CentroMed, which runs EnrollSA, a local coalition that helps residents apply for health coverage on the federal marketplace.

You need to go back in and update your application, she said, urging residents to visit enrollsa.com to schedule a virtual appointment or call 210-977-7997 for assistance.

Cortez said theres been an increase in San Antonio residents seeking appointments, which are free, with the coalitions certified application counselors, especially among those who lost their jobs during the COVID-19 pandemic.

The new rules say that people who received unemployment payments at least once in 2021 will be eligible for zero-premium, platinum-like coverage. Alternatively, the government will pick up the tab for a temporary COBRA health plan offered by a former employer.

While premium tax credits will be available when federal income taxes are filed, experts say consumers should update their plans now so they can reap the benefits of lower out-of-pocket medical expenses.

On ExpressNews.com: Time running out to sign up for ACA health care plans

Getting the word out could be difficult.

EnrollSA received an additional $100,000 donation from Methodist Healthcare Ministries of South Texas, which allowed them to hire temporary call center staff and start to market the changes to their clients. But not all local organizations have the benefit of that kind of funding.

And then there are the thousands of people who signed up on their own and dont know about the potential savings or the extended enrollment period.

HHS officials said the federal agency will spend an additional $50 million in advertising nationally to promote the special enrollment period  a stark reversal from the previous administration that spent the past four years cutting such funds, including patient navigator programs embedded in communities throughout the country.

Laura Packard, executive director of national advocacy group Get America Covered, said consumers will probably soon see commercials online and on TV for the marketplaces extended enrollment period.

Everybody, even if they couldnt afford health insurance in the past, they should take a few minutes to go to healthcare.gov and see what the new numbers look like, she said.

She warns there will still be many people in Texas with very low income who wont qualify for the subsidies that make the marketplaces plans affordable. Theyre left out in the cold, she said

Most states cover this population through an expanded Medicaid program under the ACA, but Texas has yet to accept this big pot of money that would cover the cost and then some.

Some Texas lawmakers are pushing to expand Medicaid before the legislative session ends May 31.

There is no possible reason to refuse this except for politics, Packard said. But maybe (lawmakers) who were against it in the past will come around.

laura.garcia@express-news.net
University of Colorado music student Louis Saxton plays his cello at the makeshift memorial fence outside King Soopers supermarket on Table Mesa Drive, Monday. The memorial is for the 10 people killed at the store when a gunman opened fire on Monday, March 22, 2021.
A man wearing a protective face mask walks under surveillance cameras as China is hit by an outbreak of the novel coronavirus, in Shanghai, China on March 4, 2020. (Aly Song/Reuters)

New Controversial Shanghai Rules Request Visitors to Register If They Stay More Than 24 Hours

Shanghais revised rules on population management sparked uproar online, which requested visitors to register their personal and dwelling information if they stay in the megacity for more than 24 hours. Analysts say that the new move would spread to other big Chinese cities to tighten the CCPs grip over public migration.

On April 1, Shanghai authorities rolled out an update to its provisions on inhabitants, asking short-term visitors who stay more than 24 hours for the purpose of medical treatment, study, travel, business, etc., except day-trippers to register.

The update imposes increased penalties between 2001,000 yuan ($30 to $152) to that of 5005,000 yuan ($76 to $761) on employers, agencies, markets, realtors, and lodging service providers which fail to register information within two business days.

The sudden changes ignited controversy online, which saw rocketing views of 160 million people.

Lawyer Zhang Xinnian posted on the Chinese social media site Weibo on April 2: I thought it was a joke on Fools Day when I found it on self-media. I didnt believe it until I saw relevant media reports. No idea why authorities did that. It lacks operability and runs counter to the image of an inclusive international metropolis.

A netizen questioned: OMG. Isnt this discrimination  sanction? Do we need to boycott this?

An internet user named Obamao forwarded two comments on his social media account, with the original senders names hidden to protect their identity:

Even the late Qing dynasty [rulers] didnt roll out this, and Shanghai might go further to declare independence and call itself the State of Hu or the Shanghai Special Administrative Region.

The Qing dynasty is believed to be the most conservative in Chinese history with authorities having closed the borders with trading nations.

Hu is an abbreviated form in Chinese for Shanghai.

Another netizen with the username Dao Kan Tian Xia commented: I believe the city should build a separation wall and military outposts along its borders. All visitors should go to Shanghais embassies in [Chinas] provinces first and apply for visas to the city!

In response to flooding criticism, Shanghai authorities released an official statement on its site, calling allegations a misinterpretation. They claimed that the new move was to enhance the level of their service to out-of-town inhabitants and that info registration was voluntary, not mandatory, for individuals.

However, this explanation did not quell public doubts.

China commentator Cao Ji analyzed in an April 1 Tweet: The Xi-led CCP is preparing for Chinas [coming] collapse. As Chinas financial center, Shanghais real estate and stock market would be the first to be hard hit once a global financial crisis erupts in a couple of years. The city could be the worst among emerging markets [in the world]. So, it could be a planned action in advance by the CCP against uncontrollable chaos in the event of a financial crisis.

China news analyst Qin Peng echoed Cao Jis statement. He expressed on April 2: I dont think the government of Shanghai city is telling the truth to the public. Theyre really likely to be exploring a stricter social control model, which would be expanded to other parts of the country later.
New Delhi :

Traders' body CAIT today urged the government to take action action against e-commerce firms like Amazon and Flipkart, alleging they have flouted FDI norms for such players by undertaking retail trading activities.

The Confederation of All India Traders (CAIT) wrote to Union Commerce Minister Suresh Prabhu in this regard, claimingthat the companies were indulging in a "blatant violation" of the FDI (foreign direct investment) policy.

"Amazon has declared Great Indian Festival Sale from 21 September to 24 September, 2017 and Flipkart has conducted Big Billion Day Sale from 20-24 September 2017, Snapdeal has announced Unbox Diwali Sale from 20 to 25 September 2017, Jabong Sale from 20 to 24 September 2017, Myntra Sale from 20 to 24 September 2017, Shopclues has announced Maha Bharat Diwali Sale from 20 to 28 September 2017 which is a blatant violation of the guidelines issued by the DIPP," CAIT alleged.

In its complaint, CAIT said "the advertisements issued by them in past days amounts to soliciting retail customers attheir portals and influencing the prices and creating an uneven level playing field".

"Under FDI policy these companies can not undertake retail trading activities but these e-commerce portals beinghabitual offenders of (the) government policies are circumventing the law and engaged in B2C (business-to- commerce) activities which is prohibited for e-commerce marketplace portals," CAIT alleged in the complaint to Prabhu. In its complaint, the traders' body demanded that necessary immediate action should be taken against the firmsfor violation of FDI policy.

"The Confederation of All India Traders has charged Amazon, Flipkart and Snapdeal etc for violation of FDI policyfor e-commerce of the Government issued on 29 March, 2016 by Department of Industrial Promotion & Policy, Ministry of Commerce," the traders' body said.

Myntra and Jabong declined to comment, while query sent to others did not elicit any immediate reply. According to CAIT, as per the FDI policy guidelines, ecommerce portals receiving foreign direct investment can conduct business activities for B2B (business-to-business) business and will not be allowed to undertake B2C (business-to-consumer) business activities.

CAIT Secretary General Praveen Khandelwal said that by inserting big advertisements in the media, the companies areattempting to address consumers directly which is a contravention of the FDI guidelines.

For all the Latest Business News, Download News Nation Android and iOS Mobile Apps.
YEREVAN, APRIL 3, ARMENPRESS. The Homeland Salvation Movement is unblocking the Demirchyan Street in central Yerevan where they had set up tents and were protesting against the Pashinyan administration. Now, the movement says it is shifting the main actions of struggle to various towns and cities across the country.

In a statement, the Homeland Salvation Movement called on citizens to join them and actively participate in their gatherings.

It said that theyll hold a meeting on April 6 at 14:00 with local residents in the town of Sevan.

Editing and Translating by Stepan Kocharyan
Source: Xinhua| 2021-04-03 16:48:56|Editor: huaxia

Video Player Close

LAGOS, April 3 (Xinhua) -- At least 14 persons were killed in a recent gunmen attack on a military base and some communities in Niger state, north-central Nigeria, an official said on late Friday.

A total of six soldiers and one policeman were killed in a recent attack by a group of unidentified gunmen "numbering about 200" on a military base at Allawa town of the Shiroro local government area of Niger state, Abubakar Sani Bello, the governor of the state, said in a statement on Friday.

The gunmen burnt down the base before moving into some communities in the area, where they killed another seven people and abducted several others, said Bello, without revealing the date of the attack.

The governor denied allegations that "taskforce camps were being deserted and security agents (were) leaving the communities" after the attack.

"The military ... have retreated for a while to re-strategize. They have not left or abandoned the communities," he said.

He urged local communities to remain calm as the increasing banditry and kidnapping activities in some parts of the state are constantly calling for new strategies to deal with them.

In addition, he also stressed that the government and the security agencies "have remained steadfast and will ensure that the criminals are eliminated."

A series of gunmen attacks has recently happened in the northern part of the most populous African country, including attacks on schools and kidnappings of students. Enditem
CHICO, Calif. - Chico Police officers arrested a man accused of sexual assault on a minor.

Ricardo Ivan Estrada, 36, was arrested on two cases of aggravated sexual assault of a child younger than 14 years or 10 years old, aggravated, attempted sodomy with a victim under 10 years of age, and continues sexual abuse of a child, according to the Chico Police Department.

Estrada remains in Butte County jail and his bail is set at $1,500,000.
CAIRO: A Sudanese delegation headed to Abu Dhabi last month for a discussion on the border dispute with Ethiopia, as part of a mediation initiative announced by the United Arab Emirates.

Egyptian Foreign Minister Sameh Shoukry has arrived in Kinshasa, capital of the Democratic Republic of the Congo (DRC), for a new round of talks with Sudanese delegation over Ethiopia's disputed Nile dam.

Sudans Cabinet announced on March 23 its approval of the UAE initiative to mediate between it and Ethiopia to settle their border disputes and the Grand Ethiopian Renaissance Dam crisis between Egypt, Sudan and Ethiopia.

In a statement on Friday, the Egyptian Foreign Ministry said Shoukry, along with Egypt's Water Minister, headed to Kinshasa at an invitation from the DRC, the current chair of the African Union, for the new round of talks over the Grand Ethiopian Renaissance Dam (GERD).

Meanwhile, Sudan's Foreign Ministry announced that the ministerial delegation, also headed by the country's Foreign and Water Ministers, is set to fly to Kinshasa on Saturday.

According to the statement, the talks would discuss Sudan's proposal of a mediation quartet of the UN, the European Union, the US and the AU to help the three parties reach a binding legal agreement on filling and operating of the GERD. Sudan, Egypt, and Ethiopia have been in talks for years over the technical and legal issues related to the filling and operation of the GERD.

AstraZeneca Vax: Netherlands temporarily halts AstraZeneca vaccine for under-60s

Airstrikes in Iraq: Five Islamic State militants killed in Iraq

Abide by the rules: Angela Merkel urges citizen to stay at home during Easter
Greg Sukiennik has worked at all three Vermont News & Media newspapers and was their managing editor from 2017-19. He previously worked for ESPN.com, for the AP in Boston, and at The Berkshire Eagle in Pittsfield, Mass.
Guwahati/Silchar : , April 3 (IANS) The Home Guard personnel in Assam on Saturday alleged that due to the inhuman treatments and negligence of the Cachar district authorities they had been forced to return to their homes without performing election duties in the second phase of polling on Thursday.

On behalf of the distressed Home Guard personnel, Sanjib Das said that when they went to perform the election duties in the first phase of polling in eastern Assam on March 27, they got Rs 5,100 and the authorities have properly taken care of.

"When we reached Cachar district nobody inquired about us. More than 500 Home Guard personnel including women were lodged in a school but there were no basic amenities including water in the camp (school)," Das, who is serving the Home Guard wing of the Assam government for around 10 years, told IANS over phone from his home at Uttar Barbil in western Assam's Karbi Anglong district.

"Our authorities before the elections had assured us to give Rs 5,100 for each of the phases, but they did not keep their promises," the 27-year-old Home Guard personnel said.

He said that many of the Home Guard personnel serve for 20 to 25 years with poor daily wages at the rate of Rs 300 per day.

Das, a father of two school children, claimed that despite demands for many years, the Assam government did not increase their wages.

Police and district officials on Saturday hinted that the authorities in Assam are likely to take action against over 500 Home Guards who refused to perform election duties and went to their homes.

Cachar district Police Superintendent Bhanwar Lal Meena said that conduct of the second phase of the Assembly election in southern Assam on Thursday was not hampered and the election process was very peaceful and smooth despite the Home Guards refusing to perform election duties.

Hinting at taking actions against the disgruntled Home Guards, the district police chief said that a section of the personnel (Home Guards) did not keen to hear the logic of the authorities about their wages.

"Refusal to perform election duties is against the law," Meena told the media.

Election officials in Guwahati said that the authorities had earlier announced to provide the Home Guards one month wages for the three phases of election duties at the rate of Rs 300 per day.

"In the first phase of election duties in eastern Assam (upper Assam), they got Rs 5,100 and the remaining amount out of a month's total wages of Rs 9,000 supposed to be paid in the second and third phases. But they want a similar amount like that of the first phase," an election official said on condition of anonymity.

However, the Home Guards comprising men and women, engaged on a contractual basis at the rate of wages of Rs 300 per day, while talking to the media alleged that the local administration did not arrange proper food, shelter, toilets and even water for them.

"We have requested the police and election officials to increase our wages but they said that they would give us Rs 900 or Rs 1,000 for three to four days of election duties in the second phase. How can we manage for 3-4 days in just Rs 900 or Rs 1,000?" a Home Guard personnel questioned.

The Home Guards before returning to their homes had organised protests and demonstrations and gave slogans against the Assam government and police officials.

Nearly 81 per cent of the 73,44,631 voters exercised their franchise in the second phase of polling in Assam on Thursday in the 39 constituencies.

Around 80 per cent of 81,09,815 voters cast their votes on March 27 in the first phase of polling in 47 constituencies.

Of the three-phase elections to the 126-member Assam Assembly, the third and final phase of polling will be held in 40 seats on April 6. The results will be declared on May 2.
New Delhi, April 3 : Prime Minister Narendra Modi is once again in Assam and Bengal on Saturday, campaigning hard for the assembly elections in the two eastern states of the country. He has been campaigning in Kerala, Tamil Nadu and Puducherry as well. He has held 23 rallies so far. His party leaders say, even at the age of 70, no one can match the enthusiasm of PM Modi, not even younger leaders. Every day he is holding rallies in some state or the other. Within the last three days, the Prime Minister held 10 public meetings in four states.

Prime Minister Modi held public meetings on April 1 in Kokrajhar in Assam, Jayanagar and Ulbaria in West Bengal. The same day he offered prayers at Meenakshi Temple in Madurai, Tamil Nadu. On April 2, Prime Minister Modi held public meetings in Madurai, Kanyakumari in Tamil Nadu, Pathanamthitta and Thiruvananthapuram in Kerala. On Saturday, he is addressing rallies in Tamulpur in Assam, Tarakeswar and Sonarpur in West Bengal.

Interestingly, Prime Minister Modi went on a busy two-day visit to Bangladesh from March 26, just a few days ago. After returning from the foreign tour, he embarked on an electoral tour. Even in the midst of electoral preoccupations, Modi did not let his official work get affected.

A high-level government official said, "Prime Minister Modi keeps an eye on what is happening on the Corona front. He is also constantly monitoring the rising Covid cases and vaccination programmes in all the states. He looks at the report card of each state on the progress of vaccination campaign. He also handles the necessary files and other tasks during his visits to the states." BJP national spokesperson Gopal Krishna Agarwal told IANS, "A few days ago Prime Minister Modi had come to address a rally in Palakkad, Kerala. I also met him there. The sun was beating down mercilessly, everybody looked disturbed, but Prime Minister Modi's face was gleaming. He rose to address the rally with full enthusiasm and was cheered by party leaders. I think Prime Minister Modi has the divine power of energy. He keeps inspiring party leaders to work more and more."

-- The story has been published from a wire feed without any modifications to the text
The U.S. Senate is the graveyard of worthy progressive bills and senators should be ashamed of their unproductive performance. Either the majority refuses to vote or the minority filibusters. Filibustering gives the minority party unearned and undeserved power.

The presidential election of 2020 clearly determined Americans chose a Democrat president and Democrat majority in the House and Senate. Americans chose fair elections, sound fiscal policy, environmental protection and equal opportunity for all. Americans soundly rejected Republicans campaign of misinformation, voter suppression, gerrymandering, Jim Crow racism, autocracy, trickle-down economics, irresponsible gun rights, anti environmentalism and the coup to overthrow a legal election.

Republicans should get the message. They desperately need to soul search and return to true Lincoln conservatism serving all Americans fairly and honestly, or risk defeat again.

By filibustering Republicans can undermine the election, recalling a dark history of human rights violations and subverting the Senates ability to pass meaningful laws.

All Democrat legislators should get on board to honor the 2020 election. Sens. Kyrsten Sinema and Joe Manchin should reconsider their views on the filibuster, not angst over what Republicans will do if they regain majority status. If the people change whom to support in the next election, so be it. The people will decide.

Now is the time to abolish the archaic filibuster. It is not in the Constitution. A simple majority vote can advance the progressive agenda chosen by the voters. The Senates been spinning its wheels far too long. Some think the filibuster as the only option for minority voice. When that minority is led by the unprincipled, it must be overruled by the principled majority.

James Frank, Reading Pa.
Millions of workers, medical professionals and scientists in Germany have reacted with horror, bewilderment and anger to the decision to keep businesses and schools open despite skyrocketing new coronavirus infections. In the past two weeks alone, the nationwide weekly incidence had risen from 83 to 130 (weekly infections per 100,000 Germans), twice the increase of the previous four weeks combined.

If the activity level remains constant, a recent model calculation by Professor Kai Nagel of the Technical University of Berlin predicts a weekly incidence of up to 2,000 for May, a scenario that would result in about 50,000 deaths in Germany each week.

Professor Lothar Wieler, president of the Robert Koch Institute (RKI), reported on Friday increasing infection figures in day care centers and at the workplace and warned of 100,000 new infections per day if current resolutions go unchanged.

BASF plant in Ludwigshafen

According to the report, the working population, as well as children and adolescents, are particularly strongly affected. It is to be expected that more people become seriously ill, that hospitals are overloaded and that many people may die. The day before, Wieler had said that a third wave could not be stopped without a lockdown worthy of the name. The last time this occurred was last spring, when schools, day care centers and businesses were also closed.

The demand for a hard lockdown has been raised for weeks now by Germanys leading intensive care physicians. Gernot Marx (DIVI) and Christian Karagiannidis (DGIIN) reiterated the demand over the weekend.

The decision to pursue benchmark reopening projects after Easter is completely inappropriate and must be immediately withdrawn by the federal and state governments, Karagiannidis told the Rheinische Post newspaper. DIVI President Marx declared, We are running into doom with eyes wide open. A hard lockdown for two or three weeks would save very many lives and save many more from the lifelong consequences of a Covid infection. Intensive care unit patients are scarred for life, he stressed.

In light of this clear set of facts and the refusal of the federal and state governments to impose the necessary lockdown, the hashtag #Generalstreik (general strike) was the No. 1 most-discussed trending term on Twitter for more than three hours Wednesday night. In addition to single parents, medical professionals and schoolchildren, academic staff from leading German universities and representatives of the youth movement Fridays For Future also joined the discussion about a general strike. The hashtag #HarterLockdownJetzt (strict lockdown now) was among the top five trends, with around 42,000 tweets over the weekend.

Typical is a comment made on Sunday by Adrian, an anesthesiologist and emergency medicine specialist from Schleswig-Holstein: If there was agreement among us, we could just go on a kind of general strike, he wrote on Twitter. By closing businesses, schools and day care centers in this way, we would have our own strict lockdown. Another user writes: A proper #generalstrike for 14 days and the current pandemic would be largely taken care of, all without the intervention of those in power at all levels and their organized irresponsibility.

The call for a strict lockdown and a general strike has broad support. I think people are realizing that they have to fight the pandemic themselves, infectiologist Dirk Brockmann, for example, told the weekly paper Die Zeit in an interview Thursday. Speaking to the YouTube channel Jung&Naiv, the government adviser described pandemic policy as Russian roulette with a revolver in which all chambers are full.

The mood among scientists and physicians is also summed up by a viral Twitter post by general practitioner Dr. Werner. It was always clear to me that there would be a pandemic one day, she writes. That a certain part of society could not be convinced of the facts, I could somewhat imagine. But that that part would include the government? I would never have thought that it would be on the other side. But this is the current situation.

Instead, she said, fringe opinions are being hyped and the majority of scientists are not being heard: The government is partly playing dead, making dirty deals with masks and positions, and letting us hit the wall.

According to the latest representative figures from the ZDF political barometer, 36 percent of respondents describe the current COVID measures as not tough enoughan increase of 18 percentage points compared to the previous month. The opposite view increased by only 3 percentage points to 26 percent during this period. Weve never had a majority in favor of easing [restrictions], opinion researcher Matthias Jung told ZDF on Friday.

Amid this mass opposition to federal and state herd immunity policies, articles published by the World Socialist Web Site last week found strong resonance. An assessment of decisions made of the recent summit of the heads of the German federal and state governments, published Tuesday, and a commentary on Chancellor Angela Merkels lifting of the so-called Easter Pause each received hundreds of comments on social media. Teachers, educators and workers spoke to the WSWS about the prospect of a European-wide general strike in the fight for a real shutdown of schools, day care centres and businesses.

We in the chemical industry had to go to work like usual on Maundy Thursday, even nonessential areas such as canteens, IT and offices, said Jana*, a lab technician at BASF, for example. The corporate works council had already announced this before the decision to close non-essential industry on that day was also formally withdrawn by Merkel. As if the worlds largest chemical company would bow to German politics! comments Jana bitterly.

Here at the main plant in Ludwigshafen, we have 33,000 regular employees and production operates continuously, she continued. Quite a few areas are part of the essential supply chain and are relevant for the system. You cant close the entire plant anyway. Apparently, theres a loophole that entitles the corporation to stay open completely.

Jana views the explosive rise in case numbers among children, adolescents and their parents with great concern. When I follow up on the positive tests of the last few weeks, its almost consistently day care centres, schools, on the job. Here in Rhineland-Palatinate, just about everyone has been sending their children to these facilities since June/July. Theres no need to prove that you are in need of an emergency care offer; similar reports are coming in from other states from day care workers and teachers.

Schools have never been completely closed since the first wave, except for vacations, she noted. Some cohort was always therefirst just the transfer students, then the elementary schools, then the graduating classes. Exams were written on site, there were staggered classes and so on. Since tracking started working again, youre finding ever more infection chains in those areas.

I think similarly to you, Elke G. from North Rhine-Westphalia told us. I am now so afraid when Im standing unvaccinated in front of my classes. There are students who are certified exempt from wearing a mask. If possible, I keep the window open, but Im still afraid. While others work in a home office, I consistently supervise high school graduating classes three times a week, and for the past two weeks, everyone has been back on a rotating class schedule. Civil servants dont go on strike but we put our lives at risk every day because of it. I am afraid! And with vacation warnings to Mallorca lifted, well soon get the Brazilian virus as well.

In view of WSWS reporting, the teacher calls on all colleagues to show solidarity against these abuses.

The danger posed by the mutated virus strains to school children and staff is confirmed by Elkes colleague Holger* from Berlin. At our elementary school, several of the staff and the after-school care center have been infected with B.1.1.7. Among the students and their families, there are apparently chains of infection that no one has yet been able to trace, he said. The virus has appeared incredibly fast in many places. Within a few days, there have been more than a dozen cases. Yet the school remains open and only those affected have been quarantined. Our lives are deliberately being put at tremendous risk.

Only if all classes were tested thoroughly would you be able to see the full extent of the spread, Holger noted. But that is not being done. What has been provided by the Senate is like a bad joke and has no structure. Even if some things sound good on paper, I can really only shake my head when it comes to implementation. Nothing works at all! I cant interpret this any other way than that the politicians obviously dont care what happens to us.

In the last days before Easter, the children, their families and the school staff were once again put in danger completely unnecessarily, Holger continues. My colleagues are angry, and the anger is spreading. Those who are working now have to absorb everything, while those who are in quarantine go through difficult days. Some have been badly infected by the virus. The decisions of the Conference of Ministers of Education show that it was never about the children. Our lives are seen as sacrifices that state governments and the federal government are willing to make. Capitalism puts profits before lives.

I also see it that way, that profits have been put before lives the whole time now, said Ursula B., who works as an alternative practitioner in Lower Saxony. The so-called Easter pause would not have brought much anyway, especially since it was also to be interrupted. Immediate reaction would be the order of the day, but unfortunately thats not going to happen. So we can honestly say that many more serious illnesses and deaths are being deliberately accepted here. Motivating this are capitalist profit interests, she is sure: The opening of schools and day care centres at any price already suggested that.

Ursula declared herself absolutely in favour of a general strike to bring the economy down to absolutely necessary levels: If politics cant manage to wind us down so that we can get a grip on the pandemic, then we should do it as a society. We could be at incidences of less than 10 or 15 (per 100,000) across Europe within eight weeks and then find a way to quickly and consistently control outbreaks locally even at minimal numbers. We cant get around a hard lockdown.

The WSWS article absolutely hits the mark, said Silke Aretz of North Rhine-Westphalia, who has launched a parents initiative against the dangerous pandemic policy of the government. The mood has never been so heated as in the last few days, she noted. Everything is going to the dogs except for the wealth of the shareholders. ICUs are already maxed outespecially staff. The old parties are all essentially the same. They make politics for 3 percent of the population and to fill their own pockets; that hasnt had much in common with democracy for a long time.

In the fight against this irrationality, Silke says, a joint European-wide general strike is the only option. Those who can, should strike. Teachers should resort to collective sickouts. The whole system has to be changed, and not just since COVID. After all that happened, I am beginning to call myself a socialist: I want to fight for a humane world where everyone has equal opportunities. The crisis could be an opportunity for a radical change.

* Names changed to protect anonymity
In another departure from the style of his predecessor, President Biden has resisted weighing in during the riveting murder trial of former Minneapolis police officer Derek Chauvin.

But the death of George Floyd, a 46-year-old black man whom Chauvin pinned to the ground for nine minutes with his knee on Floyds neck, had a profound impact on the 2020 presidential election. It sparked protests across the country, some of them violent, galvanized African American voters, and narrowed Bidens choices for vice president, leading to the historic selection of Kamala Harris.

And when the trial in Minnesota comes to an end, the administration -- and the country -- will be left with a bigger challenge: finding a way to translate broad public support for police reform into sound policy so that tragic incidents like this one do not keep happening. For his part, the president vowed last summer, as clashes erupted between police and protesters, to establish a police oversight commission in his first 100 days.

We need each and every police department in the country to undertake a comprehensive review of their hiring, their training and their de-escalation practices, Biden said during remarks in Philadelphia last June. And the federal government should give them the tools and resources they need to implement reforms.

Biden still has several weeks to fulfill that pledge although he hasnt provided any indication that he has begun the process. In his first two-plus months in office, the president obviously has been consumed with other pressing matters, including a humanitarian crisis at the border and the COVID vaccination rollout.

Pressed this week on whether Biden is on track to fulfill the police commission pledge, White House Press Secretary Jen Psaki pointed to the presidents support for a police reform bill that passed the House in early March on a mainly party-line vote. That measure is stuck in the Senate with no sign of movement without a change to the upper chambers filibuster rules.

This bill is an opportunity to put in place a number of the actions that he, that many in the advocacy community, feel are imperative at this point in our nations history, Psaki said.

Dubbed the George Floyd Justice in Policing Act, the legislation would ban chokeholds and roll back so-called qualified immunity for law enforcement, a big change to legal doctrine that would make it easier to pursue claims of police misconduct in court. The wide-ranging measure would also ban no-knock warrants in certain cases, require data collection on police encounters, prohibit racial and religious profiling and provide more funding for community-based policing programs.

Never again should an unarmed individual be murdered or brutalized by someone who is supposed to serve and protect them, Rep. Karen Bass, a California Democrat, said in a statement when the bill passed the House on March 3. Never again should the world be subject to witnessing what we saw happen to George Floyd.

But a similar House bill passed last year only to die in the Senate, where Republicans have long opposed lifting qualified immunity protections for police in any significant way.

We have work to do in the Senate, Marc Morial, president of the National Urban League, told RealClearPolitics. The Senate is notoriously slow  we are working very hard to make sure that [senators] know that the provisions of the bill are very popular.

The Democrats messaging strategy, Muriel said, should cite several polls showing widespread support for laws making it easier to hold police accountable for misconduct. A Pew Research Center survey in July found that 66% of respondents believe citizens should have the power to sue police officers for using excessive force. But the issue is far more complicated when questions about cutting funding to law enforcement are added to the mix. The same poll found that just 25% of Americans say spending on policing in their area should be decreased.

While liberals talk about reforming the police and defunding their departments in the same breath, that widespread opposition to defunding initiatives has made it a radioactive issue for many Democrats, especially in more moderate states and localities.

Rep. Abigail Spanberger, a centrist Democrat from a Virginia battleground district, angrily told House progressives after the November election that their defund the police movement nearly cost her her seat and was likely responsible for other Democrats losing theirs in swing districts across the country. While Biden won the presidency by more than 7 million votes, Democrats suffered a loss of 13 House seats, leaving them with a very slim majority.

And cities such as Minneapolis and Los Angeles that decreased police funding in the wake of last years racial unrest have experienced huge spikes in violent crime and have since backtracked after residents complaints that more police officers were needed.

During his campaign, Biden distanced himself from the defunding movement, calling instead for more money for training and citing the need for different tactics, including non-police responses for mental health emergencies. During a meeting in Georgia ahead of the January Senate runoff elections, Biden urged civil rights leaders to avoid bringing up the issue of police reform because Republicans had successfully labeled Democrats in swing districts as anti-police.

That's how they beat the living hell out of us across the country, saying that we're talking about defunding the police, he told the gathering. We're not. We're talking about holding them accountable. We're talking about giving them money to do the right things.

With an eye on the 2022 midterms, Republicans this year have continued to use the defund the police movement as a cudgel against Democrats.

When the George Floyd Justice in Policing Act passed the House last month, Minority Leader Kevin McCarthy said unfunded mandates in the measure would cost police departments hundreds of millions of dollars  the equivalent of taking 3,000 cops off the streets.

Our men and women in uniform deserve better, he tweeted. With both sides in perpetual campaign mode at the national level, theres little chance to make headway on police reform in Congress, lament those who have tried and failed.

Sen. Tim Scott of South Carolina, the only black Republican serving in the upper chamber, last year worked to forge a middle ground but has grown increasingly frustrated by what he views as Democrats unwillingness to compromise and pass legislation that both sides can support.

Amid last years violent protests over Floyds death, along with several other black men and at least one woman who died at the hands of police, Scott spoke up about his own unsettling encounters with law enforcement, including one year in which he was stopped by police seven times.

I, like many other Black Americans, have found myself choking on my own fears and disbelief when faced with the realities of an encounter with law enforcement, he wrote in an op-ed in USA Today.

Scott then authored a bill that he says overlaps with the leading Democratic police reform legislation and includes action aimed at ending police use of chokeholds by withholding funds from localities that dont ban the practice. Among numerous other provisions, Scotts measure, like the Democrats version, would provide more funding for community-based policing programs and require data collection on policing practices. It would also create grant programs for police body-warn cameras, along with imposing penalties for failing to ensure the correct usage of them.

The bill, however, lacked the main element Democrats have been pushing: It did not include any changes to qualified immunity -- the legal doctrine that protects police and other government workers from being held personally liable for misconduct except in very limited circumstances. The same Democrats who today are excoriating the Senates filibuster tradition filibustered Scotts measure last summer when Republicans held the majority, preventing it from reaching the floor for a vote.

Scott says hes open to modifying the immunity protections, but nearly all of his Republican colleagues view such efforts as poison pills  something too many of their supporters would never accept.

Leadership starts at the top  full stop, Scott told RealClearPolitics in a statement. I am open to having conversations on civil qualified immunity as it relates to police departments, cities and municipalities being held accountable for the actions of those they employ.

But, he added, hes disappointed that the House has decided to vote on a partisan bill in an attempt to fix a non-partisan issue.

I hope my friends on the other side of the aisle will come to the table to find common ground where we can make meaningful changes that will bring us closer to the goal of a more just country, he concluded.

But without nuking the filibuster, the immunity issue remains a stumbling block for changes to federal law that would impact the entire country. In 1967, the U.S. Supreme Court provided a qualified immunity exception to protect government officials from being sued if they were acting in good faith and didnt know that what they were doing was illegal.

Knowledgeable reformers also emphasize that the administration need not wait for changes on Capitol Hill. Marc Morial, for one, says he would like to see Bidens law enforcement team, once confirmed and installed at the Justice Department, start ushering in changes to police policies across the country that dont require congressional action.

Other advocates for imposing more accountability measures are looking to states to blaze the reform trail. Keith Neely, an attorney at Institute for Justice, a libertarian nonprofit, notes that Colorado and New Mexico have passed ground-breaking new laws aimed at limiting qualified immunity when police have engaged in proven misconduct.

Colorados law allows police who violate peoples civil rights to be held personally responsible in civil court if local authorities rule that the officer wasnt acting under reasonable belief that the action was lawful. Officer fines would be capped at 5% of the damages, up to $25,000 of their own money, while cities and counties would be forced to pick up the tab for most cases of alleged police misconduct that doesnt meet the reasonable belief threshold.

New Mexico passed a similar measure, though it requires cities, not individual officers, to pay fines and other court-ordered restitution. That bill is still awaiting the governors signature while similar measures limiting immunity have been introduced in states as diverse as New Hampshire and Texas.

Police unions, including the largest, the Fraternal Order of Police, have strongly opposed the idea of rolling back these protections. Doing so, the unions argue, would severely hurt cities ability to recruit and retain officers.

People think that police officers have a free rein to do whatever they want and they are not held accountable, but thats not true, Rob Pride, a Loveland, Colo., police sergeant and the highest ranking black member of the union, said in an interview with the Marshall Project (an online journalism nonprofit focusing on criminal justice issues) that qualified immunity does not prevent police departments from firing officers.

But reformers are looking for more than cities finding the backbone to fire rogue officers after the fact -- the Minneapolis Police Department fired Chauvin the day after Floyds death. They want to prevent such violent events from taking place. Holding localities responsible for writing bigger checks for legal payouts will likely make them vet their law enforcement employees more carefully and provide more training to prevent misconduct, Neely said.

Thats the mindset taking root in Colorado and New Mexico, where Democrats control the governors office and the legislature. Some advocates believe states are a better venue for these types of reforms because they can tailor them to local needs rather than be forced to accept one-size-fits-all marching orders from the federal government.

For instance, a compromise in Colorados reform law gives local city leaders  not an independent oversight agency  the role of deciding whether an officer acted in good faith and, therefore, doesnt have to personally pay damages.

Federalism allows for states to serve as the laboratories of democracy, and I think thats true, Neely said. States have this unique ability to try new, innovative policies on the local level that folks arent ready for on a federal level or may not work properly at a national level.

For instance, Neely said, changing state law could shift the legal venue for many of these police brutality cases. Americans are allowed to sue law enforcement or other government officials who they believe violated their constitutional rights, and most of these cases have been brought in federal court because state courts traditionally offered fewer civil rights protections. States that weakened qualified immunity protections for police could start seeing far more cases.

Its impressive what the states have already been able to accomplish, Neely said. And I have every reason for optimism that progress will continue to move forward at the state level, and that states will be the driving force for national change.
Crow Vineyard & Winery sits on a 365-acre working farm in Kennedyville, in Marylands Kent County.

Its located a few miles from Chestertown, the county seat, and less than an hour and a half drive from Philadelphia. Baltimore is due west, on the other side of the Chesapeake Bay. The winery address is 12441 Vansants Corner Road.

Like many East Coast wineries, its a family-run business in a rural setting. It opened in 2012.

What makes it unique are the Farmstay B&B that sits on the property and the fresh Angus grass-fed beef thats for sale there. Few wineries possess either let alone both. In addition, there are days like this coming Sunday set aside for hayrides, and the winery just started offering picnic packs (two mini bottles of wine and a cheese tray for $40).

Crow Vineyard & Winery is known for its Barbera, a grape that has deep roots in Italy but is grown and made at a number of wineries in the mid-Atlantic. Winemaker Michael Zollo, who arrived there in 2017, uses that grape in several wines including a sparkling rose.

The Barbera is complemented by a variety of other largely dry wines, from Pinot Gris, Sauvignon Blanc and Chardonnay to Cabernet Franc, Merlot and Malbec. You can find the complete list at this link and a list of awards at this link.

Its open noon to 5 daily.

There's open space for as far as the eye can see during a visit to Crow Vineyard & Winery in Kennedyville, Maryland.

Below is the latest in the 6 Questions series of interviews with winemakers and owners of East Coast wineries, which looks behind at what has been a turbulent year and, with optimism, looks ahead. Thanks to Judy Crow for taking these on.

Q, Tell me about your annual blessing of the vines, which is scheduled for 1 p.m. April 11. How long have you been doing it? I assume the public can come out?

A, This is the first year we have done it. In the past at Crow Fest in the fall we had a friend sing and bless our harvest. I was looking for ways to have outside events and I saw our church blessed animals, so I asked our rector if he would like to bless our vines. He said yes. Not sure if we will have buds by next Sunday. Yes, the public is encouraged to come out.

2, I assume Michael Zollo is well settled in as the winemaker. Is he still singing in the cellar? What kind of a past 12 months has it been like for him?

A, Yes he is still singing, but he doesnt project as well with a mask on. He has been on lockdown and in isolation. Only a few of us can be in contact with him. He has no personal life, we are protecting him from COVID. :) He is currently focused on bottling 2020 wines for us and our clients.

Q, Do you grow all your Barbera, yes? How much of it? Are you just using it as a varietal or doing other things with it? I dont think there are many wineries that grow or make it in these parts.

A, Yes we grow all our own Barbera, and it is one of our signature grapes. We currently have 2.5 acres planted and it does well for us. We make Barbera, and Barbera Rose and Barbera Sparkling Rose. We also use it for blending from time to time.

Q, Asking everyone the next two: How was the 2020 vintage, as least from this vantage point?

A, We focused on making whites and roses and we think they are tasting great. We sold a lot of our red fruit, to help fill out production for a couple of start-up wineries. Though late-stage rains forced our hand and picking schedule, the resultant grapes came in the door with vibrant natural acidity that will drink well in the summer months.

Q, And what kind of a winter was it there? Vines looking good? Are you replacing or replanting anything this year or next?

A, The winter was relatively mild, which allowed Brandon and the crew to get through early season pruning and tie-downs quickly. The vines look good and we dont have any plans for replanting this year.

Q, How back to normal are you there and at this point how far ahead of you planning in terms of events? Is there anything you started doing during the pandemic that you likely will continue moving forward?

A, We are getting back into the swing. Reservations are so helpful, well encourage that. Moved our tasting room to the haybarn, and we like that. We are pouring tastings on trays and serving the tray to a customer with tasting notes. Seems to work well; cant imagine how we did individual flights and pours before COVID. Honestly, our wines are tasting very well, and things are doing great at this time. We started spring hayrides, which folks like.

ALSO READ: Beneduce Vineyards adds more land to grow, which promises a bright future in central N.J.

ALSO READ: At Va La Vineyards, the best news amid the pandemic is that the vines are ready to break bud soon
Iranian Foreign Minister Mohammad Javad Zarif held talks with his French counterpart Jean-Yves Le Drian, during which the parties discussed the resumption of the meeting of the Joint Commission on the Iranian nuclear deal that will be held on April 6 in Vienna.

The French minister noted that Paris welcomes the resumption of negotiations on the Joint Comprehensive Plan of Action (JCPOA) on Iran's nuclear program, and added that he urges Tehran to take a constructive approach in the upcoming discussions.
Hamilton and Button on board as green machines go to extremes

MOTOR SPORT: Billed as motor-sport with a platform for climate action, Extreme E gets underway in the deserts of Saudi Arabia today (Apr 3) before attempting to highlight the environmental dangers posed to the Arctic, Amazon rainforest as well as oceans and glaciers.

Motosport

By AFP

Saturday 3 April 2021, 10:15AM

New frontier: Lewis Hamilton and Jenson Button. Photo: AFP.

The five-round series, which has enlisted world Formula One champion Lewis Hamilton as a team owner and boasts the likes of Jenson Button, Carlos Sainz and Sebastien Loeb behind the wheel, is the brainchild of Alejandro Agag.

The Spanish entrepreneur brought Formula E to the streets of major cities around the world.

Now he hopes that the all-electric SUVs of Extreme E will draw attention to some of the worlds most pressing environmental issues.

By going to the most remote places on the planet already affected by climate change, Extreme E wants to show what is happening there and take specific actions to try to help resolve the situation, Agag told AFP.

He has some powerful ambassadors.

Hamilton has created one of the nine teams - X44 - with nine-time world rally champion Loeb taking driving duties.

Germanys Nico Rosberg, the 2016 F1 world champion, also has a team while 2009 F1 champion Button will take the wheel in his own team.

All teams feature a male and female driver, sharing driving duties equally over the racing weekends.

With two-time world rally champion and triple Dakar Rally winner Sainz, for example, is multiple Spanish trials world champion Laia Sanz, who has also taken part in the Dakar on a motorcycle.

Button will drive with Mikaela Ahlin-Kottulinsky, a Scandinavian touring car race winner.

There are five Extreme E rounds in total.

After the Al-Ula round in the sands of Saudi, the competition will switch to Senegals Lac Rose, Greenland, the Amazon in Brazil and the glaciers of Tierra del Fuego in Argentina.

For Cristina Gutierrez, the second woman to win a stage on the Dakar, and who will ride for Hamilton with Loeb, Extreme E is an excellent way to show, through sport, the problems linked to climate change.

On the sporting side, there are going to be very short races which will lead to interesting battles.

Each round will take place over two days - qualifying today, semi-final and final tomorrow, with two laps of a 9km course.

The driving duties will be split equally between male and female drivers.

The high-speed nature of the racing will be in stark contrast to the pedestrian journey between races and continents.

A ship, the St Helena, which once served as a command room in the battle against Somali pirates, has been refitted as Extreme Es floating paddock.

Organisers prefer the low-carbon, ocean-going means of transport than gas-guzzling airlines.

The ship allows us to reduce our emissions by two-thirds, explained Agag.

On the sidelines of the five races will exist environmental legacy projects with carbon offset programmes.

For example, mangroves will be planted in Senegal and trees in the Amazon.

The series, however, cannot escape one glaring paradox with the focus on gender equality seemingly at odds with the ultra-conservative nature of Saudi society.

Women have only been allowed to drive in the kingdom since 2018.
Nobody injured in 2-vehicle crash

POTTSVILLE  Pottsville police investigated a crash that happened around 4:10 p.m. March 24 in the area of Dunkin Donuts on Route 61.

Police said their investigation determined David Sunday, 34, of Pottsville, was driving a Toyota mini-van south when he became distracted and ran into the back of a Tesla being driven south by a 68-year-old Zion Grove man with a 66-year-old Zion Grove woman as his passenger.

The Zion Grove man was waiting for traffic to proceed in the passing lane when his vehicle was struck.

Police said Sunday saw the traffic in front of him start to proceed and then stop but he was distracted and not paying attention to what was in front of him. Sunday continued to proceed south and the front bumper of his vehicle struck the rear bumper of the Tesla.

Police said the Tesla, which is an electric vehicle, and would not turn on after being struck.

No injuries were reported and Pottsville firefighters assisted.

Police say driver on cellphone

POTTSVILLE  A crash that happened around 7:30 p.m. Monday at North Third and West Market streets was investigated by Pottsville police.

Police said their investigation determined that Victoria Hannon, 21, of Pottsville, was driving a Chevrolet SUV west on West Market Street and admitted being distracted while using her cellphone when she made a turn at a steady red traffic signal.

The womans SUV struck the passengers side front wheel area of a Chevrolet pickup truck driven by a 25-year-old Pottsville woman and occupied by two children, ages 14 and 1.

Police said the Pottsville woman was driving north on North Third Street and was crossing West Market Street with a steady green light when her truck was struck.

Schuylkill EMS and Pottsville firefighters assisted at the scene with medical evaluations, traffic control and fluids down, police said.

Police said no injuries were reported and that Patrolman Stephen Delinko will be citing Hannon for careless driving.
'So, fill to me the parting glass, And drink a health whate'er befalls, Then gently rise and softly call, Good night and joy be to you all.'

The haunting strains of The Parting Glass; and there could be no more apt words with which to say farewell to a man who dedicated his working life to hospitality, but his personal life to his family.

Noel Nugent Snr, popular proprietor of the Market Bar in Magalene Street, was laid to rest in Our Lady of Lourdes Church on Thursday March 25th.

The church would normally have been heaving with hundreds of customers, neighbours and friends who wanted to bid this man full of wit, charm and personality a fond goodbye. Instead, restrictions meant his closest family were there for Daddy Noel, as he was affectionately known by all.

'That name alone sums up all you need to know about Noel, as he was a father figure to all he encountered, and his own family was central to his life; what he lived for, breathed for and existed for,' said Fr Com O'Mahony.

'Whenever anyone asked, Noel listened to all, rarely making judgments, unless he was pushed, allowing all to be themselves and speak their minds.'

Expand Close The late Noel Nugent / Facebook

Twitter

Email

Whatsapp The late Noel Nugent

Born in 1934, a stone's throw from the church in which he was laid to rest - which of course was not even built yet at the time - meaning he has come full circle in life and death.

Gifts that symbolised his full and rich life were brought to the altar; a photograph of his beloved pub, where Noel's love of building, design and creativity shone forth; a photo of himself in his pink shirt, always smartly dressed and a photo of his lifetime companion, his dog Molly, and lastly, a pig, a reminder of his lifelong love of the animals he bred in his youth.

Noel was predeceased by his loving wife Evelyn, and he is sadly missed by his children Deirdre, Noel (Jnr) and Collette, his son-in-law Jim & partners Brenda and Tony, his grandchildren Richard, Brandon and Callum, his twin sister Bridget (Flossie), sister Alacoque, brother Gerry, Also Marie, Hilda and Gaybo, his brothers and sisters-in-law, nephews, nieces, relatives and a large circle of friends. His daughter Collette spoke at his funeral with affection for her Dad, who was a proud Drogheda man to his fingertips.

'He was a man we were privileged to know, a special man, honourable, with immense dignity,' she said. 'His life journey took him from his beloved Drogheda to many places, across the water to Bristol and Coventry, but in returning to Ireland, he grabbed the opportunity of his first pub in Castleblaney, then to Lobinstown, where he made lifelong friends, but being a Louthman to his boots, he finally returned to Drogheda, less than a mile from where it all began, and the circle is now complete.'

The devotion to his family was evident, but she spoke of the Market Bar, which was 'his baby'.

'It was his work, and that of our beloved mother Evelyn, that it became their legacy,' she said. 'He was very proud, diligent and tasteful, and treated people with the highest level of dignity and respect and always had the greatest of welcomes for each of his customers.'

The scourge of COVID meant Noel closed the doors on his livelihood one year ago, and the fact he never got to see it open to his customers again is heartbreaking.

'For Dad to see his baby locked up and closed was more than he could bear at times, and we wish we could have had it different today,' she said. 'But we will do our best to send him off in a manner he so richly deserves.

'His death came so suddenly, we never got a chance to say goodbye, but it is what he wanted; a peaceful, honourable and dignified death.'

Noel Nugent Snr was buried afterwards in St Peter's Cemetery; Ar dheis De go raibh a anam.
Source: Xinhua| 2021-04-03 17:55:45|Editor: huaxia

Video Player Close

by Xinhua writers Lu Yifan, Sun Zhe, Ding Lei and Zhong Qun

URUMQI, April 3 (Xinhua) -- Savoring a piece of naan sprinkled with spices and chatting with a naan master at the International Grand Bazaar in Urumqi, Vladimir Norov was amazed at how this bread-like staple food has boosted the development of northwest China's Xinjiang Uygur Autonomous Region.

"The naan has a perfect integration of tradition and modernity," said Norov, secretary-general of the Shanghai Cooperation Organization (SCO).

He said what impressed him most was the industrial chain driven by naan, a daily food for the people in Xinjiang, which is also gaining popularity in other parts of China. The naan making involves agricultural production, processing, logistics, cultural creativity, and the tourism industry, thus providing various positions for job seekers.

Norov is not the only one impressed by the social and economic development in Xinjiang in recent years.

From March 30 to April 2, a delegation comprising Norov and more than 30 diplomats from some 21 countries visited Xinjiang.

They talked with locals from various sectors of society, visited local schools and enterprises, and debunked rumors about Xinjiang, a region whose image is frequently distorted by some Western politicians, organizations and media.

REFUTING LIES

Mohammad Keshavarz-Zadeh, the Iranian ambassador to China, visited mosques in the regional capital Urumqi and Kashgar. He was amazed by the conditions there.

Responding to rumors fabricated by some Western media that Xinjiang "restricts freedom of religious belief," the ambassador said that, during a visit to the Baida Mosque located in Urumqi, normal Islamic religious activities in mosques took place in line with the Muslim people's will.

"As a Muslim, I prayed in the mosque. I saw people are free to practice their religious activities." He said that the mosques are spacious and bright, the carpets are soft and clean, and there are tables and chairs for the convenience of the elderly and the disabled.

The mosques also have facilities like flush toilets, ablution rooms, canteens, and cultural centers, Mohammad Keshavarz-Zadeh said.

He also noticed that the Chinese government's efforts in fighting terrorism are genuine and bearing fruit.

Xinjiang has "completely reversed the past, which was marked by frequent violent terrorist activities. There have been no terrorist incidents across the region over the past more than four years," Shohrat Zakir, chairman of the regional government, told the delegation at a briefing held on Friday in Urumqi.

Mohammad Keshavarz-Zadeh's view was echoed by Mahendra Bahadur Pandey, the Nepalese ambassador to China, during their visit to an exhibition themed around the arduous fight against terrorism and extremism in Xinjiang.

"I appreciate that the Chinese government and people not only substantially control terrorism but they have given new ways of life, including vocational training and education. It means people in Xinjiang are not suppressed, and they have been given opportunities to move forward toward peace and development," said Pandey.

Some foreign diplomats voiced support and appreciation for policies that helped maintain Xinjiang's stability and development.

Efforts have gone into developing Xinjiang, and many people's livelihoods have significantly improved, noted Ivan Zhelokhovtsev, Charge d'Affaires ad Interim of the Russian Embassy in China.

He said that some Western news reports would not influence their views on Xinjiang-related issues. During his stay in the region, he did not find the issues that the news described.

BETTER LIVELIHOODS

"Upholding a people-centered development policy and taking people's longing for a better life as its goal, Xinjiang has made unprecedented achievements in promoting economic and social development and improving people's livelihoods," said Shohrat Zakir.

Barataji Abdulla, a 33-year-old resident from Nazarbagh Town in Kashgar, was once a taxi driver. He was deeply influenced by extremism, even refusing to provide services for non-Muslim people.

In order to get life back on track, his family members persuaded him to join a local vocational education and training center in May 2018, where he learned laws and vocational skills.

After graduating in May of the following year, he became a pump truck driver with a monthly income of over 6,000 yuan (about 914.6 U.S. dollars) and now lives a stable life.

Sobah Rasheed, minister counsellor of the Embassy of Maldives in China, said he was glad to see that Abdulla got rid of extreme thoughts and became thoughtful and far-sighted.

In a production workshop of a textile enterprise in Aksu, modern machines are running at full capacity.

Akram Zeynalli, the ambassador of Azerbaijan to China, said that the machines here are highly advanced. He said he did not see anything negative in the working area or the staff living quarters. "I feel very good visiting here."

Sanmugan Subramaniam, minister of the Embassy of Malaysia in China, said that there are many textile enterprises here that provide a large number of positions for local job seekers, which is of great significance for economic development.

"I hope to have more opportunities to visit Xinjiang in the future and feel its progress and development," said Sanmugan Subramaniam.

From 2014 to 2019, the GDP of Xinjiang increased from 919.59 billion yuan to 1.36 trillion yuan, with an average annual growth rate of 7.2 percent.

Under the current standards, 3.06 million rural residents in the region have been lifted out of poverty, 3,666 poverty-stricken villages have withdrawn from the poverty list, and all 35 poverty-stricken counties are now off the poverty list.

"I am deeply impressed by the rapid development of Xinjiang. People of all ethnic groups live and work in peace and contentment and enjoy equal rights," said Vladimir Norov.

He said that the SCO is committed to maintaining security and stability and promoting the prosperity and development of its member states. Many Xinjiang developments and governance experiences are worth learning from, he added. Enditem
Texas Rangers save 6-m-o baby smugglers threw into Rio Grande after breaking mom's leg

Email Print Img No-img Menu Whatsapp Google Reddit Digg Stumbleupon Linkedin Comment

Texas Rangers saved a 6-month-old baby girl from drowning in the Rio Grande River after illegal smugglers threw her out of a raft along the Texas-Mexico border.

The highly-trained special operations tactical team assisted U.S. Border Control agents with the rescue mission to save the baby on March 16 in Roma as part of Operation Lone Star, the Texas Department of Public Safety of the South Texas Region announced in a Facebook post Tuesday.

The Texas Rangers often conduct missions along the southern border region in remote areas where conventional law enforcement cannot operate. They are instrumental in disrupting criminal activity usually associated with drug cartels.

The smugglers who threw out the child assaulted the childs mother in Mexico, which resulted in a broken leg, the department reported.

Due to the recent surge of immigrants at the southern border, border agents are overwhelmed in securing the border and monitoring illegal operations.

Texas launched Operation Lone Star on March 6 to combat drug smuggling and human trafficking into Texas in the wake of the surge. The operation combines the efforts of DPS and the Texas National Guard to hinder cartels from moving drugs and people across the border.

The crisis at our southern border continues to escalate because of Biden Administration policies that refuse to secure the border and invite illegal immigration, Texas Gov. Greg Abbott said in a statement at the time.

During a news conference after a helicopter tour of the Rio Grande, Abbott said President Bidens border approach invites illegal immigration and creates a humanitarian crisis.

"There is a crisis on the Texas border right now with the overwhelming number of people who are coming across the border," Abbott said, according to the Caller Times. "This crisis is a result of President Biden's open-border policies.

U.S. Customs and Border Protection reported over 100,441 southwest border enforcement encounters in February 2021 and 78,442 encounters in January. This is compared to 36,687 from February 2020 and 36,585 encounters from January 2020.

The border is wide open  its not secure. Drugs are pouring in, and criminal aliens are pouring in right now, former CBP Commissioner Mark Morgan, who served under President Donald Trump, said during a March 30 press conference along the Rio Grande, according to The Epoch Times.

Morgan said CBP apprehended more than 150,000 individuals illegally crossing the border in March alone. Nationwide drug seizures also increased 50% in February compared to January 2021.

This includes a drastic increase in fentanyl seizures, which is more than 360% higher than this time last year.

The U.S. is set to receive more migrants at the border than any time in the past two decades, Secretary of Homeland Security Alejandro Mayorkas said in a March 16 statement.

Republican senators visited the border in Texas last week to examine the crisis as well as the accelerating threat of drugs and criminals able to move across the border undetected due to the overwhelmed and overcrowded shelter facilities.

There are around 17,000 unaccompanied migrant children in U.S. custody as the Department of Health and Human Services rushes to open emergency facilities, CBS News reported.

A CBP facility in Texas Rio Grande Valley, the largest facility for unaccompanied children, holds over 4,100 migrants, 3,400 of whom are children, The Associated Press reported Tuesday. Under social distancing guidelines, the facility is meant to hold 250 people.

Over 500 migrant children were crammed into rooms designed for 32 people.

In another Texas migrant shelter, a lawyer reported that children have to take turns sleeping on the floor due to a lack of space.

With the high volume of immigration, CBP agents are forced to detain unaccompanied minors, which they were not intended to do.

Biden halted the Trump administrations southern border wall construction on his first day in office in a frenzy of executive orders to reverse many Trump-era policies. He appointed Vice President Kamala Harris to spearhead the effort to address border and immigration challenges last week.

Harris chief spokesperson Symone Sanders told reporters on Friday that the vice president is not doing the border but will instead deal with the root cause of migration through diplomatic efforts with Central American countries.

Sanders said Harris plans to visit the border but has no trip planned.

When a reporter asked Harris on March 22 if she had plans to visit the border, she laughed and said, Not today.

"I have before, and I'm sure I will again, she said.

The Biden administration recently allowed reporters some access into border facilities after being pushed by Republicans and Democrats for greater transparency.
As family violence rates hit record highs in Victoria, GPs say there is urgent need for 10-session family safety management plans to be funded under Medicare.

The Royal Australian College of General Practitioners has backed a call by Melbourne University joint chair of family violence prevention, GP Professor Kelsey Hegarty, and other doctors, for Family Safety Plans to be funded in a similar way to GP-run Mental Health Plans.

Dr Magdalena Simonis Credit:Sion Schluter

Family violence is a chronic health issue; an item number for a family safety plan would enable GPs to get people back [who have disclosed they are experiencing family violence] talk to them about safety  physical, emotional and relationship safety  and support them with an action plan, said Professor Hegarty.

The ability for trusted and confidential GPs to assess safety and wellbeing in an ongoing way and refer to social workers and psychologists expert in domestic violence will enable survivors healing. They are a missing link in the current service system.
Hope Isaac, a final year student of a Nigerian university, owns farms and bee hives in Imo State.

She is the CEO of Hopifloral Resources. She practices both livestock and crop farming on four acres of land. She shares her experience with PREMIUM TIMES.

PT: Can you put us through your journey in agriculture?

Hope Isaac: I started going to farm with my mother in 2005, she is an agricultural economist. Then she was into cassava farming and poultry. So I continued helping her till I finished secondary school. I lost my first admission after the second semester due to family problems. I rewrote another JAMB and got admission to study a course but my O level disqualified me, so I was offered Forestry and Wildlife. By 2013, I had began the bee hives.

My mum encouraged me so I continued with the course, before then I had started honey production. I started expanding my bee hives from five to 10 then to 20 and then 50. I started cultivating 419 cassava and fish farming but on a small scale because I didnt have enough funds. The honey production was and is still massive but herders attacked my farm and destroyed some of my hives, leaving me with few. I sold all and restocked. Usually, when I see a land that is in a safe location, I lease it from the owners. The fish farm, I started it in our backyard with 3, 000 fingerlings (hybrid). After three to four months, I will be having 700  800 kilograms, then I will smoke all of them at the Anambra/Imo river basin and sell them. When I call customers to buy the fish (when they are fresh) they price below the value. I cultivated cucumber on a five hectare of land, so after the first harvest I had to source for customers. I sell to my lecturers and colleagues.

Last month, 30 bee hives were vandaliseqd and I was to harvest in some days. I have never allowed my challenges stop me from going further. I have I.T (Industrial Training) students undergoing some training on my farm. I am also into maggot production, I use them to feed the fishes and birds. I had some of my training with the International Institute of Tropical Agriculture (IITA), Songhai farms. I still work with them (Songhai) but it is still a learning process because they usually have new species of crops or improvement in any seeds. Now that we have a short holiday, I will produce organic fertilizer instead of buying from the market and also prepare my organic herbicide and pesticide.

For me, even if I want to stop any agribusiness, it will not be beekeeping, because it is something you start with a small capital and earn well. Currently, a liter is N6,000 so I supply to doctors and some other customers, infact my honey went for a competition and came out first. I have plans of setting up more ponds and piggeries. I have 400 birds now, I sell to retailers.

PT: As a young person and a woman, what are the challenges you face in agriculture?

Hope Isaac: Aside capital, the other challenge I face is herders. For example, when its time to harvest the honey, I cannot go there alone, I have to go with a man for security reasons or maybe I will meet the herders on my farm. But even to call someone to join you on the farm, you have to pay them. They get scared of the bees but the bees are friendly, you can even have them in your house. There are things I can do that some men cannot do, I make ridges. Even if people insult me because of my profession, I dont see it as a challenge because it has not stopped me from making progress. I cant allow these challenges. I have personal land and I hope to develop it. I just have a passion for agriculture. People ask me on my Facebook page if Im really a farmer especially when they see me on the farm wearing bumshorts. I think this is a general problem, I dont have machines for my cultivation. I need them to make the process easy.

PT: You have about four acres of land in the South East where women dont own land, how did you do it?

Hope Isaac: Firstly, they dont belong to my parents, so what I do is aside from leasing, I buy. When I sell honey I use the profit to purchase land. There was a time I made about N600,000 from honey sale, so I got some land. When I look out for land, I go for the ones in cheaper areas. So I got mine at N400,000 per plot and the land is roughly three acres and two plots so I had to save about N8 million. It took me years to save up and pay for the whole four acres. It got to a point the money was not coming as I wanted so I had to invest the money in a microfinance bank for one year, then I used the capital and interest to buy land.

PT: Aside from the IT students, how many staff do you have?

Hope Isaac: I have about four, the IT students are also four. Although 21 people came for IT, 17 of them were not serious. They didnt want to learn.

PT: There are policies that have been rolled out by the government, such as Anchor Borrowers Programme, Agricultural Promotion Policy, and others. Do you think they have any space for women generally? Have you benefited from any?

Hope Isaac: I applied for survival funds but I did not get, I also applied for the Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN) loan. I met a man that promised me he will help me secure the CBN loan but I will give him 30 per cent. I accepted the offer but I met another person, this time my lecturer but he started making sexual advances. There was this honey competition in Enugu, so a man used my honey to go for the competition and he won. When he came back, I proposed that we should share the proceeds from every supply he gets but he refused so I stopped giving him money. He was selfish even when the organisation requested my contact, he refused to share with them so he listed it. He priced a litre at N10,000 but I refused to sell.

PT: Are there plans you have, or something you are working on?

Hope Isaac: Yes, I organise training for students especially those studying Agriculture because many students who are studying Agriculture are forced into it. I tell them  There is life in Agriculture . I have helped some students establish farms, when they need help they call me and I am always at their service.

I organised a training too in my community but only one person came for it. I still try to fix training in my school. I carry out online training too but you know some people will not understand. So I try to follow up. I have plans of going for my Masters in Germany, and also secure my lands properly.

ADVERTISEMENT

PT: When you go for your Masters, who will take care of the farm?

Hope Isaac: My younger sister will do that, I have trained her so she is capable of doing it. But the farms will be in one location to make it easier for her.

PT: You lost 30 bee hives recently, how much did you lose?

Ms Isaac: One bee hive gives me a minimum of 15 litres of honey. I sell one litre at N6,000. So it means in one hive, I lost N90,000. Then in 30 hives I lost N 2.7 million. This is a huge loss. I have used that land for five years and they vandalised it. I just saw it during the inspection. Currently, I have harvested 40 litres from the remaining ones, Im yet to harvest all.

PT: As a registered organisation, do you pay tax?

Hope Isaac: Well, I registered my farm just last year after so many years of being into agriculture and I am yet to start paying tax, although in the Corporate Affairs Commission (CAC) form, it was indicated that I will pay tax. I was reluctant to register because I felt I cant be suffering and someone is enjoying my tax, but my mother insisted I register the farm.

PT: Do you belong to any association? If yes, how have you benefited from the association?

Hope Isaac: Yes I do, that is Beekeeping Association, Imo State chapter. I have not benefited but there was a time the group had a programme in Abuja in 2018, I was unable to attend because I was writing my exams, I was told that the group was given money. Some of the executives just share the money anytime it comes. In fact, a leader of the association trained me. He dupes me, let alone the governments money. He went to my farm during my IT and harvested honey, then told me the honey was stolen. When I got to the farm, a security guard who stayed near my farm said a man came to harvest the honey. He described the man and his car and the description fits my trainer. I keep telling him Sir you betrayed me, after serving you for five years. I served him from 2010 to 2015.

PT: If You are in a position to advise the Nigerian government with respect to the agriculture sector, what would that be?

Hope Isaac: Firstly, they should help Nigerians adjust their lives hereby valuing farming and other agriculture related issues. Also, they should venture into and implement the provision of capital to Nigerians and also the security of lives and properties. Introduce policies that will work and favour the agricultural sector in the country. People are into farming and more people want to venture into farming but are not encouraged because of the situation of the country with respect to the way the government intervenes in the sector. The government should therefore stop eye service and work genuinely towards the growth of the sector. This will reduce the risk of food shortage in the country.

PT How were you able to raise capital to start your business in 2013?

Hope Isaac: I actually used the money I saved from my pocket money and kept expanding with it. I used the money to first set up three bee hives which gave me 60 litres of honey, from there I got money to buy birds. After every sale, I invest both the capital and the profit to increase my income. For example cucumber, I planted 2500 seeds and I harvested 110 bags after six weeks. Now I can construct a hive by myself. To construct it in the market, you need N30,000 to do it but I save N15,000 to N20,000 when I do it myself. I go to a saw mill, when they see me, they say Hope onye ike. I go there with seriousness, choose my own species of wood, then explain to them what I want and come back for it later. I have my hammer and nails, so I nail it and do the necessary things and mount it. I produce candle wax from the shaft thats what I use in attracting them.

PT: Do you feed the bees?

Hope Isaac: No, I dont. They feed themselves. I advise people to go into the business because it is very cheap and lucrative. You can cultivate some plants for them like sunflowers and cannabis.

PT: Farmers say they are unable to access seeds and fertilizers, how do you cope?

Hope Isaac: I buy seeds from the market, sometimes I dry the seeds of some rice crops and keep them for the next season. For the fertilizer, I use organic fertilizer. I get a big drum, pour water into it. I will harvest neem plants, scent leaf, bitter leaf, turmeric and garlic and put them into the drum. Then leave it for seven days then it ferments. Once it ferments it has turned into a serious fertilizer. When I have exams, I use inorganic fertilizer.

PT: Studying in Nigeria is a tedious task, how do you manage your academics and farming?

Hope Isaac: I have my personal timetable. I collect handouts from my predecessors ahead of the semester. I talk with my lecturers and we have an understanding, but there are four lecturers that are very strict , I dont miss their lectures. When I harvest some produce, I share with them but I have never given them money. I talk with my Head of Department too so he is aware of what Im doing. Although he keeps telling me to study hard.
In the sporting world, we often hear about the "immortals" of this game or that. But what of fashion?

With a career spanning more than 55 years, and plenty of creative juice left in her seemingly bottomless reservoir, Carla Zampatti was the closest thing the Australian fashion industry had to a matriarch, a pioneer and an immortal, all rolled into one.

Carla Zampatti in her city store in 1992. Credit:David Porter

Even in her advanced years, when travel became more taxing and COVID-19 threatened her brand's very survival, she thrived, resting on her number-one life principle, her raison d'etre: resilience.

Carla was not only resilient, but she was also a woman of great compassion, deep thought and dry humour. No one ever imagined she would not be around. And yet, here we are.
LOS ANGELESPornhub has issued a Transparency Report for 2020, outlining its content moderation processes and its efforts to combat offensive material, illegal content, child sexual abuse material (CSAM) and more.

The first-ever such report issued by the platform, it covers all of last year and outlines such details as its automated detection technologies to help moderate content before it can be published. Among these are Microsofts PhotoDNA, which aids in finding and removing known images of CSAM.

To read the full report, click here.

Pornhub also uses Google's artificial intelligence technology Content Safety API, which is designed to help identify online CSAM. The sites MediaWise, which is Vobiles cyber fingerprinting software is another tool that scans all new user uploads in order to help prevent previously identified offending content from being re-uploaded.

Along with other technologies, Pornhub also uses human content moderators to review content that gets uploaded to the platform before it becomes accessible to the public, thus preventing the uploading of materials that violate its Terms of Service and Related Guidelines.

The sites content moderation efforts are in alignment as well as go beyond the measures listed in the Voluntary Principles to Counter Online Child Sexual Exploitation and Abuse issued in March 2020, which is part of a coordinated effort by the U.S. Department of Justice as well as the governments of Canada, Australia, New Zealand and the United Kingdom.

In 2020, Pornhub identified 653,465 pieces of content as potentially offending and consequently removed it globally for possibly infringing its Terms of Service and Related Guidelines.

The report also notes that as part of its core values, the platform encourages all of its users to report or flag content that may violate its Terms of Service and Related Guidelines, to ensure the site remains free of offensive or illegal material.

The platform also noted that its efforts include the spring 2020 establishment of its Trust and Safety Center as part of its ongoing efforts to ensure the safety of its users and clarify what the platform stands for and what it opposes.
In the first months of the Biden administration, news about cannabis is erupting everywhere. New York and New Jersey have agreed to legalize recreational cannabis, and in mid-March Rep. Ed Perlmutter, a Colorado Democrat, re-introduced the SAFE Banking Act, which promises to reduce public safety risk by enabling legal cannabis operators to use the federal banking system.

Now that the Senate is controlled by Democrats, near-term passage seems likely according to Perlmutter, who claims this time that there is no more chuckle factor.

No one was laughing when last months other cannabis news came from the White House. Despite reassuring young job applicants that honesty about previous cannabis use wouldnt be held against them, administration officials announced the firing of several junior staffers after [working] with the security service to update the policies to ensure that past marijuana use wouldnt automatically disqualify staff from serving in the White House," according to press secretary Jen Psakis tweet.

So, despite state legality, previous cannabis use can still be a big blemish and bodes ill for ones career prospects in some fields. More insidiously, cannabis use has turned into proof of cloudy judgment and might suggest an unworthiness for a top security clearance.

The juxtaposition of these cannabis stories suggests confusion about the subject, or at least a need to reexamine the facts. According to a 2019 Pew Research Center study, an overwhelming majority (91%) of U.S. adults agree with one of these two positions: that cannabis should be legal for medical and recreational use (59%), or that it should be legal for medical use only (32%). As of the 2020 election, 38 states have legalized at least medical cannabis, and all but one of them got there through a citizens referendum.

Cannabis is not a partisan issue. It is a generational issue.

Only members of the Silent Generation misunderstand cannabis, but theyve got a stranglehold on the U.S. Senate, where the average age is close to 64. This suggests that Vice President Kamala Harris more liberal stance on marijuana is mostly due to a generational difference with her boss. But thats not all.

The president should remember that Harris support for cannabis legalization and regulation comes after years of dealing with its complexities while serving as San Francisco district attorney and California attorney general. Her state has known quasi-legal cannabis since 1996, and she understands emphatically that theres no logical reason to put off fundamental reform.

Victor Hugo said, Nothing in the world is so powerful as an idea whose time has come.

Cannabis is here to stay. The American people want cannabis, but we also want control over what goes into our bodies. Not only has medical research shown cannabis to be less harmful than alcohol, cigarettes, or other items we know how to regulate and sell safely, but we are currently living through an era of exploratory self-medication and performance enhancement.

Most people under the age of 75 know cannabis as a customizable social lubrication product masquerading as medicine in order to seem more palatable. It can do the job of a low-impact pharmaceutical, but usually more mildly and with fewer side effects. When asked by reporters during her own presidential run, Kamala Harris casually admitted to using cannabis in college and said, I think it gives a lot of people joy, and we need more joy.

The vice president also knows the problems with the status quo. Millions of Americans are deprived of food stamps, are ineligible for federally subsidized housing, and are precluded from voting owing to old cannabis-related criminal convictions. Even today, African Americans consume cannabis at the same rate as whites, yet they are four times more likely to be arrested for possession.

The best cannabis news this year came in February, when Senate Majority Leader Chuck Schumer and fellow Democrats Cory Booker and Ron Wyden announced plans for comprehensive cannabis reform legislation. They wrote that current laws disproportionately harm people of color and that reform is needed to "ensure restorative justice, protect public health and implement responsible taxes and regulations."

President Bidens views on LGBTQ rights have moved a great distance over his long legislative career. In 1973, as a senator, he questioned whether allowing homosexuals in the military or the government would pose a security risk. Then, in 2012 he became the highest-ranking Democrat to endorse same-sex marriage and earned pioneer credit for accelerating the pace of an issue that still required mainstream support to get over the finish line.

Biden has shown himself to be a bridge between the generations. Lets hope his empathy for those unfairly punished by anachronistic and often-racist laws lets him see that, indeed, there are a lot of very fine people who enjoy cannabis and should be legally allowed to use it  once they turn 21.
San Francisco, April 3 : John Krafcik, the CEO of Googles self-driving car project Waymo, has announced to step down and kick off new adventures.

Tekedra Mawakana, chief operating officer at Waymo, and chief technology officer Dmitri Dolgov, will work jointly as co-CEOs.

"After five and a half exhilarating years leading this team, I've decided to depart from my CEO role with Waymo and kick-off new adventures. To start, I'm looking forward to a refresh period, reconnecting with old friends and family, and discovering new parts of the world," Krafcik said in a blog post on Friday.

Google hired Krafcik in 2015. He worked at Ford and was president and CEO of Hyundai's American operations.

"Google reached out to me in March 2015 with an intriguing opportunity to lead a small project working on autonomous vehicles. The technology seemed a promising way to improve road safety, something I'd been focused on in my prior work in the automotive industry," Krafcik said in a LinkdIn post.

During that period, Google was uniquely positioned as a company making breakthroughs in both artificial intelligence and vehicle autonomy.

Google founders Larry Page and Sergey Brin championed the launch of the AI-focused Google Brain in 2011, and acquired DeepMind in 2014.

Google later transformed into Alphabet, and Waymo became a unique company within this new corporate structure.

This allowed Waymo to offer its own equity to employees, seek external investors, and to create a new culture distinct from Google's, the outgoing CEO said.

Earlier this year, Elon Musk said that Tesla has better hardware and software than Google's self-driving car unit to attain full self-driving system.

"To my surprise, Tesla has better AI hardware & software than Waymo (money)," Musk said in a tweet.

He responded to Krafcik who had said that Tesla has taken a misguided approach to developing fully autonomous cars and its "full self-driving" system will fail to live up to its billing.

-- The story has been published from a wire feed without any modifications to the text
Xi sends message of sympathy to Pakistani president

Xinhua) 10:57, April 03, 2021

Chinese President Xi Jinping on Thursday sent a message of sympathy to Pakistani President Arif Alvi over the latter's infection with COVID-19, wishing him an early recovery.

In the message, Xi stressed that China and Pakistan are all-weather strategic cooperative partners, and that the Chinese government and people will always stand firmly with their Pakistani counterparts to beat the pandemic shoulder to shoulder.

The Chinese president said he attaches great importance to the development of China-Pakistan relations, and is ready to work with President Alvi to push forward the building of a closer China-Pakistan community with a shared future for the benefit of both countries and their people.

Enable Ginger Cannot connect to Ginger Check your internet connection

or reload the browser Disable in this text field Edit Edit in Ginger Edit in Ginger

(Web editor: Kou Jie, Bianji)
The scene of the crash in Belfast

A young child has died after a fatal crash in west Belfast.

Emergency services were called to the scene of the one-vehicle crash involving a child pedestrian on Springhill Avenue shortly after 6pm on Saturday evening.

Police have advised motorists to avoid the area and seek alternative main routes for their journey.

A spokesperson for the ambulance service said two emergency crews were sent to the scene, along with a paramedic and ambulance officer and a helicopter emergency medical service.

People Before Profit MLA Gerry Carroll said: "Absolutely heartbreaking to hear about a young person and their family impacted by a road traffic accident in west Belfast today.

"My thoughts are with the family and community trying to come to terms with this awful news."

Sinn Fein councillor Steven Corr has extended his condolences to the family of the child.

"This evening the community of the Upper Springfield is devastated following a tragic road traffic accident in Springhill.



"Our local community is shocked and saddened following the loss of this very young life. It has left many local people reeling and my thoughts and prayers are with everyone affected at this time," he said.
(Newser)  Following a gunman's rampage in Orange, Calif., on Wednesday that left four dead, CNN noted that mass shooting was one of 20 since the Atlanta spa shootings in mid-March. Now, yet another one to add to the list. Police say at least seven people were shot early Saturday at a house party in Wilmington, NC, leaving three dead and four injured, per WECT. After the shooting, which took place soon after midnight, police Chief Donny Williams said the general public didn't appear to be any danger and that law enforcement was working on trying to ID suspects.

story continues below

Police also they also don't yet have a motive pinned down. It's not clear what the conditions are of the injured. "Our hearts go out to all affected by this senseless violence," a public information officer says in a release, asking members of the public to come forward if they have any info on the shooting, per the Wilmington Star-News. The number to call is 910-343-3609, or people can text an anonymous tip to 847411 by including the keyword "WPDNC." (Read more mass shootings stories.)
Advertisement

A Good Friday service at a Polish church was shut down by police for breaching Covid rules as worshippers were threatened with 200 fines.

Officers shut down the religious ceremony in Balham High Street, south London, at around 5pm yesterday, with footage showing an officer tell worshippers that the gathering is 'unlawful' and that they have to go home.

Meanwhile, just under five miles away at a crowded Parliament Square, thousands of protestors gathered at a Kill the Bill rally chanting, banging drums and waving placards before scuffles broke out with police.

The parish Parafia Chrystusa Krola  Christ the Believer  has issued a statement saying it believes police 'brutally exceeded their powers'.

It urged those present at the ceremony to file a formal complaint to the Metropolitan Police, adding: 'We asked the police authorities to explain the incident and we are waiting for their response.'

Bishop of Buckingham Rt Rev Alan Wilson also questioned breaking up the service, telling Channel 4 News that the Government needs to clarify its coronavirus guidelines for churches.

And people on social media have slammed the police's 'disgraceful' handling of the situation, with some describing it as 'deeply offensive'.

Official coronavirus guidance states communal worship or prayer can be attended by as many people as a place of worship can accommodate, as long as they are socially distanced. Masks should be worn, according to the government rules.

The Catholic Archdiocese of Southwark said the intervention had occurred during the solemn liturgy, which would have taken just 30 minutes to complete. It said the Archbishop of Southwark, John Wilson, had visited to find out what had happened.

The archdiocese said in a statement: 'The Archbishop has discussed this matter with the Rector of the Catholic Polish Mission, Mgr Stefan Wylezek, who intends to contact the Metropolitan Police authorities about how the situation was handled.

Police shut down a Good Friday service at a Polish church in Balham High Street, south London, at around 5pm yesterday, with officers threatening worshippers with 200 fines

A group of worshipers wear masks and take part in a socially distanced Easter Sunday service at the Polish church

People stand outside the church in Balham, south west London, after it was closed down by police officers

'Public worship is permissible where COVID hygiene procedures are in place and national guidance has been issued by the Catholic Bishops' Conference of England and Wales.'

What does Government guidance on worship and visiting churches advise? Official coronavirus guidance states communal worship or prayer can be attended by as many people as a place of worship can accommodate, as long as they are socially distanced. England's current lockdown rules specify that 'limits for communal worship should be decided on the basis of the capacity of the place of worship following an assessment of risk'. People are also encouraged not to mingle after a service and go back to their homes as quickly as possible. Advertisement

England's current lockdown rules specify that 'limits for communal worship should be decided on the basis of the capacity of the place of worship following an assessment of risk'.

People are also encouraged not to mingle after a service and go back to their homes as quickly as possible.

In the video, a police officer tells a church full of worshippers wearing face masks that they have to stop the Good Friday service.

He says: 'You are not allowed to meet inside with this many people under law. At this moment in time you need to go home.

'Failure to comply with this direction to leave and go to your home address, ultimately could lead you to be fined 200 or, if you fail to give your details, to you being arrested.

'It's Good Friday and I appreciate you would like to worship, but it is unlawful.'

The church criticised the police for interrupting the service, reported Sky News.

In a statement, the parish said: 'The policemen found our liturgical assembly illegal, ordering everyone to leave our temple immediately on pain of a 200 fine for each parishioner present or even arrest.

'The faithful obeyed this order without objection. All government requirements had been complied with.

'We regret that the rights of the faithful have been wronged on such an important day for every believer.'

It also provided a link explaining how to make a complaint about the police force in the statement on its website, saying: 'Anyone present at the liturgy may also send their complaint directly via the link below.'

The church also said it believes the officers 'brutally exceeded their powers by issuing their warrant for no good reason' because 'all government requirements were met'.

Christians sit apart during an Easter Sunday service at the church today just days after a Good Friday service was shut down by police for breaching Covid rules

Christians stand outside during an Easter Sunday service at the parish Parafia Chrystusa Krolaat due to lack of space indoors

The incident has been reported to the superiors of the Polish Catholic Mission in England and Wales, the church added.

People on social media have slammed the police for shutting down the service, labelling the handling of the situation 'disproportionate'.

One wrote: 'I'm actually ashamed of what you did on Good Friday of all days. Stop hiding behind Covid transmission, when we see large scale protests being facilitated at this very minute in London.'

Teresa Wilkins said: 'Disgraceful, disproportionate and deeply offensive on the most solemn day of the Catholic calendar.'

Another wrote: 'Absolutely disgraceful behaviour by the police.'

Meanwhile, just under five miles away at a crowded Parliament Square, thousands of protestors gathered at a Kill the Bill rally chanting, banging drums and waving placards before scuffles broke out with police

And a fourth added: 'Another example of the UK police having a dreadful pandemic.'

London Metropolitan Police said it was called to reports of large crowds gathering outside the church before the congregation.

A spokesperson said: 'Officers attended and found a large number of people inside the church. Some people were not wearing masks and those present were clearly not socially distanced.

'Understanding the sensitivity of the situation, officers engaged with the priest outside the church and were invited inside to address the congregation.

'No fixed penalty notices were issued.'
New Delhi:

A Delhi University college professor has been booked for allegedly insulting Hindu Goddess Durga in a post on Facebook.

Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP)- affiliated National Democratic Teachers Front on Saturday late had filed a police complaint against the assistant professor of Delhi University.

Police said a complaint has been lodged against Kedar Kumar Mandal.

Mandal had updated the controversial post on Facebook around 7:43pm but later deleted it.

According to Delhi police Mandal was booked under the Indian Penal Code sections 153A and 295A.

Police official said the particular sections are hate speech laws under which an accused can attract imprisonment between three to five years.

RSS-affiliated ABVP too condemned the post and demanded immediate suspension of the professor.

ABVP college unit in a statement said, We demand his suspension and we request students to boycott his classes. Mandal has provoked sentiments during a festival season.

(With PTI inputs)

For all the Latest India News, Download News Nation Android and iOS Mobile Apps.
GRAND HAVEN, MI -- A Grand Haven Public Safety officer was expected to be released from a hospital late Friday after collapsing at a fire scene earlier in the day.

Firefighters responded just after 9 a.m. Friday, April 2 to Commercial Contractors, 16745 Comstock St. after a motor home -- parked inside of a garage attached to the building -- caught fire.

Firefighters made several attempts to tow the 45-foot motor home from the garage as it burned, but were not successful until about noon. Heavy smoke and fire hampered their efforts.

At some point, a Grand Haven Public Safety officer collapsed at the scene from unspecified causes. The officer was treated at North Ottawa Community Hospital and was expected to be released Friday evening.

Four area fire departments helped at the fire scene.

More from MLive

Attorney convinces judges to let 4 high school wrestlers compete, despite COVID-19 quarantine orders

Grand Rapids culinary students compete in NASA competition to create meals for astronauts
BEIJING, April 2 (Xinhua)  Chinese President Xi Jinping on Thursday sent a message of sympathy to Pakistani President Arif Alvi over the latter's infection with COVID-19, wishing him an early recovery.

In the message, Xi stressed that China and Pakistan are all-weather strategic cooperative partners, and that the Chinese government and people will always stand firmly with their Pakistani counterparts to beat the pandemic shoulder to shoulder.

The Chinese president said he attaches great importance to the development of China-Pakistan relations, and is ready to work with President Alvi to push forward the building of a closer China-Pakistan community with a shared future for the benefit of both countries and their people.

Source: Xinhua
We use cookies to understand how you use our site and to improve your experience. This includes personalizing content and advertising. By continuing to use our site, you accept our use of cookies, revised Privacy Policy and Terms of Use.
Labor leader and civil rights activist Dolores Huerta stands next to first lady Jill Biden as she talks with volunteers at a vaccination site at The Forty Acres, the first headquarters of the United Farm Workers labor union, in Delano, Calif., on Wednesday. On Friday, The Associated Press reported on stories circulating online incorrectly asserting Biden gave a speech with the Nazi flag in the background. The flag, seen in the background, features a black eagle surrounded by a white circle on a red background. It was created in the 1960s by Cesar Chavezs brother, Richard Chavez, and his cousin, Manuel Chavez.
A man who was just released from prison after 16 years has been re-arrested and charged with the murder of a pastor who was shot dead shortly before he was sent to jail.

Terrance Bryant Dean, 39, is being charged with Michael Glover's death

Pastor Michael Glover, 36, was shot dead in the car port of his home in Macon, Georgia, on March 29, 2004.

But the case went cold until a recent DNA breakthrough linked Terrance Bryant Dean to the attack.

Dean, 39, was released from prison in September last year after serving almost 16 years for an unrelated armed robbery.

The new DNA evidence also linked him to a unsolved rape, officials said.

Dean was arrested last Friday without incident.

When Dean was arrested, investigators say he had thirty small bags in his pockets, which contained a white powdery substance.

He has been charged with murder, rape, and the sale of a controlled substance and is being held without bail.

Glover was killed outside of his home in March 2004 as the case went unsolved for years

No motive was given as to why Dean allegedly killed Glover, with a DNA breakthrough leading to his arrest and charges being filed against Dean

The U.S. Marshals Southeastern Regional Fugitive Task Force assisted in tracking Dean to a home for the arrest.

'Last week, I jumped for joy to find out they had a suspect in custody,' Michael's father Willie Glover said to 13WMAZ.

'To hear this news the other night, it was like a burden was lifted off of us,' Ricardo Glover, Michael's uncle, added.

No motive was given in the case, with Ricardo saying, 'I just couldn't understand why that would happen even though he was the type that tried to help people, young and old.'

Glover's murder went unsolved for years until a new investigator, Malcolm Bryant, took over the case in November.

'I got the case and after reading through it, very detailed,' Bryant said.

'The investigators that initially started the investigation did a good job as far as including small details, which are very important.'

The breakthrough came after a DNA match that led back to Dean.

A release from the Bibb County's Sheriff Office stated that Bryant resubmitted evidence to the Georgia Bureau of Investigation.

That resulted in a positive match from the Combined DNA Index System (CODIS), which implicated Dean.

'Technology is no where near what it was back in 2004, which is a great thing for us,' Bryant said.

'I think that is the direction that law enforcement is taking in general, towards that technology area.'

Father Willie Glover (left) and uncle Ricardo Glover (right) were happy to hear of the arrest of a suspect, though still disappointed not to understand why Michael's death happened

For the investigator, making the arrest is only half the battle.

'With having that type of evidence, it's good that you're able to make an arrest, but that's really only half of what you ultimately want, you ultimately want a conviction,' Bryant said.

Dean was previously injured while in prison when he was beaten by corrections officers after allegedly attacking a guard in December 2010.

The justice department revealed in 2015 that Dean suffered a traumatic brain injury during the assault by guards.

Eight officers were later sentenced for assaults on multiple prisoners at Macon State Prison in Oglethorpe, Georgia, by the Correctional Emergency Response Team (CERT), as well as a resultant cover up.

CERT officers beat multiple inmates, with Dean and another inmate suffering severe injuries.

Darren Douglass-Griffin, Kerry Bolden, Emmett McKenzie and Kadarius Thomas were sentenced in March 2015.

Douglass-Griffin was sentenced to 12 months in prison for conspiracy against rights and for writing a false report.

Bolden was sentenced to serve nine months in prison for conspiracy against rights and conspiracy to obstruct justice.

McKenzie received a sentence of six months in prison for conspiracy against rights.

Thomas was sentenced to serve six months in prison for writing a false report.

CERT Sergeant Christopher Hall and senior CERT officers Ronald Lach and Delton Rushin were convicted in June 2014.

Hall was sentenced to 72 months in prison for conspiracy to obstruct justice and two obstruction-related offenses.

Lach was sentenced to 90 months for his involvement in the beating of an inmate, for conspiring to cover up the beating and for writing a false report.

Rushin was sentenced to 60 months for conspiring to obstruct justice.

CERT member Willie Redden also pleaded guilty in 2012 to conspiring with other correctional officers to violate the civil rights of inmates.

'While our corrections officials have a difficult yet important job, we must insist that they follow the law and not use the authority that comes with a prison guards uniform to assault the very people they are charged with supervising,' said then-U.S. Attorney Michael J. Moore of the Middle District of Georgia in 2015.
Purchases made via links on our site may earn us an affiliate commission
Vicky Phelan said she is so relieved as she will receive her first Covid-19 vaccine next week in the United States.

The CervicalCheck campaigner is currently undergoing treatment in Maryland and said once she is fully vaccinated she will explore the area and do more touristy things.

Posting a video to Instagram, she shared the news with her 60,000 followers.

"I am getting the vaccine, I am getting the first dose of the Covid vaccine next Wednesday, she said.

So, Im getting treatment on Tuesday and then my first dose of the vaccine on Wednesday. Im a little bit worried about how Ill be but sure you know what Im normally fairly sick on a Wednesday, so so be it.

Read More

"My doctors have cleared it, I checked with my oncologist and he said it's fine for me to get the vaccine on Wednesday. So, Im really glad Im getting it now because it will give me far more freedom than what I have at the moment.

Ms Phlean said despite not yet being vaccinated, she recently went to see the cherry blossoms in Washington DC as they usually only bloom for two weeks.

However, she said once shes vaccinated she will be able to do a bit more exploring while having peace of mind that she wont catch Covid.

Once Im fully vaccinated I will definitely be doing a bit more of the touristy stuff and visit more of Washington DC while Im here as up until now I havent really done any of that because Ive been too scared of getting Covid and having that interrupt my treatment, she said.

"There was too much of a risk. So, yeah, things are looking up.

Toward the end of the video, the Limerick native got visibly upset as she talked about home and missing her children.

I would just like to say thank you all very much for all your love and support, it really means a lot to me, she said.

"I have found the past two weeks in particular quite hard. Im really starting to miss my kids.

"My son doesnt really want to talk to me on the phone, which Im finding quite difficult at times.

"All of the messages of support Im getting really help to keep me going on days when I really miss my kids and really miss home. So thank you all for that, I really appreciate it.
AGAWAM  Mayor William Sapelli is asking the City Council to take a vote of no confidence in the Hampden County Retirement Board.

Agawam is the largest participant in the 18-town pension plan, which provides benefits for municipal retirees. The states Public Employee Retirement Administration Commission released a sharply critical audit of the plan in February.

This is one of the, if not the, worst, most damaging audits theyve seen come out, Sapelli said on Friday.

He is asking councilors to back a resolution that cites potential mismanagement of funds and potential violations of state ethics laws as reasons why the retirement system needs a change in leadership. The resolution appears as new business on the councils April 5 agenda.

Among the audits findings are that between 2013 and 2018, the retirement system paid $235,000 for website charges that were likely scams and paid more than $87,000 in bank fees, when similar pension plans paid none; and paid two attorneys a combined $179,266 in salaries and $269,144 in health insurance benefits over the course of three years, when state law does not allow them to hire an attorney as an employee.

Sapelli said he decided to ask for the vote after watching a March 3 meeting of the Hampden County Regional Board of Retirement, where the agency responded to town officials questions about the audit.

The responses were not qualified answers, if you ask me, Sapelli said. Its that they werent aware, they werent sure.  Not one answer came out of that March 3 meeting that made anyone comfortable.

Agawam taxpayers contribute about $7.7 million per year to the retirement system, said Sapelli.

Two of the five members of the Hampden County Regional Board of Retirement have connections to Agawam town government. The president and treasurer is Richard M. Theroux, who was Agawams town clerk for 32 years before retiring in 2015. He later served one term as a city councilor and briefly ran for state representative in 2016. Additionally, Laurel Placzek, Agawams current town treasurer-collector, is a board member.

Sapelli said he hasnt spoken with Theroux since the audit was released, and has not discussed retirement board matters with Placzek, who was elected to the board by the treasurers of the towns and agencies that belong to the system. He said the no confidence resolution specifically refers to the leadership by Theroux, the board president, and Julianne Bartley, the executive director.

After the PERAC audit was released in February, Theroux repaid more than $1,800 in travel expenses he had claimed while attending conferences for the retirement board on Cape Cod, while staying at a condominium he owns in Mashpee.

Later, Stephen Buoniconti resigned as one of the retirement boards two legal counsels. Buoniconti is also the town solicitor in Agawam, working alongside Sapelli and Placzek.

Sapelli said he doesnt believe municipal workers should worry about losing their pensions, but does think the current leaders of the retirement system have mismanaged taxpayers funds.

With a population of about 28,000, Agawam is the largest of the towns that participate in the county retirement system. Ludlow, the next largest member, has a population of 21,000. The only others in the 18-town group with more than 10,000 are East Longmeadow, Longmeadow, Palmer and Wilbraham. The system manages pension plans for more than 3,000 employees and 1,500 retirees of town departments, public safety agencies, school districts and housing authorities in its member communities.
At the beginning of this year Stefano Domenicali was appointed CEO of Formula 1. He has a lot of ideas about the highest racing class but has taken some time to reflect on his first few months in the job.

On Formula1.com he explained how he met with the drivers to discuss a variety of subjects within the sport.

"On Thursday night, before the start of testing in Bahrain, I met with the drivers to discuss a number of issues. We had a constructive meeting and agreed to keep our conversations private and among ourselves," he said.

Voice of the drivers

Those drivers, therefore, have an important voice. "It was important to share the start of this new journey together. As we have always said, the drivers are very important for F1. That's why we always need to keep them informed. They have an active voice on what we need to share for the future of Formula One."

Domenicali is no stranger to the Formula One world. The Italian worked for Ferrari for a long time. Between 2007 and 2014 he was team boss at the Italian racing stable. In it, he won a constructors' title once and was close to the world title three times with Felipe Massa and Fernando Alonso.
Martin McDonaghs The Pillowman is a play full of torture, verbal abuse, psychological terror and the most child murder in a drama this side of Richard III. Its also quite funny, and ultimately, surprisingly warm.

There may be no better play to capture the dizzying contradictions of a raging pandemic.

Nominated for the 2005 Best Play Tony award, The Pillowman tells the story of a writer named Katurian (Michael Gardiner) who has been socially engineered by his parents torture of his brother Michal (Jeremy Niles) to compose horrific fairy tales full of gruesome death, frequently of children. When area children start dying in ways starkly similar to Katurians stories, a pair of abusively authoritarian police, Tupolski (Sean Mannix) and Ariel (Ilana Schimmel), round up the brothers with the intention of torturing confessions out of them en route to swift executions. The play is bloody, horrific, cringey, chilling and often darkly hilarious.

COVID-19 has made for a hell of a year. What better way to escort live theater out of the long, uncertain darkness of a pandemic shutdown?

Since the onslaught of the pandemic last March, New Jersey stages have been mostly vacant. The summer provided some outdoor theater opportunities seized upon by The Shakespeare Theatre of New Jersey and others, and October saw an excellent, timely production of Fannie Lou Hamer: Speak On It! by Premiere Stages under a chilly tent in Union. But there is no bringing back the lost ending to the spring 20 season, the summertime staples of the NJ Rep and Shakespeare Theatre of New Jersey, or the always-vibrant early fall, as Two River, McCarter and George Street start their new seasons with fresh energy.

It was a year lost  and sorely missed  in New Jersey theater.

At the fore of theaters slow recovery in the state is Englewoods plucky repertory company, Black Box PAC. In August and September, it soldiered on with its tradition of outdoor summer Shakespeare, performing Measure for Measure and The Tempest in rep with masked performers. It followed in November with an indoor engagement of Whos Afraid of Virginia Woolf? with the performers unmasked and the small audience distanced and masked. Beyond that, the theater has found creative ways to keep up its commitment to performing arts education virtually and cautiously in person. The audiences are small and the productions modest, but Black Box PAC has refused to allow a pesky pandemic to detour the traffic of its stage.

We may be slowly turning the corner on this pandemic, but there is little sense in pining for COVID theater to emulate the experience were used to. Suspended still are experiences like a bustling lobby with drinks and snacks, preshow chatter with companions after shuffling to a seat through aisles crowded with strangers and laughs or cheers or gasps escaping freely from maskless faces. Still, Black Box PAC is showing that pandemic theater can work.

Its production of The Pillowman is limited to 20 spectators a show (its been averaging seven to 15) and includes the now-familiar precautions of contact-tracing forms, masks and distancing, with fresh air encouraged to circulate through the small space by a front door left open during the show. But once the lights go down and director Matt Okins excellent production begins to unfold, theater seems for a brief few hours fairly normal.

I was one of seven spectators Thursday night  but Ive been to plays with fewer during normal times.

The open door on a cold Englewood evening made for a chilly breeze  but Ive been more uncomfortable under blasting air conditioning or oppressive humidity.

There were no refreshments available  but who needs them?

I wore a facemask for a couple of hours  OK, that one was new.

In the end though, an intimate space, four actors, a simple set and a button-pushing contemporary drama is a welcome reminder of the invigorating human connection that has kept theater alive through turmoil after turmoil for over 2,000 years.

And so, in a very visceral way, there is a dark poetry to the companys choice of The Pillowman for its latest intimate indoor production.

All that blood, anguish, totalitarianism, bigotry and vibrant description of awful murders of innocent children give way to an arresting charm in the plays closing moments. McDonagh has been dubbed twisted and deranged and all sorts of similar monikers, but such labels overlook his clear sense of empathy for the battered humans at the center of his plays and films. He pulls no punches, and there is no denying the horrid circumstances that attend upon his poor characters, but his work is never without a glint of hope, human warmth  or at the very least  a depth of understanding for the psychological turmoil wracking these battered souls. And every once in awhile it can be helpful to laugh at the extreme awfulness of which humans are capable, a condition that nobody manages to make funnier than McDonagh.

In Englewood, Okins fine cast leans completely into the extremes of McDonaghs characters, and the result is an arresting production that sucker-punches its audience with tenderness. Sure we could dismiss this story as the stuff of violent, horror movie fantasy, but McDonagh and Okin refuse to let us out the door without insisting that we see these characters as flawed and wounded humans deserving the same care and consideration as everybody else.

There seems an increasing chance that were going to make it through this pandemic and emerge haltingly from our home offices and webcams into a world that looks somewhat like the old one, with a chance to value new possibilities of community and art. And in the end, this is the possibility opened up by The Pillowman. The pandemic continues to be as awful as we could have imagined a year ago, but the persistence of theater however attenuated  offers the opportunity for something communal, vibrant and life-affirming.

The Pillowman, Black Box PAC, 49 E. Palisade Ave, Englewood, Extended through Apr. 10.

Tickets: $35-$40. Available online (https://ci.ovationtix.com/35762/production/1040485?performanceId=10648060)

Patrick Maley may be reached at patrickjmaley@gmail.com. Find him on Twitter @PatrickJMaley. Find NJ.com/Entertainment on Facebook.
City

 Joshua C. LaClair, 34, 19 Frazee St., Auburn, was picked up on a parole violation March 30.

 Austin J. Seal, 23, 36 Franklin St., Chapel House Franklin Street, Auburn, was charged March 30 with three-degree burglary and petit larceny.

 Joshua M. Borza, 35, 166 E. Genesee, Auburn, was charged March 31 with two counts of second-degree criminal contempt.

County

 Eric W. Sidor, 41, 166 N. Division St., Auburn, was charged April 1 with third-degree hindering prosecution.

 Patrick F. Doyle, 58, 74 Frances St., Auburn, was charged April 1 with third-degree aggravated unlicensed operation of a motor vehicle.

State

 Juwan E. Anderson, 23, Auburn, was charged March 30 with third-degree criminal trespass, second-degree obstruction of governmental administration, resisting arrest and endangering the welfare of a child.

 David M. Ibrahim, 23, Geneva, was charged March 30 with second-degree aggravated harassment.

 Mark A. Ezzo, 58, Elbridge, was charged March 31 with third-degree criminal trespass.
Former Indian military pilot and cosmonaut, Rakesh Sharma became the first Indian and the 138th person to travel in space on this day in 1984. On April 3, 1984, Sharma flew Soyuz T-11 with two Soviet cosmonauts, commander Yury Malyshev and flight engineer Gennady Strekalov, to the space station Salyut 7 and made history 37 years ago. The former Indian Air Force pilot spent 7 days, 21 hours and 40 minutes in space after taking part in a joint programme between the Indian Space Research Organisation (ISRO) and the Soviet Intercosmos space programme.

In space, Sharma performed a number of experiments including photography of India from outer space and analysing the effects of yoga during weightlessness. Sharma and his two Soviet crewmates returned to Earth on April 11, 1984, and landed in Kazakhstan. Notably, Sharma had even taken Indian food to space with the assistance of the defence Food Research Lab, Mysore. As per reports, Sharma had packed Suji Halwa, Aloo Choley, Pulao and shared the dishes with his fellow astronauts.

Sharmas memorable conversation with Indira Gandhi

One of the most memorable experiences of the first India reaching space in 1984 was Sharmas conversation with then-Prime Minister Indira Gandhi who asked how India looked from up there. To this, Sharma replied, "Saare Jahaan Se Achcha" before adding that the most beautiful moments from space were sunrises and sunsets. Further, apart from being the first Indian to stay in space, Sharma is also the first Indian to receive the honour of the Hero of Soviet Union award. He also received Ashok Chakra along with his Russian co astronauts.

Smt Indira Gandhi : How does India look from there?



Sq Ldr Rakesh Sharma: Saare Jahan Se Acha 



It is today in 1984 that India launched its first space mission with the help of Soviet Intercosmos space program.



Rakesh Sharma was the first Indian to journey to space. pic.twitter.com/DS42NCAw6K  All India Mahila Congress (@MahilaCongress) April 2, 2020

Born in Patiala on January 13, 1949, Sharma joined the Indian Air Force as a pilot in 1970. Reportedly, he flew at least 21 combat missions in a MiG-21 in the Bangladesh war of 1971 and eventually in 1982 he was selected as a cosmonaut for a joint Soviet-Indian spaceflight. On April 3, 1984, he flew the Soyuz T-11 with two Soviets. After the historic mission, in 1987, Sharma joined Hindustan Aeronautics as its chief test pilot which he left in 2001 to become chairman of the board of Automated Workflow.

Image credits: Unsplash/@Spacetravellerrakeshsharma Facebook
Nigeria's air force on Saturday dismissed a claim by the Boko Haram jihadist group that it had shot down a fighter jet that went missing a few days earlier

Lagos (APP - UrduPoint / Pakistan Point News - 3rd Apr, 2021 ) :Nigeria's air force on Saturday dismissed a claim by the Boko Haram jihadist group that it had shot down a fighter jet that went missing a few days earlier.

The Alpha jet lost radar contact on Wednesday while on a mission to support troops battling jihadists in the northeastern Borno state. The air force said it believed the jet with two crew may have crashed.

Boko Haram on Friday released a video showing a militant standing on what the group claimed was the wrecked fuselage of the plane with the Nigeria Air Force number 475.

"It is obvious that the Boko Haram Sect, in its characteristic manner of employing false propaganda, is seeking to claim credit for what was obviously an air accident," the air force said in a statement.

It said investigations into how the aircraft crashed were still ongoing. On Friday it had said the whereabouts of the two crew was still unknown.

In 2014, Boko Haram said it shot down a Nigerian air force jet and showed a video claiming to have beheaded its pilot.

Since the Islamist insurgency broke out in 2009, Nigeria's conflict has killed around 36,000 people in the region and displaced some two million from their homes.
Source: Xinhua| 2021-04-03 11:34:03|Editor: huaxia

Video Player Close

KUNMING, April 3 (Xinhua) -- Southwest China's Yunnan Province reported seven new locally transmitted COVID-19 cases and five new asymptomatic cases on Friday, the provincial health commission said on Saturday.

All confirmed and asymptomatic cases were found in the border city of Ruili during a citywide nucleic acid testing campaign, the commission said.

Yunnan also reported one imported COVID-19 case from Cambodia on Friday. The passenger, a Chinese national, arrived in the provincial capital Kunming on Wednesday, and tested positive for the novel coronavirus during nucleic acid testing on Thursday.

Currently, 26 confirmed cases and 53 asymptomatic cases are receiving treatment or under medical observation in designated hospitals in the province. Enditem
Indonesia steps up security at churches for Easter after suicide bombing attack

Email Print Img No-img Menu Whatsapp Google Reddit Digg Stumbleupon Linkedin Comment

The Christian minority in Indonesia, home to the worlds largest Muslim population, will attend Easter service under heavy security following last weeks suicide bombing outside a church carried out by a married couple affiliated with a homegrown terror network that pledged allegiance to the Islamic State.

The southeast Asian archipelagos National Police spokesman, Rusdi Hartono, told media that all police departments have been asked to be prepared for potential terror attacks against churches during Easter celebrations, according to APF, which also reported that services for Good Friday were held under heavy security.

Two days before Good Friday, police shot dead a 25-year-old woman, identified as Zakiah Aini, who pointed a gun at police officers at the National Police headquarters in Jakarta and fired at least six shots, Jakarta Globe reported, adding that Zakiah was a university dropout who supported the IS.

On Palm Sunday last week, a 26-year-old man, identified as Muh Lukman, and his wife, Yogi Sahfitri Fortuna, a.k.a. Dewi, blew themselves up in front of the gate of the Cathedral Church in the city of Makassar in South Sulawesi province at about 10:30 a.m. as the church was preparing for its third service.

The couple, natives of South Sulawesi, had been married for six months.

Police disclosed that at least 20 people were wounded in the incident, according to The Associated Press.

Three female suspects are in custody on charges of knowing in detail about the bombing plot and motivating the couple to carry out the attack, the Globe reported, which said the couple blew themselves up after being denied entry by a security guard at the church.

The guard, identified as a 52-year-old man named Kosmas, is recovering from burns to his head and abdomen.

There have been many arrests between January and the [church] bombing. Counterterrorism squad Detachment 88 has arrested at least 94 terror suspects in pre-emptive strikes since January, National Police spokesman Chief Comr. Ahmad Ramadhan was quoted as saying.

Police have said many of the suspects and the two suicide bombers had been part of a homegrown terror group, Jamaah Ansharut Daulah, or JAD, whose leaders have pledged allegiance to the Islamic State.

The JAD, Indonesias most active terror cell for the last two years, was also behind coordinated attacks on three churches  Immaculate Saint Mary Catholic Church, Indonesia Christian Church and Surabaya Central Pentecost Church  in Surabaya on May 13, 2018, which killed at least 13 people.

According to the United Nations Security Council, Jamaah Ansharut Daulah "participates in the financing, planning, facilitating, preparing, or perpetrating of acts or activities" in conjunction with groups like the IS and al-Qaida.

The group was established in 2015 as an umbrella organization for over two dozen Indonesian extremist groups that pledged allegiance to IS leader Abu Bakr al-Baghdadi.

Indonesias Constitution is based on the doctrine of Pancasila  five principles upholding the nations belief in the one and only God and social justice, humanity, unity and democracy for all.

However, many extremist groups in Indonesia, including the Hizbut Tahrir Indonesia, oppose Pancasila.

Indonesia, where Christians form about 10% of the population, is ranked No. 47 on Open Doors USAs World Watch List of countries where Christians face the greatest levels of persecution.
Tung Chee-hwa calls for concerted efforts to regain order, prosperity in Hong Kong

Xinhua) 11:00, April 03, 2021

Improving the electoral system of the Hong Kong Special Administrative Region (HKSAR) would bring the legislature operation and the government administration in the HKSAR back on the right track, while implementing the "patriots administering Hong Kong" principle would open up a new perspective in tapping human resources, the first HKSAR Chief Executive Tung Chee-hwa has said.

Hong Kong residents should strive together in unity to usher in a golden era featuring Hong Kong's shift from chaos to order and from order to prosperity, Tung, now vice chairman of the National Committee of the Chinese People's Political Consultative Conference, told Xinhua in a recent interview.

"PATRIOTS ADMINISTERING HONG KONG" NOT MEANT FOR SUPPRESSING OPPOSITION

China's top legislature on Tuesday voted to adopt the amended Annex I and Annex II to the Basic Law of the HKSAR, systematically amending and improving the methods for the selection of the chief executive and the formation the Legislative Council (LegCo).

The amendments were passed at the closing meeting of the 27th session of the Standing Committee of the 13th National People's Congress (NPC).

Improving Hong Kong's electoral system would provide bigger room for participation of different political organizations across the political spectrum, Tung said.

"Different places around the world have different electoral systems, be it the United States, Britain, India or Singapore. Could anyone say which one is the best?"

"The ultimate test for any method of election is whether it brings happiness and well-being for the people," he said.

Some people may have the concern that the central authorities improved Hong Kong's electoral system and implemented the "patriots administering Hong Kong" principle with the purpose of suppressing opposing opinions. In response, Tung said the "patriots administering Hong Kong" principle does not aim at the opposition, but rather at the small number of anti-China disruptors.

"Hong Kong is a diversified society, with residents' rights and freedom guaranteed by the Basic Law," Tung said.

"Residents have been allowed and will continue to be allowed to express opinions against a particular policy or even to criticize government officials, as long as it is done lawfully on the basis of respecting national sovereignty, security and development interests," he said.

"Hong Kong offers a broad space for political participation for those who are willing to sincerely uphold the constitutional order as set out in the Constitution and the Basic Law, make solid contribution to Hong Kong's long-term prosperity and stability, and draw a clear line between themselves and the anti-China disruptors," said Tung.

The chaos in Hong Kong in the past several years showed that a small number of anti-China disruptors exploited the loopholes of the electoral system to worm their way into the administration structure of the HKSAR, gravely endangering national security and people's well-being, Tung noted.

Therefore, the central authorities acted from the principle of "patriots administering Hong Kong" to improve Hong Kong's electoral system, so as to plug the loophole from the root and ensure the steady and sustained implementation of "one country, two systems," he said.

STRIVING FOR PROSPERITY TO REGAIN GLOBAL ROLE

For the past few years, Hong Kong has undergone a series of political events, and has been hit by the COVID-19 pandemic since last year. As a result, Hong Kong's economic development and people's livelihood have been hardly hit.

Under these circumstances, improving the electoral system will help Hong Kong walk out of the chaos and lay a solid foundation for the prosperity and stability of its economy, Tung said.

"As a highly open and export-oriented economy, Hong Kong needs to attract investors and tourists from all parts of the world. A peaceful social environment has always been the cornerstone of Hong Kong's past successes," he said.

Facts proved that the 2014 illegal "Occupy Central" movement and the social unrest over the proposed amendment bill in 2019 have severely undermined Hong Kong's social stability and eroded the confidence of investors and tourists, causing a very adverse impact on Hong Kong's economy.

Improving the electoral system will help protect Hong Kong's economic development from being kidnapped by vicious electoral politics and prevent various political forces from disturbing the market through elections, he said.

The "two sessions" in March endorsed the 14th Five-Year Plan of the nation, in which the central government expressed explicit support for Hong Kong in upgrading its position as a global finance, shipping and trade center as well as a global aviation hub, and building itself into an international center for science and technology innovation and a leading center for international legal and dispute resolution services in the Asia-Pacific region.

Tung expressed full confidence in Hong Kong's future development.

"The Law of the People's Republic of China on Safeguarding National Security in the HKSAR has helped Hong Kong move from chaos to order, but only restoring social stability is not enough. We now need to strive for prosperity."

The country's deepened reform and rapid development have presented unprecedented opportunities for Hong Kong. The central government highly values Hong Kong's role in advancing the construction of the Guangdong-Hong Kong-Macao Greater Bay Area. Hong Kong has been identified as one of the core engines of the region, he said.

"By participating in the national strategies such as the 14th Five-Year Plan and the Greater Bay Area, I believe Hong Kong will surely have an economic takeoff once again," said Tung. "The key point is to promote the public's knowing and understanding of the country, and foster Hong Kong residents' broad vision and national concept."

BUILDING A CITY OF HOPE

Tung, as the first HKSAR chief executive, was deeply touched by the development of Hong Kong since its return to the motherland.

"We should work together to build a Hong Kong with booming economy, thriving culture, revitalized businesses and harmonious families and a Hong Kong where the poor and the sick feel warmth, the grassroots live with dignity, the middle class give full play to their strengths, and young people regain hope," he said.

"I often tell foreign friends that China is able to make world-renowned miracles just in a few decades and the secret is 'the whole country serves the people and all people serve the country,'" said Tung.

Adhering to the principle of people first and continuously delivering on people's aspirations for better life are the targets that Hong Kong should strive for, he said.

As one of the richest cities in the country, Hong Kong has the capability, resources and the responsibility to solve the needs and aspirations of the people so that the whole society can share the fruits of economic development, he said.

Noting that Hong Kong is now facing deep-rooted problems such as housing shortage, the extreme disparity between the rich and the poor, and difficulties in future development of young people, Tung believes that a multi-pronged approach should be taken to address these accumulated and complicated problems.

"We should continue to give our residents a greater sense of fulfillment, happiness and security so as to build Hong Kong into a city of hope where people can live and work in peace and contentment, and live out their dreams," he said.

He also encourages the young people in Hong Kong to explore the long history and splendid culture of the country and to see themselves the great development and broad prospects of the country.

DETERMINATION, COURAGE, VISION NEEDED TO ADDRESS HOUSING IN HONG KONG

Tung viewed housing as the most outstanding and pressing problem entrenched in the Hong Kong society.

To solve the housing issue, the HKSAR government needs not only resources, technologies and talents, but also, in particular, firm determination, great courage and ambitious vision, he said.

"We should learn from the mainland. The central authorities unveiled the 14th Five-Year Plan (2021-2025) and the long-range objectives through the year 2035, which has outlined the roadmap for national development in the next 15 years, demonstrating the central government's determination, courage and vision," Tung said, adding that Hong Kong also needs a long-term plan to address the housing issue.

The housing problem in Hong Kong lies in the shortage of land supply. According to a study of think tank Our Hong Kong Foundation, Hong Kong needs more than 9,000 hectares of new land over the next three decades.

Tung believed that the large-scale reclamation plan outside the Victoria Harbor put forward by Our Hong Kong Foundation and the HKSAR government's Lantau Tomorrow Vision (LTV) to build a reclaimed island off the Lantau island are the most effective methods to increase land supply in Hong Kong.

Tung said it is imperative to reach a consensus in the Hong Kong society to seek a solution for the housing issue.

As the proverb goes "One shall have his peace of mind when he possesses a piece of land," housing concerns the long-term stability and prosperity of Hong Kong as well as the livelihood of every Hong Kong resident.

Tung called on Hong Kong residents to support the HKSAR government in solving the housing shortage problem by discarding political disputes and vested interests for the overall interests of the Hong Kong society and the long-term well-being of Hong Kong residents.

Enable Ginger Cannot connect to Ginger Check your internet connection

or reload the browser Disable in this text field Edit Edit in Ginger Edit in Ginger

(Web editor: Kou Jie, Bianji)
8-Year-Old Receives CCP Virus Vaccine by Mistake

An eight-year-old boy received a dose of a CCP virus vaccine by mistake in the Dallas County area in Texas, according to reports.

The Grand Prairie Fire Department confirmed to local news outlets that the unnamed boy received the vaccine in the past week at a vaccine location in Grand Prairie. The site is run by Dallas County, which requires people to register online to receive vaccination for the CCP (Chinese Communist Party) virus, which causes the disease COVID-19. On the form, the date of birth is required.

The father believed it was okay for his child to be vaccinated because after he had registered the boy online, he was given a QR code, and it wasnt until the father spoke to pediatrician Marcial Oquendo that he realized there had been a mistake, reported KXAS-TV.

Grand Prairie Fire Chief Robert Fite told the outlet, If they got a QR code, part of our assumption is they understand who should be registered and who should not.

Currently, CCP virus vaccines authorized for emergency use in the United States are the Pfizer-BioNTech, Moderna, and Johnson & Johnson vaccines. Under the emergency use authorizations, those 16 years old or above are authorized to receive the Pfizer-BioNTech vaccine, and those 18 years old or above are authorized to receive the Moderna and Johnson & Johnson vaccines.

Children and adolescents outside these authorized age groups should not receive COVID-19 vaccination at this time, the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention states on its website.

Fite said he plans to find out which paramedic administered the shot and investigate the matter further to understand how the mistake was made. Fite noted that the boy was vaccinated in a drive-up location where about 3,800 people were also vaccinated on the day. He questioned how a child under 18 could get registered via the online form.

If there was a fail system in place, then we wouldnt even have to worry because you couldnt get registered, he told the outlet.

Dallas County Judge Clay Jenkins in a statement to WFAA explained that when the father registered his child on the county website, the child was putvia an automated sorting process that identified minors as not eligibleinto a group with others who were also not eligible.

When Texas lowered the age of eligibility from 50 and older to 16 and older, human error caused all the minorsincluding the childto be moved into an eligible group, without removing anyone who was under 18, Jenkins said.

A third party company oversees the Dallas County vaccination registration list. Jenkins told KXAS-TV that the countys IT department is working with the third party company to prevent such a situation from happening again.

He added, Weve got more training for our medics, so they know if they see a person who does not appear to be old enough for that vaccine that they understand that we dont give vaccine to anyone under the age of 16, or anyone under the age of 18 if its Johnson & Johnson or Moderna.

Pfizer announced March 31 that a small clinical trial of 2,260 U.S. children aged 12 to 15 showed no cases of COVID-19 among the fully vaccinated recipients, compared to 18 among those who were given placebo shots.

Moderna announced mid-March that it had begun a trial of its CCP virus vaccine aimed toward children aged six months to 11 years. The trial is expected to end in June 2023. It has also begun testing its vaccine in children aged 12 to 17, with the trial expected to be completed in June 2022.
The Johnson & Johnson Covid jab could be offered to millennials as a single shot in July so they do not have to wait three months between doses.

The government plans to vaccinate young people, born in the 80s and early-to-mid 90s, with the single-dose jab, The Telegraph reports.

The jab is currently undergoing safety tests by UK medical regulators and is awaiting approval before it can be rolled out.

It came as Boris Johnson announced that five million people had now received their second dose of the coronavirus vaccine.

He said: 'We've reached another milestone in our vaccination programme with over five million people now having had their second jab.

'I urge everyone to take up their second dose as soon as they are offered it.'

England's vaccine divide was blown open again with London boroughs dragging behind the rest of the country as the Government pushes ahead with mopping up all over-50s yet to have their first jab

Johnson & Johnson jabs, which have already been given approval in the US, are reportedly being earmarked for young adults who are keen to see a return to normality and enjoy the summer months.

It is hoped the vaccine, which the UK government has purchased 30million doses of, will be rolled out by July.

Unlike AstraZeneca, which has seen people waiting 12 weeks between their two doses, Johnson & Johnson only requires one vaccination.

Asked when the Novavax and Johnson & Johnson vaccine rollout timetables would be released, vaccines minister Zahawi Nadhim they are expected in the second half of the year if they are authorised.

'Reviews are underway by the Medicines and Healthcare products Regulatory Agency (MHRA) to assess the Johnson & Johnson (known by Janssen in Europe) and Novavax vaccines.

'Any vaccines that are made available will have been authorised because they pass the MHRAs tests on safety and efficacy.

It is hoped the single-dose vaccine, which the UK government has purchased 30million doses of, will be rolled out by July. Picture: File image

'If and when those vaccines are authorised by the MHRA, we expect to receive the doses for both vaccines in the second half of this year.'

The Department of Health and Social Care said: 'The UKs vaccination rollout continues at pace, with over 35 million jabs administered so far.

'We are on track to offer a first dose to everyone in the priority groups 1-9 by mid-April and all adults by the end of July.

'Thanks to the swift and decisive work of our Vaccine Taskforce, the UK moved quickly to secure 30 million doses of Janssens vaccine last summer.'

J&J's vaccines combines genetic material from the new virus with the genes of the adenovirus - which causes the common cold - to induce an immune response.

It is the same technology the company used to make an experimental Ebola vaccine for people in the Democratic Republic of Congo in late 2019.

The J&J vaccine can be stored in normal refrigerator temperatures, making it easier to store than Pfizer or Moderna's vaccines, which use newer mRNA technology.

Unlike the AstraZeneca jab, which requires two doses 12 weeks apart, the Johnson and Johnson jab is a single dose. Picture: File image

Additionally, the fact that J&J's inoculation is a single shot means it is easier to distribute, especially among people that have difficulty returning for a second appointment.

The Johnson & Johnson single-dose coronavirus vaccine has noticeably milder side effects than either of the vaccines from Pfizer or Moderna.

'Almost across the board fewer people are reporting side effects,' Kennedy Dr Richard Kennedy, a professor of medicine at the Mayo Clinic in Rochester, Minnesota, and co-director of the Mayo Clinic Vaccine Research Group, told DailyMail.com.

'They are more mild. The most common ones are pain at the injection site, which is not surprising since it's a needle entering your arm, which about 50 percent will experience.'

He said about one-third of recipients report fatigue and muscle pain, 10 to 15 percent report nausea, and about 10 percent report swelling and redness at the injection site.

J&J's vaccine combines genetic material from the new virus with the genes of the adenovirus - which causes the common cold - to induce an immune response.

Comparatively, Pfizer's and Moderna's vaccines use a newer platform, part of the pathogen's genetic code called messenger RNA, or mRNA, to get the body to recognise the coronavirus and attack it if a person becomes infected.
Syringes of the potential COVID-19 vaccine CoronaVac are seen on a table at Sinovac Biotech at a press conference in Beijing, China on Sept. 24, 2020. (Kevin Frayer/Getty Images)

The Strange Sinovac Vaccine Phenomenon: Countries Report Increased Cases After Using Vaccine

The Hong Kong government recently rolled out a large-scale vaccination plan against the CCP (Chinese Communist Party) virus, commonly known as COVID-19, but its been mired by frequent reports of serious adverse reactions. In just one month, 13 people died in Hong Kong after being inoculated, 11 of whom had been injected with the Sinovac vaccine, a Chinese domestically made vaccine.

The CCP has not reported a single case of serious side effects or death after it announced the administering of 100 million doses of the Sinovac vaccine in China on March 28.

But there are four strange phenomena of the Chinese Sinovac vaccine, analyzed as follows.

No Deaths Reported in China

The first reported death after vaccination in Hong Kong occurred on Feb. 28. On March 28, within just one short month, 13 people in Hong Kong, aged 55 to 80, died after receiving the vaccination. Eleven of them were given the Sinovac shots, while the other two had received BioNTech.

In addition, an elderly woman in her eighties died at home the day after taking the Sinovac vaccine on March 20, but the Hong Kong Department of Health did not report it nor publicize the incident. The Department of Health responded in the early hours of March 31 that there was no direct causal relationship between her death and vaccination, thus not fulfilling the reporting criteria of AEFIs (Adverse Events Following Immunization).

In an interview with The Epoch Times, Yuen Hoi Man, deputy spokesman for the medical policy of the Democratic Party of Hong Kong, criticized the government for depriving the public of the right to know by not releasing the information, which also affects public confidence in vaccines. He said that even if there is no direct relationship, the government should be truthful when an indirect relationship cannot be ruled out.

Dr. Cheung Wai Lit, a Chinese medicine doctor, in an interview with The Epoch Times, also said that he suspected that there were other cases of death after receiving the Chinese vaccine, but there is no way for outsiders to confirm it.

In response to the death of 13 people in Hong Kong after receiving the vaccine, authorities responded on March 30, saying that current data show that most of the cases died of cardiovascular disease and none of the individual cases were directly related to the vaccination.

However, Law Cheuk You, staff and vice-chairman of Hong Kong Hospital Authority, said in an interview with The Epoch Times, that generally speaking, the possibility of some indirect side effects is not to be completely ruled out, Law said, in fact, many drugs have [side effects].

Law said that there are cases of death after COVID-19 vaccination in other countries. But even in cases that may not have a direct relationship, the authorities will still give data. With the data, it gives others the option to choose the appropriate measures.

On March 30, Germany announced that as of March 29, more than 2.7 million people had received the AstraZeneca vaccine and that 31 people developed blood clots, with 9 deaths. The German government, therefore, decided to suspend the vaccine for people under the age of 60.

On March 29, Canada also announced that it is suspending the use of the AstraZeneca vaccine for people under the age of 55 following the reports of rare blood clots, although there are no relevant cases in the country for the time being.

The Hong Kong government, however, although it recently suspended the use of BioNTech shots due to packaging defects, has yet to call off the use of the Sinovac vaccine, after 11 deaths out of a total of about 450,000 people vaccinated in a month. This has caused public concern.

Law said that theres insufficient statistical data on the use of the Sinovac vaccine for people over 60 years old and that its Phase III clinical data has not been published in peer-reviewed medical journals. Even so, the Hong Kong government still asks the elderly to receive the vaccine. He called on the public to only receive vaccines that have sufficient clinical data.

Yuen Hoi Man also suggested suspending the use of the Sinovac vaccine for people over 60 and those with chronic illnesses.

It is worth noting that the CCPs National Health Commission announced on March 28 that more than 100 million doses of its domestic vaccines had been administered in China, but it did not report any deaths or serious side effects. At the same time, however, any comments about the adverse effects of the vaccines are quickly deleted from Chinas internet.

Outbreak Intensifies in Countries Using Sinovac Vaccines

The United Kingdom was the first country to start COVID-19 vaccinations, approving the use of the BioNTech vaccine in December before introducing the AstraZeneca vaccine in January this year. Their outbreak gradually eased after Jan. 9. The UK recorded 4,715 cases on March 27, down significantly from 6,187 cases the day before. In the United States and Israel, where the BioNTech vaccine was also chosen as the main vaccine, the epidemic also slowed down significantly after vaccination.

However, the number of confirmed cases in Chile, Turkey, and Pakistan, which chose to receive the Chinese Sinovac vaccine, has increased.

Chile administered nearly 9 million doses of the Sinovac vaccines in February, with an average of 47 doses per 100 people, making it the country with the highest vaccination rate in South America. However, the number of positive test results recorded in Chile rose instead of fell, and a new high of 7,626 cases was recorded in a single day on March 26, leading to a tight supply of hospital beds and a recent lockdown of the capital city of Santiago.

Turkey started to administer Sinovac vaccines in mid-January and at least eight million people have been injected with the vaccine, accounting for more than 10 percent of the population. But their case numbers also rebounded in late February, with 37,303 new cases recorded on March 30, the highest single-day figure since the outbreak on March 11 last year. President Recep Tayyip Erdogan announced on April 2 that there would be a curfew during the weekends throughout the month of Ramadan.

In addition, Pakistan, which has been using the Chinese vaccine since early February, is now experiencing a third wave of the pandemic, with the national positivity ratio rising to 11 percent, the highest level since the outbreak. More than 20 cities have been closed due to the severity of the outbreak.

Pakistani President Arif Alvi wrote on March 29 that he tested positive after receiving the first dose of a vaccine produced by the Chinese National Pharmaceutical Group Corp on March 15. Prior to that, Pakistani Prime Minister Imran Khan also tested positive for the virus on March 18, two days after receiving his first dose of the vaccine manufactured by the same Chinese company.

Lin Xiaoxu, a former virology researcher at the Walter Reed Army Institute of Research, said that the CCP claimed in February that 20 million people in mainland China had received the vaccine, but it has not released any real analysis of the effectiveness rate.

For countries that inject the vaccine produced by Chinas Sinovac Biotech or National Pharmaceutical Group Corp, they should first ask China to provide such data on how much protection the Chinese have after receiving the vaccine, Lin said.

Adverse Reaction Rate Similar to Placebo

At present, the Sinovac vaccine has only released clinical study data for Phase I and Phase II, and the relevant data show that the rate of adverse reactions is only about 20 percent, a lower figure than other vaccines. Dr. Dong Yuhong, a European virologist and chief scientific officer in a Swiss Biotech company, said that, from an academic point of view, there are two questionable points about the Sinovac data (pdf).

First, in various other COVID-19 vaccines, the ratio of side effects in the vaccination group is usually significantly higher than that in the placebo group. But the ratio of side effects post-vaccination of Sinovac was similar to that of the placebo injection. Some side effects were even lower in the vaccination group than in the placebo group.

Second, generally speaking, the more the injected doses, the more side effects there are. This phenomenon can be seen in clinical studies of other vaccines and is called dose correlation. However, from the results of the Sinovac vaccine study, there seems to be no such pattern. Side effects in some low-dose groups are higher than those of higher-dose groups.

Dr. Dong said that scientists have been expecting the Phase III clinical data of Sinovac, but unfortunately, they have yet to see its publication, and the number of subjects enrolled in its Phase I-II clinical study is relatively small, so it is difficult to evaluate the adverse events of the Sinovac vaccine.

Although the CCP released data on the side effects of the Sinovac vaccine in clinical trials that is similar to those of the placebo group, on Jan. 6, state-run CCP media Xinhua reported that pregnant and nursing women are not allowed to receive the domestically made vaccine. It even recommends women postpone their pregnancy for three months after receiving the vaccine.

A resident in mainland China also received a notice from his local community, saying that pregnancy should be postponed to six months after receiving the vaccine, implying that the Chinese vaccine may have serious side effects on fertility.

Dr. Cheung Wai Lit said that in the process of rolling up vaccination on a large scale in China, the CCP kept issuing new guidelines and principles.

Those who administer vaccines now are actually crossing a river by feeling for stones, using human bodies for clinical tests, Dr. Cheung said.

Politicized Mandatory Vaccination

Since the Chinese vaccine data lacks transparency, people are concerned about the safety of the vaccines. There were news reports of low acceptance of the vaccines in Shanghai and other first-tier cities. As of March 27, the vaccination rate in China was only 7 percent.

Recently, The Epoch Times obtained a document showing that, in order to speed up the vaccination rate, the CCP politicized the vaccine and forced people to vaccinate.

This internal document comes from a large private enterprise, Chongqing Sokon Industry Group. It was titled, Notice on Strengthening Epidemic Prevention and Control. The notice stated: All units must stand at the height of political considerations, follow the principle of everyone must take it  with strict implementation, and hold responsibility. The Group will pursue any unit and individual that fails to advance the new COVID vaccination work for accountability.

Outside of large enterprises, the scope of compulsory vaccination with Chinese-made vaccines has begun to expand. Mr. Liu, a vegetable merchant at Honggang Market in Sanya City, Hainan, told The Epoch Times that proof of vaccination is now required to enter the market. The entire Sanya is now subject to vaccinations, it is mandatory.

Mr. Wu, a mainland Chinese human rights lawyer, in an interview with The Epoch Times reporter cited previous vaccine problems in China and said: The (Chinese vaccine) safety, quality, and effectiveness are very low. In the past, there were children who become disabled and mentally retarded after vaccination. [To develop the vaccines] in such a short time, they knew the quality was not good, but still forced over a billion Chinese people to accept it. It is too scary. It is really treating peoples lives as a joke.

Earlier, former head of the National Institute of Health of Peru, Ernesto Bustamante, said in a local TV program that Sinopharms Wuhan strain vaccine had only 33 percent effectiveness, while the Beijing strain vaccine had 11.5 percent. Sinovac was also reported to be only 50.4 percent effective according to Brazils data. The frequent outbreaks of defective vaccines and fake vaccines in China over the years are even more common and shocking.

In 2018, Changsheng Biotechnology sold over 250,000 substandard doses of the DTap vaccine (a combination vaccine for young children to develop immunity against diphtheria, pertussis, and tetanus). In 2013, there were many cases of infant deaths caused by a hepatitis B vaccine injection in southern China. In 2007, the Shanxi vaccine incident caused nearly 100 children to be seriously disabled or killed. An in 2005, an abnormal hepatitis A vaccine incident in Anhui resulted in 1 death and 215 adverse reactions.
"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
ROCHESTER, Minn. - With Easter right around the corner many families may be thinking of celebrating with brunch or dinner this weekend so Rochester restaurants are preparing for an uptick in customers.

Chesters Kitchen and Bar says its nearly booked for Easter brunch with around 200 tables reserved.

The restaurant says sales are increasing a bit every day as more customers appear to feel comfortable dining indoors.

However, that doesnt mean the restaurant is lowering COVID-19 cleaning standards.

Assistant general manager Stacy Brambrink said, We're still holding our standards high for our cleaning, detailed cleaning, after every guest and every table. Our staff is very aware of their hand sanitation both hand washing and sanitizing. We're still maintaining state regulation as far as up to six people per table and six feet distancing as well.

If youre still feeling hesitant about going to a restaurant Chesters is also offering take and heat meals to interested customers.
The Federal Government has faulted the National Association of Resident Doctors (NARD) rejection of the Memorandum of Action (MoA) signed on March 31 in spite of it reportedly meeting the demands of the association.

The Minister of Labour and Employment, Chris Ngige, said this in a statement by Charles Akpan, Deputy Director, Press and Public Relations of the ministry on Saturday in Abuja.

The News Agency of Nigeria (NAN) recalls that the resident doctors had threatened to commence strike on April 1, alleging that the Federal Government had reneged in the agreements entered with the doctors.

The aggrieved doctors agitations include the non-payment of salaries of three to five months of some house officers and non-recruitment of house officers.

Others are abolishment of the bench fees for doctors undergoing training in other hospitals, non-payment of National Minimum Wage and hazard allowances.

Mr Ngige said that government was faithful to the agreement entered with the aggrieved resident doctors by the President of NARD, Uyilawa Okhuaihesu.

Mr Ngige said that the Federal Government had substantially met the demands of NARD.

He explained that some of the demands by NARD were made in error as some of the issues were already conciliated and implemented hundred per cent.

He, however, said that the outstanding issues which came up at the last conciliation were time-lined along a month life span of implementation, adding they were still work in progress.

Allegations

The minister, however, faulted the unilateral repudiation of the MoA by NARDs President, describing it as unknown in labour negotiation.

He did not participate in most of the discussions last Wednesday because he fell ill not quite after the meeting started and had to excuse himself.

He handed over to his deputy, the Secretary-General and other officers of the association, who fully participated. We spent seven hours and by the time we put our signatures to the papers, it was eight hours.

Disowning the MOA duly negotiated is unknown to labour. The two parties to the negotiation signed the MOA. Four officers from government and three from NARD signed the document.

The president who was not at the meeting but fully represented by deputies went to NARDs NEC and disowned the paper because they were signed by his deputy and secretary general.

There is what is called transmission of power. He as the President fell sick and his deputies continued with the meeting. Thats allowed, he said.

Mr Ngige said that it was wrong for NARD to impose a fait accompli on the Federal Government while negotiation was ongoing.

According to him, when a trade dispute has been apprehended, no party imposes on the other, a fait accompli.

We signed a memorandum that says NARD will go back to its members to educate them on what has been agreed, the timelines placed on them, with a view not to disturb the industrial milieu in the health sector.

ADVERTISEMENT

We also agreed to reconvene after four weeks, the minister said.

Timeline

The minister added that the four weeks was given to allow enough time to implement the issues in the timeline, some of which would take three weeks, before reconvening.

He further expressed disappointment that NARD made a detour and mobilised members into action when Christians were observing the holiest week in their universal calendar.

He dismissed as untrue, allegation that doctors in the public health institutions across the country, were not insured.

On this note, he said the Federal Government spent N13.3 billion in 2020, on Group Life Insurance not just for doctors and health workers but also for workers in the federal civil and public service.

He stated that the reason for the composite exercise was to stop a situation where ministries and agencies of government worked in silos in payment of death benefits to workers and with lapses in some cases.

This N13.3b was paid to thirteen insurance companies and brokerage firms to administer.

And this is not the first time that NARD and teaching hospitals have been told to send in names and make claims for members who have lost their lives.

It is an insurance that runs for one year and it is still on till March that just ended and even at that, the new payment is now being processed, so that it becomes a continuous thing, he said.

The minister added that NARD was again reminded of the development while signing an MoA on March 31, 2012 to put up claims through the Ministry of Health to the Head of Service of the Federation.

This, he said was the only basis for payment of premium to the beneficiaries.

He further said that the procedure was for all health workers in the Federal Government employee, noting that Federal Government fast-tracked the insurance cover last year in anticipation of casualties attendant upon COVID-19 outbreak.

Unionisation

He said that unionisation for the welfare of workers should not be only for the purpose of strike, rather, going the extra miles to exploit all opportunities provided by government for the welfare of the workforce.

So, NARD should make claims for the seventeen of their members it confirmed dead as result of COVID-19.

They have the right to make a claim on behalf of their members. The insurance company only needs to verify the claims and pay.

They can similarly make claim under the Employee Compensation Act for any of their members who has suffered injury in the course of his or her work or hazard in the course of work, he said.

Speaking on the Medical Residency Programme which is the major reason for fresh action by NARD, the Minister declared that the programme has been working hitch-free since it came up in 2019.

He said that the House of Representatives had to do a supplementary appropriation to accommodate it in 2020 COVID-19 budget and the funds, fully released by the Federal Ministry of Finance.

He urged doctors to respect the Hippocratic Oath which makes the wellbeing of patients cardinal. (NAN)
The landscape of Irish tourism is changing  literally  as our new and ever-burgeoning greenways weave around the nation. From Mayos pioneering Great Western trail which opened back in 2011, to the massively popular Waterford Greenway along the Deise coast, Irelands arteries of outdoor adventure are wooing us like never before. And now enter a new player  the Royal Canal Greenway. The 130km route which meanders through the Midlands along the banks of the historic waterway is now the longest greenway in the country  it's three times the length of any other in the land. Irelands greenways really have just gone up a gear.

What makes the Royal Canal Greenway so exciting as an attraction is that, unlike our existing greenways which are, for the most part, day-trip affairs, this Waterways Ireland route allows visitors to tour off on multiple day adventures, in a safe, traffic-free setting. In an age when tangible, bucket-list experiences are so popular you can now meander your way through Longford, Westmeath, Meath and Kildare in one staycation  with plans to tweak the route to Dublin in the pipeline too. Shorter stretches are also an option and visitors can explore designated routes, ranging from 6km to 15km, via 14 access points and towns along the route.

As for that route: once the turf of horse-drawn barges and now the terrain of e-bikers, joggers and dog-walkers, the former tow-path follows the 225-year-old canal from Maynooth in County Kildare to Cloondara in County Longford, with Mullingar being the largest downtown fix along the way. Ninety bridges, 33 locks, 17 harbours and four aqueducts mark the largely rustic route which is largely flat.

Visitors can cycle between any of the main towns along the route, returning by train to where they started. But to keep things more pedestrian, walking the route is also a legit option. History lovers will also appreciate that the 165km National Famine Way, which follows the footsteps of the 1,490 emigrants who walked from Roscommon to Dublin at the peak of the Famine in 1847, also largely follows the greenway. It all adds depth to this canal amenity which is being hailed as a game-changer for Irish tourism, and adds colour to the increasing palette of green tourism in the country. Heres a brief how-to of getting started on the route.

Bike Rental

Bike hire is now available along the greenway

Bike rental options have been sprouting up across the region as the greenway got the green light. Royal Canal Bike Hire offer rentals from Maynooth from 25 per day (15 for kids) and also offer a collection service as far west as Cloondara, County Longford for an additional 25. Youll also find options in Mullingar and Cloondara with outfitters typically providing a range of both regular and hybrid bikes and offering a recovery service available up to a certain radius. No harm reacquainting yourself with how to fix a puncture and wonky chain either.

BYOB

Bringing your own bike will be the most trusted option for many. The main Dublin to Sligo rail line runs pretty much parallel to the Royal Canal, so every gateway to the greenway from Maynooth to Longford, is served by Irish Rail. Passengers are permitted to bring bikes aboard most trains (pre-book where possible) but do bear in mind that some peak hour services are off-limits due to capacity.

Whether renting or using your own wheels, ensure your accommodation option will also house your rothar safely overnight. irishrail.ie

Attractions

Corlea Trackway, Co. Longford

This is a ribbon of the Midlands that doesnt get a lot of tourism spotlight but build it and (225 years later) they will come.

Apart from the obvious serenity of the canal itself and its scenic flora and fauna, youll find more. In Mullingar, you can make the switch from greenway to blueway and go kayaking, canoeing or paddle-boarding from the town harbour. And Im pretty fascinated by the idea of a visit to the Corlea Trackway in Longford.

The lesser-known Heritage Ireland site is said to be one of the oldest roadways in Europe and its interpretative centre features an 18metre stretch of preserved, ancient oak which originally marked the Iron Age route.

heritageireland.ie

Accommodation

Carton House in Maynooth

Cross the River Shannon from Cloondara and Keenans boutique hotel (keenanshotel.ie; 130) in Termonbarry, County Roscommon makes a great spot to overnight while the villages award-winning Purple Onion restaurant will refuel you in style. Midway in Mullingar, Annebrook House Hotel (annebrook.ie) offer bike-friendly self-catering apartments from a very decent 99, while The Johnstown Estate in Enfield is a gorgeous spot to relax from 129 (thejohnstownestate.com). Set in an 18th century Palladian mansion, Carton House in Maynooth is the luxury carrot stick to see you over the finish line with rooms from 225; cartonhouse.com. All rates are based on a B&B stay for two in July.

For more, visit royalcanalsgreenway.org
New Delhi:

Uttar Pradesh Chief Minister Yogi Adityanath has seeked a detail report on the lathicharge incident on Banaras Hindu University (BHU) on Sunday evening.

The university has been burning since Saturday night after the police lathicharged on students including girls who have been protesting eve teasing incidents within the varsity campus. Violence broke between the students and police officials. Injuries were reported from both sides.

Around 1500 policemen and PAC personnel have been deployed in order to maintain law and order. The trigger was an incident in which a woman student of Arts faculty alleged harassment by three men on a motorcycle inside the campus while she was returning to her hostel.

Students at the varsity decided to protest against the incident as the authority denied any kind of support to them. The three men abused her and fled when she resisted their attempts, according to the complainant.

"An unfortunate incident took place with one of our students; we're committed to stringent action and did so too," said BHU VC Girish Chandra Tripathi.

Here are the live updates:

# Uttar Pradesh Chief Minister Yogi Adityanath seeks detail report on BHU incident

# UP Congress Committee chairman Raj Babbar reaches Varanasi, might be arrested on way to BHU

# Youth Congress stage protest in Delhi against lathicharge on Banaras Hindu University students.

# The university have announced holliday from September 25 till October 2.

# We had information that some anti-social elements will try to disturb the environment of the University: BHU VC Girish Chandra Tripathi.

Badi maatra mein bahaar se log aaye jinhone iss andolan ko hawa dene ki koshish ki: #BHU VC Girish Chandra Tripathi pic.twitter.com/PXkaDPxmwd  ANI UP (@ANINewsUP) September 24, 2017

# I agreed to their viewpoint. Safety and security is important, will have to consider various aspects with regard to safety in University: BHU VC

Some complained about installation of CCTVs; it is under process. Some girls said University should be more sensitive towards safety: BHU VC pic.twitter.com/hvdQoGz2bU  ANI UP (@ANINewsUP) September 24, 2017

# Some complained about installation of CCTVs; it is under process. Some girls said University should be more sensitive towards safety: BHU VC

# The student initially had complaints with the University, but now that is not the case: BHU VC Girish Chandra Tripathi

# An unfortunate incident took place with one of our students; we're committed to stringent action and did so too: BHU VC Girish Chandra Tripathi

# Students sit-in protest again in the university

# Police chases down female students who were holding peace march in BHU

# Varanasi: Security increased outside BHU after clashes between students and police personnel last night

Varanasi: Security increased outside BHU after clashes between students and police personnel last night pic.twitter.com/PkHPvj68xu  ANI UP (@ANINewsUP) September 24, 2017

# Centre should find solution by interaction and not by force. Lathicharge on students is condemnable. Action should be taken against culprits, says Akhilesh Yadav

# Boys were lathicharged but even girls were not spared. We were even given the choicest abuses

Boys were lathicharged but even girls were not spared. We were even given the choicest abuses: Protesting student #Varanasi pic.twitter.com/oZD1VHPj8M  ANI UP (@ANINewsUP) September 24, 2017

# Students alleged that BHU administration indulged in victim shaming after one student had reported an incident of molestation to them

# Lathicharge by Police on protesting students at Banaras Hindu University

Lathicharge by Police on protesting students at Banaras Hindu University,clashes also broke out (earlier visuals) pic.twitter.com/StNQxBwM3W  ANI UP (@ANINewsUP) September 24, 2017

The woman alleged that security guards, about 100 metres from where the incident happened, did nothing to stop the men. She said her warden, instead of taking up the issue with her superiors, asked her why was she returning late to the hostel.

The wardens response angered the students colleagues, who sat on a dharna at the main gate midnight Thursday.

One of the students even got her head tonsured.

The protest is continuing. It had forced authorities to change the planned route for Prime Minister Narendra Modis convoy yesterday.

The students said they have to face eve-teasers inside the campus regularly and the varsity administration was not taking any action to stop the miscreants.

Police and BHU professors tried to pacify the students on Saturday, but they refused to end their protest and sought assurance from the university vice chancellor.

A large number of police personnel have been deployed near the campus as a security precaution, said the police.

Last night, the BHU issued a statement saying the dharna by the students just a day before Modis visit was politically motivated to malign the image of the university.

The university also said that security guards were regularly patrolling the campus and assistance from the police is sought from time-to-time to maintain peace in the campus.

With PTI inputs

For all the Latest India News, Download News Nation Android and iOS Mobile Apps.
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
Chennai, April 3 : Union Home Minister Amit Shah campaigned for party's candidate actor-turned-politician Khushbu Sundar here on Saturday.

Sundar who had joined the BJP recently is contesting from the Thousand Lights constituency here. Her main opponent is DMK candidate N. Ezhilan.

Shah, standing on an open vehicle, waved at the people and sought their support for Sundar and the alliance party candidates.

He will travel to Tirunelveli in Tamil Nadu and address a public rally in the afternoon.

Campaigning for the April 6 Tamil Nadu Assembly elections comes to an end on Sunday.

-- The story has been published from a wire feed without any modifications to the text
A young man who tragically drowned while swimming in the sea in Dublin on Friday has been named locally as Ali Seras Hejazi.

Mr Hejazi (26), a Saudi Arabian national living in Howth, got into difficulty while swimming in the sea off Whitewater Brook beach near the Baily lighthouse in Howth around 12.40pm on Friday.

The Howth Coast Guard Rescue Team and Howth RNLI lifeboat attended the scene and located Mr Hejazi before bringing him ashore.

Paramedics from Dublin Fire Brigade and the National Ambulance Service, along with the Coast Guard Unit and RNLI treated him on the scene before Coast Guard helicopter Rescue 116 winched him aboard and transferred him to a waiting ambulance to take him to Beaumont Hospital where he died a short time later.

The Coast Guard have urged people to be careful in water over the weekend.

We encourage people to take care near the water during this Easter weekend and to contact the Coast Guard at 999 or 112 if they think they see someone in trouble. Also if possible and safe to do so remain there until help has arrived.

They day before Mr Hejazis tragic death the Coast Guard said recent call outs for search and rescue resources have seen a noted increase in requests to assist walkers cut off by the tide and people getting into difficulty while engaging in open water swimming.

They said with many people who live near the coast exercising on or alongside the water, they are requesting the public to be cautious when engaging in any coastal or water-based activity.

Despite the recent warm weather sea temperatures remain at their coldest at this time of year.

Irish Coast Guard, Head of Operations Gerard OFlynn said: The past year has seen an increase in activities such as open water swimming, and incidents relating to use of inflatable toys which are unsuitable for open water. Please always be mindful of your personal safety and always ensure that you have a means of communication should you get into difficulty.
The military website's April Fool's Day joke even included an artist's illustration of the giant submarine. South China Morning Post



A military website launched an April Fool's Day joke with a spoof report saying China had developed a super submarine capable of carrying "ginormous" nuclear-powered torpedoes.



After the report sparked wide, attention and mockery, including a detailed debunking by the nationalist tabloid the Global Times, the Naval News website carried a follow-up story confirming the news was a prank.



The original story described the "god of submarines" as being about 210 meters (690 feet) long and 30 meters across, and said it was believed to be a "Type-100 'Sun Tzu' class which had been launched from the Bohai Shipyard in Huludao, China on April 1.?In addition to the "ginormous" torpedoes, the vessel was said to carry 48 ballistic missiles, making it "the most heavily armed in the world".



"The new submarine is expected to be the centerpiece of a massive military parade in Beijing as part of the CCP's 100 year celebrations in July," the report said.



On its official WeChat account, Global Times on Friday said the report was full of errors.



"The submarine's model, type and even name don't fit Chinese pattern and tradition. And the purpose of building this submarine is for the Chinese Communist Party's 100th anniversary is illogical too, as Major General Li Jun already said China won't hold a military parade this year," it said.



Naval News confirmed on Saturday that the article was a joke in the tradition of April Fool's Day.



"The Type-100 submarine is fictional. The world can sleep better knowing there is no new mega submarine, with 48 missile silos, plus eight 'hydrosonic' nuclear torpedoes, plus a submarine on its back, heading through the Suez Canal towards the Arctic."



"There is still a way to go for China to develop its Type 095 and Type 096 submarines," said a Chinese military insider, who asked not to be named, and did not disclose the exact stages of development of the real submarines.



Chinese President Xi Jinping kicked off a military modernization drive in 2015, spurring a building frenzy in the Chinese navy. China has the largest navy in the world, with an overall battle force of about 350 ships and submarines, including more than 130 major surface combatants.



In April 2020, two new upgraded nuclear-powered strategic submarines went into service in China in time for the 71st anniversary of the navy.


April 03 : On Field Marshal Sam Hormusji Framji Jamshedji Manekshaw birth anniversary, Vicky Kaushal starrer biopic on the brave heart gets a title. Born on April 3, 1914, Sam Manekshaw also known as Sam Bahadur, and was the Chief of the Army Staff of the Indian Army during the Indo-Pakistani War of 1971. Giving a tribute to the legend, the makers of the film dropped its title today.

Vicky Kaushal took to his Instagram handle and dropped a motion teaser, which showcases the name of the film. The teaser opens with a voiceover saying that Sam Manekshaw, the first Indian Army officer to be promoted to the rank of field marshal, was known in different names, but the film will be known as Sam (Sam Bahadur). Sam Bahadurs military career spanned over four decades and five wars, beginning with service in the British Indian Army in World War II.

Vicky Kaushal essays the role of Sam Manekshaw in the film Sam. Sharing the motion teaser, the Uri: The Surgical Strike actor wrote, The man. The legend. The brave heart. Our Sam... On the birth anniversary of Field Marshal #SamManekshaw, his story has found its name. #SamBahadur. @meghnagulzar @rsvpmovies.

Last year, Vicky paid a tribute to Field Marshal Sam Manekshaw on his death anniversary and shared a brief video featuring an original photo of Sam Manekshaw from the archives along with his look as Field Marshal Sam Manekshaw from the film. Helmed by Meghna Gulzar, Sam has been written by Bhavani Iyer.

Vicky Kaushal had earlier collaborated with Meghna Gulzar for the critically acclaimed film Raazi.

Meanwhile, on the work front, Vicky was recently shooting for a Yash Raj film along with Manushi Chillar. Helmed by Vijay Krishna Acharya of Dhoom 3 fame, the comedy film revolves around a dysfunctional family. It is Vickys first comedy film. The actor has also completed shooting on Shashank Khaitan's film Mr. Lele. He will also be seen in Aditya Dhar's Immortal Ashwatthama.
US Secretary of State has spoken with Daniel Pearl's family and their representatives, and assured them of the American government's commitment to get justice.

Pearl, the 38-year-old South Asia bureau chief for The Wall Street Journal, was abducted and beheaded while he was in Pakistan investigating a story in 2002 on the links between the country's powerful spy agency ISI and al-Qaeda.

Blinken spoke with members of the family of Daniel Pearl and their representatives today to assure them that the US government remains committed to pursuing justice and accountability for those involved in Daniel's kidnapping and murder, State Department Spokesperson Ned Price said on Friday.

Last week, Pakistan's Supreme Court criticised the prosecution for its failure to prove the guilt of British-born al-Qaeda terrorist Ahmed Omar Saeed Sheikh, the main accused in the sensational kidnapping and murder of Pearl in 2002.

His murder took place three years after Sheikh, along with Jaish-e-Mohammad chief (JeM) Masood Azhar and Mushtaq Ahmed Zargar, was released by India in 1999 and given safe passage to Afghanistan in exchange for the nearly 150 passengers of hijacked Indian Airlines Flight 814.

The Sindh High Court on April 2, 2020 commuted the death sentence of Sheikh convicted of kidnapping and murdering US journalist Pearl in 2002 to seven years and acquitted three who were serving life terms in the case almost two decades after they were found guilty and jailed.

The Supreme Court on January 28 ordered authorities to release the accused while issuing a split order.

The judgment said the majority of judges were entertaining no amount of doubt that prosecution had failed to bring home guilt of the accused/respondents and appellant as the evidence furnished during the trial is full of factual and legal defects.

Voicing outrage over the acquittal of Sheikh and his aides, the White House had asked Pakistan to expeditiously review its legal options, including allowing the US to prosecute them to secure justice for Pearl's family.

Amid mounting pressure from the US and the UN, the federal government filed an application before the apex court to be allowed to join as a party in the proceedings and further seek review and recall of the court's January 28 judgement.

(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 female motorist who blew through a red light and killed an Upper West Side doorman has been sentenced to two to six years in prison.

Jessenia Fajardo, 40, who had her driver's license suspended twice, plowed through stop lights on West End Avenue in Manhattan in her Acura on July 19, 2019, and hit 64-year-old grandfather-to-triplets, Alfred Pocari.

Pocari was crossing West 98th Street and walking to his building to start his shift as a doorman.

Jessenia Fajardo, 38, is pictured at her sentencing in Manhattan Supreme Court on Friday

Fajardo had nine moving violation tickets when she blew through a red light in July 2019

The red light that Fajardo drove through had been on for six seconds while she read a text

Fajardo was also charged with assault for running over a pedestrian's foot in May 2019

Alfred Pocari was crossing the street and walking to work in his job as a doorman on West End Avenue when he was struck and later died from his injuries

The collision on wealthy West End Avenue occurred after Fajardo had been reading a text on her phone and then decided to travel through the stop light which had already been on red for six seconds.

Pocari died five days later in hospital as a result of his injuries.

Fajardo also seriously injured another woman at the time of the incident, shattering her pelvis.

The woman was then said to have tried to sweet-talk cops at the scene according to the New York Daily News and tried to insist that the traffic light was still green.

'I saw the light ahead was green, so I thought the one I was going through was green,' she said. She also claimed not to have seen Pocari and the woman in the crosswalk.

She also tried to curry pity from NYPD officers by telling them that her apartment in the Bronx had burned down and that her own child's father had also been imprisoned - for vehicular manslaughter.

Pocari had moved to the U.S. from Albania and was a grandfather to three triplets, all girls

Fajardo was found to have nine moving violation tickets on her driving record.

Her lengthy criminal history includes two unlicensed driving convictions, authorities said.

At her sentencing on Friday, Fajardo wept openly while two victims read lengthy impact statements describing the loss they suffered as a result of the crash.

Fajardo then addressed the court and stated through tears that she was sorry for what had happened.

The Manhattan District Attorney had recommended a sentence of five to 15 years, the maximum under New York law, but the judge handed down a term of between two and six years.

'The death of Alfred Pocari, a beloved grandfather of three, was not only tragic  it was a foreseeable and devastating consequence of the defendant's habitually reckless driving,' Manhattan District Attorney Cyrus Vance Jr. said in a news release.

The collision happened in July 2019 on West End Avenue and 98th Street

The SUV that Fajardo had been driving can be seen, left, as police conducted and investigation

'Our laws are fundamentally broken when it takes the death of a fellow New Yorker to get a driver with a history of reckless conduct off the road, as demonstrated in this case.'

'My dad came from Albania for a better life for his family,' said Pocari's son, Samiar Pocari. 'My dad was a dreamer. He had big dreams for all of us. His personal dream came true when his three granddaughters arrived.

'He was a hard-working man who worked hard for me and my sister. He was a virtuous man who stood up for his beliefs,' said Samiar. 'He was the rock of our family.'

Fajardo's lawyer, Allen Farbman, said she was 'devastated' and fully accepted responsibility for her actions.

At the time of her being charged, Fajardo was also charged with assault for running over another pedestrian's foot in a separate driving incident in May 2019 in Tribeca.

'My dad came from Albania for a better life for his family,' said Pocari's son, Samiar Pocari, pictured right with Alfred. 'My dad was a dreamer. He had big dreams for all of us. His personal dream came true when his three granddaughters arrived.'

In that incident, she ran over the foot of a 47-year-old man who was in a crosswalk at Desbrosses and Washington streets, authorities said.

Fajardo got out of her SUV but quickly drove off after the victim informed her that he would be filing a report.

Police caught up with her after the victim managed to take a photo of her license plate before she left the scene.

When police questioned her she disputed the man's account of what happened.

'I know the incident that you are talking about. I don't believe that I hit him. I thought he was just exaggerating. This doesn't make any sense,' according to the complaint.

'If I hit his foot, wouldn't I have hit other parts of his body? I left when he went to call the police because I had to get to work. I am on probation.'
Prime Minister Narendra Modi on Friday slammed both the ruling LDF and opposition UDF in Kerala as "twins of misgovernance and corruption" and sought a mandate for the NDA in Tamil Nadu.

Addressing rallies in the two poll-bound states, he said that vote for BJP and its allies will be a vote for development.

Addressing a rally in Pathanamthitta in Kerala, he alleged that governance took a backseat and dynastic politics was promoted during the rule of the United Democratic Front (UDF) and Left Democratic Front (LDF).

"When making money, promoting dynasty and doing vote-bank politics is a priority, governance naturally takes a backseat. UDF and LDF have brought governance paralysis in Kerala. It is time to free Kerala from such alliances, PM Modi said.

He also listed seven "sins" committed by LDF and UDF.

"They promote dynastic politics, there is a craze for dynasty rule in both alliances, everything else is sidelined," he said.

The Prime Minister said that both the parties "are full of arrogance and they feel that they can never be defeated".

"They become disconnected from the roots. Another sin is greed for money. Solar scam, dollar scam, land scam, gold scam, bribery scam, excise scam - the list is endless. Both alliances have looted from every sector," he said.

At a rally in Thiruvananthapuram, PM Modi said the UDF and the LDF are "twins when it comes to nepotism, corruption and political violence".

"In Kerala, people are convinced on two things. First, UDF and LDF are twins - twins of misgovernance, corruption, political violence, communalism, casteism, cronyism, nepotism and more. Second, UDF lacks the ability and willingness to defeat LDF. No wonder there's a surge in support of NDA," the Prime Minister said.

In Madurai, PM Modi said a vote for National Democratic Alliance (NDA) is a vote for more investment and development in the region. He slammed Dravida Munnetra Kazhagam (DMK) and Congress saying these parties cannot guarantee the safety and dignity of women.

PM Modi also said that UPA-led central government was instrumental in a ban on Jallikattu, a practice that has been part of the state's culture for centuries.

Speaking at the rally in Kanyakumari, the Prime Minister said the Opposition has reduced itself to a dynasty club.

"All they want is to secure the position of their own children and grandchildren. They are not bothered about your sons and daughter," he said.

In a veiled attack at DMK chief MK Stalin's son Udhayanidhi Stalin, PM Modi said: "In Tamil Nadu, the situation is such that senior DMK leaders who worked with Kalaignar are feeling suffocated due to the new crown prince of the party. Politics doesn't work this way."

Elections in Tamil Nadu and Kerala 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.)
CLEVELAND, Ohio  I recently talked to a man who lost his son to drugs. It was a long, painful road literally ending at a dead end. The father raised his son in the church, prayed for years for his sons drug problems...

There was no deliverance, at least not on earth.

I know he accepted Christ, said the man. I pray he is in heaven now, but I wonder...

I talked to a woman whose husband is battling Alzheimers. He is home in Northeast Ohio, but keeps thinking they are in Florida. He periodically packs up his clothes for the trip home.

She cant believe what has happened to him and their life. Despite the confusion, she does love him more than ever.

I know of two pastors who have sons who have been in and out jail. Both have been beating themselves up for years, wondering what they did wrong. The fact they have other children who have turned out well doesnt take away of the agony of the one who didnt.

DEATH BY SUICIDE

Christian author and pastor Rick Warren lost his son to suicide after decades of struggling with emotional problems. That was in 2013, when his son was 27 years old.

In a letter to members of his Saddleback Church, Warren and his wife Kay wrote:

Only those closest knew that he struggled from birth with mental illness, dark holes of depression, and even suicidal thoughts. In spite of Americas best doctors, meds, counselors and prayers for healing, the torture of mental illness never subsided.

The author of The Purpose Driven Life watched his son give up on life. But he and his wife Kay are convinced their son has eternal life. Parents in this position sometimes feel judged harshly by other parents whose children didnt have the same problems.

They hang on to verses such as Revelation 21:4

He will wipe every tear from their eyes. There will be no more death or mourning or crying or pain, for the old order of things has passed away.

THE PAIN & THE HOPE

Why bring all this up during Easter?

Because the Easter story had so much pain and loss before there was hope.

Part of my motivation for first writing Faith & You columns more than 21 years ago was to bring comfort to the hurting. One way to do that is understanding, Im not the only one.

Jesus was misunderstood by some because they thought he was going to free his people from the iron fists of the Roman occupation. They wanted a kingdom on this earth, complete with the power and glory.

Jesus was often criticized by establishment types because he spent time with the suffering, the poor and those on the fringes of society. As Mark 2:16-17 tells us:

When the teachers of the law who were Pharisees saw him eating with the sinners and tax collectors, they asked his disciples: Why does he eat with tax collectors and sinners? On hearing this, Jesus said to them, It is not the healthy who need a doctor, but the sick. I have not come to call the righteous, but sinners.

Most of us have clouds of regret hanging over our lives. Forgiveness can bring us hope and light like the sun. Photo by Terry Pluto / Cleveland.com

THE POWER OF EASTER & FORGIVENESS

Jesus talked about forgiveness. Over and over he told different people, Your sins are forgiven.

At least some of the crosses we carry through life have been partly of our own making.

In the Jewish tradition, something had to die and blood had to be spilled for forgiveness. Its the story behind the death of Jesus on the cross, the Lamb of God who takes away the sins of the World, as John The Baptist called Jesus (John 1:29).

But the power of Jesus rising from the dead...the hope of a new life...is the other story of Easter.

There are people who will never forgive us for something. And there are those well struggle to forgive.

In the middle, we are at war with ourselves, as the Bible calls it. We struggle to find forgiveness on various fronts.

I received this email from Sam (not his real name): I have come to believe over the years that God forgives us more quickly than we forgive ourselves. Not only does He forgive, but He goes well beyond in bestowing blessings. I just wish that we could take a step back, count them, be grateful and give thanks.

On Easter, its a day to thank God for forgiveness, because thats where we can find hope in the middle of pain.

RECENT TERRY PLUTO FAITH & YOU COLUMNS

Whats worse, a broken arm or a broken heart?

Alone in the wilderness, lost...then found

Its enticing. It feels fun. It can be damaging.

Be strong? Be Courageous? Thats not me, not now!

The question that tells a difference between men and women

Heres Mud In Your Eye: Does life sometimes feel like that?

When someone close to you has cancer, what to do? Prayer and a dog helps.

What we need to remember when people say, Its never been this bad!

Stories of how people dealt with life in 2020

After 2020, how can I not worry about 2021?

Remembering when there was no room at the Inn in your life
Father Nuno, runner-up to Papi Rob Hanover in the 2019 Governor's Cup, made his first start since then a winning one when Harrahs Philadelphia opened its 2021 racing season on Friday (April 2).

The four-year-old son of Somebeachsomewhere and Worldly Treasure, and a full brother to Captaintreacherous, was unhurried early by driver George Napolitano Jr. in the $12,800 finale, moving outside from fourth at the half, grinding closer to pacesetter P L Munson  who set fractions of :27.4, :56.2 and 1:24.2  and drawing away in the stretch to win by 4-3/4 lengths in 1:53.1. This may be the first start in a redemptive campaign for the royally-bred Father Nuno, who is owned and trained by brothers John and Tom Cancelliere, respectively.

Aside from Father Nuno's first-over victory, the determination of the drivers to get the lead and hold it if at all possible was reflected in the $11,600 co-featured pace, as there were two horses parked past the quarter in a six-horse field. Favoured Rock The Town and driver Anthony Napolitano kept High Impression out in the air in a :27.1 quarter, with JK Musicman maintaining the pocket and Joesstar Of Mia A ducking in off cover past the initial station. Rock The Town kept the lead to the half in :55.2, with High Impression finally getting to the pylons after JK Musicman broke  only to back off badly before the 1:24 three-quarters. Joesstar Of Mia A continued a game pursuit of the leader, but he came up a half-length shy of Rock The Town's 1:52.3 mile.

Two-time Driver of the Year Dexter Dunn won three races on the card, with George Napolitano Jr. and Tim Tetrick, the local 2020 winningest driver and top UDR driver respectively, each winning twice. Trainer Jeff Cullipher was the only conditioner to send out two winning charges.

Harrahs Philadelphia will not host a live card this Sunday, Easter Sunday, but after that the southeast Pennsylvania tracks regular schedule kicks in, with racing on Wednesday, Thursday and Friday at 12:25 p.m. and Sunday at 12:40 p.m. Program pages will be available at https://www.phha.org/harrahspps.html.

(PHHA/Harrah's Philadelphia)
Woodbine Mohawk Park would like to inform all horse people that training will continue to be available every Tuesday, Friday and Saturday during the emergency brake shutdown.

Sign-up for next weeks training, to be offered on Tuesday (April 6), Friday (April 9) and Saturday (April 10), will open Saturday afternoon (April 3) at 2 p.m.

Each trainer is limited to signing-up for a maximum of five slots a day.

The sign-up link for each day is listed below:

Training  Tuesday, April 6

Training  Friday, April 9

Training  Saturday, April 10

(Woodbine Mohawk Park)
Panaji: A day after a state Tourism Ministry's tweet likening Maratha king Shivaji's military action against Portuguese-held Goa as an act of "invasion", the Opposition has continued to pile pressure on Chief Minister Pramod Sawant, a Maratha by caste himself, of slandering Shivaji.

"Chhatrapati Shivaji Maharaj was not only a warrior but also a great ruler & was surely not a(n) invader. You must learn about his administrative skills & equal justice to all policy. The Great Maratha King was effective and not defective in Governance like in Goa. @PMOIndia @AmitShah," state Congress president Girish Chodankar tweeted on Saturday.

On Friday, the official handle of the Goa Tourism Ministry had tweeted: "The Aguada jail is part of the beautiful Fort Aguada which was built in the year 1612. This fort which once defended the Portuguese stronghold against Dutch and Maratha invaders is divided into two main parts -- The upper and the lower fort."

The tweet was later deleted with an apology for the alleged error, but not before the opposition, in unison, accused Sawant of slandering Shivaji and his Maratha army.

On Saturday, however Sawant on the occasion of the death anniversary of the Maratha king, offered his respects to the late ruler. "I bow in reverence to the Great Warrior King Chhatrapati Shivaji Maharaj Ji on his Punyatithi today," Sawant said.
STATEN ISLAND, N.Y.  Community Board 2 will hold a land use public hearing on Tuesday, April 6, to address the removal of trees on vacant land in Emerson Hill.

At issue is the removal of five trees to accommodate the construction of a two-story, detached single-family residence at 214 and 262 Shields Place.

Participants must fill out the Webinar Registration form on www.cb2si.com to receive the link to join the meeting.

Community Board 1

Community Board 1 will host a virtual land use public hearing on Wednesday, April 7, at 6:30 p.m. On the agenda is a proposed single-family, detached residence at 235 Oder Ave. in the bed of a mapped street.

Another issue to be considered is a Department of City Planning application to authorize development on a steep slope for three single-family, attached homes at 680 to 684 Van Duzer St., and a Board of Standards and Appeals application to reopen and renew a variance at 235 Forest Ave.

Additionally, a land use expert will speak about legislation that will potentially change the rezoning approval process.

To join any of the Zoom meetings, visit https://us02web.zoom.us/j/81740136842 and use meeting ID number 817 4013 6842.

Community Board 3

Community Board 3 will host a virtual Community Alliance Committee meeting on Tuesday, April 6, at 7 p.m., at which Steve Colavito, of the Staten Island Chamber of Commerce, will speak about the NYC Small Business Resource Network. It is a public-private partnership created to offer assistance to small business owners through the citys corporate, financial and professional service sectors, as well as universities, philanthropists and expert volunteers.

A virtual Health and Human Services Committee will also be held on Tuesday at 7 p.m. Ashley Owen, of the New York City Problem Gambling Resource Center, will speak about how the resource center raises awareness of problem gambling and helps connect those in need to treatment resources.

On Wednesday, April 7, at 7 p.m., a virtual Traffic and Transportation Committee meeting will be held.

Anyone wishing to participate must register by 9 a.m. on the day of the meeting. An email with a link to join the meeting will be sent on the day of the meeting. Visit www.nyc.gov/sicb3 to register for meetings.

OPEN TO THE PUBLIC

All Community Board meetings and meetings of the committees are open to the public. They provide an excellent opportunity for residents to learn about happenings in their neighborhoods and surrounding areas.

Below is more information about the Islands three Community Boards:

COMMUNITY BOARD 1

Arlington  Castleton Corners  Clifton  Concord  Elm Park  Fort Wadsworth  Graniteville  Grymes Hill  Livingston  Mariners Harbor  New Brighton  Port Richmond  Randall Manor  Rosebank  St. George  Shore Acres  Silver Lake  Stapleton  Sunnyside  Tompkinsville  West Brighton  Westerleigh

The district manager is Joseph Carroll. The Board chairman is Nicholas Siclari. The telephone number is 718-981-6900.

COMMUNITY BOARD 2

Arrochar  Bloomfield  Bulls Head  Chelsea  Dongan Hills  Egbertville  Emerson Hill  Grant City  Grasmere  High Rock  Lighthouse Hill  Midland Beach  New Dorp  New Springville  Oakwood  Ocean Breeze  Old Town  Richmond  South Beach  Todt Hill  Travis.

The phone number is 718-568-3581. The fax number 718-568-3595. The chairman is Robert J. Collegio, P.E. The district manager is Debra A. Derrico.

COMMUNITY BOARD 3

Annadale  Arden Heights  Bay Terrace  Charleston  Eltingville  Great Kills  Greenridge  Huguenot  New Dorp  Oakwood  Pleasant Plains  Princes Bay  Richmond Valley -- Richmond -- Rossville -- Tottenville -- Woodrow.

The office phone number is 718-356-7900. The Board chairman is Frank Morano; the district manager is Charlene Wagner.
(Natural News) Critical race theory (CRT) activists in Loudoun County, Va., the wealthiest county in the United States, are attempting to destroy the lives of parents throughout the district who oppose children being brainwashed into the doctrines of anti-white racism while at public school.

And angry mob of far-left extremists living in the Washington, D.C.-area district is reportedly trying to infiltrate various anti-CRT groups organized by their opponents in order to expose the members of these groups  using hackers if necessary.

A 624-member private Facebook group called Anti-Racist Parents of Loudoun County is said to be behind this hate campaign. Its members include local public school board members, Loudoun Countys George Soros-funded prosecutor, public school staff, and other allied leftist extremists.

In recent years, Loudouns school system has flooded its curricula and policies with racial rhetoric, says Luke Rosiak of The Daily Wire about the situation.

The district has also required all staff to undergo Equity in the Center training that promoted a sense of injustice and urgency, even as it proposed, then withdrew, a policy that would ban teachers from disagreeing with the schools racial philosophies, even when not on school district property.

Last year, the local school district held an Equity in the Center-like training to parents that was a total disaster, resulting in a collapse into acrimony. A criminal review was launched and one school board member was stripped of her duties.

In a nutshell, local parents were outraged that their children were being told to focus too much on race, which had the effect of diminish[ing] tolerance and harmony, rather than improv[ing] it. These same parents then formed their own Parents Against Critical Theory group which hosted a webinar on March 7 called, What is CRT and its impact on Loudoun County Schools.

Secret communications reviewed by the Daily Wire do not offer any evidence of racism by the groups targets, or even attempt to, Rosiak adds.

Their opponents were apparently those who objected to, sought to debate, or were even simply neutral about critical race theory, (CRT) a radical philosophy opposed by many liberals and conservatives but increasingly embraced by governments.

Critical race theory cult members say it is no longer enough to be civil to their opponents

Far-left school board member Beth Barts, a CRT cult member, was later censored and temporarily removed from all committee assignments by her colleagues after it was discovered that Barts had taken it upon herself to start targeting parents who opposed her agenda.

Barts pattern of social media conduct resulted in her and her fellow militants being outed for their behavior. On at least one occasion, Barts stated that remaining civil towards her opponents was failing to lead to her desired outcome, the suggestion being that it might be time for more aggressive civil unrest.

Anyone know any hackers? Barts asked after whining in a post about how she is losing hope in her ability to win her battle against concerned parents.

In response, members of the Anti-Racist group started flooding Barts with names of parents who oppose the CRT agenda, as well as information about where they live, who they work for, and the names of their family members.

A similar situation is taking place in San Francisco where aggressive anti-white racists are trying to eliminate all traces of whiteness from the school system.

It appears as though Barts and her comrades might be guilty of violating a Virginia law that says, Any person who commands, entreats, or otherwise attempts to persuade another person to commit a felony other than murder, shall be guilty of a Class 6 felony. The local sheriffs department would appear to agree, claiming evidence of criminal activity intended to infringe First Amendment rights.

More related news stories can be found at CampusInsanity.com.

Sources for this article include:

LifeSiteNews.com

NaturalNews.com
The vehicle attack at a U.S. Capitol checkpoint that left one police officer dead and another injured does not appear to be terrorism related, the acting chief of the Metropolitan Police Department said Friday.

Acting Chief Robert Contee also said there does not appear to be an ongoing threat.

Obviously, were in the very early stages of our investigation, Contee said. We need to obviously understand the motivation behind this senseless act, so the Metropolitan Police Department will certainly be doing that.

The U.S. Capitol went on lockdown after the driver rammed into the checkpoint shortly after 1 p.m. U.S. Capitol Police Acting Chief Yogananda Pittman told reporters Friday the suspect came out of the car holding a knife and was shot by Capitol police after failing to respond to verbal commands.

One officer, identified as William Evans, was pronounced dead at a hospital. Another officer was taken to a separate hospital to be treated for his injuries, police said.

It is with a very, very heart that I announce one of our officers had succumbed to his injuries, Pittman said. She declined to release names, ages or other details about the officer who died, saying the officers family still needs to be notified.

The suspect, who has not yet been identified, also died after being shot by Capitol police.

The suspect did start lunging toward Capitol police officers at which time U.S. Capitol police officers fired upon the suspect, Pittman said. At this time, the suspect has been pronounced deceased.

House Speaker Nancy Pelosi ordered the flags at the U.S. Capitol to be flown at half-mast in honor of the slain officers, tweeted Drew Hammill, Pelosis deputy chief of staff.

In a statement, Pelosi said Congress was ready to assist law enforcement with the investigation into the vehicle attack.

Today, Americas heart has been broken by the tragic and heroic death of one of our Capitol Police heroes: Officer William Evans, the California Democrat said. He is a martyr for our democracy.

Massachusetts Congressman Seth Moulton issued a statement after the attack.

Capitol Police officers heroically defended our Capitol when it was under attack yet again, and I am deeply grateful for their service, Moulton said. Let us never forget that they put their lives in front of ours every day to keep us safe and preserve the Temple of Democracy for all Americans.

Congresswoman Ayanna Pressley tweeted, As we continue monitoring the situation at the Capitol complex, I am grateful that everyone on my team is safe and accounted for.

She prayed for a quick recovery for both officers who were injured in the attack. The tweet went up before Pittman announced an officer had died.
The U.S. Capitol police officer who was killed in a vehicle attack Friday afternoon grew up in Western Massachusetts, sources told MassLive.

MassLive confirmed William Billy Evans is a native of Massachusetts and grew up in Western Mass. He has family in Clarksburg, Massachusetts, sources told MassLive.

According to the Berkshire Eagle, Evans graduated from Drury High School.

Evans and another officer were hit by a blue sedan shortly after 1 p.m. The vehicle crashed into the north barricade. The second officer was taken to a separate hospital.

Evans first joined the police force on March 7, 2003. He was a member of the Capitol Divisions First Responders Unit.

MassLive Reporter Scott J. Croteau contributed to this report.

Related Content:
It was an emotional time for Ms Patricia Hayden, principal of St Joseph's Secondary School in Rush last week, as she bid farewell to staff and students to take up a well-earned retirement.

But as if Ms Hayden were not teary-eyed enough, her students recorded and dedicated a very touching rendition of the song, 'A Woman's Heart' on film, backed by Irish music legend, Mary Coughlan.

The Fingal Independent speaks to Ms Hayden on her last 'ordinary' day at St Joseph's, and gets her reaction to the very thoughtful farewell present.

The retiring school principal says: 'The students did 'A Woman's Heart' and they got on to Mary Coughlan and she agreed to do a piece with it, so it was an absolutely fabulous piece and it was unexpected, obviously I knew nothing about it. And also they wrote some poems and things so I've had a great old week of it altogether.

'I was surprised with the video because obviously everything is so weird with the way you can't gather and things like that, so I was very surprised and it was very nicely done and a huge amount of work. One of our families here, they're kind of in that business and I think everyone gathered all the pieces and they then put them all together, and it really is a huge amount of work that went into it.'

Ms Hayden officially retires on April 11, and although this was her last 'ordinary' school day at St Joseph's, she says, she will be at school for the oral exams and the music practicals over the coming weeks.

A proud northsider, Patricia crossed the river to teach at Wesley College on Dublin's southside prior to gaining the position at St Joseph's, when she says she crossed the Liffey again to be 'back on home territory' for her new appointment in Rush.

Looking back on her time at St Joseph's, she says the school has seen many changes, not least in the size of the school: 'It has changed enough and funnily enough when you look back over the years at retirement, when I came in I think we had 375 or 400 students, something like that, and I think there were maybe 23 teachers or something like that.

'Next September we'll be just short of 900 students and altogether we've about 100 people on the staff, over a hundred actually on the staff, between teachers, SNAs, administration and caretaking and so on.

'When I came, I saw the potential of the school and saw the potential of the staff, but we needed to make a few changes to allow that potential to be realised...So the school is very different now and the main thing, I suppose is that we improved the progression to third level, which was probably the biggest issue. So we now have 100% of students go to further education of some type and an average of say 70% and up, depending on the year group go up to university. But the school is definitely thriving, there's no two ways about that.'

Speaking of her plans for retirement, Patricia says: 'Mainly I'm probably going to continue to do a bit of work with the Trinity Access Programme, the college for every student organisation, so I'm going to keep an interest there. Apart from that, I've been busy for a long time so I'll be happy to be able to do something that I enjoy and that I suppose I don't have to kill myself with.'

Ms Hayden now leaves St Joseph's Secondary School in the capable hands of future principal Daragh Nealon, who brings in the start of a new era for the school.
Source: Xinhua| 2021-04-03 19:10:16|Editor: huaxia

Video Player Close

CANBERRA, April 3 (Xinhua) -- Australian authorities have launched an investigation after a recipient of the AstraZeneca COVID-19 vaccine developed blood clots.

The 44-year-old Melbourne man was admitted to a hospital recently with a clotting disorder after receiving the vaccine on March 22.

Michael Kidd, Australia's acting chief medical officer, said on Saturday that "it is likely" the man's condition is related to the vaccine.

"While at this time, we don't have evidence of causality, the clinical features of this case are consistent with what we have seen in international reports of similar cases. And it is likely that the case reported yesterday is related to the vaccine," he told reporters in Canberra.

The Australian Technical Advisory Group on Immunization (ATAGI) said in a statement on Friday that they were currently investigating this case and working with international experts and regulators to provide advice on the optimal use of the AstraZeneca vaccine.

"We have issued communication for consumers and clinicians on the significance of this condition and to be alert for the symptoms and signs of thromboses," said the statement.

"ATAGI has not changed its advice on the use of the AstraZeneca vaccine at this time."

The European Medicines Agency (EMA) conducted a review of the safety and efficacy of the vaccine in March, finding a "possible link" between it and blood clots but ruling that the benefits "outweigh the risk."

Australia has agreed to acquire 53.8 million doses of the vaccine, most of which will be manufactured domestically by biotechnology company CSL.

As of Saturday afternoon, there had been 29,341 confirmed cases of COVID-19 in Australia, and the numbers of locally and overseas acquired cases in the last 24 hours were one and three respectively, according to the latest figures from the Department of Health. Enditem
KTR has shown respect to Mission Bhagiratha water as though it is Gangajalam, says Nama Nageswara Rao.  Twitter

KHAMMAM: Municipal administration minister K. T. Rama Rao on Friday inaugurated a complex of 1,000 double bedroom (DBR) houses at Tekulapalli in Khammam, apart from starting a Mission Bhagiratha project that will supply drinking water to 1.4 lakh households within Khammam Municipal Corporation limits.

What attracted attention was Rama Rao opening the water tap at one the DBR apartments, drinking its water with zeal, and pouring some water drops on his head in devotion.

The incident was highlighted at a meeting by Khammam MP Nama Nageswara Rao during his speech in a meeting. Nama said, KTR has shown respect to Mission Bhagiratha water as though it is Gangajalam, he remarked.

Rama Rao also visited a Vaikuntadhamam (crematorium) in Khammam and appreciated the atmosphere there and its maintenance. He laid a foundation stone for a road from Sri Sri Circle to Venkatayapalem in Khammam. Roads and buildings minister V. Prasanth Reddy was present on the occasion.

In Sattupalli, Rama Rao assured that he would develop Vesyakanthala Cheruvu on the lines of Tank Bund in Hyderabad. He unveiled a statue of Chakali Ilamma and opened a new municipal building in Sattupalli. MLA Venkata Veeraiah announced that KTR is interested in taking up several development projects in Sattupalli.
Pace said that his modules can be assembled into three- to five-story apartment buildings 40% more quickly and 20% less expensively than traditional construction, which means more bang for the buck.

Today, a Factory OS apartment house for 145 hitherto homeless residents is being assembled in downtown San Francisco in what appears to be proof of what Pace told Levin.

San Francisco Chronicle columnist Heather Knight described the project in a recent article, saying, The project at 833 Bryant St. is being built faster and cheaper than the typical affordable housing development in San Francisco, the ones that notoriously drag on for six years or more and cost an average of $700,000 per unit. This project will take just three years and clock in at $383,000 per unit.

In other words, by using modular construction San Francisco could supply twice as many units for the same money. So whats not to like? Knight tells us what.
Prince Harry and Meghan Markle were discussing future projects with a new billion-dollar backed US streaming service a year before they stepped down as senior royals, it has emerged.

Harry and Meghan had meetings with Quibi, a now-defunct rival to YouTube, from early 2019 until after they dropped their "Megxit" bombshell in January last year.

The Duke of Sussex rushed back from the so-called Sandringham summit with Queen Elizabeth to meet executives from the short video platform in London as plans for him to provide content apparently reached advanced stages.

In their interview with Oprah Winfrey, the couple said they didn't have a plan when leaving the British royal family but it is understood they had talks with executives of the 1.5bn start-up before their son Archie was born in May 2019.

The discussions are understood to have led to tensions with Buckingham Palace staff fearful they would be accused of "cashing in" on their status, and because the couple were predominantly consulting Meghan's US-based advisers.

According to someone with knowledge of the situation: "There were well developed proposals in place with Quibi from early 2019 onwards."

A royal source added: "A lot of it was orchestrated by Meghan's people in America."

Multiple sources in the UK and US confirmed there were numerous conversations with Quibi, including its founder Jeffrey Katzenberg, described as "one of Hollywood's premier political kingmakers", and Meg Whitman, chief executive, a former president of eBay.

Worth an estimated 750m, Mr Katzenberg, a former chairman of Walt Disney Studios, is one of the Democratic Partys leading fundraisers, having supported Hillary Clinton and Barack Obama.

Read More

Ms Whitman was a senior member of Mitt Romneys presidential campaigns in both 2008 and 2012 and ran for governor of California as a Republican in 2010, but supported Democrats Mrs Clinton in 2016 and Joe Biden in 2020.

Harry and Meghan were viewed as the key to getting their mobile-based Netflix off the ground, and they were actively courted in the run-up to its eagerly anticipated launch in April 2020.

After Quibi drew up a proposal in early 2019, there were calls to discuss a plan for their own series of 10-minute videos. There was a meeting in London last January, which Harry attended with James Holt, the new executive director of Archewell, the couple's non-profit organisation.

Shortly afterwards, the couple relocated to Los Angeles, and the pandemic put all plans on hold.

Quibi did well on its launch last April, but by September, around the time the Sussexes announced they had signed a multimillion-dollar deal with Netflix, it was on the verge of shutting down.

( Telegraph Media Group Ltd 2021)

Read More




Back in 2008, Frank Godfrey, the former mayor of Drogheda, returned to his home on the outskirts of Donore village and was hit by the enormity of what was before him. Years of memories and hard work were gone. His beloved cottage, which had stood for generations, had been gutted in a blaze. He had lost many items of interest, but what didn't go up in smoke was his passion.

'I was devastated, I was shocked,' he stated. 'People told me to forget about it, walk away Frank, but I vowed to restore the cottage, rebuild it, because I simply love it.'

He had always seen the potential for a tourism project for the cottage and in the years since that night of destruction, he has put every penny he has into it.

'It has come back from the ashes, like the Phoenix,' he said.

And incredibly, it has, just as he promised 13 years ago.

Inside and outside, it has wonderful items of national and local interest.

Expand Close Frank's well known visitor in 2005 was Angela Cartwright, better known as the child actress who played Brigitta in the Sound of Music. She also starred as Penny in Lost in Space. She visited with her husband and family and sent a picture to Frank later / Facebook

Twitter

Email

Whatsapp Frank's well known visitor in 2005 was Angela Cartwright, better known as the child actress who played Brigitta in the Sound of Music. She also starred as Penny in Lost in Space. She visited with her husband and family and sent a picture to Frank later

He boasts of a sword from the Battle of the Boyne and an unexploded bomb from the night the Germans bombed Duleek in early 1941.

There are photographs and cannons, tractors and artefacts, too many to even describe.

It's a place visited by Ian Paisley, Bertie Ahern and other dignatories. It has welcomed visitors from every corner of the globe. They have left Donore with a new image of Ireland and what it means to be Irish itself.

'I think the cottage is unique in Ireland and that's why people love it,' he says.

He plans to have a small cafe and perhaps a small museum in the future. He is keen to see Frank's Country Cottage realise its full potential.

'We opened the doors to people 40 years ago and they've all come to see us. Daniel O'Donnell had a cup of tea in here We had Norman Wisdom and Charlie Haughey. It's a real landmark.'

He believes the cottage dates to the Famine times and has a section where pigs were kept and cows milked. It was sold at the gate of the cottage.

'We had our own famous pig here. Grumpy once had a litter of 17 piglets and Mary Morrison delivered them all,' the former mayor remarked.

The doors were so small that when there was a death in the house, the coffin had to be lifted out through the window.

'With the cottage, we are trying to keep the past alive as too many thatched cottages have gone around the area,' he feels.

Lamenting the state of Harty's Cottage on Crushrod Avenue, he makes the point that once someone stops living in it, the problems start.

'It should be a residence,' he said.

His idea for it would be a pet farm and the lands beside it used as part of that. 'It would be a Newgrange Farm in the heart of Drogheda. Harty's had so much potential for the people of Drogheda,' he feels.

He says he is delighted to see that the Meath County Development Plan features a proposed footpath from Drogheda to Donore, something he has championed for many years.

'That will help Donore and I have to mention the work of the tidy towns group in Donore. They are doing incredible work,' he says.

He wants to see Donore promoted much more due to the whole history of the place. 'We can be as popular as Killarney. The place has some wonderful scenery.'

He feels the willingness is there now - with the Battle of the Boyne site, Bru na Boinne and the Boyne Greenway all close by.
The finalization of the agreement follows a decision by the state Health Facilities and Services Review Board last month to approve the sale. The deal must still be approved by the Catholic Church since Mercy is part of Trinity Health, a Catholic health system.
Unfortunately, our website is currently unavailable in your country. We are engaged on the issue and committed to looking at options that support our full 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 Department of Labor has sought feedback from the public in the next 60 days on determining the wage levels for the employment of various immigrants and non-immigrants, including those on the H-1B visas, the most sought-after work visa among Indian professionals.

The is a non-immigrant visa that allows the US companies to employ foreign workers in speciality occupations that require theoretical or technical expertise. The technology companies depend on it to hire tens of thousands of employees each year from countries like India and China.

In a federal notification published on Friday, the US Department of Labor urged the public to respond to its request in the next 60 days.

The request by the department's Employment and Training Administration follows a prior announcement by the department proposing an 18-month delay in the effective date of a final rule changing on calculating the prevailing wage levels for certain immigrants and non-immigrant workers.

Published in January 2021, the final rule affects employers seeking to employ foreign workers on a permanent or temporary basis through certain immigrant visas or through H-1B, H-1B1 and E-3 non-immigrant visas.

While the E-3 visa is one for which only citizens of Australia are eligible, the H-1B1 visa is for people from Singapore and Chile.

The proposed delay will give agency officials sufficient time to compute and validate prevailing wage data covering specific occupations and geographic areas, complete necessary system modifications and conduct public outreach.

The rule is a carry-over from the Trump administration, which had proposed revisions mandatory salaries after losing a court battle to organisations including the Bay Area Council over an initial version.

According to the Department of Labor, the proposed rule's delay in effective date will result in the reduction of transfer payments in the form of higher wages from employers to H-1B employees.

Additionally, the proposed rule would delay the potential for deadweight losses to occur in the event that requiring employers to pay a wage above what H-1B workers are willing to accept results in H-1B caps not to be met, it said.

The Department has observed that the annual H-1B cap was reached within the first five business days each year from fiscal 2014 through fiscal 2020.

In February, the US Citizenship and Immigration Services, the federal agency which screens and allocates H-1B applications, said it received a sufficient number of petitions needed to reach the Congressionally-mandated 65,000 regular cap and the 20,000 US advanced degree exemption, known as the master's cap, for fiscal year (FY) 2021.

The Biden administration in February announced that it was delaying the H-1B policy of the previous Trump administration on the allocation of the popular foreign work visas by continuing with the lottery system until December 31, 2021, to give the immigration agency more time to develop, test and implement the modifications to the registration system.

On January 7, the USCIS announced to do away with the traditional lottery system in deciding the successful applicants for the H-1B visas.

The Trump-era rule was scheduled to go into effect on March 9.

(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 volunteer firefighter in Lancaster County is charged with three counts of arson after officials say he intentionally set a house on fire twice and caused damage to another home.

Quentin Lee Belton, 31, a firefighter at the Gooches Volunteer Fire Department, was arrested Friday after the most recent fire Wednesday night, said Doug Barfield, spokesman for the Lancaster County Sheriffs Office.

Belton set fire to a vacant house on First Street in Lancaster on Wednesday after first setting the house on fire in December, Barfield said.

No injuries were reported. In Wednesday nights fire, a neighboring house was damaged, Barfield said.

Belton, who has relatives who live near the fire scene, was arrested after an investigation by the Lancaster County Sheriffs Office, the State Law Enforcement Divisions arson team and the Lancaster County Fire Marshals Office.

Belton is charged with one count of second-degree arson and two counts of third-degree arson. All charges are felonies under South Carolina law. He faces as much as 25 years in prison if convicted of all three charges, state law shows.

In December, Belton alerted passersby to the fire. He was alone in the Gooches fire station Wednesday shortly before the second fire was called out, officials said.

He was investigated after both fires, said Lancaster County Sheriff Barry Faile and Darren Player, Lancaster County Fire and Rescue Director.

Officials found enough evidence after Wednesdays fire to charge him for both fires, Faile and Player said.

The Gooches department serves areas south and west of Lancaster to the York County line.

Volunteer firefighters are registered with the South Carolina Fire Marshals office, Player said. Friday, Lancaster County officials removed Beltons registration from the fire service, meaning Belton cannot serve while not registered, Player said.

Belton remains in the Lancaster County jail under a $20,000 bond after an initial appearance in court Friday.
Nearly 200 companies on Friday joined in a strong statement against proposals that threaten to restrict voting access in dozens of states, in a further sign of corporate willingness to speak out on social justice issues.

As Major League Baseball announced that it will be moving this summer's All-Star Game out of Atlanta in response to the passage of Georgia's restrictive voting law, executives from at least193 companies - including Dow, HP, Twitter and Estee Lauder - urged the protection of voting rights across the country.

"There are hundreds of bills threatening to make voting more difficult in dozens of states nationwide," executives wrote in the statement, which also included signatures from the CEOs of Under Armour, Salesforce and ViacomCBS.

"We call on elected leaders in every state capitol and in Congress to work across the aisle and ensure that every eligible American has the freedom to easily cast their ballot and participate fully in our democracy," the statement said.

The joint statement was organized by Civic Alliance, a nonpartisan group of businesses focused on voter engagement.

Following the deaths of George Floyd and Breonna Taylor and the summer's protests against policing, companies made commitments to fight systemic racism, including within their own ranks.

Those pledges raised the bar for expectations among consumers and activists for corporate accountability, building pressure to speak up about public policy and its effect on communities.

After Georgia signed into law its Election Integrity Act, which critics say disproportionately affects voting access for people of color, corporations this week came under pressure to speak out before similar bills introduced in nearly every state are passed.

Most of the corporate criticism of the Georgia law came after it was passed, despite weeks of call-outs and demonstrations from activists leading up to Republican Gov. Brian Kemp's signature on March 25.

With Friday's petition, businesses are getting pressure from activists to step up before bills become law, and to go beyond issuing statements.

In addition to condemning voting proposals in dozens of states, activists wantcompanies to testify in front of legislators, withdraw financial support from lawmakers who support them, and throw weight behind federal election reform legislation.

"We want them to lobby senators about passing the currently pending bill and use their forces to lobby that just as aggressively as they would to advance their own corporate interests," said Cliff Albright, co-founder and executive director of national community organizing group Black Voters Matter. "At the end of the day, democracy is in their business interest."

They are also looking beyond Georgia.

Texas is the next battleground for activists, where the largest number of restrictive bills (49 as of March 24) have been introduced in the state legislature. One of them - Senate Bill 7, which would ban overnight early voting and drive-through early voting - passed in the Senate and moved to the state House on Thursday morning. The House is considering its own voting bill, House Bill 6, which would prohibit election officials from sending absentee ballot applications to voters without their requests.

Dell chief executive Michael Dell said in a tweet Thursday that "governments should ensure citizens have their voices heard," and the Texas House Bill 6 "does the opposite." The Texas-based company declined to comment further.

And Texas-based American Airlines saidin a statement, "We are strongly opposed to this bill and others like it. As a Texas-based business, we must stand up for the rights of our team members and customers who call Texas home, and honor the sacrifices made by generations of Americans to protect and expand the right to vote."

Albright was in the airport in Houston on Wednesday after participating in protests at AT&T's Dallas headquarters over the state's proposed legislation when he stopped to watch a CNBC segment featuring Merck CEO Kenneth Frazier and former American Express CEO Kenneth Chenault, who coordinated a letter signed by 72 Black business executives calling on companies to fight voting bills propelled by Republican lawmakers in at least 43 states after Georgia's law was passed.

"This wasn't just a fluff segment," Albright said. "They had a substantive conversation about the letter, about the law, about what the expectations are for the corporate community. It was passionate. It wasn't a hostage video. It wasn't a statement you made because you had to."

Republican lawmakers have proposed at least 361 bills in at least 47 states that would restrict access to mail, early in-person and Election Day voting, according to data compiled as of March 24 by the nonpartisan Brennan Center for Justice.

A coalition of voting rights and Black civil rights organizers, including the Georgia NAACP, Black Voters Matter, former Democratic gubernatorial candidate Stacey Abrams' Fair Fight and the New Georgia Project Action Fund, have joined to fight the bills, which the Rev. James Woodall, president of the Georgia NAACP, calls "Jim Crow 2.0," and have called for corporate support.

Meanwhile, Kent Walker, Google's senior vice president of global affairs, tweeted his support Wednesday of the John Lewis Voting Rights Advancement Act, a federal bill that would oversee jurisdictional voting changes.

More corporations and executives have spoken out since leading Georgia companies such as Delta Air Lines and Coca-Cola took a stronger stance on the bill Wednesday.

Business Roundtable, a coalition of top corporate CEOs chaired by Walmart President Doug McMillon, said Wednesday: "Unnecessary restrictions on the right to vote strike at the heart of representative government," and called for bipartisan efforts to ensure voter protection in state legislatures.

On Thursday, Jay Carney, Amazon senior vice president, tweeted a statement saying the company opposes "efforts in other states aimed at restricting the ability of Americans to vote," and said it hopes states follow Virginia's efforts to enhance voter protections. (Amazon founder and CEO Jeff Bezos owns The Washington Post.)

Civic Alliance first started considering a sign-on letter for its members late last week, but the Black executives' letter is what "really tipped the scales," said Mike Ward, the group's co-founder. The statement "literally had a call in it - we call on our fellow executives and business leaders to join," Ward said. Within eight hours on Thursday, about 10% of the organization's roughly 1,070 member companies had decided to sign on, and Ward expects that number to continue rising.

Ward said the organization has been getting dozens of calls and emails a day since the Georgia law was signed, and that it has worked with some companies to help them craft their statements. "It feels very much like November, instead of April of the year after" an election season, which is usually their busy time, Ward said.

Ward said he believes states where legislation has not yet passed will get increasing attention from corporations, and that companies are considering options beyond statements - things such as withholding contributions, lobbying on behalf of federal legislation, or speaking directly with lawmakers.

The bills have been propelled and applauded by the GOP, and some top elected officials have criticized the wave of corporate pushback. In a fiery attack on Delta Air Lines after CEO Ed Bastian condemned Georgia's bill, Kemp said in a Fox News interview Thursday that companies will "have to answer to their shareholders."

In a Thursday night statement, Texas Lt. Gov. Dan Patrick responded to American Airlines, saying: "Texans are fed up with corporations that don't share our values trying to dictate public policy."

Patrick added: "The majority of Texans support maintaining the integrity of our elections, which is why I made it a priority this legislative session. Senate Bill 7 includes comprehensive reforms that will ensure voting in Texas is consistent statewide and secure."

Texas state Sen. Bryan Hughes, R-Mineola, who wrote the bill, also criticized American's statement in a tweet Thursday night, and suggested the company hadn't even read the bill.

Stacy Day, a spokeswoman for American, said the airline's team had reviewed the bill.

Ward said that while critics have suggested companies were slow to respond, the public has not historically expected companies to focus on voting access. But Albright hopes more of Corporate America will follow Chenault's admonition that "there can be no middle ground" and expects concrete action beyond issuing statements or signing a letter.

"Just as aggressively as you tell the world to have a Coke and a smile, you need to tell the world to repeal this law," Albright said. "If you really want to show us that this is an unacceptable law, then you can still take some actions."
OTTAWA, ON, April 1, 2021 /CNW/ - Since 1994, Canada and France (in respect of Saint Pierre and Miquelon) have co-managed fish stocks, including cod in the 3Ps zone off the south coast of Newfoundland and Labrador. Under the Proces-Verbal Agreement, the two countries meet annually to negotiate management measures, including the total allowable catch (TAC) of shared stocks in the North Atlantic.

Today, the Minister of Fisheries, Oceans, and the Canadian Coast Guard, the Honourable Bernadette Jordan announced that an agreement in principle has been reached with France regarding 3Ps cod for the 2021 fishing season. Both countries intend to support a TAC of 1,346 t, a 50 per cent TAC reduction from last year.

Given that the stock is in the critical zone, a TAC reduction is necessary. The reduced fishing effort will allow the fishery to remain open, while promoting growth of the stock.

Additionally, Canada has committed to work with stakeholders and harvesters over the coming year to develop a rebuilding plan for 3Ps cod in advance of 2022 discussions, and to continue with full, robust, and comprehensive science assessments on this important species. This will help create a more sustainable fishery for future generations.

Furthermore, Canada and France have agreed in principle on a rollover of TACs for 3Ps Witch flounder, Unit 2 Redfish, and 3Ps Iceland scallop, and to maintain a moratorium for 3Ps American plaice.

Canada values the long-standing Proces-Verbal Agreement with France and intends to implement the negotiated outcomes of this year's meetings.

Quotes

"We know how important cod is to Newfoundlanders and Labradorians, both economically and culturally. Currently, the best available science tells us that 3Ps cod is in the critical zone, and we need to act now. The reduction in TAC will provide some stability to the fishery, while helping protect the health of the stocks. These decisions are difficult, but the actions taken today will strengthen the fishery and the livelihoods of Newfoundlanders and Labradorians for generations to come."

Story continues

The Honourable Bernadette Jordan, Minister of Fisheries, Oceans and the Canadian Coast

Quick Facts

Canada entered the negotiations recommending no directed fishery for 3Ps cod, based on the best available science and consistent with Fishery and Oceans Canada's Precautionary Framework Approach, which requires removals be kept at the lowest possible level until a stock clears the critical zone.

The science assessment for 3Ps cod places the stock in the critical zone at 38 per cent of the limit reference point, down from 40 per cent last year. 3Ps cod has been in the critical zone since the early 2000s. A 50 per cent reduction of the TAC provides a 75 per cent probability of some stock growth by 2023.

Stay Connected

Follow Fisheries and Oceans Canada on Twitter, Facebook, Instagram and YouTube.

Follow the Canadian Coast Guard on Twitter, Facebook, Instagram and YouTube.

Subscribe to receive our news releases and more via RSS feeds. For more information or to subscribe, visit http://www.dfo-mpo.gc.ca/media/rss-eng.htm

SOURCE Fisheries and Oceans (DFO) Canada

Cision

View original content: http://www.newswire.ca/en/releases/archive/April2021/01/c3367.html
New Delhi, April 3 : Days before the Tamil Nadu Assembly polls, the BJP is confident of doing well in the state. The party is contesting on 20 assembly seats in alliance with the ruling AIADMK and the PMK and is using the star power of its top leadership in each of these constituencies to try to form a NDA government in Tamil Nadu.

Despite being a minor partner in the alliance, the BJP is leaving no stone unturned to make its presence felt in the Tamil Nadu Assembly, where it has currently no member. To win the maximum seats, the BJP has focused on coordinated effort of reaching out to the people, strengthening booth committees and public meetings, rallies and roadshows of senior leaders. The saffron party has ensured that a senior leader campaigns in each of these 20 constituencies the BJP is contesting.

Prime Minister Narendra Modi, Union Home Minister Amit Shah, BJP Chief J P Nadda, Union Ministers and senior party leaders campaigned in all the twenty seats the BJP is contesting. BJP national General Secretary and in-charge of Tamil Nadu, C T Ravi told IANS that Prime Minister Modi has has addressed three rallies in Tamil Nadu. Union Home Minister Amit Shah and Nadda also frequently visited the state.

"A senior central leader has visited one of the 20 Assembly constituencies the BJP is contesting. In some constituencies, four or five programmes of central leaders were held," Ravi said. He added that people are supporting the BJP and other NDA candidates to continue the development work started by the Modi government in the state.

"Modi government at the Centre has delivered its developmental agenda in the state. The Modi government has already given development projects worth over Rs 6.10 lakh crore to the state directly benefiting 1.60 crore people there," he said.

Ravi claimed that Modi has connected New Delhi to Tamil Nadu and it is a connection of hearts. "People will vote for BJP and NDA for all the work Modiji has done for Tamil Nadu," he said.

Campaigning for the Tamil Nadu Assembly polls will end on Sunday evening. Voting for the 234-member Assembly will be held on April 6 in a single phase. Counting of votes will take place on May 2.
Subscribing to our services is a three step process. First you have to create an account and then you have to pick if you want to subscribe to digital and or print.

Some people only want to be a digital subscriber to get access online and others want to also receive the print edition.

If you are already a print subscriber and want online access, it is free, you simply have to create an online account and then attach your print subscription account number to the online account you create.
The Election Commission on Saturday informed the High Court that three Assembly constituencies bordering will be sealed on the day of the state assembly elections on April 6.

The EC said central forces would also be deployed in problematic booths in the three constituencies--Udumbanchola, Peerumedu and Devikulam Assembly seats in Idukki district.

A submission in this regard was made when the court considered the petition filed by UDF candidates of these constituencies, seeking a direction to the Commission to seal the entry points of the constituencies through which vehicles enter through border and deploy central forces for protection in the problematic booths there.

In their pleas, the candidates expressed apprehension that those people who have their names in electoral rolls in and may cast ballots in two states.

In response to another plea filed by the UDF Candidate in Aroor Constituency (Alappuzha district), seeking videography of voting to detect bogus voting, the poll panel also informed the court that the same would be done on the day of voting.

Considering the assurances given by the Election Commission, Justice N Nagaresh disposed of the petitions.
WASHINGTON - Rep. Matt Gaetz repeatedly boasted to people involved in Florida politics about women he met through a county tax collector who has since been charged by federal authorities with sex trafficking of a minor, according to two people who heard his comments directly.

They said the Republican congressman, first elected in 2016, also showed them videos on his phone of naked or topless women on multiple occasions, including at parties with Joel Greenberg, the former tax collector for Seminole County. The women appeared to be adults, and could be seen dancing, hanging out by a pool and, in one case, using a hula hoop without clothing, the people said.

"Matt was never shy about talking about his relationship to Joel and the access to women that Joel provided him," said one of these people who, like others, spoke on the condition of anonymity to be candid. "What these videos implied was that there was something of a sexual nature going on with everyone."

The Justice Department is investigating whether Gaetz, whose loyalty to former president Donald Trump and frequent cable news appearances has endeared him to many conservatives, paid for sex with a number of women in violation of federal sex-trafficking laws, a person familiar with the matter said. The investigation began while Trump was in office and proceeded with the approval of his attorney general.

Gaetz has not been charged with a crime. Such cases can be complicated, and potential crimes involving the solicitation of sex are typically investigated by state authorities.

Federal law enforcement officials suspect that Greenberg procured a number of women for Gaetz and are exploring whether they sometimes shared sexual partners, including at least one girl who was 17 years old at the time of the alleged encounter, a person familiar with the matter said.

In addition to the charge of child sex trafficking, Greenberg faces a host of other allegations. He has pleaded not guilty and is scheduled to go on trial this summer. His attorney declined to comment.

Gaetz is suspected of patronizing websites that allow men to set up dates with women in exchange for dinners or hotel stays, a person familiar with the matter said. It is not a crime to use such services unless money is exchanged explicitly for sex. Investigators have obtained witness testimony and other evidence suggesting Gaetz did so, a person familiar with the matter said. Some of that evidence was first reported by the New York Times.

Investigators also are exploring allegations that Gaetz and others used illegal drugs during some of their encounters with women, a person familiar with the matter said.

Gaetz, 38, became engaged in December. He has denied having any improper relations with an underage girl, and accused the Justice Department of trying to criminalize legal sexual conduct. He said he paid for flights and hotel rooms for women he has dated, and alleged that the federal investigation is tainted by a separate effort to extort his family for money to fund the rescue or recovery of a former FBI agent who went missing in Iran more than a decade ago.

When contacted Friday to ask about the claims that he boasted of women he met through Greenberg and showed people videos of naked women, among other allegations, Gaetz responded with a statement by text message.

"I have never paid for sex. I have never had sex with an underage person as an adult," Gaetz wrote. "I have dated women in college and graduate school, and have boasted about how great they are across the board, as boyfriends do. At times women I have dated have joined me at campaign events."

People who know Gaetz said his social life and behavior shifted as his celebrity grew.

CNN reported Thursday that Gaetz had used his phone to show fellow lawmakers similar photos and videos of nude women, including while on the House floor. One of the videos showed a naked woman with a hula hoop, the network reported. Neither Gaetz nor his spokesman responded to CNN's questions about the allegations.

In early 2018, as the #MeToo movement gained prominence and forced several lawmakers to resign, an anonymous complaint was made to the office of then-House Speaker Paul Ryan, R-Wis.. Gaetz had been accused of leering at a young female staffer in the Capitol, according to a person familiar with the complaint. Ryan did not speak directly to Gaetz about the complaint, but senior staff questioned the first-term lawmaker about his behavior, this person said. He denied any wrongdoing, and the issue went no further, as the complaint was anonymous and the aide did not press the matter.

Gaetz did not respond to questions about the conversation.

As a congressman, Gaetz often has charted his own way in the Republican conference, frequently criticizing leaders and scoffing at raising money for party efforts. He has long been a vocal proponent of decriminalizing recreational marijuana use and became an outspoken defender of former Rep. Katie Hill, D-Calif., after intimate nude photos of her were published online in an apparent effort to embarrass her.

"Who among us would look perfect if every ex leaked every photo/text?" Gaetz tweeted in 2019 as Hill faced internal investigation over allegations she had an intimate relationship with a staffer. "Katie isn't being investigated by Ethics or maligned because she hurt anyone - it is because she is different."

After reports surfaced this week that Gaetz faced investigation for a potential sex crime, Hill tweeted - without mentioning him specifically - "A 17 year old girl is a girl, not a woman. Statutory rape is rape, not anything else." Hill could not be reached for comment.

In 2017, Gaetz was the only member of Congress to vote against a human-trafficking bill, arguing then that he opposed the measure because it would "create more federal government." The bill directed the Transportation Department to appoint a point person and advisory committee to coordinate human-trafficking prevention efforts. The Congressional Budget Office estimated the cost of the bill at about $1 million over four years.

The move stood in contrast from Gaetz's work while in the Florida legislature, where one of his priorities was to strengthen laws against human trafficking and prostitution. He co-sponsored legislation in 2012 to make it easier for law enforcement agencies to intercept communications and prosecute such crimes. A year later, he targeted massage parlors, saying he wanted to "go after those" engaged in sexual exploitation, and later helped pass legislation that further increased penalties for such crimes - a measure that was needed, he said, "for the protection of young people."

At times in recent years, though, Gaetz was known to remark about hanging out with crowds younger than himself. Three people involved in the 2018 gubernatorial campaign of Ron DeSantis said that Gaetz, an adviser who later helped lead DeSantis's transition team, repeatedly suggested that events be scheduled in a way that would "end the night in a college town." These people said that, although the suggestions seemed lighthearted, they understood Gaetz to be implying that he wanted to visit bars in those communities. Gaetz turned 36 during the DeSantis campaign.

"This is an ongoing DOJ investigation. We have no comment," DeSantis spokeswoman Meredith Beatrice said in an email. Gaetz did not respond to a question about the claim.

Although he represents a part of the Florida panhandle, Gaetz established a social life in the center of the state, forging friendships with a number of Orlando-area Republicans. Seminole County includes the northern portion of the metropolitan area.

Gaetz made no secret of his friendship with Greenberg, posing for a picture with him at the White House and repeatedly tagging him on his Twitter account or retweeting posts with his name, including in a since-deleted post about decriminalizing marijuana, which Greenberg also supported.

During a 2017 interview with a local radio station, WFLA, Gaetz floated Greenberg's name as the best Republican candidate for Florida's 7th Congressional District, which was held by a Democrat.

"Joel Greenberg has gone to the Seminole County tax collector's office and been a disrupter," Gaetz said. "If you look at what people want in the country right now, they want that disrupter."

Greenberg faces a variety of charges in addition to sex trafficking of a child, including making fake identifications and stalking a political rival. He was arrested again in March after allegedly violating his bond by traveling to another city in Florida without permission. According to a police report, he showed up uninvited at his mother-in-law's home in search of his wife. Greenberg also has been charged with restarting two companies after his arrest to obtain pandemic-relief loans through Small Business Administration.

- - -

The Washington Post's Paul Kane and Michael Kranish contributed to this report.
(From left) Japan's national security secretariat secretary general Shigeru Kitamura, United States national security advisor Jake Sullivan, and South Korea's national security adviser Suh Hoon share conversations at Washington, D.C., where they had a meeting on April 2. Courtesy of South Korea's Ministry of Foreign Affairs





South Korea, Japan and the United States have agreed on the need to peacefully resolve the North Korean nuclear issue as they reaffirmed their joint efforts to quickly resume denuclearization talks with Pyongyang, the country's national security adviser, Suh Hoon, said Friday.







"South Korea, the U.S. and Japan agreed on the urgency of the North Korea nuclear issue and the need for a diplomatic solution to the issue," Suh told reporters after a three-way meeting with his U.S. and Japanese counterparts, Jake Sullivan and Shigeru Kitamura.







The three also agreed that "efforts to resume North Korea-U.S. negotiations at an early date must continue," he added.







Friday's meeting between the top security advisers of South Korea, Japan and the United States marked the first of its kind since U.S. President Joe Biden took office Jan. 20.







The face-to-face meeting was held at the U.S. Naval Academy in Annapolis, Maryland.







Washington earlier said the meeting would provide an opportunity to explain the outcome of its ongoing North Korea policy review to the two key U.S. allies in Asia, and also provide Seoul and Tokyo with "another opportunity" to provide their own input into the new U.S. policy on North Korea.







"The U.S. side explained the interim outcome of the ongoing North Korea policy review, and the security advisers of South Korea, the U.S. and Japan held in-depth discussions on various issues related to preparations and implementation of measures for negotiations with North Korea," Suh said of the meeting.







The U.S. has said its policy review will provide a "new" approach to dealing with nuclear-armed North Korea and that the review is now in its final stages.







The Biden administration is said to have reviewed all denuclearization negotiations and agreements with North Korea over the past 30 years, including the Singapore agreement in which North Korean leader Kim Jong-un committed to full denuclearization of the North in exchange for security guarantees.







Pyongyang, however, has stayed away from denuclearization talks since Kim's Hanoi summit with former U.S. President Donald Trump, held in February 2019, ended without a deal.







The test launching of a new tactical guided missile, developed by the Academy of Defense Science, from an undisclosed location in North Korea, is seen in this March 25, 2021, file photo provided by the North Korean government. AP





The Biden administration has sought to engage with North Korea since mid-February but says the reclusive nation remains unresponsive to its overtures.







North Korea has said it will continue to ignore the U.S.' approaches until Washington gives up its hostility toward Pyongyang.







Suh said he highlighted the positive effect a good inter-Korean relationship may have on denuclearization talks with the North.







"We underlined the importance of engagement with North Korea in the denuclearization process, coordinated strategy between South Korea and the United States and the virtuous cycle between inter-Korean relations and denuclearization negotiations," he said of his bilateral talks with Sullivan.







"The U.S. side explained the progress so far with regard to its North Korea policy review and agreed to continue consulting with us throughout the remainder of the review process," he said.







Suh also held bilateral talks with his Japanese counterpart, Kitamura.







"South Korea and Japan agreed to play constructive and active roles in the process of the U.S. North Korea policy review, and agreed on the importance of cooperation between South Korea, the U.S. and Japan for the resolution of the North Korean nuclear issue," he told reporters.







The South Korean official said the bilateral and trilateral talks provided an opportunity for the three countries to discuss a wide range of issues of mutual interest.







"South Korea, the U.S. and Japan also discussed global issues such as climate change and agreed to strengthen their cooperation based on their shared values. As a result, I believe the three countries were able to hold strategic dialogue on various issues of mutual interest through this trilateral security advisers' meeting," Suh said. (Yonhap)


Marcella Blackmon struggled to nail down a COVID-19 vaccine appointment.

The Swatara Township resident spent two months checking availability at clinics and drug stores.

You get nothing online, she said.

On Saturday morning, Blackmons day finally arrived as she stood in line at Camp Curtin YMCA on Sixth Street in Harrisburg for a COVID-19 Vaccination Clinic hosted by Shades of Greatness. The foundation is was founded by Harrisburg native LeSean McCoy, who most recently played as a part of the 2021 Super Bowl champion Tampa Bay Buccaneers.

He has always been a great guy. He has always been giving back to the community he came from, so I applaud him, Blackmon said.

Shades of Greatness partnered with Camp Curtain YMCA and Hershey Pharmacy & Gift Shop to produce the clinic held until 3 p.m. today for eligible residents. McCoy was not present for the clinic.

Weve been going to where the people are, said Chuck Kray, pharmacy director.

Krays staff has administered about 20,000 vaccines, between those given at the pharmacy and through about 50 local clinics. His son, David Kray, director of operations for the pharmacy, stressed the importance of bringing vaccines to those who dont have access to them.

He said they will administer about 500 Moderna vaccines today, and follow up in four weeks with second doses.

In Pennsylvania, almost 3.7 million first shots have been administered, Pa. officials have said, and 1.96 million people have gotten a second shot when required.

Still, a small number of Black residents have received the vaccine. In fact, more than 1.2 million white Pennsylvanians have received at least one dose, compared to about 68,000 Black residents, according to state Department of Health figures.

Some say its the result of a historical mistrust of government when it comes to public health, while others say a lack of access to vaccines isnt getting enough attention.

Lateta Thompson of Harrisburg was just grateful Shades of Greatness made the clinic available.

Running back LeSean McCoy, a member of the Super Bowl champion Tampa Bay Buccaneers last season, wants to play another season in the NFL.(AP Photo/Steve Luciano)

Im proud of him. I thank him. I thank him very much because without him it wouldnt be possible, she said.

Thompson said she has lost a few family members and friends from coronavirus. While she was nervous about getting the shot, she said its the best thing to do.

I was on the fence. I feel its better to protect myself than be without, especially with the new strains out here, Thompson said. I think its just the best thing for me.

MORE:

Latest on COVID-19 in Pa.: 5.5 million vaccinations given out as state reports 5,300 new cases

Central Pa. restaurants see a future ahead as COVID restrictions loosen

Pa. must convince rural residents freedom hinges on COVID-19 vaccine, health secretary says
How's this for some disgusting, insulting patronizing of Latino voters from the left-wing Democrat political consultant establishment?

An unwittingly revolting report comes from Axios:

A new analysis of U.S. voters suggests  counterintuitively  that the coronavirus pandemic may have helped drive former President Donald Trump's surprising increase in support from Latinos last November. The big picture: By shifting Trump's rhetoric from immigration to fears around the economic impact of shutdowns, the virus gave conservative and low-information Latino voters a permission structure to back Trump even if they shunned him in 2016, according to preliminary findings by research firm Equis that were reviewed by Axios.

Here's that hyphenated word again, boldface mine:

Trump's campaign took advantage of Democrats' complacency, campaigned relentlessly, and spent money and effort targeting low-information Latino voters on the media channels they use more frequently.

These Equis creatures who came up with this epithet were former Obama operatives, of course. Their "analysis," if you can call it that, would have you think any Latino voter who voted for President Trump had to be either an "incorrigible" Cuban-American voter from Miami, whom they've known about for years, or a "low-information voter" who couldn't tell you who the president was if they were voting for him themselves.

Facts on the ground tell the exact opposite story.

Obama was for open borders? Check. Latinos in those border counties of Texas  and they are very Latino indeed  saw how that policy worked out as the illegal migrants surged in. They voted for Trump a little in 2016, and voted for Trump a lot in 2020, shocking Democrats, who were utterly stupefied to see that Trump had carried those counties.

That's not low-information voters; that's high-information voters, voters who, up-close-and-personal, lived both policies firsthand as the unvetted illegal migrants surged in, raising crime, filling emergency rooms, raising demands on local social services, dragging schools down, and generally making lives miserable for those living on the sharp end of illegal border waves. To call these voters "low-information voters" is an insult like no other. So much for "lived experience," as the lefties say.

Gee, maybe if Joe Biden would have gotten out of his basement and campaigned in 2020, these border-county voters would have all the information they'd need to become the high-information voters who would have pulled the lever for Joe Biden and impressed these Obamatons, so the logic could go. Can you say "barf"?

Meanwhile, Trump's inroads among Latinos, while getting Democrats caught flat-footed, was far from just a matter of those much-raged-about Miami Cubans or those "counter-intuitive" Latino voters in the Texas border counties and beyond. It extended all over, as the Axios study noted. Florida was apparently the worst from the perspective of these leftists, because Miami-Cubans are just one Latino subgroup in a very large whole in that state.

Florida's Latino voter base now extends to Miami Venezuelans, Miami Colombians, Miami Bolivians, Miami Nicaraguans, Miami Argentinians, and apparently a certain number of Orlando Puerto Ricans.

What do these national origins of these U.S. voters have in common?

One, they tend to be recent arrivals to the U.S. (or the U.S. mainland in the case of Puerto Rico) who became citizens if they weren't (this doesn't include Puerto Rico) and who now vote. Even the Axios study cited found that much.

In other states, vote-switching was less a factor than Trump's ability to turn out new Latino voters. In Nevada they were "less ideological, younger, more foreign-born than regular Trump voters," per Equis.

Two, having lived in their homelands with fresh memories of it, they've seen this Biden movie before. They've experienced some kind of rabid left-wing socialism firsthand with all its impoverishment, elites lining their pockets, the loss of their own freedom and wealth, the state's flaming extended lies, the Sandalista lefties who beat their fins in approval, and the full blown destruction that comes of it. Argentinians have experienced Peronist leftism, which is fascist, Bidenly, and nasty indeed. Nicaraguans have dealt with two vile waves of Ortega communism and all the claps of the Sandalistas around it. Bolivians have been assaulted by communist Evo Morales, the creep who gave the feckless Pope Francis a hammer-and-sickle cross. Miami Colombians have experienced all the loveliness of Antifa protesters in the FARC Marxist narco-terrorist monster, which wrought violence and untold evils everywhere it went. They also have a helluva lot of university leftists and "journalists" willing to enable this vileness to ensure it stayed around. Venezuelans and Cubans have experienced complete full hell of socialism, down to the state torture, show trials, political prisons, and dictatorship in democracy's clothing which extends the lie content, just as what Garry Kasparov, Aleksander Solzhenitsyn, and many, many other Soviet dissidents described what happened in the Soviet Union. The lies were the worst of it to them, and sure enough, Joe Biden likes putting out fantastical lies.

Heck, it's not even those Latinos, either. Mexicans have told me they see the outlines of the PRI in what the Democratic Party has become in rigged one-party-state California, with its amazing "perfect dictatorship," as Mario Vargas Llosa put it, and don't like that, either. Even Mexican-Americans in California have a lot of Trump voters based on this historic memory. One told me that the stopped vote-counting at 2:00 A.M. in four swing states, with the subsequent reversed direction, is exactly what happened in Mexico during one of its rigged elections. They thought Democrats actually picked up the idea from it. There are also the Puerto Ricans, whose commonwealth has gone bankrupt from massive socialist patronage schemes and is now drowning in debt and corruption. The vile, Democrat-led Jones Act does hurt the island, but so do socialism and corruption. There has been a shift, not a big one, but certainly some movement among those voters who like the Mexicans, have experienced a more upstream version of socialism, same as the full-monty Cubans and Venezuelans.

"Lived experience" is a big deal, for at least some Latino voters, but there sure as heck are other reasons, too.

Axios reports that these Obamatons who did this study found that Latinos do care about bread-and-butter issues more than immigration, contrary to what the open-borders lobby would have you think. That ought to be a given; Latinos are like other voters in that they like jobs, they like having a place to live, they like good rather than bad (leftist teachers union wokester bad-test-score) public schools for their kids, they like low, fair, predictable taxes, and they like one set of laws for everyone, all Trump trump cards that Democrats have long abandoned.

Well, yeah. The report suggests that Democrats stay "engaged" with this community all four years instead of just at campaign time, which sounds like Maoist megaphone propaganda to be directed at them all four years, telling them how great Biden is. Lucky them. It doesn't sound like actual jobs, actual good schools, actual fair taxes, or actual housing, maybe except for a select few whose incomes are low enough, such as illegal aliens coming in without waiting their place in line as these voters did. Sound attractive?

It's stupid stuff, and Democrats are both insulting Latino voters and deluding themselves.

The hard reality is, Trump ran and won as the ultimate outsider, the only outsider ever to penetrate the Washington swamp, and he had a keen sense of what voters were thinking, never insulting the little guy, always taking his battles to puffed up media and Hollywood figures, and nasty political operatives. Everything he ever did was to help the little guy, not himself and not his nomenklatura. Latino voters may be newer immigrants, and some may be of lower education, lower status, and lower political interest, but that's precisely the point. The system is rigged against those people most, and they understood that perfectly. That's, as I argued, not low-information voters; that's high information voters. They understood and recognized that Trump was in their tree against an entrenched and powerful elite that claimed to care about them and only lined its own pockets. They've seen this movie before and can only throw rotten tomatoes at it. Now Democratic operatives from the Obama camp are insulting them as a result. How very disgusting.

Image: Pixabay, Pixabay License.
The Lao legislative leader congratulated Hue on his election as the new Chairman of the NA of Vietnam, expressing his belief that under his leadership, the Vietnamese NA will continue to gain greater success, contributing to raising the position of the Vietnamese NA in the regional and international forums and fostering the ties between Vietnam and Laos.

NA Chairman Hue congratulated Laos on the successful organisation of important events of the country, including the general election and completion of the State apparatus.

He affirmed that Vietnam always attaches great important and gives top priority to the promotion of the special ties with Laos, considering it as a strategic issue of vital significance to both countries. Vietnam strongly and comprehensively supports Lao leaders and people during the neighbouring country's national construction, he said.

The NA leader said that despite impacts of COVID-19 pandemic, the two sides have still maintained high-level meetings and discussions as well as important cooperation mechanisms. Two-way trade has continuously increased to over 4 billion USD, he noted, adding that bilateral security, defence, education-training and transport cooperation has been promoted.

Hue expressed his delight that the Lao NA Building project, a gift from Vietnam, has been implemented on schedule to serve as the venue for the first meeting of the Lao NA in the new tenure.

He proposed that the two side focus on supervising the implementation of agrements reached between the two countries at the 43rd Inter-Governmental Committee Meeting.

He suggested that the Lao NA continue to maintain high-level meetings and visits as well as cooperation mechanisms with Vietnam, noting that he hopes to welcome Saysomphone Phomvihane in Vietnam soon.

The two NAs should share experience with each other, especially in building institutions and the legal system as well as supervision over law enforcement activities, while continue working closely in supervising joint investment projects, he said.

He went on to say that agencies of both sides should collaborate effectively in organizing activities to mark the 60th anniversary of Vietnam-Laos diplomatic relations and the 45th anniversary of the Friendship and Amity Treaty between the two countries in 2022, thus educating youngsters of both sides on the special traditional ties between the two countries.

Agreeing with his Vietnamese counterpart, Lao NA leader Saysomphone Phomvihane expressed his delight at the cooperation between the two NA over the years, the new NA building is a precious gift that Vietnam has given to Laos, he said and thanked the Party, State and people of Vietnam for the gift.

He agreed with Hue on the future cooperation orientations between the two NAs, adding that the two sides should continue working closely at international forums.

The two NA leaders accepted each other's invitations to visit their respective countries and promised to arrange the visits as soon as possible.
New Delhi: Eight states are witnessing a steep rise in daily new COVID-19 cases and account for 81.42 per cent of the infections reported on Saturday, the Union Health Ministry said.

These eight states are Maharashtra, Karnataka, Chhattisgarh, Delhi, Tamil Nadu, Uttar Pradesh, Punjab and Madhya Pradesh. India's tally of COVID-19 active caseload also increased to 6,58,909 and now comprises 5.32 per cent of the total infections. In a day, there has been a net rise of 44,213 active cases.

Ten districts - Pune, Mumbai, Nagpur, Thane, Nashik, Bengaluru Urban, Aurangabad, Delhi, Ahmednagar and Nanded - account for 50 per cent of the total active caseload of the country.

Maharashtra has shown a nine-fold jump, the maximum increase in the number of active cases in the last two months. In percentage terms, Punjab has reported the maximum increase in active cases.

Five states -- Maharashtra, Karnataka, Chhattisgarh, Kerala and Punjab --cumulatively account for 77.3 per cent of the total active cases in the country. Maharashtra alone accounts for 59.36 per cent of the total active caseload of the country.

India on Saturday recorded 89,129 new COVID-19 cases in a day, the highest daily rise in around six-and-half-months, taking the nationwide tally of infections to over 1.23 crore, according to the Union Health Ministry data on Saturday.

The death toll increased to 1,64,110 with 714 more fatalities in a day, also the highest since October 21. Maharashtra has reported the highest daily new cases at 47,913, followed by 4,991 in Karnataka and 4,174 in Chhattisgarh.

Twelve states --Maharashtra, Chhattisgarh, Punjab, Karnataka, Delhi, Tamil Nadu, Madhya Pradesh, Gujarat, Haryana, Rajasthan, Uttar Pradesh and Kerala - are displaying an upward trajectory in daily new cases, the health ministry said.

Cabinet Secretary Rajiv Gauba chaired a high-level review meeting on Friday with chief secretaries, director-generals of police and health secretaries of all states, with a focus on 11 states and Union Territories that have been reporting a very high rise in daily cases and fatality because of COVID-19 in the last two weeks.

These states and UTs "of grave concern" were advised to take up immediate and effective measures to ensure containment of active cases and daily deaths through enhanced testing, strict containment, prompt contact tracing and enforcement of COVID-appropriate behaviour, and adherence to the standard clinical management protocol shared earlier with all states and UTs.

India's cumulative recoveries stand at 1,15,69,241 with 44,202 recoveries being registered in a day. Of the 714 fatalities were reported in a day, six states account for 85.85 per cent of the new deaths. Maharashtra saw a maximum of 481 deaths, followed by 57 in Punjab.

Thirteen states and UTs have not reported any COVID-19 deaths in a day. These are Odisha, Assam, Ladakh, Dadra and Nagar Haveli and Daman and Diu, Nagaland, Meghalaya, Manipur, Tripura, Sikkim, Lakshadweep, Mizoram, the Andaman and Nicobar Islands and Arunachal Pradesh.

In a significant development in the fight against COVID-19, the cumulative number of COVID-19 vaccine doses administered in the country has crossed 7.3 crore mark.

Cumulatively, 7,30,54,295 vaccine doses have been administered through 11,53,614 sessions, according to the provisional report till 7 am on Saturday. The cumulative vaccination figure includes over 6 crore first doses, while the second dose numbers are also nearing the 1 crore mark, the ministry said.

Live TV
The Daily Star

by Mahfuz Anam

March 31, 2021

The ostensible reason for the recent protests was Indian PM Narendra Modis latest visit. The real reason was to signal that Hefajat-e-Islam (HI) under its new leadership was not the same party as it was under its former chief Shah Ahmad Shafi and his immediate followers and to announce that HI was ready to emerge as a new political force under the guise of protecting the majority faith. It is also a signal that the governments policy of appeasement has totally failed and the compromises and concessions so generously and unthinkingly given have only helped make them stronger and more determined to challenge the fundamental character of the country. The situation stands as a testimony to the follies of a politics of power and arrogance that has led the ruling party to cripple all its political allies representing secular and democratic forces.

To politically obliterate Jamaat, Sheikh Hasina wanted to create an alternative Islamic force. The choice was Qawmi-Madrasa based Hefajat-e-Islam(HI). The logic was as simple as it was attractive. The AL needed an "Islamic party" that did not have the unacceptable features of opposing the birth of Bangladesh and being involved in anti-liberation activities and whose leaders were not among the war criminals of 1971. By having such a force aligned with it, AL could easily obliterate the Jamaat.

Following on the big showdown in May 2013, the government developed a close relationship with HI high-ups especially with its late chief Shah Ahmad Shafi, who termed the PM "Qawmi Ma"(Mother of the Qawmi) at a rally on November 4, 2018, after her government recognised the highest degree given out by the Qawmi Madrasas as equivalent to post graduate degree.

The ostensible reason for the recognition was that the government could not leave out of the "mainstream" the thousands of students who pass out from the Qawmi system. The real reason was to gain political favour. This decision becomes highly questionable in the face of the facts that the government has no say over Qawmi madrasas curriculum, teaching methods, subjects to be covered, qualification of the teachers, etc. Compared with the Alia-Madrasa system over which the government has full control, as it should, it has none over the Qawmi system. Yet the official recognition came. This was HIs most persistent demand and the most coveted victory. In return, it remained docile and silent as Sheikh Hasina ramrodded her brand of politics down the throat of the rest of the society.

Awami League and Sheikh Hasina thought that they had a winning formula of politics  divide the Islamic forces, replace the traditional opposition with a domesticated one and suppress the independent media and rule happily. It did not work, as it never did in the past, anywhere in the world. For fundamentalist forces political alliances are always a matter of convenience and thus temporary, and never a matter of principle.

Whatever may have been its original aim HI has become today a political party for all practical purposes. According to a report by our senior correspondent Rashidul Hasan, published on 9th December 2020, "Hefajat-e-Islam is now more than a political party with the strategic disclaimer of having no political agenda." " About one-third of its leaders of the new committee who seized control come from political parties who are part of a 20-party alliance led by BNP.

HI was formed in 2010 comprising teachers of several Madrasas in Chottogram and it was triggered by the draft "Women Development Policy" of 2009 that advocated equal inheritance of property for men and women. However, the real emergence can be said to have occurred in 2013 after the "Shahbagh movement" of students demanding death penalty for all war criminals of 1971. The HI countered by holding a militant demonstration at Shapla Chattar (in front of Bangladesh Bank) placing a 13-point demand that included, among many others, the introduction of a Blasphemy Law, punishment of atheists, changes in school curriculum, etc. Who were its targets? Free thinkers, liberal forces and advocates of inclusive values and culture.

Following the frontal confrontation between law enforcement agencies and HI activists leading to several deaths, the government went for a serious behind-the-scene negotiations and with the acceptance of several of their 13-point demand, maintained a fragile peace between the two sides till the death of its leader Shah Ahmad Shafi that tilted the balance of power within HI towards the more anti-government faction of.

Sheikh Hasinas government is a victim of the classic notion of "Being too clever for its own good". The "know-all" and "have all the answers" attitude blinded them to the obvious faults and closed their minds to alternative suggestions. The fact that appeasement never works, especially against faith-based extremism, is a universally proven lesson that seem to have escaped this government.

On the other hand, for reasons that we know, AL went after BNP which, with all its faults, was not a faith-based organisation. In its determined effort to destroy BNP it destroyed a secular alternative in our political spectrum whose secular credentials, however, were considerably damaged by its alliance with Jamaat  which officially still exists - and its ambiguous stance and ambivalent attitude towards the war crimes trial.

At the same time the ruling party went against the civil society, mocking them and denigrating them in various ways and even calling them "dustbins" who carry the sign "use me", meaning that they were such an unethical and unprincipled bunch as to be open for use by anybody willing to pay them for their services.

It was a similar story for the NGOs whose foreign funding was held up as their main identity and the fact of their several-decades-long contribution in the crucial social sectors  like education, health, child mortality, etc  being completely ignored. Their particular contribution in transforming lives at the grassroots level and also acting as a vital force for women empowerment and strengthening democratic and secular values were never given the credit that they deserved. Micro-credit which has been globally accepted as an effective method, albeit with some limitations, of poverty alleviation was literally mocked at as a method of entrapment of the poor into greater debt. Everything the NGOs achieved was questioned.

The independent media and voices of secular democratic dissent were shut with one singular step  enactment of the DSA. Interestingly none of the hate-speech makers and the constant haranguing by the faith preachers of the supporters of the ideals of the Liberation War were ever brought under DSA. It was only as if to throttle the independent media and critics of the government that DSA was instituted and not for those whose politics, speeches, every utterance were directed at the fundamentals of our constitution.

All the above  the civil society, the NGOs and the independent media  were part of the secular and democratic forces that contributed to Bangladeshs globally praised journey towards advancement that we just celebrated with a 10-day gala function. It is these very forces that the government either ignored, denigrated or supressed and who now, collectively, could have greatly strengthened the governments hands in its present and upcoming fight against forces whose ugly manifestations we just witnessed.

Just as the darkest spot lies where the light shines brightest, so also at the very moment of our most brilliant success we stand bared of a very serious vulnerability.

If there was ever a need for a wake-up call for the ruling party to re-examine its brand of politics, it is now. It must also serve as a wake-up call for us all.
The deepest ever shipwreck has now been fully mapped and filmed after a US crew was able to reach the site 21,180ft below the Philippine Sea.

The WWII destroyer USS Johnston was destroyed 75 years ago in the Pacific during the largest naval battle in history, the Battle of Leyte Gulf.

The ship sank four miles to the bottom of the ocean, with the loss of 186 of her crew.

The wreck was discovered in 2019, but it was not until now that a team has been able to fully map the remains, which is more than 100 feet deeper than previously believed.

A submersible piloted by Caladan Oceanic, a US-based private company that focuses on undersea expeditions, reached the shipwreck in the darkness of the seabed on March 31. The expedition now holds the record of being the deepest shipwreck dive in history.

The deepest ever shipwreck USS Johnston has been reached by a US crew who said the ship was remarkably well intact with the hull number 557 clearly visible on both sides of its bow

During a series of dives, the former US Navy officers were able to relocate the USS Johnston and then spent several hours surveying and mapping the remains of the 376-ft long ship.

Victor Vescovo, the American private equity investor, retired naval officer, and undersea explorer who led the expedition, spoke to the BBC about the challenges in locating the shipwreck.

'The wreck is so deep so there's very little oxygen down there, and while there is a little bit of contamination from marine life, it's remarkably well intact except for the damage it took from the furious fight,' he explained.

The explorer added that the hull number 557 was clearly visible on both sides of its bow, and other parts of the ship were also still fully intact.

'The gun turrets are right where they're supposed to be, they're even pointing in the correct direction that we believe that they should have been, as they were continuing to fire until the ship went down,' Vescovo said.

'And we saw the twin torpedo racks in the middle of the ship that were completely empty because they shot all the torpedoes at the Japanese.'

The USS Jonston was sunk on October 25, 1944, after she was outnumbered and outgunned in a brave advance against the Imperial Japanese Navy

The USS Johnston was discovered in the Philippine Sea, 75 years after it was sunk by the Japanese on October 25, 1944 in the Battle off Samar, an engagement in the Battle of Leyte Gulf.

Experts from the Research Vessel Petrel, owned by Microsoft co-founder Paul Allen, had previously released video of the battered and twisted hull lying eerily on the ocean floor.

Of the 327 US naval personnel aboard the USS Johnston, just 141 survived. Of those who died, around 90 were alive in the water as the ship sank but never seen again.

Victor Vescovo, who led the expedition, said the gun turrets are right where they're supposed to be, pointing in the correct direction as they were continuing to fire until the ship went down

Experts from the Research Vessel Petrel released video of the battered and twisted metal lying on the ocean floor when the wreck was discovered in 2019

'There is no hull structure intact that we can find. This wreck is completely decimated, it is just debris,' the crew revealed in 2019.

'This wreck is either the Johnston or the Hoel... This wreck is in the southern part of where the battle took place and this is one of the reasons why we believe this is the Johnston, because she sank later, after Hoel did.'

The vessel is famed for her brave action in the Battle off Samar. Outgunned by the Japanese, USS Johnston led an attack of a handful of lightships against a colossal fleet until it was surrounded.

According to the US Navy: 'One by one, Johnston took on Japanese destroyers, although Johnston had no torpedoes and limited firepower. After two-and-a-half hours, Johnston - dead in the water - was surrounded by enemy ships.

The Battle off Samar in which the USS Johnston is famed for her brave action, leading an attack of a handful of lightships against a colossal fleet until it was surrounded

Movements during the Battle off Samar on October 25, 1944, it is cited as one of the greatest last stands in naval history

'At 9.45 am, Evans gave the order to abandon ship. Twenty-five minutes later, the destroyer rolled over and began to sink.'

Her action in the battle was central to the overarching Battle of Leyte Gulf, considered to be the largest naval battle in history with more than 200,000 personnel.

The Imperial Japanese Navy rallied nearly all of its major naval vessels in the fight, in which the US and Australian forces intended to invade the islands in Southeast Asia through which Japan derived industrial strength.

The Allies were successful in defeating the Japanese warships despite kamikaze attacks raining down from the sky.

It is often cited as one of the greatest last stands in military history.

According to Guinness World Records, the deepest wreck before the USS Johnston was a German vessel discovered at 18,904ft.

Battle of Leyte Gulf The Battle of Leyte Gulf, fought in waters surrounding the Philippine islands of Leyte, Samra and Luzon, took place from 23-26 October 1944. It was the largest naval battle of WWII and is considered by some to be the largest naval battle in history. It involved 200,000 naval personnel, the Allied forces of the US and Australia against Japan, and spanned over 100,000 square miles of sea. It was one of the decisive battles of the war, savaging the Imperial Japanese Navy and paving the way for the American invasion of the Philippines, a key industrial and strategic asset of Japan. The battle was preceded a few days prior by the US amphibious assault on the island of Leyte. Japan responded with Sho-Go ('Victory Operation'), intended to lure the Allied covering forces away from the island and then strike at the landing site once it had been exposed. Vice Admirals Shoji Nishimura and Kiyohide Shima were to strike the landing area via the Surigao Strait and the 'Center Force,' commanded by Vice Admiral Takeo Kurita, would travel south through the Philippine Sea to make its approach. Submarines from the US Seventh Fleet spotted the approach of the first Japanese fleet and sank two heavy cruisers on October 23. There followed three days of uninterrupted surface and air combat. The practice of deploying kamikaze suicide airmen was most intense from the beginning of Leyte Gulf until the end the war. The battle decimated the Japanese and crushed the strategic threat of its Philippine territory, a particular catastrophe being the loss of oil needed to fuel its war machine. Admiral Mitsumasa Yonai, the Naval Minister, remarked that the defeat at Leyte Gulf was 'tantamount to the loss of the Philippines.' And of its broader significance, he said: 'I felt that it was the end.' Source: Encyclopaedia Britannica Advertisement
An eight-year-old boy from Pakistan who accidentally entered into the Indian territory at the Barmer border in Rajasthan was safely handed over to Pakistan Rangers by the BSF on Friday night.

The Border Security Force (BSF) officials also fed the boy after taking him into custody and then held a flag meeting with the Pakistani rangers and handed over the child. The child was in good health at the time of the handover to the Pakistani officers.

Karim entered the Indian border at about 5 pm on Friday. Displaying an exemplary show of humanity, the Border Security Force soldiers offered food to Karim. Karim is the son of Daman Khan, a resident of Nagarparkar district in Pakistan.

Contrary to the gesture displayed by the Indian soldiers, a young man from the Barmer region who had accidentally crossed the border has been lodged in a Pakistani jail for the past several months.

Gemararam, a resident of Sajjan Ka Par village under the Bijrad police station in the Barmer district, has been lodged in a Pakistani jail since six months for accidentally crossing the border. Pakistan authorities are not taking any step for his return. On the night of November 5, 2020, Gemararam, had accidentally crossed the barricades of Pakistan and was caught by Pakistani rangers.

Incidents of people crossing over the India-Pakistan border are often reported from Rajasthan and Punjab. People from these bordering districts often do this accidentally without knowing that they have entered into the territory of a foreign country. Many times, people who have crossed over into the Pakistani territory end up sending months, and sometimes even years in Pakistani jails.
Rachel Brougham: When lifes simple pleasures hit in a new way
As Rep. Elaine Luria, D-Norfolk, watched the struggle to refloat a giant container ship in the Suez canal  a waterway she transited a half-dozen times in her Navy career  she kept thinking about the cold of the Arctic and the coral lagoons of the South China Sea.

Both have the potential to be the same kind of choke points that could become multibillion-dollar problems for the global economy.

It looks like something for a meme, but well see a significant impact in the next weeks and years from the shutdown of the Suez canal, she said. And our adversaries are looking to create new choke points.

For one, China is building airfields and missile sites in the disputed waters of the South China Sea, through which traffic to and from Japan, Taiwan and South Korea flows, she said. And as climate change opens an ice-free route in the Arctic between Europe and Asia, with more and more ships trying that route, Russia is poised to assert control.

Keeping choke points open is a key Navy mission  it is why the Norfolk-based USS Dwight D. Eisenhower strike group conducted an exercise with Moroccos navy and air force earlier this month, since that nation guards the approaches to Gibraltar.

Its why a key part of Norfolk-based USS Winston S. Churchills recent deployment involved escorting merchant ships through the Persian Gulfs Strait of Hormuz and the Bab-el-Mandeb at the southern end of the Red Sea.

Luria said making sure nobody can choke off a choke point is why shed like to see more smaller ships that can battle pirates, such as frigates for the Navy or Coast Guard cutters. The waters near the Bab-el-Mandeb and the heavily trafficked Straits of Malacca between Indonesia and Malaysia have long been plagued by piracy.

In addition, the House Armed Services Committee, of which Luria is vice-chair, is pushing to expand the U.S. fleet of ice-breakers to step up U.S. presence in the Arctic, where shipping, mineral exploration and fisheries issues are a growing concern. Only two aging Coast Guard cutters are reinforced enough to cope with Arctic ice.

Luria and the rest of Virginias congressional delegation are also trying to make widening the Port of Virginia main channel an Army Corps of Engineers priority. The state is funding its share of the project and work is underway, but a priority rating would expedite the work.

The channel is now subject to one-way traffic restrictions when large ships like the Ever Given call here  as the Suez Canal is for all traffic.

The Ever Givens grounding in the Suez Canal trapped ten container ships scheduled to call at Hampton Roads in April, Port of Virginia spokesman Joe Harris told WAVY this week. Harris said the ships would arrive here late, probably toward the end of April or in early May.

This article is written by Dave Ress from Daily Press (Newport News, Va.) and was legally licensed via the Tribune Content Agency through the Industry Dive publisher network. Please direct all licensing questions to legal@industrydive.com.
According to XDA-Developers Google is restricting apps from being able to see the other installed apps on your device. This change comes via the Developer Program Policy which now makes it harder for the apps to see other installed apps. This is a great new feature that many should really like.

Google says that it regards the full list of installed apps on a users device to be personal and sensitive information. Due to this fact, the company will limit which apps can access this information. Google is keeping users privacy safe with different approaches lately. So this change seems to fit in line with its other moves.

Google says it will be restricting which apps can request the QUERY_ALL_PACKAGES permission specifically. As of now, this is required for any apps targeting API level 30 (Android 11) and above that want to query the list of installed apps.

Advertisement

Going forward to use the QUERY_ALL_PACKAGES permission will require for the apps functionality to depend on it. To clarify, an apps functionality must depend on accessing the list of installed apps.

In order to enforce this, developers will have to sufficiently justify why a less intrusive method of app visibility will not sufficiently enable your apps policy-compliant user-facing core functionality.

Google is restricting apps from accessing a users list of installed packages

The outline of permitted uses of the QUERY_ALL_PACKAGES permission is below:

Advertisement

Permitted use involves apps that must discover any and all installed apps on the device, for awareness or interoperability purposes may have eligibility for the permission. Permitted use includes; device search, antivirus apps, file managers, and browsers.

Now if an app does not meet these requirements then the developer must remove the permission to stay compliant. Developers whose apps do meet the requirements can use the QUERY_ALL_PACKAGES permission, but the developers must sign a declaration form.

Failure to submit the form to the Play Console will result in the removal of the developers app. Starting May 5, 2021, is when the new change will take effect. In November this year, Google will require all apps to target API 30 at a minimum.

Advertisement

With the focus on privacy becoming more and more mainstream this is a great policy change that Google is enforcing. Sometimes apps that can see your full list of installed apps can spy on you. Some malicious third parties may even be able to spy on your device usage.

Some apps can inundate users with apps thanks to device usage information. Nobody likes being flooded with ads, especially when it seems like related ads seem like theyre psychic.
Source: Xinhua| 2021-04-03 09:28:01|Editor: huaxia

Video Player Close

ADDIS ABABA, April 3 (Xinhua) -- Ethiopia registered 2,353 new COVID-19 cases in the past 24 hours, taking the nationwide tally to 211,314 as of Friday evening, the country's health ministry said.

The ministry said 25 new deaths from the coronavirus were reported across the country during the same period, bringing the national death toll to 2,915.

The East African country reported 493 more recoveries, taking the national count of COVID-19 recoveries to 159,929.

Ethiopia, Africa's second-most populous nation, has so far reported the highest number of COVID-19 cases in the East African region, and currently ranks fourth among African countries in terms of COVID-19 caseload.

The latest figures from the Africa Centers for Disease Control and Prevention showed that Ethiopia's COVID-19 cases accounted for about 5 percent of the African continent's total confirmed cases.

The East African nation has so far conducted 2,374,204 COVID-19 medical tests, including 9,017 tests in the past 24 hours, the health ministry said.

Ethiopia started COVID-19 vaccine jabs recently after the country received its first 2.2 million COVID-19 vaccines from COVAX, which is said to play a crucial role in the country's fight to stop the spread of the virus.

On Tuesday, Ethiopia received a batch of China's Sinopharm COVID-19 vaccines donated by the Chinese government. Enditem
Pope Francis urged his coronavirus-weary flock to not lose hope even through the continued dark months of the pandemic, as he celebrated a scaled-back Easter vigil service in St Peters Basilica on Saturday.

Due to social-distancing, only about 200 masked people were allowed to attend the service, which marks the period between Christs crucifixion and his resurrection on Easter Sunday.

For the second year in a row, the Vatican cut out the traditional sacrament of baptism for a handful of adults to limit the chance of contagion.

Usually a long, late-night ritual, this years vigil service also started earlier than usual to respect Italys 10pm Covid-19 curfew.

Expand Close Pope Francis celebrates the Easter Vigil in a nearly empty St Peters Basilica (Remo Casilli/Pool photo/AP) / Facebook

Twitter

Email

Whatsapp Pope Francis celebrates the Easter Vigil in a nearly empty St Peters Basilica (Remo Casilli/Pool photo/AP)

But the service began in the dramatic way it always does, with the pope lighting a single candle in the darkened basilica and then sharing its flame with others until the pews slowly begin to twinkle and the basilicas lights are turned on.

In his homily, Francis said Easter offers a message of hope and new starts.

In these dark months of the pandemic, let us listen to the risen Lord as he invites us to begin anew and never lose hope, he said.

It is always possible to begin anew, because there is a new life that God can awaken in us in spite of all our failures.

Expand Close Cardinals and bishops attend the Easter Vigil (Remo Casilli/Pool photo/AP) / Facebook

Twitter

Email

Whatsapp Cardinals and bishops attend the Easter Vigil (Remo Casilli/Pool photo/AP)

Francis, who again eschewed a facemask, limped considerably through the service, in a sign that he is suffering through a prolonged bout of sciatica nerve pain.

On Sunday, Francis is to preside over Easter Mass before a similarly small group of faithful and deliver his traditional Urbi et Orbi blessing to the city and the world.

Usually the Easter Mass and blessing is celebrated before tens of thousands of people in a flower-decked St Peters Square.

But this year Francis will celebrate the service in the basilica and deliver the blessing from the altar, to prevent crowds from forming in the piazza.
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.
Bishop Rayappu Joseph maintained a cordial relationship with the government, the army personnel as well as the LTTE leadership. With such wide range of cordiality not without hard encounters he managed extend his find solace and immediate welfare as much as he could to the suffering masses, casting a deeply pastoral care to most marginalized.

by Uswatakiyawa Susil Hettiarachchi

After centuries of colonial domination during which time the history tells us that the brave 600 -700 people of Mannar gave up their lives as formidable witness to their faith and we remember them with honour as Martyrs of Mannar as the diocese of Mannar celebrates the 40thanniversary of its establishment.

Sri Lanka gained its independence in 1948 as a result of a collective collaborative participation of all the ethnic and religious groups may be there was a common objective as well as being inspired by the wave of freedom and sense of liberty gushing in the neighboring India. But the leaders of the majority community were not wise enough and lacked even courage in paving the future path of national integration, in the national restructuring process as a nation. India, considered as our elder sister had shown her wisdom and foresight in creating an independent nation integrating the multi ethnic, multi linguistic and multi religious assuring coexistence and harmony even though there have been instances of lapse of that pristine objective of the freedom hard won.

The unity within diversity is proclaimed when all the citizens break their ethnic, linguistic, and religious and cultural barriers proclaiming in one voice We are Indians  dress like Indian, eat like Indian, a cutting edge nativeness that glued the Bharata Matha even though Pakistan was created and later Bangladesh as states.Compared to Indian we in a small country only with four major religious traditions and four major ethnic groups have failed to identify ourselves as a one nation and proclaim We are Sri Lankans. Something somewhere, it looks like we have missed, and many post mortems have been executed but we must now forge ahead for fresh thinking and for a better nation.

This specific national failure was further derailed in the late 1950s, then leading such policies to severe and willful discrimination of minorities on the basis of ethnicity and religion. Several communities felt for the first time in decades that they were being treated differently, among them were the burghers and subsequently their decisive exodus into Australia and several other European countries. Other communities also felt the same and underwent instances of violence, bloodshed with a sense of loss in their own country. These historical circumstances led to ethnic mistrust, fear and suspicion amongst the different ethnic communities and led to serious politicization. It indeed became Sinhala, Tamil and Muslim politics as one reads history of grievance campaigns by all three groups, some as a consequence of the loss of cohesion as an entity of one nation, the responded violently as we read history culminating in the callous Easter attacks of 21/4 atrocities. Tamil speaking community had to face not only untold suffering but also to compensate with their lives at different times in our post independence history. The volcanic eruption of violence within the Sri Lankan society in 1971, 1988/89 with youth insurrectionsin the South as well as the civil war waged in the North East have resulted in a fractured society growing in ethnic debates and in a cold war of mistrust and suspicion leading to an impasse in authentic reconciliation among communities.

The protracted war that sprung in the North East has to be seen as one that surpassed beyond the socio economic oppression. It is to be seen as a struggle of the Tamil youth to protect their identity and aspire for greater autonomy as community, though ended in a bloody end of war. The war came to a but the struggle seems to continue which is a social phenomenon in such struggle and conflicts.

As the country was moving towards anarchy the Holy Sea, Vatican Rome began to pay her attention to the Catholic Church in Sri Lanka considering its critical situation. Based on a scientific study of the situation in the North the authorities of the Holy Sea, identified the need for a new episcopacy for the Northern region in order to extend her pastoral care of the innocent victims of the war. The new diocese was named the diocese of Mannar included the administrative districts of Vauvniya and Mannar which was timely and welcomed. People of Mannar felt that their own identity out of the peninsula based administration in the diocese of Jaffna. Between the two districts Mannar became the district with a majority population of Catholics and Christians. The Catholic community in Mannar as noted earlier was a community with a history of terrifying persecutions during the Cankili I rule (1544)and the Colonial Dutch rule in the 16th century. Witnessing their faith and identity men and women of Mannar have shed their blood to their faith and integrity to the newly embraced tradition. It is said that the blood of the heroic men and women have seeped into the soil of Mannar, and this land of martyrsis honored and remembered as a Land of Resurrection  an Easter people  people of hope. Similarly, it is in Vankalai and Murunkan where Fr.Mary Bastian and a Methodist pastor Rev.George Jayarajasinghem were killed in 1985 in their struggle for the freedom and justice on behalf for their people. It is providential that the shrine of Our Lady of Madhu, the spiritual centre and the revered place of pilgrimage of both the Northern and Southern Christians with their popular religiosity is also part of the land of Mannar. Prior to the naming of the new diocese by the then pope John Paul II the region had been under the administration of the diocese of Jaffna ever since the Northern vicariate declared (1848) was made into a diocese (1886).

With the declaration of the new diocese of Mannar Fr.Thomas Soundaranayagam of the diocese of Jaffna was appointed as its first bishop. In July 1981 the new bishop assumed his pastoral responsibility in the presence of His Grace,the then Archbishop of Colombo Rev. Dr. Nicholas Marcus Fernando and His Lordship Rev.Dr. J. B. Diogupillai, the then Bishop of Jaffna.

The new bishop invariably had to shoulder his episcopal responsibility in an extremely uncertain environment listening to the agonizing cries of his people amidst the war hovering over the whole of the North province and he diligently went in search of the helpless victims of the war, continuing his pastoral mission under those trying circumstances between vicious cycles of violence.

A Man to Confront Historian Mannar

God gives us men, the time demands strong minds, great hearts, a true faith and a willing spirit (J.G. Halland).

The Bishops, the Priests and the clergy of the Northern and Eastern regions had to face completely different challenges, difficulties and risky situations which no other Bishops and Priests of the other diocese had to face. Amidst these threatening risks it was the Bishop and the priests of Mannar diocese who had faced the most critical challenge, especially when the war was raging in the precincts of the Madhu shrine as the area was also infested with a well grown jungle with less or no human encounter for years.

With the dawn of the birthday commemoration of our Blessed Mother Mary on 8th September 1985, the people from the North and Wanni began to draw towards Madhu Shrine, and created as if an oasis amidst turbulence. The mothers fleeing in the search of refuge were like the Mother Mary carrying her son fleeing to Egypt from the political vengeance and brutality and cruelty of Herod.

As the war was ravaging, the suffering victims had to flee from their homes, abandoning all their belongings and their livelihood seeking refuge in the Madhu Shrine. The Bishop of Mannar and priests had to face the critical challenge of protecting and securing the life of all helpless innocent victims of the war.

The leaderless people abandoned by the civil administration and political leaders of the North and the South, then armed groups fighting within and without were also challenged by Bishop Rayappu Joseph as a man of stern integrity. For them Bishop Rayappu was as if Gods gracious response to cries of the people suffering and were placating for divine for intervention in hopelessness. They saw him as their pastor and protector in whom they could rest their trust amidst the most despairing context and wont on destruction of their future.

"For a brief moment I abandoned you, but with deep compassion I will bring you back.

In a surge of anger I hid my face from you for a moment, but with everlasting kindness I will have compassion on you," says the LORD your Redeemer.

"To me this is like the days of Noah, when I swore that the waters of Noah would never again cover the earth. So now I have sworn not to be angry with you, never to rebuke you again.

Though the mountains be shaken and the hills be removed, yet my unfailing love for you will not be shaken nor my covenant of peace be removed," says the LORD, who has compassion on you.I will gather my people .(Is. 54:7,8 &10) (for the people Bishop Rayappu Joseph portrayed Gods tenderness love and mercy .)

The embodiment of Gods love and mercy for the suffering victims of war humbly expressed in the person of Bishop Rayappu who was always to have mercy and everlasting love for his people. The gracious personality of the Bishop Rayappu reminded a beacon of light amidst darkness, steadfastly standing before all threats and misunderstanding both among friends and foe.

The eyes of thousands of war refugees were focused on the emergence of the prophets of our time. On their faces were written the pleading. Bring us to the shore of justice and peace, securing us from the turbulent ocean of suffering and bloodshed.

I like to related what happened on the day of the Episcopal consecration of Rev.Fr. Rayappu Joseph. The most heartening scene at the side main isle of the church was Fr. Rayappus mother devotedly witnessing her sons greatest day of being consecrated at the altar to be a prophet and a shepherd of the people of God in the diocese of Manner.

As a priest he had always had been prophetic, daring in most difficult events and moments. In his priestly mission he had been always strongly opposed to the caste system rampant in the Tamil society. He was in solidarity with every person who was against dehumanizing caste system that has even prevailed among the Christians. He loved and respected every one irrespective of his or her caste. Thus as a priest he had already won the love and respect of people and especially those who had been down trodden and socially marginalized. This is why at the consecration ceremony, the song of blessing was sung by the children who had been expelled from their homes due to the hostilities of the two armed groups that had among them fought bitter battles for political supremacy.

The first act of this fearless man was to meet Ganesh the leader of the Liberation Tigers of the Tamil Eelam (LTTE) of Mannar area. He attempted to persuade Ganesh on the role of grassroots level activistson the importance of making the leaders engaged in the struggle aware of the suffering of the people. He also pleaded to free the area where our divine mother was present (area of Madhu Shrine) by making as a peace zone without the activities of any armed group.

He as a responsible leader of the community who had practically comprehended the liberation struggle and its nature made efforts to explain matters to the LTTE leadership within the context of the protracted war. Bishop Rayappu Joseph maintained a cordial relationship with the government, the army personnel as well as the LTTE leadership. With such wide range of cordiality not without hard encounters he managed extend his find solace and immediate welfare as much as he could to the suffering masses, casting a deeply pastoral care to most marginalized.

The continuous flow of war victims to the Madhu Shrine created a demanding challenge to the Bishop to provide protection and securing the life of the people with warring factions sharing the neighboring hideouts for their clandestine operations leading to a callous and wont on violence. The refugee crisis began to be critical and Rev.Fr. S.Emillianuspillai, the then assistant administrator of Madhu offered timely assistance to the Bishop. Together both of them developed a collaborative relation in order to maintain a secure environment for the refugees with courage and fortitude. When the Madhu area was targeted by armed forces on one side and LTTE cadres on the other side, UN based refugee services to the Madhu refugees were disrupted immensely. Bishop Rayappu Joseph as a person of indomitable courage stood fearlessly on behalf of the suffering of the people, with his pen in his hand initiated his struggle of writing to the President and all other relevant officers in the public administration. He made aware of the prevailing critical situation of the refugees. Consequently the relief services of the UN were resumed at the Madhu refugee camp. He tried to spend more time at the Madhu Shrine as the situation was volatile, he himself becoming a refugee  a great witness to the Gospel he preached perhaps. His Bishops presence at the refugee camp of Madhu was thought to be a Gods blessing to those who had lost almost everything, to lay their heads on the grounds for a peaceful sleep.

This mature man was in constant fear of the safety of the historical statue of Our Divine Mother preciously honoured by the people of the North and the South, a symbol of ethnic unity which neither the Southern not the Northern Christians could ever achieve even though the Christians community were both Sinhala and Tamil. One would wonder what makes ethnicity stronger than other leanings of faith and religious identity.

What worried him perhaps was what would prevent the destruction of a wooden statue in comparison with the mindless act that destroyed the Jaffna public library, the precious store of knowledge for the generations to come and the prestigious monument of wisdom. But in a corner of his heart he felt that Jesus who defeated death would not allow any army to harm the miraculous statue of His Mother.

The Northern war terrorized the South too, with eruption of hostilities at different times. The fear and the suffering of the Sinhala people in the South was a fact that saddened the Bishop gravely and this made him to suffer as he himself felt helpless. Therefore he constantly raised his voice against the unjust war.

Bishop Rayappu Joseph with steadfast faith in Mother Mary after 11 years invited people from the North and South to the Madhu Shrine to make an appeal to the warring groups engaged in the war. On the 13th March 1995 the parliamentarians Jeyaraj Fernandopulle, Milroy Fernando, Felix Perera and Niel Rupasinghe, Jayalath Jayawardene arrived at the Madhu Shrine with a crowd of more than 2500 people from the South. Meanwhile the LTTE and other armed groups arrived with more than 5000 people from North and the Wanni areas. Raising their hands altogether to heaven pleading to make the then President Chandrika Bandaranaike Kumarathunga to see to end the protracted war and also to bring a permanent solution to the national question.

The people who lined up on both sides to bidfarewell to the participants from the South exclaimed Yuddam Wanadam Yuddam Wanadam .

The pragmatic man of Mannar

Born on the island of Delft in the Northern peninsula Bishop Rayappu was a pragmatic pastor. He did not hesitate to recognize and give due respect to the valiant industrious farmers who toiled to feed the people of the North and Wanni. The food scarcities created by the uncertainties of fighting, made the people to depend on subsidies. The Bishops who believed in efficiency and effectiveness of the grassroots level initiatives motivated everyone to grow food. He wanted the people to free them from dependency on subsidies. Being used to listen to the voice of God arising from the voice of women and children, Bishop Rayappu responded to Gods voice I am hungry. He was a man who never cursed darkness but lit a candle. His pragmatic approach in lessening the suffering of his people has become a beacon of light to all the other bishops and priests as to how to act in crisis and amidst human cruelty and atrocities.

The period from 20th to 23th February 2000 was used for the harvesting and preparing the land for the next season. Gathering all priests and clergy and activists at the Madhu Shrine the Bishop discussed his perspective in the light of the aspirations of the people. He reflected on the practicality of this evangelical process and the love ethic of the gospel. He further emphasized that God reveals to human beings not at good times but at times human misery and burden of sin- personal and social. That is why God incarnated as Jesus of Nazareth at a time when the land was being occupied by the Romans as well as the local religious leadership corrupted and burdened with sin.

Any society with narrow mindedness and the reluctance to change has to face it the consequences of being so and can be self-destructive too. It is this same reality that influenced the Sri Lankan society since in 1950s. Our inability to create socio economic political structures to build a country with justice and peace,since 1948 has resulted in insurrections and war bringing in only dissension and destruction. Since the country has failed to the demand of the youth have led struggles and resulted in our mother land being engulfed more than six times in direct confrontation with war and conflict within a period of six decades up to 2009. Pain and suffering had been immense. It means that in every ten years this country had degenerated by its own inability create a cohesive society. Both the Tamil and the Sinhala leadership have had to share this mutual betrayal of people leading the present and the future generations to despair. Hence the brain drain is also a mutually shared social catastrophe for both communities.

As a person dedicated for the human freedom and justice the present Archbishop of Colombo Malcolm cardinal Ranjith had being greatly disturbed by the devastating war and its consequences, responded to Bishop Rayappus appeal by organizing the Interreligious Committee to visit the Madhu Shrine on 18thFebruary 2001 for a prayer service for peace. Ven.Dr. Kumburupitiye Vajira, Ven.Udagama Buddarakkkitha Nayaka Thero Ven. Watinapaha Somananda Thero and Ven. Wimalasara Thero accompanied by 30 Buddhist monks and a number of Moulavies were led by Rev.Dr. Malcom Cardinal Ranjith. At the Madhu Shrine these religious leaders had a dialogue with the LTTE militants and the ordinary people, which helped them to understand the ground reality and deepen the understanding of the political, social and economic aspirations of Tamil people. When, peace the eminent phenomena of the well being of the human life was being swayed away by the turbulent winds of the war, the situation aggravates critically. May be the inter religious group lacked the political backing and that it might not have reached what they expected, but the gathering in Madhu did opened the eyes of the participants.

On 2nd April 2008 Bishop Rayappu met priests of the diocese of Mannar as they were facing a paradoxical situation as the war had entered the vicinity of the national Madhu Shrine. The miraculous statue of our Lady of Madhu had to be preserved and protected. This great responsibility was entrusted to Fr. S.Emillianuspillai by Bishop Rayappu Joseph. The statue had to be protected from the threat of being destroyed in case there was crossfire between the two warring factions. The Bishop was confident of the ingenuity and the commitment of Fr Emill. With the practical experience at the ground level in the context of the dreadful war, Fr. Emil act immediately. Secretly in thick darkness he escaped with the statue and reached safely to Thevanpetti and for more than three months Fr.Emill had to protect the statue with keen surveillance, care and well informed by the sources who collaborated with him including his Bishop.

By July 2008 when the war was aggravating Bishop Rayappu gave advance notice Fr. Emil not to take the statue away from the diocese of Mannar at any circumstance and if possible maneuver to bring the statue to Mannar. At this decisive moment Fr. Emil contacted his brother Priests Fr. Benette Stephen, Fr.Wasntha Silan and Fr.Francis Joseph (missing since 17 May 2009 with lorry lord of Wanni war victims) a renowned priest in Wanni, known in the North informed his personal plight to his brother priests may be even death threats.

On 21st July 2008 the statue of Marada Madhu Matha (MMM) was brought to Munankavil in an ambulance which was an opportune moment to move the statue to Mannar. Fr. Benette Stephen who perhaps was in touch with the LTTE local commanders informed that it might be right time move statue to Wanni to Mannar as per the intention of the Bishop. Responding instantly Fr. Emil accompanied by Fr. Arunanandan OMI and Sr.Ida of the Holy Cross Congregation found refuge in an ambulance with the historical and sacred statue of Madhu Matha, with the firm determination to reach the destination animated by deep faith and hope in the perpetual succorof the Mother Mary.

Bishop Rayappu Joseph was approaching with his vicar general Rev. Fr. Victor Soosa in an ambulance. History was being repeated after a period of five centuries. Fr Emil descending from Manthei generation with a history of overcoming obstacles from the enemies fleeing to Marudha Madhu with this same statue, repeated the history by handing over the statue to his Bishop and Fr Victor Soosa another member of Manthei calan from Vankalai. The exercise was carried out according to wise plan incubated by Bishop Rayappu Joseph, an excellent planer and an efficient administrator. Through his ingenuity and his deep faith in Gods providence, he was able to defeat the vested interest of both warring parties to secure the ownership of the statue to be used as a symbol of power.

Bishop Rayappu continued his prophetic mission committing his whole life denouncing the shameful war and offering and alternative to the two warring armed groups of his own community as well as the army whenever he encountered them. He proclaimed to the people of Sri Lanka and the refugees at the Madhu Shrine the good news of peace, harmony and reconciliation in uniting the divided nation with fears and suspicions. The Bible relates the Exodus of the Israelites to a new country. In the Exodus chapters of the Bible we read that led his people to a new peaceful country. Bishop Rayappu relentlessly labored to unite Sri Lanka with the collective contribution of the Sinhala, Tamil, Muslim, Burgers and Malay youth. His lordship Bishop Rayappu who is still among us as the second episcopal leader of the diocese of Mannar would be remembered always for his valour in times of crisis and stood by his people in the greatest crisis after the Cankili 1 and the Dutch persecution of Christians of Mannar.

( This article was written before the death of Bishop Rayappu and views expressed here are the autrhor's won)
Diving into a meaty thriller  the kind so packed with suspense and mystery you feel breathless by the end  is pretty great. So if youre looking for a book you wont be able to put down, one thats ideal for the long bank holiday weekend, these classics might fit the bill

1. Rebecca by Daphne du Maurier

Daphne du Mauriers 1938 Gothic novel opens with the famous line: Last night I dreamt I went to Manderley again. From the start, youre brought into a creepy, unreliable world, making for an atmospheric, psychological thriller.

The unnamed narrator moves to country estate Manderley after marrying a rich widower  but soon discovers marital bliss isnt on the cards. The house feels like its haunted by the presence of her new husbands late wife, Rebecca, whose memory is kept alive by sinister housekeeper, Mrs Danvers.

2. Lullaby by Leila Slimani

Loosely based on a real life case, this 2016 book starts with the brutal murder of two children from a well-to-do area of Paris by their nanny. Lullaby isnt a murder mystery  we already know who the killer is  but Slimani keeps you hooked, desperate to know why she committed this horrific crime.

Its also a clever look into race, class and motherhood, and will have you on the edge of your seat until the end.

3. Your House Will Pay by Steph Cha

Chas 2019 novel draws on the legacy of the 1992 Los Angeles riots, interweaving the stories of first-generation Korean immigrant Grace and African-American Shawn, as a hidden crime from the past links them together. Cha deals with violence and racism with sensitivity and urgency.

4. The Girl With The Dragon Tattoo by Stieg Larsson

If youre looking for a pure, pacy thriller, The Girl With The Dragon Tattoo is for you.

Lisbeth Salander, an introverted computer hacker with a photographic memory, starts investigating a murder from 40 years ago, and finds herself increasingly involved in a dangerous and wealthy family with gruesome secrets.

Follow up with parts two and three in the Millenium series, The Girl Who Played With Fire and The Girl Who Kicked The Hornets Nest Larsson never got to see the huge success of his work, as it was published posthumously in 2005.

5. Tinker Tailor Soldier Spy by John Le Carre

Le Carre was the master of suspense. Set during the Cold War, Tinker Tailor Soldier Spy is a chic tale of agents, double agents, traitors and betrayal that will have you non-stop guessing.

6. The Cutting Season by Attica Locke

If you like thrillers to have a crime edge, try The Cutting Season. The backdrop is an old plantation house in the Deep American South, now used for weddings and historical re-enactments.

When manager Caren finds a dead body on the property, she comes face to face with the houses dark history. As she slowly uncovers the truth, she makes some shocking discoveries  including the real identity of the killer.

7. We Have Always Lived In The Castle by Shirley Jackson

Jacksons slim 1962 novel is a truly brilliant piece of Gothic fiction. Tomboy Merricat, 18, lives in a secluded New England house with her sister and uncle. As much as Merricat wants things to stay as they are, the outside world is encroaching on their isolation  particularly as her sister has only just been acquitted for poisoning the rest of their family

With Merricat is a fantastically unreliable narrator, and the whole vibe is overwhelmingly unsettling and creepy.
It was only eight months ago Scott Morrison acknowledged hed learnt from his disastrous mishandling of Australias bushfire season of 2019-20. After ducking that crisis in the most pathetic way, he was embracing the COVID-19 emergency with the zeal of a convert. In the first crisis of his prime ministership he was the archetypal anti-leader, refusing to accept responsibility to lead. He was the prime minimal. He was an object of national derision. In the second, a new prime minister emerged. He accepted responsibility and took charge. He was the archetypal leader, co-ordinating one of the worlds most successful economic and health responses.

The people recognised the new Morrison. Only one prime minister had enjoyed a higher approval rating in the history of Newspoll, and that was Kevin Rudd a decade ago. The lesson I have learnt from those who have been in this job, Morrison told me in July, is they rarely made the same mistake twice.

Winston Churchill won the war, but lost the peace, being dumped out of government. Credit:Shakespeare

Yet that is exactly what he is doing. He failed to see the crisis of injustice to women even as it engulfed his government. His cabinet reshuffle is just the latest in a series of risibly inadequate responses. The old Scott Morrison, the one that The Betoota Advocate named Scotty from Marketing, is back.

Morrison seemed to expect a standing ovation for naming his Minister for Women, Marise Payne, as Australias Prime Minister for Women. Putting the awesomely inert Payne in charge of a ministerial taskforce for womens policy is merely the prime minimal of Australia naming a prime minimal for women, the inadequate shifting responsibility onto the inert.
A total of 27 police officers have been injured in unrest in Northern Ireland as political leaders call for calm over the Easter weekend.

The PSNI said 15 officers were injured in Belfast and 12 officers were hurt in Londonderry during riots in both cities on Friday evening.

Eight people have been arrested.

Derry City and Strabane Area Commander Chief Superintendent Darrin Jones said police received reports on Friday night of youths gathering in the areas of Nelson Drive and Tullyally in the city.

On their arrival, they came under sustained attack from a large group of youths and young adults throwing masonry, bottles, petrol bombs and fireworks, he said.

As a result 12 officers sustained injuries including head, leg and foot wounds.

Mr Jones also said a care home was damaged in the Nelson Drive area during the trouble causing untold fear and distress to residents.

Update following disorder in Derry/Londonderry last night (Friday 2nd April) : https://t.co/7zoGFn0O6p  Police Service NI (@PoliceServiceNI) April 3, 2021

He said it was totally unacceptable that Friday was the fifth successive night of disturbances in the unionist Waterside area of the city.

It is vital that we all send out a message to those responsible that such behaviour will not be tolerated, he said.

The people of Derry/Londonderry deserve to feel safe within their own homes and be able to walk the streets without fear.

I would ask that anyone who has any influence in communities  whether parents, guardians, community or elected representatives  please, use that influence to ensure young people do not get caught up in criminality and that they are kept safe and away from harm.

Expand Close Rioters clash with police (Donal Collins/PA) PA / Facebook

Twitter

Email

Whatsapp Rioters clash with police (Donal Collins/PA)

In Belfast, two boys, aged 13 and 14, are among eight people arrested in connection with riots in a loyalist area of Belfast.

Police said 15 officers were injured on Friday night after being targeted by a crowd of mainly young people in Sandy Row, throwing stones, fireworks, flares, manhole covers and petrol bombs.

Belfast District Commander, Chief Superintendent Simon Walls, said a small local protest quickly developed into an attack on police officers and that at points there were up to 300 people of all ages on the streets.

He called for calm, urging anyone with influence in the loyalist community to dissuade young people from causing violence and harm.

Expand Close Northern Ireland Secretary Brandon Lewis described the unrest as completely unacceptable (Donal Collins/PA) PA / Facebook

Twitter

Email

Whatsapp Northern Ireland Secretary Brandon Lewis described the unrest as completely unacceptable (Donal Collins/PA)

He said: Im not going to enter into dialogue about political commentary.

What I would ask is that people with influence, people in local communities, would dissuade young people, or anyone else, intent on causing violence or intent on harming police officers.

He described it as a real tragedy that children as young as 13 and 14 were among those arrested.

I think its a tragedy that any child in Northern Ireland is sitting in a custody suite this morning and facing criminal investigation, possibility of being charged and possibility of facing a criminal conviction, he said.

Expand Close Police have appealed for calm (Donal Collins/PA) PA / Facebook

Twitter

Email

Whatsapp Police have appealed for calm (Donal Collins/PA)

It shouldnt happen. And thats why Im very keen that people with influence try to ask anyone intent on violence to please step back. Its not the way to resolve tensions or arguments.

Political leaders have also called for calm over the Easter weekend following the riots.

Stormonts First Minister Arlene Foster urged young people not to get drawn into disorder, saying violence will not make things better.

The DUP leader said: I know that many of our young people are hugely frustrated by the events of this last week but causing injury to police officers will not make things better.

The unrest we saw last night is completely unacceptable. Violence is never the answer. There is no place for it in society. It is unwanted, unwarranted and I fully support the PSNI appeal for calm.



My thoughts are with the officers injured. @PoliceFedforNI @PoliceServiceNI  Brandon Lewis (@BrandonLewis) April 3, 2021

And I send my strong support to all of the rank-and-file police officers that are on duty over this Easter weekend.

I appeal to our young people not to get drawn into disorder which will lead to them having criminal convictions and blighting their own lives.

I also ask parents to play their part and be proactive in protecting their young adults.

Northern Ireland Secretary Brandon Lewis described the unrest as completely unacceptable.

Expand Close Eight people have been arrested (Donal Collins/PA) PA / Facebook

Twitter

Email

Whatsapp Eight people have been arrested (Donal Collins/PA)

Mr Lewis said: Violence is never the answer. There is no place for it in society.

It is unwanted, unwarranted and I fully support the PSNI appeal for calm.

He added that his thoughts were with the officers injured.

The disorder has flared amid ongoing tensions within loyalism across Northern Ireland.

Loyalists and unionists are angry about post-Brexit trading arrangements which they claim have created barriers between Northern Ireland and the rest of the UK.

Tensions ramped up further this week following a controversial decision not to prosecute 24 Sinn Fein politicians for attending a large-scale republican funeral during Covid-19 restrictions.

All the main unionist parties have demanded the resignation of PSNI Chief Constable Simon Byrne, claiming he has lost the confidence of their community.
Three men were arrested at a small anti-lockdown protest in Cork city yesterday.

They were arrested during what was billed as a peaceful assembly on St Patricks Bridge at around 4pm which had been organised and promoted on social media calling for an end to the lockdown.

All three were taken to the Bridewell Garda Station where they were charged in relation to breaches of Covid regulations.

The three men were brought to Bridewell Garda station where they were later charged. All three are due to appear before Cork City District Court on April 14 2021 at 10.30am.

The arrests come ahead of another planned anti-lockdown rally in the city this Saturday.

A large policing operation will be in place for the event.

It is being promoted by the same people behind the so-called rally for truth in the city centre on March 6, which was attended by an estimated 700 people calling for an end to the lockdown.

Gardai had mounted an extensive and comprehensive policing plan on the day involving over 200 members of the force, including the Garda Mounted Unit, the Garda Dog Unit and the Garda National Public Order Unit, was put in place.

But none of the three units were deployed when the event passed off without incident.

However, two men were arrested in the city during the afternoon - a street performer for a breach of Section 31(a)(9) of the Health Act 1947 and the other for public order offences.

Under Operation Fanacht, the ongoing national operation to enforce the 5km travel restriction, additional high visibility checkpoints were established on the M7, M8, N25 and other approach routes to Cork city that day.

Four people - three men and one woman - who gardai said were linked to the event in Cork city were arrested as part of this policing operation.

The arrests were made in Kildare, Kerry and in Cork County in respect of persons for failing to comply with Garda directions under section 31(a)(7) Health Act 1947, as amended.

Gardai had warned members of the public in advance not to attend the city centre protest.

Planned rally for Saturday

They have issued the same warning ahead of this Saturdays planned event.

Diarmuid O'Cadhla who is promoting this Saturday's event. Picture: Larry Cummins

Former county councillor, Diarmaid O Cadhla, who promoted the rally for truth and who is promoting this Saturday's event too said it has two aims.

Firstly, people are demanding an end to the lockdown - it is having no impact on the virus and is causing more harm than good, both to our health and to the economy," he said.

Secondly, people want a public health service that treats all illness, not one focused on Covid-19 and neglecting other killer diseases.

He accused NPHET of giving half-truths and the government of scare-mongering.

He said: People are being frightened as if there was a killer plague sweeping across Ireland - which there isnt: the vast majority of people infected with Covid recover without even knowing they had it.
Texas Gov. Greg Abbott said Mexican drug cartels are using social media apps, such as TikTok, to smuggle migrants and recruit them to work in their illegal operations.

Abbott showed two TikTok videos to support his claims during a press conference on Thursday, according to a KLKNTV report.

Mexican drug cartels are trying to allure people with money, parties, boats, and fun but downplay the organizations' criminal side, such as the murder. Greg Abbott noted that the cartels are not only smuggling drugs into Texas but also of people.

"These are two pictures from TikTok. And these are ads or videos and things being run by cartels on TikTok, trying to recruit people in Texas to assist them to commit their crimes with the promise of money and other things," Abbott said.

Greg Abbott further noted that these tactics result from the Mexican drug cartels feeling invigorated by the Biden administration's border policies.

Experts said there is nothing new with Mexican drug cartels using social media platforms. Andy Shuttleworth, who spent more than 30 years working in the federal government, told Fox San Antonio that these posts have been happening long before President Joe Biden took office.

But with the availability of more cell phones and more internet service globally, Shuttleworth, who also worked at the Department of Homeland Security, noted that the scheme is becoming more prevalent, and it's not only happening on TikTok.

A father from Honduras said he saw an ad on Facebook, promising him a chance at the American dream and reunite with his daughters.

"I observed this back in 2008, all the way up through the 2014 crisis, it's always been there," Shuttleworth said.

RELATED STORY: Who Is Los Viagras' Cartel La Cholita? 'Busty Assassin' Flaunts How She Torments Victims on Social Media

Organized Crime Groups Enticing People

Howard Campbell, an anthropologist and drug expert at the University of Texas at El Paso, said that Mexican drug cartels have long used social media for their scheme and operations, including intimidating their enemies.

Campbell noted that it has proven to be an effective strategy, adding that TikTok is just the latest phase of this tactic, Courier-Journal reported.

David Saucedo, a Mexico City-based security analyst, said that TikTok is being used mainly by cartels to promote a lifestyle and generate a picture of luxury and glamour, including the "benefits" of joining criminal activities.

Saucedo noted that he has already seen a few criminal messages and videos that encourage people to join the cartel by showing images of unlimited cash, parties, and military-grade firearms.

According to a UNICEF survey, cartels were also reported to practice forced recruitment, which drives families in Central America to flee their homes and seek asylum in other countries.

Criminal gangs in Mexico have already recruited about 35,000 children and adolescents, the Child Rights Network in Mexico noted.

Derek Maltz, a former agent in charge of the Drug Enforcement Agency's Special Operations Division, said the use of social media is an attractive recruitment tool for the young culture since they widely used it, especially TikTok.

With only one like on one of these videos, experts said people would end up in the # CartelTikTok's world due to the algorithm.

A search of the #CartelTikTok community and its related accounts shows some people are responding, and millions of TikTok users could be seen glorifying the Mexican drug cartels culture by liking, watching, and promoting this content.

READ MORE: Video Shows Jalisco Cartel Parading 'Narco-Tank' in Mexico's Street

WATCH: Gov. Greg Abbott Launches' Operation Lone Star' to Address Issues at the Texas Border - From WFAA




The Ukrainian Mission to UN has briefed the UN Security Council about Russia's aggressive actions, in particular about the tensions on the contact line in eastern Ukraine and Russia's military build-up near the state border, the Ukrainian Mission to the UN has reported.

"We have briefed the partners-members of the UN Security Council about the exacerbation of the security situation in Donbas and Russia's military build-up in the occupied territories and on the border with Ukraine. We appreciate their support. We are confident that joint efforts and pressure on the Russian Federation will help to stop the military escalation," the Mission said in a tweet on Friday night.
Disneys lawyers retorted that the concept of infant Muppets was actually created by Jim Henson, notably appearing in a dream sequence in the feature The Muppets Take Manhattan, which was filmed in 1983. They also argued that Scott had no copyright claim to his bible because he could only have legitimately contributed to the 1980s series on a work-for-hire basis.

Disneys winning argument

Ultimately, it was another defense that won Disney the case. The company pointed to Scotts 2003 Chapter 7 bankruptcy, claiming that the assets he disclosed at the time did not include the bible. This would undermine his claim to own the bible.

U.S. District Court Judge Stanley Blumenfeld has sided with Disney on this point, concluding: Because Plaintiff has no ownership interest in the Work or its purported copyrights, Plaintiff lacks standing to pursue the present lawsuit. The judge dismissed Scotts claims without prejudice, meaning he can try again if he manages to reclaim copyright.

The case initially promised to probe important matters regarding tv writers claims to intellectual property and the extent of protection of production bibles. Now that it has been derailed by the bankruptcy, those questions remain unexamined.

Scott wrote many episodes of the original series, for which he also has a developed by credit. He won three Emmys for his work on the show. His credits also include Super Friends, Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles, Pac-Man, Hulk Hogans Rock n Wrestling, and Sonic the Hedgehog.

The Muppet Babies reboot, which is cg-animated, airs on Disney Junior and Disney Channel. It has won two Emmys and is up for an Annie this month.
The province is touting sweeping reforms to modernize public education, but teachers say a clause in Bill 64 will require them to inform parents about lessons on potentially sensitive content in advance so families can opt-out is backward.

The province is touting sweeping reforms to modernize public education, but teachers say a clause in Bill 64 will require them to inform parents about lessons on "potentially sensitive content" in advance so families can opt-out is backward.

The Education Modernization Act will replace Manitobas 37 elected English school boards with a board of government appointees that will, among a lengthy list of responsibilities, create a policy on "potentially sensitive content" and ensure its implemented in all public schools.

The legislation defines such content as phys-ed and health lessons that deal with human sexuality, substance use and abuse prevention, and personal safety.

Should these lessons conflict with a familys religious, cultural or family values, caregivers will be able to withdraw their student and provide alternative lessons at home.

The bill formalizes existing education department policy, and what some school divisions already strictly enforce, but it is not a universal practice in the province at present.

Winnipeg teacher Patrick McGuire said the province wants to formalize an "archaic loophole" so parents can shield students from learning about the LGBTTQ+ community, as well as gender identity, fluidity and diversity.

"People are entitled to have whatever ethical or moral or religious beliefs that they want to have, but the idea that they dont have to learn and they dont have to understand and treat humans with basic respect  it seems ridiculous to me," said McGuire, who typically teaches high school history and social studies, and is a member of Manitoba Educators for Social Justice.

If the province wants to truly modernize education, he said it should update a sex-ed curriculum that has seen few changes since 2005.

As for the legislations language around substance use and personal safety, McGuire questions why providing students with information on how-to protect themselves is controversial.

The Manitoba Teachers Society has flagged the sensitive content clause in Bill 64 as a key issue among its more than 16,000 members. (Mike Deal / Winnipeg Free Press files)

The Manitoba Teachers Society has flagged the sensitive content clause in Bill 64 as a key issue among its more than 16,000 members.

"The creation of a provincial board whose members are appointed by politicians sets the stage for a regressive, agenda-driven curriculum with no consideration for the unique needs of students," said MTS president James Bedford, in a statement to the Free Press.

Bedford added MTS believes teachers who are trained and certified should be consulting on and informing curriculum, rather than partisan appointees.

"We believe parents have the right to know what their children are being taught," Education Minister Cliff Cullen said in a prepared statement.

Cullen noted the new authority will be required to create a policy on respect for human diversity  which will, according to Bill 64 "accommodate" the creation of gay-straight alliances and other student groups that promote everything from anti-racism to gender equity  to ensure schools are safe and inclusive spaces.

The Manitoba Association of Parent Councils has applauded the province requiring teachers to ensure parents are more in-the-know about lessons on sensitive topics so families can ensure age-appropriate lessons are being taught.

Erica McNabb, however, is worried about how the policy will further marginalize queer and non-binary families.

"As a queer parent, I find it frustrating that some of what we just experience as normal, everyday life and just as a family would now be provincially-legislated as sensitive content It just means that our families become further taboo and further misunderstood," said McNabb, a sexual health educator in Winnipeg, who often works in public schools.

It isnt lost on McNabb (who uses they and them pronouns) that lessons their family considers sensitive  for instance, kindergarten Fathers Day cards and crafts  are not deemed so by the province.

McNabb added its unlikely parents who dont want students learning about "sensitive content" in class will undertake thorough, accurate lessons on such subjects at home.

maggie.macintosh@freepress.mb.ca

Twitter: @macintoshmaggie
A banner with the words Heaven Destroys the CCP and the Heaven Safeguards the Chinese is sprayed with black ink in Mong Kok in Hong Kong on April 2, 2021. (Zhou Li/The Epoch Times)

Vandals in Hong Kong Attack Falun Gong Information Boards

Seven public information stands exposing the Chinese regimes persecution of the spiritual practice Falun Gong were recently vandalized over a 24-hour period in Hong Kong. The local Falun Gong association believes that the vandals, who used knives and spray paint to damage signage at the stands, were tied to the Chinese Communist Party (CCP).

From 11 a.m. local time on April 2, four masked perpetrators vandalized Falun Gong information booths in the Hong Kong districts of Mong Kok, Hung Hom, and Wan Chai, tearing down banners and slashing and pushing over boards on display, the Hong Kong Falun Dafa Association said on April 3. They fled the scene within minutes and without a word, as recorded in a video filmed by a passerby and uploaded on YouTube.

Falun Gong, also known as Falun Dafa, is a spiritual practice that involves meditative exercises and moral teachings based on the principles of truthfulness, compassion, and tolerance. Since 1999, adherents of the practice have been systematically persecuted by the CCP, with millions detained in prisons, labor camps, and other facilities. There have been thousands of reports of practitioners suffering torture, abuse, and even death in detention, according to the Falun Dafa Information Center.

For more than two decades, Falun Gong practitioners outside of mainland China, including in Hong Kong, have appealed for an end to the persecution. Many have set up public information stands on city streets to raise awareness and expose the severe human rights abuses committed by the CCP.

However, local Falun Gong practitioners in Hong Kong have found it harder to carry out these activities in recent times.

On April 2, a Falun Gong roadside booth on Argyle Street in the Mong Kok district suffered a loss of around HK $21,000 ($2,700), after vandals damaged four banners, two flagpoles, and 14 display boards, according to a Falun Gong practitioner who tried in vain to stop the perpetrators. Three more stands were vandalized on the same day.

The next day, another three stands in the Mong Kok and Wong Tai Sin districts were sabotaged by a group of six individuals between 11 a.m. and 1 p.m, the association said.

A Falun Gong information booth is vandalized in Mong Kok in Hong Kong on April 2, 2021. (Screenshot via YouTube)

A Falun Gong information booth is vandalized in Mong Kok in Hong Kong on April 3, 2021. (Screenshot)

The police were called and said they would provide a heavy patrol presence following the incidents.

An Order From the Communist Party

Ms. Liang, chairwoman of the Hong Kong Falun Dafa Association, condemned the attacks on Falun Gong street stands.

Liang told The Epoch Times that the sabotage is clearly tied to the CCP and that it may have been an act of desperation, a sign that the regime is reaching the end of its rope.

Since March 6, unattended poster displays that slander Falun Gong and its founder have appeared on the streets near where Falun Gong information stations are set up in Mong Kok, Tsim Sha Tsui, Causeway Bay, and Wan Chai.

The posters are written in simplified Chinese charactersrather than traditional Chinese used in Hong Kongand worded in a similar way to CCP propaganda in mainland China, according to Liang.

On March 25, a woman tending to the propaganda posters told The Epoch Times that the Communist Party in Shenzhen issued the order to defame Falun Gong and asked her to send video recordings to mainland China every day. She denied receiving money from the Party.

This is not the first time that Falun Gong information stations have been sabotaged in the city.

Several booths were vandalized last year, most notably on Dec. 20, 2020, when a man stole printouts from a Falun Gong booth in Tsim Sha Tsui and threw display boards into a nearby harbor.

Printouts and display boards from a Falun Gong booth in Tsim Sha Tsui are thrown into a nearby harbor on Dec. 20, 2020. (Screenshot via YouTube)

Last year, a national security law went into effect in Hong Kong on the eve of July 1, pushed through by the CCP. Since then, public freedoms in the territory have been severely undermined. Dozens of pro-democracy figures have been charged or convicted under the legislation or similar laws.

Liang believes that the Falun Gong information booths, upholding Hongkongers right to be informed about the persecution, have had a positive effect on the city. They bring Hong Kong people hope for the future, she said.
Social Entrepreneurs Ireland (SEI) is making 50,000 seed funding available through its Ideas Academy to individuals who have an innovative idea to solve a particular social problem and are looking to take the first steps from idea to action.

A further 100,000 will be awarded through its Impact Programme.

The funding is part of a suite of supports on offer to social entrepreneurs on its Ideas Academy and Impact Programme, which are both currently accepting applications.

Participants on the Ideas Academy will have the opportunity to pitch for a portion of the 50,000 seed fund to pilot their idea at the end of the programme. Awardees on the Impact Programme will receive 20,000 in direct funding each to grow their impact in addition to bespoke non-financial support.

SEI, which is dedicated to supporting social entrepreneurs in Ireland, is encouraging people from Laois to see the challenge, be the change, by applying to the Ideas Academy  aimed at those with an early-stage idea to solve a social problem, or the Impact Programme  aimed at high-potential social entrepreneurs looking to grow their impact.

The closing date for applications is Wednesday, 7th April. Some of SEIs Leinster based alumni include AgriKids, FoodCloud, AsIAm and Dabbledoo Music.

Commenting, SEI Interim Director of Impact, Siobhan OKeeffe said,

All across Ireland there are people with ideas to solve social problems  people with direct experience of a problem and the courage and insight to put forward to a solution, and act on it.

It is often in the depths of real challenge that innovation is inspired and we are seeing that now in the responses to Covid-19.

Were calling on people from all backgrounds who need support to realise their vision to apply to SEI.

We know that the first step of the journey is often the hardest one to take.

We hope that the supports we have available on both of our programmes, along with the availability of 50,000 in seed funding on the Ideas Academy and 20,000 in unrestricted funding for each of our Impact Programme Awardees will further support our participants to pilot their idea and grow their impact.

Up to 60 places on the Ideas Academy are available for early-stage social entrepreneurs.

The three-month programme will provide participants with the support and direction they need as they take the first steps from idea to action.

In addition to having the opportunity to pitch for seed funding, participants on the Ideas Academy will be supported to clearly articulate, refine and progress their solution, to build skills and accelerate learning in core areas of importance to social entrepreneurs, and to move from idea to action. In response to current public health restrictions, the 2021 programme will be delivered online.

Up to five places are available on Social Entrepreneurs Irelands prestigious Impact Programme, aimed at high-potential social entrepreneurs.

In addition to 20,000 in unrestricted funding to grow their impact, Awardees will receive mentorship, training, and consultancy in areas such as leadership development, fundraising, governance, strategic planning, and communications.

They will also have access to pro-bono support from partner organisations throughout the nine-month programme.

The Impact Programme will be delivered primarily online in 2021-22, with in-person elements included when, and if, it safe to do so.

Applications for the Ideas Academy and Impact Programme are open until midnight on Wednesday, 7th April. Interested candidates can apply or find out more at www.socialentrepreneurs.ie.
The 18-year-old charged in the crash that killed Auburn announcer Rod Bramblett and his wife, Paula, is facing another possible bond revocation after prosecutors say he tested positive for alcohol while out on bond.

Johnston Edward Taylor is charged with manslaughter in the May 25, 2019 deaths of the Brambletts. The teens bond was first revoked in December 2019 after got two speeding tickets and one reckless driving citation seven months after the deadly crash.

He went to a treatment facility and was released from custody in April 2020 after his attorney, Tommy Spina, and prosecutors agreed to the terms of his release, which included Taylor being required to remain on 24/7 lockdown as his mothers home and wear an ankle monitor. He also was prohibited from use of any social media and must continue mental health and drug treatment therapy.

According to the new bond revocation request, Taylor had positive screens for alcohol on March 1, March 18, and March 20 of this year. All results are indicative of previous heavy drinking 1  3 days before test or recent light drinking within the past 24 hours,' wrote Lee County Assistant District Attorney James L. Farmer.

The motion was filed Wednesday, one day after there was a hearing on whether Johnston should be granted youthful offender status, which his attorneys long ago requested. Should Johnson be granted youthful offender status, he would have to waive his right to a jury trial and only have to serve a maximum of three years.

Spina on Friday said all matters relating to the youthful offender proceedings are private. The judge has taken the matter under advisement.

Walter Northcutt, another attorney for Taylor, filed an objection to the request for bond revocation, attributing the positive test results to allergy medication and claiming the request was a Hail Mary to put Taylor in jail and prejudice the outcome of the youthful offender hearing.

Northcutt said in his response that Taylor was given a surprise screening on the day of the youthful offender hearing that came back negative. He said the teen has had at least 62 screenings negative for drugs and alcohol.

Taylor, Northcutt wrote is a severe allergy sufferer and officers of the court can verify that during the last week of February and beginning of March pollen began to cover everything in Lee County, which causes us allergy sufferers to take medication to fight the effects of our allergies.

He said testimony at the youthful offender hearing from Taylors mother and doctor was that Taylor suffered from an inability to sleep due to the PTSD caused by the accident and his depression because of the effect he had on the Bramblett family.

It was just after 6 p.m. on Saturday, May 25, 2019 when the Brambletts were killed. Taylor -- then a 16-year-old Lee Scott Academy student -- was traveling southbound in the outside lane on Shug Jordan Parkway approaching West Samford Avenue in his Jeep Laredo.

The Brambletts, in a 2017 Toyota Highlander, were stopped in the southbound outside lane of Shug Jordan parkway at a traffic light. The Jeep struck the Brambletts SUV to the right of center, according to the crash report. The impact caused the Jeep to hit a pedestrian crossing signal and a traffic light pole before coming to a final rest.

The Brambletts vehicle was pushed into the intersection and through the opposing lanes of traffic before coming to a final rest on the curb.

Taylors blood sample contained THC, which is the primary psychoactive component of marijuana, and is indicative of recent usage of marijuana at the time of the collision, records state. The teen was hospitalized with non-life-threatening injuries.

Paula Bramblett, 53, was airlifted from the scene but had to be diverted to East Alabama Medical Center due to the severity of her injuries. She was pronounced dead in the emergency room from multiple internal injuries.

Rod Bramblett, 52 and the driver of the Highlander, was airlifted to UAB Hospital in Birmingham, where he later died from a closed head injury.

At the time of the deadly crash, Taylor was driving 89 mph, under the influence of marijuana, and still accelerating, authorities said, when he rammed into the back of the couples SUV.
When Manitoba Finance Minister Scott Fielding announced Tuesday that government withdrew $215 million from its so-called rainy day fund to cover the costs of a pandemic-relief program, he continued to give the false impression the province has a savings account it can use for emergency expenditures.

Editorial

When Manitoba Finance Minister Scott Fielding announced Tuesday that government withdrew $215 million from its so-called rainy day fund to "cover the costs" of a pandemic-relief program, he continued to give the false impression the province has a savings account it can use for emergency expenditures.

No such fund exists. What the province has is a fiscal stabilization account (FSA), which is part of the governments operating fund. It holds designated cash and investments that can be used to meet governments liquidity requirements. The account is part of governments "cash on hand." It is not a separate savings account. Money drawn from it is not treated as revenue, nor can it be used to reduce the provinces deficit.

Former Manitoba auditor general Norm Ricard made that clear in a 2019 report on the FSA, stating the account has no impact on the provinces summary financial statements. "Transfers in are not recorded as an expense of government, nor are transfers out recorded as revenue of government," Mr. Ricard wrote.

Despite that, Mr. Fielding continues to characterize the account as a separate pot of money that can be used to pay for unanticipated expenditures. The minister boasts that government has been prudently socking away "savings" for a rainy day, money that can be used to help offset the effects of a recession, or cover emergency costs.

Mr. Fielding says the $215 million withdrawn from the FSA will be used to pay for the Manitoba Bridge Grant program; financial support to businesses and not-for-profit organizations impacted by governments pandemic restrictions.

The Pallister government continues to give the false impression that money withdrawn from the account can be treated as revenue to pay for a government program. It cannot. All money spent on the grant program will be recorded as an expenditure. It will be added to the provinces deficit, as reported in the provinces summary financial statements.

The "rainy day fund" has been widely misrepresented for years. The province did at one time have a separate savings account, called a fiscal stabilization fund, with its own assets. It was created by the Filmon government in 1989. The fund existed outside governments operating fund. Transfers into the fiscal stabilization fund were recorded as expenditures and transfers out as revenue. It was a true "savings account."

As government adopted new accounting practices under the previous NDP government to comply with public-sector standards, that fund was eliminated in 2009. It was replaced by the FSA, which is no longer a separate fund.

It forms part of governments overall cash on hand, which is used to help manage liquidity requirements.

Maintaining a healthy level of cash is sound government policy, whether some of that cash is held in a designated account or not. It gives government flexibility in how it manages cash flow. Government maintains liquidity from taxation and other revenues, as well as through borrowing. Having the ability to draw down cash as an alternative to borrowing when lending prices rise can save tax dollars. However, the cash used is not reported as revenue and does not change the governments bottom line.

Government has a responsibility to present the public with clear and accurate information about its finances. Misrepresenting the FSA as a savings account undermines that duty.
By the time the Brothers Grimm published their first collection of fairy tales in 1812, many of the stories had been around for centuries, evolving as they crossed borders and generations. Writers, including those of science fiction and fantasy, continue to take inspiration from traditional lore, transforming the tales in ways that reflect their times.

We want those comforting tropes to hold on to, says Brit Hvide, senior editor at Orbit. But we cant just accept things the way theyve been told to us; we have to turn them over and investigate them in a new way.

PW spoke with SFF editors about forthcoming novels and short fiction collections that present old stories from new perspectives.

Familiar and subversive

Many fairy tales, Hvide says, are morality stories that reinforce gender stereotypes. Hannah Whittens debut epic fantasy, For the Wolf (Orbit, June), upends those conventions: the kingdom in the book is matriarchal, and the heroine, Red, has agency to choose her fate, including whom to love. Youre seeing the queering of these stories, more people of color, feminist takes, sex-positive takes, Hvide says of books like Whittens. We want the familiar and the subversive as the same time.

PWs starred review called For the Wolf a dark, dazzling reimagining of Little Red Riding Hood,  noting that Whitten lovingly weaves in elements from other fairy tales, including Beauty and the Beast and Snow White, while crafting a story that is all her own.

The YA contemporary fantasy Six Crimson Cranes by Elizabeth Lim, a July release from Knopf Books for Young Readers, likewise draws on a variety of sources. The Wild Swans by Hans Christian Andersen functions as a frame story and structures the plot, says Knopf BFYR senior editor Katherine R. Harrison, and Lim also incorporates elements from East Asian folklore, including the legends of Change the Moon Goddess, Madame White Snake, and the Tale of the Bamboo Cutter. Theres been no shortage of folklore and fairy tale retellings, Harrison adds, and now, were seeing a very encouraging uptick in retellings based on non-Western folktales.

Angela Mi Young Hur weaves East Asian folklore into her latest, Folklorn, which Erewhon is publishing in May. PW called it a complex meditation on intergenerational trauma that [blurs] the lines between sci-fi and fantasy. Korean American physicist Elsa Park struggles against the fate shared by women in her family, who are doomed to relive the narrative of four traditional tales.

Sarah Guan, an editor at Erewhon, explains the significance of one story in Folklornthat of the Emmileh Bell: Its not just about a girl who was, literally, turned into a bell, she says. Its about generations of women who have made sacrifices or who have been sacrificed as part of the path to getting to where we are today. Hurs book, she adds, is about a daughter of immigrants interrogating her own mythology and her role in that narrative.

The protagonist of Zen Chos Black Water Sister (Ace, May) engages with her Malaysian heritage through mythological means. In this must-read fantasy, per PW, Jessamyn Teoh graduates college in the U.S. and returns with her family to Penang, where she hasnt lived since she was a toddler. Her grandmother enlists her in the service of her god, the Black Water Sisteran especially unexpected development, as her grandmother died the year before.

Teoh incorporates the mythology of Malaysia into this very modern story, says Anne Sowards, executive editor at Ace. She calls Black Water Sister an immigrant bildungsroman; Jess reconnects with a heritage that has felt remote since her familys emigration.

Folklore lends itself to exploring stories outside the dominant culture of a society, says Adrienne Procaccini, senior editor at 47North. In June, the imprint is releasing Veronica Henrys debut fantasy, Bacchanal, whose magic system is inspired by the authors Sierra Leonean ancestry and the folklore surrounding Yoruba traditions. The book takes readers into what PW called the haunting world behind the scenes of a 1930s carnival through the experiences of Eliza, a young Black woman from Baton Rouge, La., who joins up with the traveling entertainers. Procaccini says Eliza learns what her ancestry means and how she can use that to define her own powers.

In Ava Reids The Wolf and the Woodsman (Harper Voyager, June), a fast-paced debut [that] examines religious freedom through the lens of myth and magic, per PW, Evike discovers powers she didnt know she had through retelling her home villages folktales. Its very important that the last scene is Evike writing the stories down, says David Pomerico, editorial director at Harper Voyager. Everything is about story, he addsand about how those stories are presented, preserved, and passed down. The act of committing the tales to paper means theres something you can point to that says, We were there. We matter. 

Historical perspective

Reids novel draws from her Hungarian and Jewish roots, Pomerico says. In The Light of the Midnight Stars, an April release from Orbit imprint Redhook, Rena Rossner leans into Jewish folklore, as well as 19th-century folklorist Andrew Langs version of The Boys with the Golden Stars, to examine anti-Semitism in medieval Europe. Its one of several new books using traditional tales as a window onto history.

At the center of the storywhich PW called a complex meditation on tragedy and tradition that is as lovely as it is heartbreakingis a Jewish family, steeped in magic, who have to hide their identity in order to survive. Nivia Evans, senior editor at Orbit, says the author is talking about pogroms and oppression of the Jewish people and the methods by which Jews have survived anti-Semitic attacks. Its dealing with Jewish trauma, she explains, through the tropes and elevated language of folklore.

P. Djeli Clark, in A Master of Djinn (Tordotcom, May), imagines how history might have been altered if the folkloric figure of the djinn were real. The novel is set in the alternate 1912 Egypt he previously depicted in shorter works, including the 2019 novella The Haunting of Tram Car 015; PWs starred review called the new book, Clarks full-length debut, a fantastic feat of postcolonial imagination.

Ruoxi Chen, an editor at Tordotcom, says the author is unafraid to acknowledge how colonialism intersects with core myths, explaining that the djinn in his world are integrated into the day-to-day landscape. (Diana M. Pho acquired and edited the book; Chen is carrying it through to publication and will edit Clarks future work.) Clark, a historian specializing in the transatlantic slave trade, has more on his mind than his storys timeline, Chen says. Hes thinking of how the production of Egyptian cotton impacted the U.S. economy and slavery, which allows him to delve into the intercontinental machinery of imperialism.

Matt Bell, in the July Custom House release Appleseed, ponders manifest destiny and climate change using the Johnny Appleseed myth as a starting point. The novel unfolds over three timelines: the first reimagines Johnny as a mythological faun in the 18th century seeking to conquer the American wilderness for capitalism, the second is a techno-thriller set 50 years from now, and the third takes place a thousand years later, in a new ice age.

Folktales and fairy tales are foundational stories, says Kate Nintzel, executive editor at Custom House. Writers who incorporate them, she explains, can assume a level of understanding with the reader. It gives you space to play with ideas.

Joanne M. Harriss Honeycomb (Saga, June) comprises original fairy tales, illustrated by Charles Vess, tracing the rise and fall of the Lacewing King of the Nine Worlds. The eerie vignettes are punctuated by politically tinged interstitial pieces whose influences include Aesops Fables and Animal Farm. In one story, for instance, a parrot convinces a herd of sheep not to vote, which allows dogs to take over the farm and eat them all.

I think the creepiness has gotten lost in a lot of retellings, where the fairies are goth and cool and sexy and dark, and not scary at all, says Joe Monti, editorial director at Saga Press. Joanne put the scary back in. PWs starred review called the book a strange, wondrous mosaic, praising illustrator Charles Vesss evocative line drawings and calling the overall effect magical, poignant, and wholly transporting.

Mirror, mirror

In April, Del Rey will publish Malice, Heather Walters superlative debut, according to PWs starred review. Its a queer reimagining of Sleeping Beauty that sees the sorceress and princess fall for each other. Fairy tales are stories we tell about who we are,says Tricia Narwani, editor-in-chief at Del Rey Books. Women and gender noncomforming people and queer people are taking back the stories that were always theirs and telling them themselves.

Anna Kaufman, an editor at Vintage Books, also sees the importance of diverse retellings. People of all kinds deserve to see themselves reflected in these stories, she says. In Sword Stone Table (Vintage, July), edited by Swapna Krishna and Jenn Northington, authors including Ken Liu, Silvia Moreno-Garcia, and Nisi Shawl rework Arthurian legends, offering, PWs starred review said, such a variety of style, theme, and genre that die-hard Arthurian fans and more casual readers will be equally delighted. (See our q&a with Krishna and Northington.)

Young adult authors have been at the forefront of telling inclusive stories, including those that play with gender norms. Lish McBrides Curses (Putnam, July) casts Beauty as a male con artist who relies on his good looks; a seemingly spoiled rich girl plays the Beast. The fantasy-in-verse The Seventh Raven (HMH, out now) by David Elliot, illustrated by Rovina Cai, reimagines The Seven Ravens, a Grimms fairy tale, through a lens of perseverance and change, PWs starred review said. Though all his parents want is a daughter, girlish misfit Robyn lives a stifling life as the youngest of a temperamental woodsmans seven competitive sons. After the boys fall victim to an avian curse, Robyn, alone among his brothers, embraces the joy of flight.

Soman Chainanis YA short story collection Beasts and Beauty (HarperCollins, Sept.) offers an array of representation in its 12 tales: a Black Snow White, an Indian Hansel and Gretel, a queer vampire version of Sleeping Beauty. The plots reflect the rite of passage in adolescence from anxiety to self-assurance, says Antonia Markiet, editorial director at HarperCollins Childrens Books. Chainanis Bluebeard, for instance, transforms the tale of a young bride escaping a murderous husband into the story of an orphaned boy breaking free of a cycle of abuse and returning to rescue the other boys in his orphanage. Julia Iredales illustrations are meant to evoke those of traditional fairy tale collections while illuminating what Markiet calls a more representational version of the stories.

Fairy tales are a common language, Markiet says, and the foundation to understanding life and how we fit into it. Returning to this familiar ground, she and other editors say, gives authors the space to question the tales we tell ourselves, how theyve been told to us, and how they continue to define us.

Elyse Martin, a writer in Washington, D.C., has also published in Electric Literature, the Toast, Tor.com, and elsewhere.

Correction: An earlier version of this article misstated Joe Monti's name, and used a different transliteration for "Emmileh Bell" than the one that appears in Folklorn.

Below, more on Science Fiction, Fantasy, and Horror books.

New Seats at the Round Table: PW Talks with Swapna Krishna and Jenn Northington

The editors of 'Sword Stone Table' (Vintage, July), an inclusive anthology of Arthurian retellings, discuss why Camelot is "ripe for exploration and reinterpretation."

What Fresh Hell Is This?: Science Fiction, Fantasy & Horror 2021

PW looks at the new Nightfire horror imprint and the latest novels from Grady Hendrix, Stephen Graham Jones, and Rivers Solomon.

The (Im)persistence of Memory: Science Fiction, Fantasy & Horror 2021

New books untangle the often-fragile links between recollection and identity.
City of Hope, a world-renowned independent research and treatment center for cancer and diabetes, today announced that it will extend its leading-edge cancer expertise to South America via an education agreement with Hospital Israelita Albert Einstein, a top cancer center in Latin America.

This press release features multimedia. View the full release here: https://www.businesswire.com/news/home/20210401005185/en/

The three-year agreement calls for City of Hope to share its specialized cancer expertise with Hospital Israelita Albert Einsteins oncology residents and clinical staff. City of Hope will provide educational experiences and host multidisciplinary tumor boards. Both institutions will explore potential innovative collaborations in precision oncology and research.

This agreement marks another milestone moment, allowing City of Hope to extend its mission to eliminate cancer to a new continent, said Harlan Levine, M.D., president of strategy and business ventures at City of Hope, which is headquartered near Los Angeles.

Hospital Israelita Albert Einstein has an exceptional medical team, Levine added. City of Hope will offer our best-in-class expertise as a comprehensive cancer center to both their residents in training and clinical staff. We hope to collaborate with our Latin American colleagues to improve cancer care outcomes not only in Sao Paulo, but also throughout Brazil and Latin America.

Among other services, City of Hope will provide a virtual multidisciplinary tumor board that will initially focus on gastrointestinal, genitourinary, lung and brain cancers. Hospital Israelita Albert Einstein physicians will share specific patient cases with complex issues involving molecular diagnostics, immunotherapy and innovations in cancer care delivery for review and discussion. City of Hope will also provide educational webinars and offer professional training on topics such as genetic testing, supportive care services and nursing.

Sidney Klajner, M.D., Ph.D., president of Hospital Israelita Albert Einstein, said, We will incorporate City of Hopes multidisciplinary approach to oncology precision medicine to address the cancer burden in Brazil. Together with City of Hope, we hope to collaborate on molecular diagnostics and innovative care advancements for the benefit of patients in Latin American and beyond.

Hospital Israelita Albert Einstein has been ranked as the best hospital in Latin America by the America Economia Business Intelligence Unit for 12 years in a row. Additionally, it is positioned 36th overall globally and 21st for specialized oncology on Newsweeks ranking of the Worlds Best Hospitals 2021.

This collaborative agreement was made possible through efforts by City of Hopes Center for International Medicine (CIM), which seeks to collaborate with international organizations to improve cancer and diabetes care for more people worldwide. CIM works with governments, hospitals, private companies and investors, and offers a range of services in the areas of clinical research and innovation, education and professional development.

About City of Hope

City of Hope is an independent biomedical research and treatment center for cancer, diabetes and other life-threatening diseases. Founded in 1913, City of Hope is a leader in bone marrow transplantation and immunotherapy such as CAR T cell therapy. City of Hopes translational research and personalized treatment protocols advance care throughout the world. Human synthetic insulin, monoclonal antibodies, and numerous breakthrough cancer drugs are based on technology developed at the institution. Translational Genomics Research Institute (TGen) became a part of City of Hope in 2016. AccessHopeTM, a wholly owned subsidiary, was launched in 2019, dedicated to serving employers and their health care partners by providing access to City of Hopes exceptional cancer expertise. A National Cancer Institute-designated comprehensive cancer center and a founding member of the National Comprehensive Cancer Network, City of Hope is ranked among the nations Best Hospitals in cancer by U.S. News & World Report. Its main campus is located near Los Angeles, with additional locations throughout Southern California and in Arizona. For more information about City of Hope, follow us on Facebook, Twitter, YouTube or Instagram.

About Hospital Israelita Albert Einstein

Hospital Israelita Albert Einstein is a not-for-profit health care system based in Sao Paulo, Brazil. It encompasses activities in health care delivery, teaching, research, innovation and consultancy. In the private setting, the system manages a 600-bed general hospital and 10 satellite units spread around the greater metropolitan area of Sao Paulo and is dedicated to diagnostics and ambulatory medicine. In the public setting, the system manages two hospitals, with 600 beds in total and 24 ambulatory units. In 1999, the hospital became the first hospital outside of the U.S. to be accredited by Joint Commission International. It is currently the strategic partner of the Institute for Healthcare Improvement in Latin America.

View source version on businesswire.com: https://www.businesswire.com/news/home/20210401005185/en/
Source: Xinhua| 2021-04-03 23:57:37|Editor: huaxia

Video Player Close

JUBA, April 3 (Xinhua) -- The UN Mission in South Sudan (UNMISS) said 58 women and children who were abducted last year during vicious inter-communal fighting in Jonglei State are finally being reunited with their families.

The UN mission, working together with its partners, said the exchange of abducted women and children came following a community-led goodwill agreement between the Lou Nuer, Murle and Dinka Bor ethnic communities.

David Shearer, the UN Secretary-General's Special Representative for South Sudan and head of UNMISS, said the agreement reached to release abducted women and children is an essential step to build trust and avoid the cycle of revenge.

"Abductions are a horrific aspect of conflict in this area. I applaud all those involved for their efforts to reunite these innocent victims with their families," Shearer said in a statement issued in Juba Friday evening.

The UN estimates that as many as 686 women and children were abducted during the extreme violence between these communities in Jonglei and the Greater Pibor Administrative Area (GPAA) between January and August 2020.

UNMISS said efforts are continuing to return the remaining women and children.

It said the reunion is the first part of a coordinated program supported by the UN's Reconciliation, Stabilization and Resilience Trust Fund to tackle the underlying drivers of conflict between communities that have plagued the Jonglei region for years.

The intensive efforts to broker peace between the three communities have been underway since December 2020, backed by the UNMISS working together with agencies. Enditem
ORANGE - At only 25, Jonathan Jon Gioia is living the dream with the opening of his Empire Tattoo shop, the name a reference to Star Wars.

Ive been drawing all my life. Once I got my first tattoo at 18, I thought, what an honor to put your art on a persons body, he said. Its always been my dream to have my own shop.

The business is located at 547 Boston Post Road in the same plaza at Greyson Guns.

Gioia, whose specialty is hyper photo realism, started drawing at a young age and just got better and better with no lessons, he and his family said.

Arnold Gold / Hearst Connecticut Media

He is self-taught, but was required to serve 2,000 hours of apprenticeship to get a license, so he opened the business with a following.

Clients say he is meticulous, focused on the job and exceptional at blending his artistry and client ideas.

Its an honor to put my art on peoples bodies, he said. I like the satisfaction I get from peoples reaction to my art.

The shop soon will offer non-laser tattoo removal, as well, for those with tattoos no longer relevant or wanted. Non-laser removal means no burning like with laser, as the tattoo is erased by lifting out the pigment with all-natural substance, said Matt Hurlburt, a tattoo artist at the shop who specializes in Japanese-style designs.

Hurlburt said tattoos have gone from an underground movement to being mainstream, and a huge part of the younger generations culture.

Gioia, who grew up in East Haven and now lives in North Haven, said he chose to open in Orange because he likes the demographic and he found the right location.

Arnold Gold / Hearst Connecticut Media

Dalton Petroccio, 23, a friend and future client, said Gioia really gets in that zone when doing a tattoo.

Jon takes his time when designing the tattoo. He takes your input and mixes it with his artistic ways, Petroccio said. Hes a hard-working, driven person, especially when it comes to art.

Petroccio said he will get a tattoo of his mothers birthday in Roman numerals.

Gioias first tattoo at age 18 was of his mothers birthday in Roman numerals, as he is close to his mother, as is his brother, Joe Gioia, whose tattoo in honor of their mother, Nancy Coughlin, says, My everything, my life. He has My everything on one wrist and My life on the other and it reads as a phrase when he puts his wrists together.

Joe Gioia, 27, said their parents divorced when he was in eighth grade and Coughlin went to extraordinary lengths to raise four boys largely on her own. He said times were so tough financially that there was one year at least when the East Haven familys Christmas gifts came from Goodwill.

Our mother has been everything to us - leader, mentor, best friend, Joe Gioia said. I dont think anyone on this planet could have done what she did.

Gioia also gives a lot of credit for his and his brothers success to their stepfather, John Coughlin.

Arnold Gold / Hearst Connecticut Media

While his younger brother didnt create the wrist tattoo honoring their mother, Joe Gioia said hell get a tattoo from his brother soon honoring their late father, James Jimbo Gioia.

He said his brother was always showing the family his latest art and it started to get really good.

Joe Gioia said his brother also has a knack for portraits, and colored pencil work.

It was a talent discovered by him taking it to limits no one thought possible, Joe Gioia said. Im really proud of him.

Jonathan Gioia said business is already popping with new and returning clients and he has a strong following on social media.

Client Chloe Fletcher, 25, has nine tattoos, a flower and a butterfly by Gioia.

Hes very meticulous. She said. He takes his time, hes a perfectionist. Hes awesome.

The shop was welcomed this month by the Chamber of Commerce, with a grand opening and ribbon-cutting attended by state Reps. Kathy Kennedy, R-Milford, and Charles Ferraro, R-West Haven, as well as chamber President Ted Novicki and others.
MINNEAPOLIS  The police officer had seen hundreds of crime scenes, interviewed scores of witnesses and made his share of arrests over more than 35 years working cases in Minneapolis.

But when Lt. Richard Zimmerman watched a video of one of his colleagues kneeling on George Floyds neck, he saw what he described in a courtroom on Friday as a totally unnecessary violation of department policy.

Pulling him down to the ground facedown and putting your knee on a neck for that amount of time, its just uncalled-for, testified Lieutenant Zimmerman, who is the longest-serving officer on the Minneapolis police force. His comments came at the end of the first week in the trial of Derek Chauvin, the former police officer charged with murdering Mr. Floyd along a Minneapolis street last May.

Police officers have often been accused of sticking together on questions of misconduct  avoiding breaking a so-called blue wall of silence  so the sworn testimony against Mr. Chauvin by a high-ranking officer was all the more extraordinary.
What a bitter irony it is for the Afghan and Iraqi military interpreters, and their families, who served with our combat forces and now wait in line, hoping to be issued a Special Immigrant Visa to come to the United States before they are punished, even killed, by vengeful enemies for aiding our troops. All this while tens of thousands of illegal immigrants, none of whom have aided our troops, pour across our southern borders.

Howard Manuels April 2 commentary (Our moral obligation to military interpreters) makes the case for America doing far more to aid specific allies than we have done and are doing. As these men linger in long lines awaiting permission to enter America legally, the cartels are taking advantage of the current administrations leniency at the border and, in the process, victimizing people physically, emotionally, and economically. The cartels are laughing all the way to the bank.

Come on, President Joe Biden. If you can stop a pipeline, end construction on a wall and make it easier to cross Americas southern border with the stroke of a pen, you can use that pen to help those military interpreters that stood in harms way with us. And please do it while those men are still alive.

Patrick M. McLaughlin,

Gates Mills

Patrick M. McLaughlin, former U.S. Attorney for the Northern District of Ohio, was awarded the Silver Star for gallantry in action during the Vietnam War.
Siegal still has property in downtown Napa that he manages, including the Feast it Forward building on McKinstry Street and a property adjacent that has been proposed as the Black Elk Hotel. I will be flying back from time to time for Napa business, he said.

We miss our friends terribly, he admitted. Some have come to visit but its not the same as being back in Napa.

Theres something very special about being in Napa, he said. A born entrepreneur, I feel like Im missing out a little bit. Whos going to build something? A lot of that energy and excitement; I miss that. I really do.

Guzman said she misses long hot showers and baths. She doesnt miss their belongings that the family got rid of when they moved onto the boat.

It was really cathartic, she said. Before this downsizing, I held onto way too much stuff, said Guzman. Even among the items they did put into storage, Id say theres a good five boxes of stuff I really want. Everything else is not so important anymore, she said.

Where is the Siegal family headed next?

Were about to do a big passage to Puerto Rico on our way to Grenada, Siegal said.
.......... .......... .......... .......... .......... .......... .......... .......... .......... .......... .......... .......... .......... .......... .......... .......... .......... ..........

ALBUQUERQUE, N.M.  He rolled up to Embudo Hills Park in a grayish green pickup, dropped off a white cardboard box and drove away.

Maureen Jorgensen, walking her dogs around the park at Lomas and Monte Verde NE, didnt need to open the box to know what was inside  and neither did her dogs.

The box was meowing.

I looked through the air holes and saw it was a kitty, very scared, crying, scratching at the box, she said. I didnt know what to do.

ADVERTISEMENTSkip



................................................................

She was a half-mile from home that frosty March 16 day, she hadnt brought her phone and it was starting to snow.

And there was the matter of her dogs.

But there was no way I was just going to leave that poor thing out there, she said. She didnt deserve that.

It should have been this little black cats lucky day. But it turns out that not all cats have nine lives.

Jorgensen said she saw two men in a car and had them call 311 to ask the city Animal Welfare Department to send out an officer. She waited, but no officer came, at least not before Gloria Caetano did.

Caetano and her husband were walking their German shepherd and offered to take the cat to their daughters home, because, again, there was the matter of their dog.

So much meowing, from the moment they brought the box in the house, daughter Kelsey Caetano-Anolles said. That cat was skinny, small, malnourished and extremely hungry. She ate an entire can of cat food.

The cat was also injured, a front leg grotesquely broken and bent, her tail sliced open, her abdomen scuffed.

It was so heartbreaking to see her condition once she started walking, Caetano said. This was not just a broken leg. She was limping with an extremely damaged leg, which was bent in places a leg should not. This wasnt an accident that had just happened. Instead it seems that this owner had let this cat suffer for several weeks.

Even in her obvious discomfort, the little cat was joyful.

She was so sweet and gentle, flipping over to show her belly to me for rubs and being playful, Caetano said.

They fell in love with her. So did many neighbors who read about the rescued cat on Caetanos NextDoor post.

But the cat belonged to someone. Inside the box, the Caetanos found a note. Her name was Hera, a good cat, hit by a car, it read. Her mom couldnt afford a veterinarian, but maybe someone who found her could. The Caetanos were willing.

But two veterinary clinics told them they couldnt treat Hera without the owners permission and suggested they take her to Animal Welfare.

So we went to the citys Eastside shelter, Caetano-Anolles said. And we instantly felt regret.

The family was told that Hera was microchipped and would be returned to the listed owner.

Carolyn Ortega, director of Animal Welfare, said the goal is to reunite pets with their humans except in cases of abuse and neglect, and neither were indicated in Heras case.

A vet on staff evaluated the cat and it appeared the cat was hit by a car and that it was recent, Ortega said. We had no reason to believe the injuries were purposely done.

The owner was contacted and arrived shortly after to reclaim Hera and sign a document stating that she would seek medical attention for her cat within 48 hours, Ortega said.

Instead, the cat was relinquished at a shelter partner, she said.

Ortega said little else about the woman and the man in the truck at the park  apparently the womans ex-boyfriend  because of an ongoing investigation that is possibly likely to result in criminal charges.

On March 20, Hera was returned to the shelter. On March 22, she underwent surgery to treat her wounds and amputate her leg, too damaged to be saved.

The Caetanos called the shelter regularly to check on Hera. Still outraged, they encouraged others to join them in demanding that the city do better.

They were heartened that the surgery had gone well and that already many were lining up to adopt her.

But sometimes best intentions are not enough.

Hera was resting after surgery when shelter staff left for the day. Nothing seemed amiss, Ortega said.

They found Hera the next morning, dead in her cage, strangled by the IV tubing that had wrapped around her tiny neck.

The whole clinic staff was just devastated, Ortega said. It was just an awful freak accident.

The Caetanos were heartbroken, too. But they were also horrified that post-op animals are left alone overnight at the shelter. There is no night crew, no surveillance cameras or alarms.

After everything she went through in the past week, she was left unattended and died a needless death, all alone, Caetano said. Do not let Hera die in vain. Something needs to change.

Well, maybe it will.

Ortega said her staff is evaluating how Heras case was handled and whether policies and practices need to be changed to prevent another tragedy.

There is always room for improvement, she said. All we can do is learn from what happened and try to turn this into a positive for other animals.

And there is always a need to remind people that if they cant afford veterinary care for their pet, there are better ways to deal with that rather than tossing out the pet for others to find.

If you love your pet and want help, tell us, Ortega said. Maybe we can help.

Hera didnt get nine lives, but perhaps she can help other cats have a few good ones. She deserves at least that.

UpFront is a front-page news and opinion column.
Industry body Federation of Indian Chambers of Commerce & Industry (FICCI) has urged the government to open up vaccination for the age group 18-45 years. While assuring the government of complete support of the industry in fighting coronavirus, FICCI also asked the Centre to ramp up coronavirus testing access states.

FICCI said that there is much more scope of testing considering around 15 lakh samples were being tested in a day in January but currently 11 lakh samples are only being tested. "We are currently testing about 11 lakh samples a day, while we had reached the level of testing 15 lakh samples a day in January. Further, there is capacity to perform many more tests with 2,440 labs in the country operational for COVID testing, including more than 1,200 from the private sector," said FICCI President Uday Shankar in a letter to Union Health & Family Welfare Minister Dr Harsh Vardhan.

Shankar said that states could use the facilities in the private sector to the maximum to achieve the desired testing capacity. The FICCI President said that vaccination should open up for the 18-45 years age group as this group has been acting as superspreaders of the infection in the country.

"Given that there is no shortage of vaccines and there is a huge scope of augmenting inoculation capacity through greater involvement of private sector, we urge you to open up vaccination for this age group to help subside the spread of infection as well as the severity of cases in the country," he added.

India saw the highest number of coronavirus cases in six months in the last 24 hours with 89,129 new coronavirus cases and 714 deaths. However, the vaccination drive is going full swing too. More than 7.3 crore vaccine doses have been administered in the country so far, out of which 31 lakh doses were administered in the last 24 hours. In the latest phase that started on April 1, everyone above the age of 45 years are now eligible for vaccination.

Also read: India records highest COVID-19 cases in six months with 89,129 cases, 714 deaths

Also read: Karnataka imposes new restrictions: 50% capacity at bars, pubs, cinema halls; gyms, pools closed
The Armenian police detained several opposition representatives, the Mediaport Telegram channel informs.

It is reported that six representatives of the Liberation movement were taken to custody after refusing to remove the tent from Demirchyan Street.
All United States and Commonwealth flags on the Capitol Complex and Commonwealth facilities throughout the state are to be lowered to half-staff immediately, according to Gov. Tom Wolf.

On behalf of all Pennsylvanians, I extend my heartfelt condolences to the families of the victims of this attack, Wolf said. Our commonwealth grieves with you. We must stand firm in our commitment to reduce violence of all forms  especially in the heart of our nations capital at the symbolic center of our democracy.

The United States Flag shall fly at half-staff until sunset on April 6. The commonwealth flag has flown at half-staff since March 11, 2020, in honor of the victims of the COVID-19 pandemic and should continue to fly at half-staff until further notice.

All Pennsylvanians are invited to participate in this tribute.

Read more from PennLive

Officer killed in attack outside Capitol an 18-year veteran

Police officer killed outside U.S. Capitol after driver rams car into barricade, prompting lockdown
 Flash

As international travel came to a standstill in 2020, companies in the travel and tourism industries hit a wall. Business dried up to almost nothing.

Now, with vaccination campaigns beginning to pick up speed, plans around travel bubbles falling in place and discussions around vaccination certificates proliferating, there is hope for a big rebound that will supercharge the moribund industry.

The year 2019 saw almost 2 billion international tourism departures around the world. But that number evaporated in 2020, even for domestic travel. The World Economic Forum estimates the travel industry lost $1.3 trillion in 2020.

According to the United Nations World Tourism Organization, or UNWTO, 1 billion fewer international arrivals were recorded in 2020 than in 2019, a plummet of 74 percent. Even during the global crisis of 2009, the decline was just 4 percent.

Malaysia recorded just 4.22 million tourist arrivals in 2020, down from 26.1 million in 2019, while tourism revenues fell 85 percent. Thailand lost 40 million tourists and experienced the worst economic downturn since the Asian financial crisis of 1997. Foreign arrivals in Vietnam fell 79 percent to just 3.8 million, according to the General Statistics Office.

The plunging numbers have forced the industry to adapt.

Singapore's Blue Sky Escapes is a good example of how the adaptation is playing out. Blue Sky specialized in outbound journeys but had to shift its offerings as COVID-19 hit in February 2020.




Top #AGS21 research presentations address older adults' views on gun retirement and more

New York (March 27, 2019)--Insights into molecular changes in the brains of Alzheimer's patients, a new model for predicting the life expectancy of older adults with multiple chronic diseases and age-related vulnerability, and older adults' and healthcare professionals' perspectives on gun retirement are the subjects of top-line presentations at the American Geriatrics Society (AGS) 2021 Virtual Annual Scientific Meeting (#AGS21) (May 13-15, with pre-conference May 12). Research reviewed at the conference's Plenary Paper Session (May 13, 11:15 a.m.-12 p.m. ET) represents geriatrics' most promising scholarship, drawn from a pool of almost 1,000 abstract submissions. This year's marquee research presentations are:

Higher Angiotensin II type 1 Receptor (AT1R) Levels and Activity in the Postmortem Brains of Older Persons with Alzheimer's Disease

(presented by Caglar Cosarderelioglu, MD) Alzheimer's disease is the most common cause of dementia, but scientists have yet to understand what causes Alzheimer's. One potential contributor to the development of the irreversible, progressive brain disorder is the renin-angiotensin system (RAS), a hormonal system that plays a critical role in regulating blood pressure. In their study, Dr. Cosarderelioglu and colleagues, led by Peter Abadir, MD, used frontal cortex brain samples from the cadavers of cognitively normal individuals and Alzheimer's patients to examine the differences in their renin-angiotensin systems and determine how these differences might relate to other effects of Alzheimer's disease in the brain. They used two different lab detection methods, quantitative Polymerase Chain Reaction for gene expression and Western blot for proteins, to measure the levels and/or gene expression of six main components of the RAS. Researchers also looked for the relationship between RAS differences and oxidative stress (an imbalance between free radicals and antioxidants that can cause damage to fatty tissue, DNA, and proteins in the body) and inflammation. Among Alzheimer's patients, they identified an increase in the gene and protein expression and activity of only one RAS component, the angiotensin II type 1 receptor (AT1R), which is known for its pro-oxidative and pro-inflammatory effects. Higher levels of AT1R in the brain were associated with higher levels of oxidative stress and beta-amyloid proteins (a marker of Alzheimer's disease) and greater decline in cognitive function. Results of Dr. Cosarderelioglu's study offer insight into how molecular changes in the RAS in the brain relate to Alzheimer's disease.

Life Expectancy Estimates Using Comorbidities and Frailty to Inform Preventive Care of Older Adults

(presented by Nancy L. Schoenborn, MD, MHS) Predictions about life expectancy are an important factor in making decisions about the care of older adults. Current prediction models use age and comorbidities (multiple chronic diseases) while neglecting frailty, the medical term for the increasing vulnerability to daily stressors we may experience with advancing age. Dr. Schoenborn and her team set out to correct this oversight by incorporating frailty into a new life expectancy prediction model. The researchers used data from more than 400,000 Medicare beneficiaries ages 66 to 95 enrolled in the fee-for-service program from 1998 to 2014 to estimate the probabilities of their survival rates at five and 10 years, as well as their median life expectancies by age, sex, level of comorbidities, and frailty status. According to researchers' findings, adults with any comorbidities had a higher risk of death than those with none, and adults in the "high frailty" category were more likely to die over the 17-year study period than those in the "low frailty" one. Median life expectancies were less than 10 years in individuals with high comorbidity levels and high frailty, regardless of age. Most strikingly, the median life expectancy for men age 70 with high comorbidity levels and high frailty (5.4 years) was approximately half that for men in the same age group with high comorbidities and low frailty. The study suggests that comorbidities and frailty are significant and independent predictors of life expectancy over 10 years, an important threshold in clinical decision-making for older adults. The table researchers created with their results can help clinicians discuss important decisions with patients, inform simulation models, and drive population health management and research.

Firearm Injury and Suicide Prevention in Older Adults: Stakeholder Perspectives on "Firearm Retirement"

(presented by Laura C. Prater, PhD, MPH, MHA) Cognitive decline and depression are common in older Americans, nearly 40 percent of whom live in a home with a firearm. Access to weapons they can shoot puts them at high risk of unintentional injury and suicide. Working with a team led by Emmy Betz, MD, MPH, Dr. Prater and colleagues conducted a series of focus groups with older firearm owners and interviews with geriatrics healthcare professionals to explore how older firearm owners think about retiring their guns as they age or experience physical or cognitive impairments. Of the 16 older adults, mostly men, who participated in virtual focus groups from October 2020 to January 2021, many said they had considered limiting their firearm access, but the majority had not made concrete plans to do so. Some suggested tools, like gun inventories, that would help facilitate their own planning. In their interviews, geriatrics health professionals compared the process of retiring firearms to giving up one's car keys and writing advance directives. They stressed the importance of planning early and often and acknowledged the value of involving family and friends in ongoing conversations. Future directions for the findings of this qualitative study include developing decision aids and other resources for gun retirement that are modeled on evidence-based tools for driving retirement or advance directives. ### About the American Geriatrics Society Founded in 1942, the American Geriatrics Society (AGS) is a nationwide, not-for-profit society of geriatrics healthcare professionals that has--for more than 75 years--worked to improve the health, independence, and quality of life of older people. Its nearly 6,000 members include geriatricians, geriatric nurses, social workers, family practitioners, physician assistants, pharmacists, and internists. The Society provides leadership to healthcare professionals, policymakers, and the public by implementing and advocating for programs in patient care, research, professional and public education, and public policy. For more information, visit AmericanGeriatrics.org. About the AGS Annual Scientific Meeting The AGS Annual Scientific Meeting is the premier educational event in geriatrics, providing the latest information on clinical care, research on aging, and innovative models of care delivery. More than 2,000 nurses, pharmacists, physicians, physician assistants, social workers, long-term care and managed care providers, healthcare administrators, and others will convene virtually May 13-15 2021 (pre-conference program on May 12) to advance geriatrics knowledge and skills through state-of-the-art educational sessions and research presentations. For more information, visit Meeting.AmericanGeriatrics.org.

This story has been published on: 2021-04-02. To contact the author, please use the contact details within the article.
Tailgate step will not deploy

Hello,

just traded in my 2015 F250 for a 2019 F250 and the tailgate step was working fine,, i had to order a new back up camera the next day because there was moisture under the lense cover, It was not like that when I checked it at the dealership. I'm guessing when they washed it up for delivery the moisture got in as by the time I got home it was really foggy and barely usable. Anyways, I got the camera in and went to put it in, but of course, the step gate will not deploy (its required in order to install the back-up camera. It will not release ,no matter how I push the button, I have been combing the forums and all I can find is people complaining about it not popping out far enough, but not one saying it will not unlock. Has anyone had this issue and if so, were you able to fix it on your own, or was it somthing that you had to take it in for? Thanks for any help.

gene
Ukraines military announced Saturday that it will hold joint military drills with NATO troops later this year amid escalating violence with pro-Russian separatists in the eastern part of the country.

The armed forces said in a statement on Facebook that the drills will be held with more than 1,000 military personnel from at least five NATO member states in a few months.

In particular, defensive actions will be worked out, followed by an offensive in order to restore the state border and territorial integrity of a state that has been subjected to aggression by one of the hostile neighboring countries, the statement said, in an apparent reference to Russia.

An exact date for the drills was not provided.

Moscow had preemptively rebuked any potential deployment of NATO personnel to Ukraine, warning that it would ramp up pressure along the border between the two countries.

But pressure has already ramped up along the border, with Russia building up its military presence on its side of the barrier. Fighting also increased with separatists backed by Moscow in eastern Ukraine, spelling the potential end to a cease-fire in the Donetsk region.
TUPELO, Miss. (WTVA) - Friday was World Autism Awareness Day and the Autism Center of North Mississippi held its annual burger frenzy to raise money.

Executive Director Melinda Tidwell said the organization prepared 700 burgers Friday.

Burger frenzy event at Ballard Park in Tupelo. Photo Date: April 2, 2021.

Burger frenzy event at Ballard Park in Tupelo. Photo Date: April 2, 2021. Burger frenzy event at Ballard Park in Tupelo. Photo Date: April 2, 2021. Burger frenzy event at Ballard Park in Tupelo. Photo Date: April 2, 2021.

Last years frenzy brought the Center around $5,000.

Tidwell hopes this years funds will exceed that amount.

It helps to get the word out about the Autism Center; about what we do, she said. It just helps to show the support we get from the community. It really is inspiring to our staff to see how much the community supports what they do.

The organization held this years event at Ballard Park.

Related - World Autism Awareness Day 2021: What you need to know
State Office Building Flags Ordered to Half-Staff

By West Kentucky Star Staff

FRANKFORT - In accordance with a proclamation from the White House, Governor Andy Beshear has directed that flags at all state office buildings be lowered to half-staff until sunset on Tuesday, April 6.The proclamation is in honor of the service and sacrifice of the victims of the attack at the United States Capitol on April 2.Beshear encourages individuals, businesses, and organizations throughout the commonwealth to join in the tribute.You can find additional flag status information at the link below.On the Net:
State health authorities confirmed 2,559 COVID-19 cases in South Carolina schools over the course of March, a decrease of more than 1,200 from the month before.

About one in five of these cases are school employees, according to the South Carolina Department of Health and Environmental Control.

DHEC only counts people who entered a school or school activity while their COVID-19 cases were in the infectious period.

In total, there have been 16,229 infectious COVID-19 cases inside South Carolina schools since the beginning of the 2020-2021 school year, according to DHEC. About 75% of the cases have been students.

In Aiken County, North Augusta High School has had the most cumulative cases this school year, with 48 student cases and seven faculty cases. North Augusta Middle School reported five new student cases during March.

Ridge Spring-Monetta High reported the most cases in March in Aiken County. Six students and fewer than five employees attended school with COVID-19.

Other schools in Aiken County reported fewer than five cases each. Here are the public, private and charter schools in Aiken County where DHEC has reported cases over the last 30 days:

 Aiken County Career Center

 Aiken High

 Aiken Intermediate

 Fox Creek High

 Gloverville Elementary

 JD Lever Elementary

 Langley-Bath-Clearwater Middle

 Leavelle McCampbell Middle

 Millbrook Elementary

 Mossy Creek Elementary

 North Augusta High

 North Augusta Middle

 Redcliffe Elementary

 Ridge Spring-Monetta Elementary

 Ridge Spring-Monetta High

 Ridge Spring-Monetta Middle

 Schofield Middle

 Wagener-Salley High

 Victory Christian School

Barnwell Elementary is the only school in Barnwell County with cases over the last 30 days. The school reported fewer than five student cases, according to DHEC.

In Edgefield County, three schools reported fewer than five cases: Johnston Elementary, Johnston-Edgefield-Trenton Middle and Merriwether Elementary.

To view the South Carolina Department of Health and Environmental Control's biweekly COVID-19 data updates for statewide schools, visit scdhec.gov/covid19 and click on "Student, Teacher & Faculty Cases."
Washington, April 3 : The US has lifted sanctions against senior officials of the International Criminal Court (ICC) which were imposed by the administration of former President Donald Trump.

Secretary of State Antony Blinken said in a statement on Friday that President Joe Biden had revoked an executive order against certain persons of the ICC, ending the threat and imposition of economic sanctions and visa restrictions in connection with the court, Xinhua news agency reported.

"As a result, the sanctions imposed by the previous administration against ICC Prosecutor Fatou Bensouda and Phakiso Mochochoko, the Head of the Jurisdiction, Complementarity and Cooperation Division of the Office of the Prosecutor, have been lifted," he said.

The Department of State also terminated a separate 2019 policy on visa restrictions on certain ICC personnel, Blinkem added.

"These decisions reflect our assessment that the measures adopted were inappropriate and ineffective." Blinken, however, highlighted the disagreement between Washington and The Hague-based international tribunal.

"We continue to disagree strongly with the ICC's actions relating to the Afghanistan and Palestinian situations. We maintain our longstanding objection to the Court's efforts to assert jurisdiction over personnel of non-States Parties such as the United States and Israel," he noted.

The US has not ratified the Rome Statute of the ICC and rejected the the Court's jurisdiction over American persons.

The ICC in March 2020 authorised an investigation into possible war crimes in Afghanistan, including those that may have been committed by the American military and the CIA, which could lead to the indictment of US Army and intelligence personnel.

In June 2020, Trump authorised economic sanctions against ICC officials engaged in an investigation into US personnel, which drew criticism from the international community and some American allies.

The ICC was established when the Rome Statute took effect in 2002.

It prosecutes crimes of genocide, war crimes, crimes against humanity, and the crime of aggression.
(Newser)  An unusual type of blood clot among people who have received the AstraZeneca coronavirus vaccine is puzzling health officials in Europe. The UK now reports 30 cases, up from five, and no cases among people who received the Pfizer vaccine. There's no evidence that the blood clots are connected to the AstraZeneca vaccine, the New York Times reports. That wouldn't worry regulators enough to stop the vaccinations, anyway, because they occur so rarelyin Britain, one AstraZeneca recipient in 600,000 has had a blood clot. Still, drug agencies for the UK and European Union, whose regulator will meet next week, are investigating the issue. The unusual nature of the clots is that they're often accompanied by a drop in blood platelets, which can bring heavy bleeding.

story continues below

Some health officials in Europe are suspicious and tired of not knowing more, per the Times of Israel. "We have to stop speculating whether there is a link or not," said the leader of a team reviewing cases in Oslo. "All of these cases had these symptoms three to 10 days after the AstraZeneca inoculation. We did not find any other triggering factor." Norway's drug regulator said a link is probable. Britain's agency said Friday night that seven people have died of clots after receiving the AstraZeneca vaccine but nonetheless renewed its recommendation to take it. Four recipients in France have died, and the government now limits the vaccine's use to people over 55, per the AP. The family of a 38-year-old woman who died after suffering brain clots filed a complaint Saturday demanding a manslaughter investigation. (Read more AstraZeneca stories.)
According to a new study, those concerned about fish and seafood's health should choose clams, mussels, or seaweed over common fish such as farmed Atlantic salmon and trout, which have more specific welfare requirements and are more likely to feel pain and suffering.

A study of more than 400 species farmed around the world showed little scientific proof of the behavioral and environmental needs of approximately 80% of marine species.

According to study co-author Becca Franks, a research scientist at New York University, the "enormous" lack of knowledge would "translate into serious misery for human animals."

The research, published in the journal Science Advances, discovered that failing to have the right environment and properly treat aquatic animals would result in birth defects, reduced mobility, aggressive behavior, and intense pain during slaughter.

Related Article: Next Extinction Target: World's Freshwater Fishes



The Economics of Aquaculture

The aquaculture industry should concentrate on cultivating simpler species with less welfare and environmental threats, such as seaweeds and bivalves like oysters, mussels, and clams.

According to Franks, intelligent creatures such as octopus should not be farmed at all.

Over the last few decades, the global aquaculture industry has risen to a size of $250 billion (182 billion). Aquaculture has been criticized for detrimental effects such as deforestation, reliance on wild fish for feed, and overuse of antibiotics. It was described as a response to the exploitation of wild fish stocks.

According to the report, health should be taken into account as well. Fish have long-term memory, can solve challenges, work with other animals, and sense discomfort, contrary to popular opinion. Octopuses and other cephalopods can solve puzzles, traverse mazes, and open jars. Crayfish display emotional behavior, such as fear and tension, and spiny lobsters have advanced navigation skills.

Legal Ethical Consideration

Although there are legal safety requirements for terrestrial farmed cattle, the study claims that standards for marine animals are either lax or non-existent. According to the paper, many of the farmed species are not biologically adapted to life in captivity. Franks explained, "We're actually only involved in this big experiment with absolutely no details on who these animals are."

For example, Rainbow trout and Atlantic salmon are extensively farmed, but they "are very competitive and don't like being around people," according to Lynne Sneddon, a biologist at the University of Gothenburg and a fish pain specialist. Species like tilapia, on the other hand, are more suited to being farmed because they are far more sociable and happier in higher densities, according to her.

Ethics of Fish Farming

Some aquatic farms, such as those in Norway and the United Kingdom, have been blamed for their crowded sea pens, sea lice infestations that cause debilitating lesions, and high mortality rates.

After a video surfaced in February showing fish being left on the floor to suffocate and their gills being removed while they were still alive, Waitrose and the Co-op also suspended deliveries of farmed salmon from a plant run by the Scottish Salmon Company.

"These animals are living beings, capable of feeling discomfort, anxiety, and tension, and yet we farm them in environments that would not be suitable for mammals or birds," Sneddon said.

Innovations in Aquaculture

"Things are changing quickly in terms of research being conducted and made public, and there is a tremendous potential to better discuss welfare," Janneke Aelen, standards coordinator at the Aquaculture Stewardship Council, a scientific-based classification body for fish farming, acknowledges that the science behind welfare is less than optimal.

Also Read: Seafood's Secret Ingredient: Microplastic

For the most recent updates from the animal kingdom, don't forget to follow Nature World News!
I look at how that could have been one of them, she added. She also said that there have been nights Ive stayed up apologizing and apologizing to George Floyd for not doing more.

She was 17 then. There were four police officers on or around him. She couldnt see a way to help.

But society isnt helpless. Thats why we have trials like this one. Theyre our attempts to find the truth, to address any injustice, to declare our values  heres what we will permit, and heres what we wont  and perhaps make us better in the long run.

Chauvin is charged with murder. At some point the trial, whose first week just concluded, will turn toward forensics and feuding claims over the specific cause of Floyds death. Chauvins defense attorney, Eric Nelson, will mine autopsy results for ambiguity. Hell assert reasonable doubt that Chauvins knee was the murder weapon.

But Chauvins inhumanity is indisputable, and the depth of the mark that it left on the people who intersected with it has been heartbreaking to behold. What happened near the corner of 38th Street and Chicago Avenue on May 25, 2020, was a chilling lesson in power and powerlessness. It both validated and stoked their fears.

I felt like I was in danger, Frazier said. I felt threatened.

I was scared, said Kaylynn Ashley Gilbert, who was also 17 when she came upon that gruesome scene, where four men who were supposed to protect and to serve, in the motto of many police departments, were ordering bystanders to keep away as Floyd, losing breath, cried out for his mother.

I dont know if youve ever seen anybody be killed, testified another witness, Genevieve Hansen, an off-duty firefighter who also found herself at the scene. But its upsetting. That was putting it mildly, to judge by her expression and her voice, in which there was still so much rage and so much regret that she couldnt intervene.

I was desperate to help, Hansen said. But she was helpless.

She grabbed a tissue to sop up her tears. That gesture defined the first week of the trial as surely as laments of helplessness did. Floyds girlfriend, Courteney Ross, seemed to go through a whole box of tissues.


This weekend some Americans celebrate the Christian holiday of Easter. Others observe the Jewish holiday of Passover. And many are looking to the arrival of spring.

Easter is when Christians celebrate the life of Jesus and what they believe was his return from the dead. For most Christians, Easter this year is on Sunday, April 4. For Eastern Orthodox Christians, May 2 is Orthodox Easter Sunday.

You may wonder why the date for Easter changes every year. It is one of the "movable feasts" that change each year. In English, the word "feast" can mean a religious festival as well as a large dinner. We have both of these on Easter and Passover.

Date tied to the Moon

In the early days of Christianity, leaders decided to set the date of Easter for the first Sunday following the first full moon of the Spring season. It usually happens on or shortly after the vernal equinox, or spring equinox. The equinox is a date when day and night are the same length.

Many Christians in America attend religious services on Easter Sunday. Some of these services take place at sunrise.

Children are often told stories about the Easter Bunny. He is said to hide eggs, chocolates and other sweet treats, for children to find on Easter morning. The Easter Bunny tradition probably developed from a German celebration of spring. Germans first settled in North America in the eighteenth century.

Individual families and groups also organize Easter egg hunts for children. The best-known egg hunt in America is the event called the White House Easter Egg Roll. The president and the first family usually join children in hunting for eggs, playing games, and reading stories. However for a second year, the White House has cancelled the event because of COVID-19.

Passover

American Jews observe Passover around the same time as Easter. Passover began this year on the evening of Saturday, March 27 and ends on the evening of Sunday, April 4. Passover celebrates the Jews' escape from slavery in Egypt, called the Exodus. The Jewish holy book, the Torah, tells about how Moses led the Jews to freedom. A special dinner, the seder, begins the celebration of Passover.

Jewish families get together and eat foods that represent the Exodus story. One food is matzoh, a flat, crisp bread. It represents the hurry linked to the slaves escape. They did not have time to let their bread rise before baking it. Another special food on the seder table is maror, bitter herbs. They represent the pain of slavery.

Easter around the world

One of our French readers tells VOA about an Easter tradition in France, where many Roman Catholics live. Churches in France do not ring their bells on the two days before Easter Sunday. The bells are silenced in honor of the death of Jesus. They ring again on Easter Sunday, the day Christians believe he came back to life.

French children are told a story about why the bells are quiet. Parents say the bells have flown to Rome to see the pope, the leader of the Roman Catholic Church. But on Sunday morning, the bells return and ring again.

The Eastern Orthodox Church celebrates Easter on May 2 this year. Orthodox Christians in America celebrate by blessing food baskets. In Greece, people color hard-boiled eggs and play a game by knocking them together. They eat lamb and party into the late night.



Other spring celebrations

In Japan, spring is marked with a cherry blossom festival, known as hanami. The tradition dates back more than a thousand years. People gather under the blooming trees to eat, drink tea, celebrate and enjoy the cherry blossoms, known as sakura in Japanese. Artists and poets celebrate the short-lived blooms as a symbol of beauty.

For many countries in Central Asia and the Middle East, the beginning of spring also marks the beginning of a new year. The celebration is called Nowruz. The words "now" and "ruz" means new day in Farsi. The International Day of Nowruz was on March 20 this year.

During Nowruz, people visit family members and friends and exchange gifts. Iranian families set up a haft seen" - a presentation of seven special items that represent spring and new beginnings. They include eggs, a live goldfish, a vegetable, and other foods.

Many in India and Nepal mark the arrival of spring with the Holi festival, also known as the festival of colors or festival of love. Holi was on Monday, March 29 this year.

Many Indians ignored social distancing restrictions in the big cities of New Delhi and Mumbai. They celebrated the festival by covering each other in -- you guessed it -- colors!

No matter what your culture or religion, it seems we all love spring. Spring weather is a welcome change for many people this year. Thanks to vaccines, families can once again meet and enjoy their "movable feasts."

Im Jill Robbins.

And I'm Caty Weaver.

Jill Robbins, Doug Johnson and Hai Do wrote this story for Learning English. Hai Do was the editor.

______________________________________________________________

Words in This Story

seder - n. a Jewish religious service and dinner that is held on the first or first and second evenings of the Passover

matzoh - n. a dry, thin bread eaten especially by Jewish people at Passover

bitter  adj. having a strong and often unpleasant flavor that is the opposite of sweet

bless  v. to make (something or someone) holy by saying a special prayer

basket - n. a container usually made by weaving together long thin pieces of material

bloom - v. to produce flowers

haft seen - n. specially prepared holiday table that includes at least seven basic items, each beginning with the letter s (seen in Persian)

Now its your turn. What celebrations of spring happen where you live? Write to us in the comments section.
NEW YORK, April 2, 2021 /PRNewswire/ -- Bernstein Litowitz Berger & Grossmann LLP ("BLB&G") today announced that investors who purchased publicly traded common stock of HRG Group, Inc. ("HRG") (previouslyNYSE: HRG) from January 26, 2017 to November 19, 2018, inclusive (the "Class Period") may seek appointment as Lead Plaintiff to represent a subclass of HRG investors in a securities class-action lawsuit against HRG, Spectrum Brands Holdings, Inc. ("Spectrum") (NYSE: SPB), and certain of Spectrum's current and former senior executives (collectively, "Defendants") in the United States District Court for the Western District of Wisconsin. The action, which is captioned In re Spectrum Brands Securities Litigation, No. 19-CV-178, 19-CV-347 (W.D. Wis.), asserts claims under Sections 10(b) and 20(a) of the Securities Exchange Act of 1934, 15 U.S.C.  78j(b) and 78t(a), and Securities and Exchange Commission Rule 10b-5, 17 C.F.R.  240.10b-5, on behalf of investors who purchased HRG's publicly traded common stock during the Class Period. A copy of the Amended Class Action Complaint filed in the action (the "Complaint") and other information about the action are available on BLB&G's website at www.blbglaw.com.

HRG was previously a holding company whose principal asset was a majority stake in Spectrum. Spectrum is a consumer-brands company that provides a wide variety of consumer products through its retail partners, including Walmart, Home Depot, and Lowe's. The two companies merged on July 13, 2018, forming the current Spectrum.

The Complaint alleges that during the Class Period, Defendants falsely stated that Spectrum was successfully executing two major capital projects consolidating the operations of its critical Global Auto Care ("GAC") and Home & Hardware Improvement ("HHI") divisions. The Complaint alleges that Defendants repeatedly told the market that the GAC and HHI consolidations were progressing effectively and on schedule, and any issues were merely temporary and transitory and were being quickly corrected. In truth, Defendants allegedly knew that the GAC and HHI consolidations were suffering from fundamental execution problems that were far more serious than disclosed to investors.

On April 26, 2018, Spectrum disclosed disappointing financial results for the second quarter of 2018 based on the poorly executed consolidation projects, and Spectrum CEO Andreas Rouve resigned. HRG's stock price fell 22%, from $93.15 to $72.563 in one day (adjusted for the subsequent merger). Defendants immediately represented that the problems at the GAC and HHI facilities were being swiftly corrected. In July 2018, HRG and Spectrum merged, and the resulting company assumed the Spectrum name. Then, on November 16, 2018, Spectrum disclosed another disastrous quarter driven by a $92.5 million goodwill write down for GAC, again because of the poorly executed consolidations. Spectrum's stock price declined 19%, from $59.35 to $48.05 per share.

The action is pending before the Honorable James D. Peterson. In June 2019, the Court appointed the Public School Teachers' Pension and Retirement Fund of Chicago ("Chicago Teachers") and the Cambridge Retirement System "Cambridge") as Lead Plaintiffs and BLB&G as Lead Counsel in accordance with the Private Securities Litigation Reform Act of 1995 ("PSLRA"). In July 2019, Lead Plaintiffs filed the Complaint on behalf of a putative class of investors who purchased or otherwise acquired the common stocks of Spectrum and HRG during the Class Period. Defendants moved to dismiss the Complaint, and that motion was fully briefed. In August 2020, Lead Plaintiffs and Defendants entered into a Stipulation and Agreement of Settlement providing for a proposed settlement of the action for $39 million in cash (the "Settlement"). In September 2020, the Court granted Lead Plaintiffs' motion for preliminary approval of the Settlement.

On February 6, 2021, the Court entered an Order denying without prejudice Lead Plaintiffs' motion for final approval of the proposed Settlement and Lead Counsel's motion for an award of attorney's fees and expenses. The Court directed Lead Plaintiffs to either "publish a new notice that includes the claims of the HRG class members, and then the court will choose an additional lead plaintiff for those members in accordance with [the PSLRA]," or "dismiss the claims of class members who purchased HRG stock" and "allow them to file a separate lawsuit if they wish." Lead Plaintiffs notified the Court that they would publish this notice allowing HRG investors to seek appointment as Lead Plaintiff for a subclass of HRG investors.

On April 2, 2021, the Court entered an Order bifurcating the action, providing for separate putative subclasses of (i) Spectrum investors led by Chicago Teachers and Cambridge and (ii) HRG investors, and directing publication of this notice to HRG investors.

Per this notice published on April 2, 2021, in accordance with the PSLRA, investors who purchased publicly traded common stock of HRG during the Class Period and who wish to serve as Lead Plaintiff for the HRG subclass are required to file a motion for appointment as Lead Plaintiff for the HRG subclass by no later than June 1, 2021.

The Spectrum Lead Plaintiffs and the Spectrum subclass will continue to be represented by BLB&G, a firm of over 100 attorneys with offices in New York, California, Delaware, Louisiana, and Illinois. If you wish to discuss this action or have any questions concerning this notice or your rights or interests, please contact an attorney of your choice. If you have questions about this notice, you may also contact Katherine M. Sinderson of BLB&G at 212-554-1392, or via email at [email protected]. Please do not contact the Court with questions about this notice.

Since its founding in 1983, BLB&G has built an international reputation for excellence and integrity. Specializing in litigation concerning securities fraud, corporate governance, and shareholders' rights, among other practice areas, BLB&G prosecutes class and private actions on behalf of institutional and individual clients worldwide. Unique among its peers, BLB&G has obtained several of the largest and most significant securities recoveries in history, recovering billions of dollars on behalf of defrauded investors. More information about BLB&G can be found online at www.blbglaw.com.

CONTACT:

Katherine M. Sinderson

Bernstein Litowitz Berger & Grossmann LLP

1251 Avenue of Americas, 44th Floor

New York, New York 10020

Telephone: (212) 554-1392

SOURCE Bernstein Litowitz Berger & Grossmann LLP

Related Links

http://www.blbglaw.com


A research group, the Objective Media Forum, has taken a swipe at persons they have described as faceless for attacking the integrity of the Director-General, Dr John Ofori-Tenkorang, following the release of the 2019 Auditor-Generals report.



The group in a statement said, there is an attempt by some persons with interest in the position of SSNIT boss- fueling unnecessary attacks and unfounded allegations against him.



The group said the report although was completed in 2019 predates the present administration with some going as far back as 2009.



The 2019 report has among other things stated that nine out of 21 agent banks of the Social Security and National Insurance Trust (SSNIT) failed to remit a total of about GH26.3 million cedis of pension contribution collections to the designated account at the Bank of Ghana as of the end of the 2017 and 2018 financial years respectively.



The report has also indicated that the Trust has failed to collect a loan of GH2.37 million loans given to eight related companies in contravention of Section 91(1) of Act 921.



After the report was released, the current DG has become a subject of public ridicule with some persons blaming him for the issues.



But the research group says it would be senseless for anyone to blame him when they know he was not the one in charge when these issues came up.



All these achievements and others make the allegations against him facetious, senseless and whimsical.



No attempt to denigrate him will wash because he is a man of credibility, integrity, substance, and competence.



As a group, we wish to advise persons who have made it their business in attacking men of credibility to stop.



We should encourage politics of truth and sanity. The act where people for their selfish interests attack people without any just cause should not be encouraged in our democracy, the statement said.



Read the full statement below



The Objective Media Forum has followed keenly an attempt by some individuals to smear the Director-General of Social Security and National Insurance Trust (SSNIT), Dr John Ofori-Tenkorang, with unsubstantiated claims and accusations.



These individuals are executing a political agenda to smear the SSNIT Director-General with the report of the Auditor-General that some 9 banks out of 21 agent banks of the Social Security and National Insurance Trust (SSNIT) failed to remit a total of about GH26.3 million cedis of pension contribution collections to the designated account at the Bank of Ghana as of the end of the 2017 and 2018 financial years respectively.



We wish to state categorically that the current DG cannot and should not be blamed for this report.



There is also a part of the report which states that the Trust has failed to collect a loan of GH2.37 million loans given to eight related companies in contravention of Section 91(1) of Act 921.



This was due to ineffective due diligence on the investment.



Also, the Current DG should not and cannot be blamed for an action that did not occur under his administration.



For the avoidance of doubt, although the Audit report was completed in 2019, the major issues raised predates the present administration with some going as far back as 2009.



It. is, therefore, unfortunate for anyone to drag the current DG into the mess created by another administration.



These attempts orchestrated by individuals interested in his post will yield no fruit.



As a research group that is objective and deals with facts, we can boldly state that the current DG has managed to receive a total payment of GH665.48 million of the amount from the GH773m debt.



This is made up of the payment of GH430 million and a tradable bond of GH235 million as of June 2019.



Subsequently, CAGD has transferred GHS 2.33 billion to cover part of the debt owed SSNIT.



A payment plan has been put in place, and Management will keep engaging CAGD and the Ministry of Finance to ensure compliance.



SSNIT has also issued a detailed response to all the issues raised by the Auditor-Generals Report, and we will encourage the general public to reference that response in the face of the attempt to attack the credibility of Dr Ofori-Tenkorang.



Under the leadership of the current DG, SSNIT has saved an amount of GH130 million in the last three years through the cleaning of the pensioners payroll.



He has since, his appointment, spearheaded the team to transform the operator of the national basic pension scheme into a transparent and client-focused public institution comparable to any well managed private institution with largely positive media coverage.



He has over the past 4 years ensured the efficient implementation of policies from the Board of Trustees and the effective deployment and utilisation of resources to achieve the strategic objectives and goals of the Trust.



He has among other achievements, increased the number of employers paying contributions from 54,000 in December 2016 to over 65,000 in November 2020 representing, a performance of 21.04%, helped increasing active contributions by 28.35% from 1.27 million as of December 2016 to 1.63 million as of November 2020.



He also exceeded the contributions collection target by 9.7%; Collected a total of GH13.2 billion compared to a target of GH12.0 billion for the period.



All these achievements and others make the allegations against him facetious, senseless and whimsical.



No attempt to denigrate him will wash because he is a man of credibility, integrity, substance, and competence.



As a group, we wish to advise persons who have made it their business in attacking men of credibility to stop.



We should encourage politics of truth and sanity. The act where people for their selfish interests attack people without any just cause should not be encouraged in our democracy.



We conclude by reiterating that Dr Ofori-Tenkorang is incorruptible, credible and a patriot who is transforming SSNIT and must be allowed to focus on his work.

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
Patna, April 3 : A few days after the shooting in Bihar's Madhubani district that led to five people being killed on the day of Holi, Neeraj Kumar Singh 'Bablu', the environment and forest minister of Bihar, has slammed the state police.

"The way 5 persons were killed in Madhubani under the Benipatti police station on the day of Holi, is a reflection of the callous manner in which the state police are functioning," alleged the minister.

He visited Benipatti on Saturday and met the victims' family.

Bablu joined a group of leaders who are part of NDA government in Bihar in criticising the police.

Earlier Rajya Sabha MP and BJP state president Sanjay Jaiswal and JDU MLA Gopal Mandal had criticised the police for their inability to prevent rising crime in the state.

The firing incident near the Benipatti police station began in the morning on the day of Holi. The injured were taken to Patna Medical College and Hospital where three people succumbed to injuries.

The Madhubani police said they have made eight arrests in the case.

"We have arrested 8 persons under the alleged charges of murder and a hunt is on to nab the other accused," said Dr Satya Prakash, SP of Madhubani district.
Two hundred partying students have been slammed for turning the millionaires' resort of Sandbanks into the 'Wild West' as they spat and bottled police officers.

Brawls broke out and police officers were assaulted during the illegal beach party attended by sixth form students in Poole Harbour, Dorset, on Thursday night.

One 19-year-old reveller who suffered head injuries after being struck with a bottle turned on two female police officers who were helping him.

He was arrested before being taken to hospital for treatment.

Appalled residents of the exclusive peninsula woke to find the beach strewn with litter, beer bottles bobbing in the sea and nitrous oxide capsules scattered over the pavement.

Two hundred partying students have been slammed for turning the millionaires' resort of Sandbanks in into the 'Wild West' in Poole Harbour, Dorset

Police descended on the illegal party at 9.30pm on Thursday before the sixth formers bottled and spat at them

The event, which breached of coronavirus rules, was held by local students celebrating the start of the Easter half-term.

It began at about 5pm on Thursday at Kite Beach  a usually quiet enclave by the Sandbanks panhandle  and opposite a Tesco Express where much of the alcohol was brought.

Police were aware of the mass gathering and officers checked on the revellers at 8pm to find they were mostly 'polite and amenable' and so took no action to disperse them.

By 9.30pm officers began putting out a series of fires on the beach and warned a reveller seen throwing a bottle into the sea.

One fight erupted outside the Tesco store minutes later before a much larger brawl was staged on Shore Road.

Police officers stop one of the revellers by a car outside a Tesco Express where fights erupted at around 9.30pm

Video footage shows groups of male teenagers throwing punches and lobbing beer bottles at each other with no police presence around.

Motorists, many of them residents returning home to Sandbanks, can be seen struggling to drive through the carnage.

Police dispersed the group by 11pm and issued section 35 notices which allowed them to make arrests if people didn't leave.

Locals today said the police should have broken the party up much sooner.

Jodie Garnham said: 'I was literally driving down the middle of it.

'It was out of control. Kids running into the road, glass everywhere. Police where severely out numbered.

The partying students scrap in the middle of the street outside Tesco in Sanbanks, Dorset

'I feel like they should have been dispersed earlier in the evening before the drink fully started getting to these kids.'

Petra Carrier said: 'Blood and glass everywhere, traffic bought to a standstill. They should have been moved on when they first arrived in such large numbers.'

Another local resident said: 'It was like the Wild West. Later into the evening, once the alcohol had kicked in, all you could hear was glass smashing and shouting and yelling.'

David Morley, the chairman of the Sandbanks Community Group, said: 'They were sixth formers celebrating the end of term. They were mostly well behaved but then the drink started to take its toll and it got a bit more out of control.

'Thank goodness the police were there. People were really shocked to see that kind of behaviour in a quiet neighbourhood.'

A fight breaks out outside the Tesco as police drive past in the road. Assistant Chief Constable Sam de Reya, of Dorset Police, said: 'This incident involved a large number of people and we had to deploy specialist units, including the dog section, to the scene to assist in dispersing the group'

He said the litter left behind was 'horrendous', adding: 'There was mountains of it scattered all over the beach.'

Environmental campaigner Oly Rush was on the beach at dawn yesterday (Fri). He said: 'Right up and down the beach there was broken glass, beer cans and bottles that had just been left like at a festival site.

'A lot of it was already in the sea after the tide had come in.

'After it had been cleared up it, two big bins were full and there was about 20 bags of rubbish left next to them.

'There is no excuse for it but once people see one person leave their litter behind they think it is ok to do the same.'

Assistant Chief Constable Sam de Reya, of Dorset Police, said: 'This incident involved a large number of people and we had to deploy specialist units, including the dog section, to the scene to assist in dispersing the group.

'The pandemic is not over and large numbers of people gathering together increases the risk of spreading Covid-19.

'Not only was this in breach Covid-19 legislation, there were reports of criminal and public order offences, which unnecessarily drew on a significant amount of police resources.'
By David Vosh Ajuna

Pronounced dead less than 24 hours after leading the traditional Good Friday celebrations, the Archbishop of Kampala Arch-diocese, Dr Cyprian Kizito Lwanga leaves a mark as a perceived cryptic of the reigning government with these as some of his remarkable statements.

-God wants peace not violence-

Denouncing the violent scenes that the country witnessed on November 18, 2020 during a tense electoral season- Dr Lwanga rallied Ugandans to be merchants of peace.

Wherever you intend to fire bullets or hurl teargas canisters, ask yourself if it suits the motto, For God and My Country.

Let us always remember that God wants nothing from us but peace and all of us should strive to have that peace but not violence. Peace should be right from within our hearts, Dr Lwanga said.

Read more: https://www.monitor.co.ug/uganda/news/national/govt-cryptic-fake-news-and-merchant-of-peace-archbishop-lwanga-s-quotable-quotes-3347740
SUV

Sant'Agata Bolognese built a high-rider decades before the super-craze, with the LM 002 , which obviously serves as the starting point for this pixel proposal, having been born back in 1986.Not unlike in the case of famous off-roaders that still shine today, such as the G-Class and the Hummer, the Lambo Rambo, as enthusiasts affectionally call it, was born as a result of a military program. And while the Italians didn't end up supplying vehicles to the army, the road car has grown into an icon.As it would happen in real life, the bulk of the elaborate changes done to the Raging Bull took place underneath the vehicle. As such, the suspension is now ready for [insert your favorite rugged terrain race here], hence the nickname we used in the title.Speaking of which, the digital artist responsible for the proposal dubs the project- this dream comes from Ash Thorp. And if you've enjoyed productions such as Prometheus, X-Men: First Class and The Amazing Spider-Man 2, you're already familiar to his work, while next year's The Batman will allow us to feast our eyes on the muscle car-like Batmobile he designed So, how does one decide to turn such a Lambo into a Baja truck? For one, the automaker itself pulled such a trick back in the day. Alas, while the resulting LM 002 Evoluzione was supposed to tackle the Paris Dakar rally, the financial challenges the company was facing at the time got in the way, albeit with one of the two racers that had been built entering other competitions.However, here's Thorp explaining his creative journey: "I first came across Lamborghinis military concept truck the Cheetah which I was totally blown away by and later discovered the LM 002 which I of course fell in love with. I started to get pretty obsessed with Baja trucks and how incredible those machines are and thats when the idea came to me... a Baja-ready LM 002. I told [fellow digital artist] colorsponge the idea and we both loved it!"For now, we get a couple of "studio shots" and yet those monstrous tires and beadlock wheels holding them in place mean we can easily imagine the beast flinging sand straight into outer space.Given the motorsport destination of the creation, there are no unnecessary additions, with the minimalist take being a welcome presence in today's overdesigned automotive landscape.Of course, with the LM002 being twice as rare as a Miura , if anybody decides to bring this virtual build into the real world, we'll probably enter the realm of replicas. But this is another story for another time.
Mumbai, April 3 : After record-high active client additions and average daily turnover (ADTO) in a pandemic-marred fiscal, brokerages will continue to see positive revenue growth in fiscal 2022. Nevertheless, the growth will be muted.

Crisil Ratings estimates broking revenue to have grown by 65-70 per cent in fiscal 2021 as against 7 per cent in fiscal 2020, but market volatility and phased implementation of new margin regulations may act as a drag on incremental volume growth, resulting in marginal revenue growth in fiscal 2022.

The slowdown has already begun to tell: broking revenue de-grew by 1-8 per cent in the third quarter of fiscal 2021 on a sequential basis. This indicates that client additions are not translating into higher broking revenue of late.

Krishnan Sitaraman, Senior Director, CRISIL Ratings, said: "Performance in the December quarter shows signs of fatigue creeping in, with most broking entities registering on-quarter de-growth in revenue (even after factoring in lower trading days in the quarter), despite continued record client additions. This is in contrast with l18 per cent sequential growth in the September quarter. With equity markets turning volatile since January 2021 and revised regulations with higher margin requirements kicking in, sustainability of trading volumes in fiscal 2022 may be a challenge, thereby impacting revenue." These key regulatory changes are twofold: upfront margin requirement in cash segment trading, effective September 1, 2020 (similar to the futures and options segment) and (full margin requirement for intraday position to be implemented in phases (starting with 25 per cent peak margin from December 1, 2020, to 100 per cent from September 1, 2021).

Both regulations focus on increased margin requirements, which essentially lowers the leverage available to investors, impacting trading volume. Hence, sustainability of new client additions along with its translation to trading volumes and revenue will remain key monitorable, Crisil said.

In the first nine months of fiscal 2021, brokerage houses across industry added 52 lakh clients - as much as they did during the preceding four years, cumulatively. This took the active client base to 1.6 crore as of December 2020.

Continued buoyancy in equities and new client additions also led to ADTO hitting decadal highs.

Several factors contributed to the influx of retail investors into equity markets in the current fiscal. According to the ratings agency, these include: user-friendly trading platforms (including on mobile) and schemes with very low brokerage; relatively low interest yield on savings and deposits; ample time availability during the lockdown/pandemic; and Pygmalion-esque effect linked to broad-based high returns in equities since March 2020.

Interestingly, discount brokers grabbed a significant market share of active clients. But they still lag bank-led brokers in terms of revenue market share.

Ajit Velonie, Director, Crisil Ratings, said: "Discount brokers have led from the front capturing more than 75% of incremental client acquisitions and now command 45 per cent market share in terms of active clients (refer to Chart 2 in Annexure). However, on the revenue front, they have some way to go with estimated share of 30 per cent. Bank-led brokers, with a relatively premium brokerage model, have leveraged their existing client base well and continue to maintain revenue market share at 40 per cent while many traditional brokers have lost ground." That's because bulk of the new client additions by discount brokers are in the 20-30 years age group that have relatively lower disposable incomes. On the other hand, bank-led brokers have been able to hold on to their customer base, with many acquired through their parent banking channel. These customers not only trade frequently but also transact in higher ticket volumes. They also opt for additional services such as advisory, research reports, and relationship manager support and are willing to pay additional brokerage charges.

Crisil Ratings estimates that the average revenue per user for bank-led brokerages was Rs 10,000-12,000 during the first half of fiscal 2021, while that for discount brokers was Rs 4,000-8,000.

In this milieu, profitability will continue to be driven by how well players manage their cost-to-income structure, Crisil said. A recent shift in focus towards creating/enhancing tech-based platforms resulted in a steady increase in cost-to-income ratio till fiscal 2020. And players who invested in enhancing digital presence have reaped the rewards, with the ratio estimated to have declined 10-15 per cent in fiscal 2021. With revenue growth expected to be subdued next fiscal, their ability to manage the cost structure will be a key credit monitorable.
Questo comunicato e stato pubblicato piu di 30 giorni fa. Le informazioni su questa pagina potrebbero non essere attendibili.

A detailed analysis report of the Global Oars Market has been covered in the report coupled with a thorough description of each company profile with information on the H.Q, future capabilities, key mergers & acquisitions, financial outline, partnerships and new product launches and developments.

The comprehensive value chain analysis of the market will assist in attaining better product differentiation, along with detailed understanding of the core competency of each activity involved. The market attractiveness analysis provided in the report aptly measures the potential value of the market providing business strategists with the latest growth opportunities.

The report classifies the market into different segments based on material type, length, blades, sizes and shaft. These segments are studied in detail incorporating the market estimates and forecasts at regional and country level. The segment analysis is useful in understanding the growth areas and probable opportunities of the market.

Final Report will cover the COVID-19 Impact and Recovery on this industry.

Browse the complete Global Oars Market Research Report  Industry Analysis, Size, Share, Growth, Trends and Forecast Till 2027 @ https://www.decisiondatabases.com/ip/1655-oars-industry-market-report

The report also covers the complete competitive landscape of the global Oars market with company profiles of key players such as:

Dreissigacker Concept 2

Croker Oars

Durham Boat Company

Win-tech racing

Dreher Carbon oars

Canepa

Campi

A detailed description of each has been included, with information in terms of H.Q, future capacities, key mergers & acquisitions, financial overview, partnerships, collaborations, new product launches, new product developments and other latest industrial developments.

SEGMENTATIONS IN THE REPORT:

By Material Type

Carbon

Wooden

Fiberglass

Aluminum

Plastic

By Length

Sweep Length Varies from 360 cm to 380 cm

Scull Length Varies from 275 to 295 cm

By Blades

Shapes

Cleaver

Macon

Square

Randall Foil

By Sizes

Medium Sweep

Large Sweep

Medium Scull

Large Scull

By Shaft

Construction

Stiffness

By Geography:

North America (NA)  US, Canada, and Mexico

Europe (EU)  UK, Germany, France, Italy, Russia, Spain & Rest of Europe

Asia-Pacific (APAC)  China, India, Japan, South Korea, Australia & Rest of APAC

Latin America (LA)  Brazil, Argentina, Peru, Chile & Rest of Latin America

Middle East and Africa (MEA)  Saudi Arabia, UAE, Israel, South Africa

Download Free Sample Report of Global Oars Market @ https://www.decisiondatabases.com/contact/download-sample-1655

The Global Oars Market has been exhibited in detail in the following chapters 

Chapter 1 Oars Market Preface

Chapter 2 Executive Summary

Chapter 3 Oars Industry Analysis

Chapter 4 Oars Market Value Chain Analysis

Chapter 5 Oars Market Analysis By Material Type

Chapter 6 Oars Market Analysis By Length

Chapter 7 Oars Market Analysis By Blades

Chapter 8 Oars Market Analysis By Sizes

Chapter 9 Oars Market Analysis By Shaft

Chapter 10 Oars Market Analysis By Geography

Chapter 11 Competitive Landscape Of Oars Companies

Chapter 12 Company Profiles Of Oars Industry

Purchase the complete Global Oars Market Research Report @ https://www.decisiondatabases.com/contact/buy-now-1655

Other Reports by DecisionDatabases.com:

Global Vacuum Evaporation Boat Market Research Report  Industry Analysis, Size, Share, Growth, Trends and Forecast Till 2026

About-Us:

DecisionDatabases.com is a global business research reports provider, enriching decision makers and strategists with qualitative statistics. DecisionDatabases.com is proficient in providing syndicated research report, customized research reports, company profiles and industry databases across multiple domains.

Our expert research analysts have been trained to map clients research requirements to the correct research resource leading to a distinctive edge over its competitors. We provide intellectual, precise and meaningful data at a lightning speed.

For more details:

DecisionDatabases.com

E-Mail: sales@decisiondatabases.com

Phone: +91 9028057900

Web: https://www.decisiondatabases.com/

News Source  https://www.industrynewsengine.com/2020/11/25/oars-market-2020-global-industry-research-report-till-2027/
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.
Elgin police called me and said, `we did it, McCarthy Wahlberg said. Shes planning on attending the event and helping with the demonstration. The response from within the autistic community has been great, she said. The amount of response I got, so far, blew me away. Sometimes when you think you are the only one with a concern, you realize you arent, she said.
US Retaliates Against UK Over Digital Services Tax Dispute

The Biden administration has threatened to impose 25 percent tariffs on British exports to the United States in retaliation for a UK digital services tax (DST) on major technology companies that came into effect on April 1.

Its aim is to raise around 236 million ($325 million) per year, which is the estimated equivalent of the damage imposed by UKs DST.

Clothing and footwear, ceramics, beauty products, gold and jewelry, furniture, robotics, and refrigerators are all being affected.

This comes weeks after the United States agreed to suspend millions of dollars worth of tariffs on UK exports including Scotch whisky as part of an effort to resolve a long-running trans-Atlantic trade dispute over aerospace subsidies between Boeing and Airbus.

It is hugely disappointing that, yet again, our manufacturers are threatened with additional tariffs, particularly as the trade dispute has nothing to do with our industry, said Adam Mansell, CEO of the UK Fashion & Textile Association.

At a time when we are trying to start discussions over a UK-U.S. trade deal, it is extremely important that both governments get around the table to remove this threat as soon as possible. With the industry still struggling with the impact of COVID-19 and understanding the new trade arrangements with the EU, an additional burden on our exports couldnt come at a worse time.

The DST, spearheaded by Chancellor Rishi Sunak adds a 2 percent tax to the revenues of certain search engines, social media platforms, and online marketplaces, mostly coming from the United States. The DST applies only to companies with digital services revenues exceeding $500 million and United Kingdom digital services revenues exceeding 25 million ($34.6 million).

Tech giants, Google, Amazon, Facebook, Apple, and eBay have all been affected; most of these are U.S.-based. Amazon, Google, and Apple say they will pass the cost on to their customers.

Like many countries around the world, we want to make sure tech firms pay their fair share of tax. Our digital services tax (DST) is reasonable, proportionate, and non-discriminatory. Its also temporary. Were working positively with the U.S. and other international partners to find a global solution to this problem and will remove the DST when that is in place, a UK government spokesperson told the BBC.

The U.S. tariffs are in accordance with a Section 301 investigation into countries discriminating against U.S. digital companies, that were inconsistent with principles of international taxation, and burdened U.S. companies. It was implemented by the Trump administration in 2020 and has been put into effect by the Biden administration. Austria, India, Italy, Spain, Turkey are also subject to the action.

A hearing by the U.S. Trade Representative office is expected to take place on April 21.

The Associated Press contributed to this report.
In the first three months of this year, 25 companies listed their shares in London, raising more than 7billion between them.

Many of these newly floated firms have done pretty well. Dr Martens' shares were priced at 3.70 when the company was listed in January. By last week, they had risen to 4.55.

Moonpig floated at 3.50 in February. Today they are more than 20 per cent higher at 4.27. Other, smaller businesses have prospered too, from Manchester fashion retailer In The Style to US-based video games group tinyBuild.

Rocky ride: The sorry performance of Deliveroo shares prompts several troubling questions

But Deliveroo has flopped. Trumpeted as the biggest listing in London for years, the food delivery firm initially hoped to price its shares at 4.60 each, which would have valued the business at nearly 9billion.

Last week, bankers behind the flotation were forced to cut the price to 3.90 a share. Even so, the price tanked when trading started on Wednesday morning, falling to a low of 2.71 before recovering to 2.82 by the end of the week.

The sorry performance prompts several troubling questions. How did highly paid bankers read the market so wrong? What do large investors find so troubling about Deliveroo?

And, most importantly for individual punters, are these shares likely to go up or down in future?

BAD VIBES: SHUNNED BY BIG INVESTORS

It was less than a fortnight ago  March 22  when Deliveroo revealed that its shares would be priced at between 3.90 and 4.70 a share, implying a total valuation of between 7.6billion and 8.8billion.

But big investors had already told The Mail on Sunday that they thought such pricing seemed excessive and that they were unlikely to buy shares, even at the bottom of the range.

Their reluctance was understandable. Last year, Deliveroo raised money in a private funding round which valued the business at around 3billion. In January, another private fundraising valued the group at 5billion. That the company seemed to be worth at least 50 per cent more just three months later raised eyebrows across the City.

Further concerns centred on the way that Deliveroo treats its riders, the thousands of cyclists and bikers who ride around town transporting food to eager customers.

These workers are not employed. They are paid for the deliveries they make, with no benefits, no sick pay and no holiday.

Deliveroo says that this gives riders maximum flexibility and that thousands of people apply to work for the company every week.

But some of the most high-profile investment institutions in the market  such as Aviva and M&G  have publicly objected to these working practices.

Their objections are not just examples of big money-men trying to show that they have a social conscience. It is more that the way Deliveroo operates could have serious implications for the business.

In Italy, Deliveroo has changed riders' status to give them more rights and is fighting government claims that they should be entitled to payments backdated to 2015.

Over here, the Supreme Court ruled in February that online taxi firm Uber could not classify its drivers as self-employed, since when the company has said they will be treated as employees, with minimum wage, access to a pension and holiday pay.

This has prompted widespread questions about whether Deliveroo and others might have to follow suit.

Deliveroo has highlighted that risk itself, saying: 'Our business would be adversely affected if our rider model or approach to rider status and our operating practices were successfully challenged or if changes in law require us to reclassify our riders as employees.'

The group has also set aside more than 112million to cover potential legal costs associated with riders' employment status.

BIG LOSSES: HOW FIRM FAILED TO DELIVER

This kind of wrangling could be brushed aside by hard-nosed investors if Deliveroo was making huge amounts of money. But it is not.

Founder Will Shu likes to point out that Deliveroo works with 115,000 restaurants and food retailers, providing meals and groceries to six million consumers worldwide.

Last year, the amount of money these hungry eaters spent via Deliveroo rose 64 per cent to 4.1billion, with over half that figure coming from the UK and Ireland. But, after stripping out expenses, the group made a pre-tax loss of 225million. In fact, it has not made a profit since Shu started the business in 2013.

Shu and his team are optimistic that this will change and that long-term prospects are good.

As he explains: 'There are 21 meal occasions in a week  breakfast, lunch, and dinner  seven days a week. Right now, less than one of those 21 transactions takes place online. We are working to change that.'

Outside observers question this ambition. Restaurants have been shut for much of the past year so it is not surprising that demand for take-aways soared.

Now, as lockdown eases, consumers are keen to go out again.

The food delivery market is highly competitive too so profit margins are wafer thin and would become even more so if riders were deemed employees rather than gig workers.

Many restaurants offer home deliveries directly to local punters, cutting out Deliveroo entirely. Such a trend may become more entrenched following the pandemic.

And big investors were none too pleased with the way that this flotation has been structured, which gives Shu 57 per cent of voting rights, even though he has a stake of just 6.3 per cent in the business.

He has the ultimate say over any big decisions in the business, a status that goes against the grain of publicly owned firms.

MIDAS VERDICT: Shu was keen to offer customers the chance to become shareholders so the flotation included a 50million allocation for anyone who used the Deliveroo app.

Customers were allowed to apply for up to 1,000 worth of shares and thousands did so the 50million allocation was fully subscribed.

However, those individuals cannot sell their shares until Wednesday, a full week after trading started. Looking on in horror as the stock tumbled, they must now be wondering whether to hold on and hope the price improves or sell out now and cut their losses.

New investors will also be assessing whether Deliveroo shares, at 2.82, look cheap. Shu is undoubtedly a smart operator. He has created an international business out of nothing in just eight years. But this company is high-risk and that is unlikely to change for some time.

Investors in search of adventure may feel Deliveroo is worth a punt.

But those who prefer companies that make profits, pay dividends and look after their workers should steer clear.

Traded on: Main market Ticker: ROO Contact: https://deliveroo.shareview.co.uk/en
New Delhi: Miss India 2015 contestant and model Diksha Singh is all set to enter politics by contesting the upcoming Uttar Pradesh panchayat elections from Jaunpur.

Diksha, a native of Chittori village in the Baksha area of the district, on Friday (April 2) told reporters that she studied till Class III at the village after which she moved to Mumbai and then to Goa with her father, PTI reported.

Talking about her motive to take the political plunge, Diksha said, I have been participating in competitions and political debates since college days and have been coming to the village from time to time. On coming here, I saw that even today, Jaunpur district is far away from development. So, I have come for the Panchayat elections, thinking of some change.

She will contest the polls for a zila panchayat member from Ward No.26 (Baksha).

Diksha participated in the Femina Miss India in 2015 when she was a BA second-year student. Her father Jitendra Singh has businesses in Goa and Rajasthan.

On the work front, Diksha was last seen in the music album Rabba Mehar Kare in February 2021.

Meanwhile, BJP on Friday (April 2) released the first list of candidates for 11 districts, including Ghaziabad, Saharanpur for the Uttar Pradesh panchayat polls.

The nomination for the first phase of UP Panchayat polls will start on April 3 and will last till April 18. The three-tier Panchayat elections in Uttar Pradesh will be held in four phases.

(With PTI inputs)

Live TV
New Delhi :

President Ram Nath Kovind began his two-day visit to Uttarakhand today by worshipping the holy Ganga river along with his family at Har Ki Pauri in Haridwar amid heavy rain.

Kovind was accompanied by Chief Minister Trivendra Singh Rawat, Governor K K Paul, state assembly speaker Premchand Aggarwal and seven family members including his wife, son and daughter-in-law at Har ki Pauris famous Brahmakund.

The president also took a pledge for Ganga conservation. Visibly overwhelmed by the experience, he described his visit in Ganga Sabhas visitors book as "memorable".

   ,        ,              President of India (@rashtrapatibhvn) September 23, 2017

Later, at a function held by the Divya Prem Seva Ashram in his honour, the president said the Ganga is the countrys identity and efforts should be made to keep the ancient river clean.

"India is not known because of the India Gate, or the Taj Mahal or the Lal Quila. It is known because of the Ganga, its great saints and seers. Dont you remember the song Hum us Desh ke wasi hain jis Desh mein Ganga behti hai," he said.

The president, who is scheduled to visit the Himalayan shrines of Kedarnath and Badrinath tomorrow, said he was very keen to pay obeisance at the famed temples but may not be able to go because of the rainy weather.

"If the weather permits I will go. If it doesnt I will visit them (temples) later, may be after three months. Let us see how the weather is tomorrow," he said.

Earlier, Kovind arrived in an IAF plane at the Jollygrant Airport and left in a convoy for Haridwar in the company of the chief minister and the governor. He will spend the night at the Raj Bhawan in Dehradun.

For all the Latest India News, Download News Nation Android and iOS Mobile Apps.
Kolkata, April 3 : The Election Commission has recovered 41 crude bombs from West Bengal's South 24 Parganas district despite tight security arrangements in the state amid Assembly polls.

The Commission along with the state police on Friday recovered these bombs based on a tip off about explosives lying at Padmapukur area under Pranganj Gram Panchayat in 148 Bhangor Assembly constituency-- an input that left security agencies into tizzy.

A raid was conducted based on the information and the recovery was made from a bush in the presence of policemen of Baruipur police station.

A specific case has been registered over this incident.

Deputy Election Officer South 24 Parganas informed that investigation of the case is going on while no one has been arrested till now.

The recovery is made at a time when two of the eight phases of Assembly elections in West Bengal has been conducted so far and the third phase is slated on April 6.

The Assembly polls are being conducted in the state for 294 seats. The election began on March 27 and the counting is scheduled on May 2.
GAINES TOWNSHIP, MI -- As of Thursday, April 1, the Gaines Township Police Department went down to a one-man operation, according to the township supervisor.

At midnight, April 1, Gaines Townships fiscal year ended, marking the day the townships police departments three remaining officers were laid off, Gaines Township Supervisor Paul Fortino said. The officers turned in their equipment later that day.

Only Police chief Chief Mark Schmitzer remains at the department, Fortino said. But if funding isnt approved by voters this May election, the supervisor said the police department will close completely.

Hes staying on to take care of outstanding work and open cases -- doing what has to be done related to shutting down certain aspects of the department, he said.

The township also set money aside in the budget to be sure if an officer is subpoenaed for a case, they will be paid, Fortino said.

Related: Public safety proposals up for a vote in three Genesee County communities

Gaines Township officials asked on the November 2019 ballot for voters to pass a $115 special assessment on all improved parcels in the township and in the village of Gaines (except parcels exempt from the collection of taxes under the general property tax act) for 10 years -- 2019 through 2028.

Township voters shot down a police millage by a large margin, with 457 yes votes and 1276 no votes.

Board members in 2019 had originally floated the idea of a millage, but residents filed a petition in April that asked for the move to instead be placed on the ballot to allow voters to decide. Hundreds of signatures were collected for the petition.

Related: Gaines police face major cuts if department doesnt get funding, says township

After residents turned down the proposal, Fortino said the township was able to scrape together money in the budget to get the department through the end of the 2020-2021 fiscal year, which ended at the end of March.

Once we went through the budget process for the coming year, it was obvious there was not enough money to operate the police department, he said. Instead of going day-to-day or month-to-month, the decision was made to shut it down by the end of the year for financial reasons.

The townships approved budget is within only $1,000, Fortino said, leaving no room for any additional police department funding.

The budget was overwhelmed by the ongoing demands of operating a budget, Fortino said.

Some of the biggest expenditures are money for roads, which the amount we have to match to get roadwork done went up the past couple of years quite a bit, he said. The whole township has been on a wage freeze for quite a few years already. We have to have a balanced budget so the police department needs its own funding sources. Thats what it boils down to.

It costs about $180,000 per year to operate the department, which Fortino said is the lowest cost per man-hour police department of all neighboring communities.

The police department was started in conjunction with the Michigan State Police, he said.

The model was wed hire newly retired officers and then that way wed have no legacy costs, he said. We dont pay retirement or any fringe benefits at all -- medical or anything like that. So our cost per man-hour is much less than any of our neighbors.

A 0.89-mill ($0.89 per $1,000 of taxable value), tax proposal was approved to go on the township ballot during the May 4 election in Genesee County, Fortino said.

We havent gotten rid of any of the equipment and that so, if that passes, then we can call back the officers and reconstitute the police department, he said.

If the millage does not pass, Fortino said the police department will not be able to restart and officers and the department will remain laid off and shut down.

In the case of a crime, residents can still call 911, he said.

If a state police car is available, then it will respond to the call if theyre available he said. Theyre the only ones available. The sheriff does not have road patrol so the sheriff will not respond to calls in a community they dont have a contract with.

Read more on MLive:

Man killed in Lapeer County after pickup truck crashes into tree

5-year-old stabbed multiple times by teen in Lapeer park, police say

One of Flints first woman firefighters dedicated her life to others

Man shot and killed outside Flint Township apartment complex

Trooper released from hospital after driver crashed into patrol car

Judge grants pause to former Gov. Synder water crisis proceedings pending appeal decision
NEWS PROVIDED BY

Catholic League

April 2, 2021

NEW YORK, April 2, 2021 /Christian Newswire/ -- Catholic League president Bill Donohue comments on the relationship of President Biden and the U.S. bishops at Easter:

During the presidential campaign season last year, it was obvious that candidate Joe Biden was not having an easy time with some U.S. bishops. After he won the election, that observation was validated. Now that we are at Easter, it is undeniably true that the president's relationship with many bishops is rocky, if not seriously strained.

Last summer, Providence Bishop Thomas J. Tobin issued a tweet that was both sarcastic and pointed. "Biden-Harris. First time in awhile that the Democratic ticket hasn't had a Catholic on it. Sad." The dismissal of Biden's professed Catholic status was lost on no one.

A month before the election, Cardinal Raymond Burke said that Biden should not receive Communion, adding that he was not a Catholic "in good standing."

A few weeks after the election, Archbishop Jose Gomez, president of the United States Conference of Catholic Bishops, opined that President-elect Biden supported policies that "attack some fundamental values we hold dear." Noting that it could be confusing to Catholics to see a Catholic in the White House who rejected the Church's teachings on abortion and other matters, Gomez appointed a Working Group, chaired by Detroit Archbishop Allen Vigneron, to help the bishops "navigate" this "difficult and complex situation."

In December, the recently retired archbishop of Philadelphia, Charles Chaput, said that Biden's support for gay marriage and abortion rights meant that he "should stop defining himself as a devout Catholic." On the day he was inaugurated, Biden's press secretary, Jen Psaki, called the president a "devout Catholic."

Archbishop Gomez, speaking for the bishops' conference, also weighed in on inauguration day. "I must point out that the new President has pledged to pursue certain policies that would advance moral evils and threaten human life and dignity, most seriously in the areas of abortion, contraception, marriage, and gender. Of deep concern is the liberty of the Church and the freedom of believers to live according to their consciences."

A week later, Archbishop Joseph Naumann, chairman of the bishops' Pro-Life Committee, teamed up with Bishop David Malloy, the head of the bishops' International Justice and Peace Committee, to take Biden to task for promoting abortion overseas. "It is grievous that one of President Biden's first official acts actively promotes the destruction of human lives in developing nations." They said his executive order "is antithetical to reason, violates human dignity, and is incompatible with Catholic teaching."

In February, Naumann, the archbishop of Kansas City, Kansas, said that Biden "should stop defining himself as a devout Catholic," noting that he is "100% pro-choice on abortion." He accused Biden of "usurping the role of the bishops and confusing people." What should be done? "The bishops need to correct him, as the president is acting contrary to the Catholic faith."

Within days of Naumann's remarks, Bishop Joseph Strickland of Tyler, Texas declared that "Biden is not a real Catholic." In March, Bishop Richard Stika, who heads the Diocese of Knoxville, tweeted that Biden "likes to brag on his Catholic background when convenient. So very dishonest!"

At the end of March, Bishop Thomas J. Paprocki, who leads the Diocese of Springfield, Illinois, said that Biden "should not present himself" for Communion. He cited Biden's long history of supporting abortion rights, saying that if politicians are "living in a way or holding positions that are contrary to church teaching, then the Minister of Communion has to deny them the sacrament."

Paprocki's comments were followed by Cardinal Burke's. Speaking of Biden, he said that "a person who claims to be Catholic and yet promotes in such an open, obdurate, and aggressive way a crime like procured abortion is in the state, at least, of apostasy." He concluded that the penalty for the "crime of apostasy" is "excommunication."

As we approach Easter, the bishops, as well as millions of practicing Catholics, are not going to have their concerns about Biden allayed by photos of him clinging to his rosary beads. He cannot at once declare himself to be a "devout Catholic" while at the same time supporting abortion-on-demand, gay marriage, sex transitioning for minors, and the war on religious liberty.

It's time for President Biden to stop living a lie.

Contact White House press secretary: jennifer.r.psaki@who.eop.gov
Alessandra Ambrosio kicked off Easter weekend by stepping out on Friday afternoon in a bright sweater featuring a holiday-appropriate shade of pink

The 39-year-old Brazilian stunner was joined by her kids Anja, 11, and Noah, eight, as they grabbed a bite to eat at a trendy health food joint in Santa Monica.

Recently the model has been seen flying solo despite debuting a new beau by the name of Richard Lee in February, but she looked in good spirits while dining with her children.

Easter weekend: Alessandra Ambrosio kicked off Easter weekend by stepping out on Friday afternoon in a bright sweater featuring a holiday-appropriate shade of pink

Bonding time: The 39-year-old Brazilian stunner was joined by her kids Anja, 11, and Noah, eight, as they grabbed a bite to eat at a trendy health food joint in Santa Monica

The Victoria's Secret vet rocked a pink, white, and brown sweater that boasted a crocheted 'V' design.

She paired the look with stylishly ripped blue jeans and brown suede sneakers for a cohesive look, throwing on a matching pair of brown framed sunglasses.

Alessandra continued to add color to her ensemble with a tie dye face mask that she secured after plugging the meter.

She opted to go purse-free, instead carrying a cross body phone case that held her credit cards.

Hands free: She opted to go purse-free, instead carrying a cross body phone case that held her credit cards

Safety first: After plugging her parking meter she was seen securing a tie dye face mask

The natural beauty tossed her brown tresses up in a loose ponytail and was seen making her way across the street joined by a girl friend.

Upon arriving at their lunch spot she was seen chowing down on chips and other goodies while dining indoors.

As of a few weeks ago California allowed indoor dining for the first time since the pandemic began last March at limited capacity.

Indoor dining: As of a few weeks ago California allowed indoor dining for the first time since the pandemic began last March at limited capacity

Chowing down: Upon arriving at their lunch spot she was seen chowing down on chips and other goodies while dining indoors

And afterwards she made her way back to her vehicle and geared up for the weekend, posting a smiley selfie on a yoga mat that said 'Friyay.'

She had spent much of her fall and winter back in her native Brazil surrounded by family, with a brief visit from then boyfriend of two years Nicolo Oddi.

Fans seemed to suspect that the pair may have called it quits when she rang in both Christmas and New Year's without him.

Upon returning home in February she seemed to get cozy with model Richard Lee as they stepped out for hikes and some PDA-packed dinner dates, affirming she and the Italian businessman were no more.

Mommy duty: She made her way across the street holding Noah's hand and her mini-me daughter rocked sweatpants and a white crop top

Change of clothes: Upon returning home she hit the yoga mat and looked forward to the weekend

Social media receipts date that she had first gotten flirty with him over Instagram ahead of Christmas, and it seemed like the pair had made plans to meet up upon her return to the states.

Despite making many consistent plans at first, in recent weeks she has been seen out and about without him but it is unclear if they're still seeing each other.

Aside from modeling for brands like Alo yoga she has continued to be her own best advertisement when it comes to selling her Gal Floripa line of bikinis, especially as the summer months approach.


By Scott Shepherd





For years America and its allies have been on the back foot. Struggling with internal division, domestic politics and now a pandemic, democracies seem to have been having a bit of a rough ride.







It's hard to remember the last time we heard a democratic country announce any big, proactive plans on the international stage. Rather, the news has been full of Western governments, and especially the U.S., either simply reacting to events or actively withdrawing from international institutions.







The name of Obama's North Korea policy, dubbed "strategic patience," is just a glamorized synonym for "doing nothing." During Trump's time in office, we got a few nice photos and lots of wind about the North's denuclearization, but nothing of real worth. In fact, just through the act of meeting together, Trump gave Kim a huge prestige boost both at home and abroad.







It's not limited to just North Korea. In 2017, then-President Trump announced his intent to end America's participation in the Paris Agreement, a plan he followed through with in 2020, the same year he began the U.S.' withdrawal from the WHO.







More: in 2018 America withdrew from the Iran nuclear deal which had been the product of painstaking diplomacy involving so many countries. Relations with Cuba also soured during Trump's presidency.







But it wasn't just America's enemies. Trump repeatedly cast doubt on his support for NATO; he entered into aggressive negotiations with South Korea about the cost of U.S. bases here; he insulted friends and allies over and over again while heaping praise on strongmen and dictators.







Among all the damaging actions on the world stage, perhaps the worst was the betrayal of the Kurds in Northern Syria. The repercussions of these kinds of actions last long into the future and it will take years to rebuild trust in alliances with America. Why would anyone trust American promises if its presidents are so quick to break them?







True, there have been a number of peace agreements in the Middle East. The UAE and Bahrain both signed treaties with Israel to much fanfare late last year in Washington. And Sudan and Morocco indicated later that they would follow suit. These are all certainly steps towards peace in the region and all parties involved, including Trump, deserve full credit for the roles they played. Yet the treaties have hardly transformed the Middle East and North Africa into a haven of calm and peace. Iran and Saudi Arabia, not to mention Russia, still vie for power in the region. And let's not even get started talking about the Israeli-Palestinian conflict.







Mostly, the past few years have been marked by inaction on the part of the U.S. specifically and the West more generally. Obama did nothing in the face of a chemical weapons attack in Syria; the Russians poisoned someone in the streets of a British town and what was done?







There was complete failure to protect Ukraine from Russian aggression, and there is even now a continued failure to prevent Chinese domination of the South China Sea, despite the 2016 ruling at the Permanent Court of Arbitration in The Hague. In response to China's violation of its 1997 treaty promising to protect Hong Kong's autonomy, there has been nothing more than talk.







The go-to method of the West has become simply to slap sanctions on a few people. But what do the generals of Myanmar care if they can't go on holiday to Disneyland? Do we really think the Russians who tried to assassinate a man in Salisbury were keeping all their savings in Bank of America? Anyone who is prepared to flout international law or conduct a coup knows well enough to protect themselves from American sanctions in advance. And as the murder of Jamal Khashoggi demonstrated, even America's allies are willing to assassinate their critics in a bustling city in a NATO country.







The past few years have been marked by stupid decision after stupid decision, by failure after embarrassing failure in international diplomacy. Trump's policy of bullying everyone around him may have worked him wonders in the business world, but it just didn't have the same effect in international politics.





So what a welcome relief it was last week to see the news that Biden had actually proposed an initiative which is not only proactive and constructive, but also cooperative. In a call with British Prime Minister Boris Johnson last Friday, Biden suggested an international infrastructure plan to rival

.







What a great idea.







I don't want this piece to be about domestic American party politics, though I concede that my criticism of Trump's foreign policy has probably already ruined any chance of that. But whatever your politics, isn't it great that we can actually see some initiative coming from the U.S.? Since coming into office, Biden has stopped America's withdrawal from the WHO and has signed back up to the Paris Agreement. It seems from his actions so far that Biden is keen to participate in dialogue and diplomacy, to act in a long-term, nuanced way.







Of course, the challenges for the kind of project being suggested would be immense. An infrastructure project on this scale would need to be planned carefully and executed in coordination with partners around the world. And it cannot just be an American project  it needs to be cooperative not coercive, and it must bring real benefits to all involved.







Obviously an infrastructure plan won't solve the world's problems. We'll continue to have all kinds of injustice globally, and we'll probably continue to see useless sanctions imposed  what else is there to do? Nonetheless, if done properly, an ambitious project like this will be a great tool for international cooperation and partnership, a force for good in this hard world, a way to balance China's ever-growing power.







We're all aware that America is far from perfect, and some of its actions are downright stupid. While acknowledging this, there's no doubt that it's far better to live in a world with America rather than China as the dominant power.







Since Biden made his suggestion to Johnson, there hasn't really been any follow-up on the giant infrastructure plan. Biden's administration has announced plans for domestic projects instead. Maybe the international plan won't get up and running, but I hope it does. It's an indication of Biden's intention to bring America back to the global stage, to work together with partners for the betterment of the whole world. Biden's mantra is that "America is back"; it's great to see that after years of harmful American introversion, he's actually taking steps on the international level to return the U.S. to its former internationalist self.











Dr. Scott Shepherd is a British-American academic. He has taught in universities in the U.K. and Korea, and is currently assistant professor of English at Chongshin University in Seoul. The views expressed in the article are the author's own and do not reflect the editorial direction of The Korea Times.


Srinagar, April 3 : The Jammu and Kashmir police has recovered a cache of arms and ammunition from Central Kashmir's Budgam district, officials said on Saturday.

Police said acting upon specific information a search operation was conducted by Budgam Police and 53 RR of army in the forest area of village Shanipora Khan Sahab area of Budgam.

During the search operation, incriminating material of proscribed terror outfit LeT and a cache of arms and ammunition including one Chinese pistol-9 MM, one UBGL, four UBGL rounds, four pistol magazines, three Radio Set Antina, three rounds of 7.62 mm, one battery, 98 Rounds of 9 mm and one Bonnet Cover were recovered.

The police have registered a case and investigations have been taken up.
Chinese foreign minister Wang Yi met with his counterparts from Malaysia and Indonesia in the city of Nanping in China's southeast Fujian Province on Friday, as Beijing seeks to expand its influence in the region amid a sharp downturn in relations with Washington.

State broadcaster CCTV said Wang told Malaysian foreign minister Hishammuddin Hussein that China was willing to enhance cooperation with Malaysia on the "One Belt, One Road" program and the peace and stability of Southeast Asia.

CCTV also quoted Hishammuddin saying that Malaysia will always be a "good friend and partner" of China.

The two ministers signed a memorandum of understanding on establishing a high-level cooperation committee of the two countries, CCTV reported.

During the talks with Indonesian foreign minister Retno Marsudi, Wang Yi said China would like to enhance the coordination with Indonesia in international affairs.

Retno expressed the willingness of Indonesia to promote cooperation on COVID-19 vaccines, according to CCTV.

Wang Yi met with foreign minister of Singapore Vivian Balakrishnan on Wednesday and the Philippines foreign mister Teodoro Locsin on Thursday.

After wrapping up his meetings with his Southeast Asian counterparts on Friday, Wang is to meet South Korean Foreign Minister Chung Eui-yong in the southern port of Xiamen on Saturday amid tensions over North Korea, which relies on Chinese economic and political support.

(Disclaimer: This story is auto-generated from a syndicated feed; only the image & headline may have been reworked by www.republicworld.com)
The Responsive COVID-19 Vaccines for Recovery (RECOVER) project will fund the purchase of at least 65 million doses

The Asian Development Bank (ADB) has approved a $450 million loan to Indonesia to help Bio Farma, a state-owned vaccine supplier, procure and deliver safe and effective vaccines against the coronavirus disease (COVID-19).

The Responsive COVID-19 Vaccines for Recovery (RECOVER) project will fund the purchase of at least 65 million doses of COVID-19 vaccine for priority groups determined by the Indonesian government.

The project is supported by ADBs $9 billion Asia Pacific Vaccine Access Facility (APVAX), which was launched in December 2020 to offer rapid and equitable vaccine-related support to ADB developing members.

The Indonesian government aims to vaccinate 181.5 million people against COVID-19 in one of the worlds biggest vaccination campaigns. Indonesia recorded more than 1.5 million COVID-19 cases and 40,000 deaths as of 30 March.

The RECOVER project follows earlier ADB assistance to help Indonesia address the challenges posed by the pandemic. This includes a $3 million Asia Pacific Disaster Response Fund grant approved in April 2020 to help the Ministry of Health deliver critical medical equipment and supplies; and a $1.5 billion COVID-19 Active Response and Expenditure (CARES) Program loan as budget support for urgent public health, social, and economic assistance.
Record-high temperatures for March were broken across parts of Europe on the final day of the month, but a storm eyeing the region will bring more winterlike conditions and below-normal temperatures to these same areas.

On Easter Sunday, a drastic change in the weather pattern began across northwestern Europe. A storm near Scandinavia will drag a cold front across the United Kingdom and Ireland through Sunday night.

Anyone headed to church in celebration of Easter across Scotland, Northern Ireland and far northern England had to prepare for showers as well as cooler weather.

The cold front continued advancing across France and Germany on Monday, ushering in areas of showers as well as drastically cooler conditions compared to the end of March.

On Monday, temperatures were in the 40s F (4-9 C) across much of the United Kingdom, northeastern France, northern Germany and northwest Poland. In the Scottish Highlands, temperatures will struggle to climb out of the 30s F (0-4 C) to start the week.

CLICK HERE FOR THE FREE ACCUWEATHER APP

Similar temperatures are expected to occur in southern France and Germany into the middle of the week.

As temperatures drop and the front advances, rain can mix with and even change over to snow or sleet at times across much of Europe.

By Tuesday, the wintry mix is forecast to spread into the Balkan Peninsula as showers taper off in the United Kingdom and into France.

Outside of a slushy coating in some colder spots, little to no accumulation of snow is expected across most of the United Kingdom, France, Germany and Poland, especially after the mild conditions last week.

However, in the higher elevations across Europe, including the Scottish Highlands, the Alps and Carpathian Mountains, precipitation is forecast to fall as mainly snow and can lead to accumulations.

"One to three inches (3-8 cm) of snow will accumulate across the Alps, the Dinaric Alps, the Apennines, the Carpathian Mountains and into central Ukraine," said AccuWeather Meteorologist Tony Zartman.

Story continues

"Six to twelve inches (15-30 cm) of snow will accumulate the higher elevations of the Alps, the Dinaric Alps and the Carpathian Mountains," said Zartman, adding that these are the most likely locations for the AccuWeather Local StormMax of 30 inches (75 cm) to occur.

This amount of snow can lead to slippery roads and sidewalks at lower elevations and dangerous travel conditions at higher mountain passes.

In addition to blustery, wintry showers, the storm near Scandinavia can bring wind gusts of 50-60 mph (80-100 km/h) to Scotland, Norway, Denmark and the Netherlands with an AccuWeather Local StormMax of 70 mph (115 km/h). Strong wind gusts can cause rough seas, localized damage and power outages.

Chilly weather can persist into the second half of the week as the next storm system can bring a reinforcing blast of cold as well as another round of showers.

This winter reminder will come following a tase of summer and record-breaking temperatures across much Europe.

People enjoy the sunny weather along the Canal Saint-Martin despite the coronavirus pandemic in Paris, France, on March 31, 2021. Critical care doctors in Paris say surging coronavirus infections could soon overwhelm their ability to care for the sick in the French capital's hospitals, possibly forcing them to choose which patients they have the resources to save. President Macron is expected to give a TV speech on Wednesday detailing possible new restrictions to fight COVID-19. Photo by Aurore Marechal/ABACAPRESS.COM

One of the cities that set a new record was Paris. The afternoon temperature reached 78 F (25.6 C) in the French capital on Wednesday. This set a new record-high temperature for the month of March in the City of Lights.

Highs in the 70s F (21-26 C) were common from Spain and France to Germany and western Poland. Even parts of central England topped that same threshold.

Normal high temperatures during the end of March range from the middle 50s F (around 13 C) in France and Germany to around 60 F (16 C) in Spain.

Keep checking back on AccuWeather.com and stay tuned to the AccuWeather Network on DirecTV, Frontier, Spectrum, FuboTV, Philo, and Verizon Fios.
For the second successive year, Muslims will mark the holy month in the midst of coronavirus. While many have found ways to adapt to the "new normal" and the rollout of vaccines has helped stymie the rise in cases in some countries, it is certain that the Muslim holy month will be affected. Middle East Eye takes a look at some of the ways Ramadan will be different for worshippers this year.

How preparations are taking shape

Scheduled to begin on or around Monday 12 April, Ramadan is the most revered month in the Islamic calendar. Preparations for the holy month, which Muslims believe is when God revealed the first verses of the Quran to the Prophet Mohammed, start weeks in advance. Some Muslims choose to spend the weeks prior to Ramadan completing optional fasts and spiritually preparing for the holy month. Many also use the period to stock up on ingredients to make traditional foods for the duration of the month. Whereas last year many shops had their shelves cleared of products and store owners rationed goods between customers, people are now more accustomed to the pandemic and are panic-buying less, meaning items should be easier to source.

Ramadan is not just about food, however; it is also a social month, in which family and friends come together. Traditionally, some people travel abroad to be with their loved ones or to perform minor pilgrimages, but as Covid-19 cases remain high in most countries and travel restrictions remain in place, it is unlikely many will be able to do so this year. In the United Kingdom, fines of up to 5,000 have been imposed on people travelling without a valid reason, and in parts of the Middle East, similar restrictions will likely affect travel plans. While many may not be able to physically be with their loved ones for the holy month, organisations have come up with innovative ways to help people prepare, and to keep them company, during Ramadan.

The Ramadan Tent Project, a UK-based organisation which hosts free outdoor iftar meals for people during the month, will be hosting a Virtual Iftar, with prominent speakers and scholars giving sermons. The organisation has also created an online virtual pack which allows people to celebrate the month together. The pack contains a Ramadan guide, recipes, daily supplications, a worship planner, festive decorations and coupons, among other things. The Muslim Scout Fellowship, a UK-based umbrella organisation which provides support to Muslim scout groups across the country, is hosting a virtual Iftar Under the Stars.

In a typical year, the organisation would host open iftars around the country and encourage scouting in Muslim communities. The event has been moved online for the second year in a row, and includes quizzes, arts and crafts, recipe ideas and spiritual talks. And let's not forget all the online talks, study circles and virtual iftars that ordinary Muslims will be organising with their families, friends and other members of their communities.

Will taking the vaccine affect people fasting?

Fasting during Ramadan is obligatory for Muslim believers. Exemptions are made for children, women who are pregnant, menstruating or nursing, and people who are ill or travelling. Those who are experiencing Covid-19 symptoms do not have to fast during Ramadan, if they are not physically able to. This year, some countries are providing night-time vaccines for Muslims fasting. Although the majority of Islamic scholars and organisations have said that getting the Covid-19 vaccine would not nullify someones fast, the British government and National Health Service (NHS) have stated they hope to counter a potential drop in vaccine uptake among Muslims during the holy month. Many British Muslim doctors have been encouraging Muslims to take the Covid-19 vaccine, and are working to dispel myths or misinformation surrounding the jab.

In many countries, mosques have been used as vaccination centres. In the UK, a mosque in Birmingham became the first in the UK to open as a Covid-19 vaccination centre. Many other mosques around the country have followed suit, such as the Dar Ul Isra mosque in Wales. Around the Middle East, the issue of vaccine inequality means that many will have to observe stricter social distancing measures or close mosques due to slow rollouts of the vaccines.

Will breaking the fast be different?

The eagerly awaited iftar, or the breaking of the fast, happens every day at sunset. It is usually a time where friends and families eat together, but due to current restrictions this may not be possible in many countries. For those experiencing Ramadan in lockdown for the second year, breaking the fast may be a lonely experience. Many will likely turn to video-conferencing platforms such as Zoom, to talk to those they cannot be with physically, especially while having their evening meals. Before the pandemic, mosques, charities and individuals would set up "Ramadan tents" where Muslims could gather and break their fasts together. These events also meant that those who are less fortunate could eat without charge. In 2021, these will likely be cancelled once again, which may impact those who struggle to afford a meal to break their fast with. Egypt has already announced that Ramadan tents will be banned this year in order to stop the spread of the virus.

How will prayers be affected?

Every evening during Ramadan, extended prayers, called tarawih, take place in mosques around the world. These communal acts of worship are held in the belief that there is greater reward for prayers made in congregation. Mosques usually fill with worshippers during the evening, but this year, some mosques in the Middle East remain closed, while others are open with restrictions and guidelines in place. Authorities at the Masjid al-Nabawi (Prophet's Mosque) in Saudi Arabia have announced that the total intake of worshippers in Ramadan will be limited to 60,000 at any one time, with mandatory social distancing. The capacity of the mosque prior to the pandemic was 350,000 worshippers.

Last year, Saudi Arabia suspended tarawih prayers at the Masjid al-Haram in Mecca and the Masjid al-Nabawi in Medina in a bid to curb the spread of the virus. In the UAE, authorities have allowed tarawih prayers to go ahead after banning them last year. However, Ramadan tents and iftar gatherings are strictly prohibited. Restaurants have also been banned from distributing iftar meals inside or in front of their premises.

In Egypt, mosques have started preparations for the holy month weeks in advance. Tarawih prayers will be permitted in some mosques, with social distancing measures in place. The Ministry of Endowments has also provided guidance to officials in order to ensure prayers take place safely. Prayers in some mosques will be live-streamed, so worshippers can follow along at home. Religious lectures and sermons will also be broadcast online and through social media platforms. In the UK, the Muslim Council of Britain has issued a Ramadan safety guide which contains guidelines on how to minimise the risk of exposure to Covid-19. The organisation recommends shortening prayers and increasing ventilation where prayers do take place.

How will other forms of worship be affected?

Due to the reverence Muslims have for Ramadan, many use the occasion to carry out extra acts of worship, which they hope will bring them closer to God. In a typical year, many would gather in study circles known as halaqah, where they discuss and teach one another about aspects of faith. The practice goes back to the time of the Prophet Mohammed. This year, due to restrictions on meeting in large numbers in many parts of the world, this tradition will probably be accommodated online again.

The last 10 days of Ramadan are especially revered, and focus on intense worship, as it is believed that the Quran was revealed to the prophet during this period. Known as the night of power, the precise day is not known conclusively, but it is believed by most Muslims to be one of the odd-numbered nights during the last 10 days. As the Prophet Mohammed never specified the exact date of the night, Muslims use the entire 10-day period to increase their spirituality by reading and studying the Quran.

Some Muslims choose to live and sleep in a mosque during this period  a practice known as itikaf  to focus solely on acts of worship. This year, many mosques will not allow itikaf, which will significantly impact the form of worship.

The Muslim Council of Britain has said that itikaf is not recommended, and that risk assessments of venues should be undertaken beforehand if it is to go ahead in the UK. Egypts Ministry of Endowments has also banned mosques from hosting lessons and seminars.

How will the giving of charity change?

Central to the month of Ramadan are acts of charity and the helping of those less fortunate. Muslims believe this is a key aspect of their faith and that there are increased blessings for acts of kindness during the month. With the pandemic causing job losses and impacting business globally, many have felt the brunt of the economic slowdown. Contrary to expectation, charitable spending may actually drastically increase this year, as Muslims feel motivated to help others around them during difficult times.

Last year, some charities reported an increase in donations despite fears that giving would decline during the pandemic. However, Ramadan is the most crucial period for fundraising, and the fears do not seem to have materialised: the UK-based charity Muslim Hands, for example, said that donations increased by 20 percent compared with 2019.

Before the pandemic, fundraising efforts were usually organised around communal events, such as after congregational prayers or at large iftar gatherings. However, online charitable platforms are becoming more popular and provide a convenient way to help others.

Throughout the month of Ramadan, many will also take part in voluntary work as a way to help alleviate poverty in communities  from arranging food packages to delivering aid to those in conflict or disaster zones. This year, restrictions on travel, movement and aid may take a toll on families who rely on charitable efforts. In certain countries hit by economic crises or war, such as Syria, Lebanon, Yemen and Egypt, Ramadan is often the only time of year that some families get to eat meat.

Will pilgrims be impacted?

Ramadan pilgrimages to the holy cities of Mecca and Medina would attract millions of Muslims before the pandemic. Muslims believe that performing the Umrah, or minor pilgrimage, brings more spiritual reward during the month. Last year, Saudi Arabia temporarily suspended travel to the countrys holiest sites amid fears it would encourage the spread of coronavirus, leaving travel agents to scramble around and rearrange bookings. Many pilgrims simply cancelled their trips. This year, Saudi Arabias Ministry of Hajj and Umrah stated that pilgrims who wish to perform the umrah during Ramadan will not have to be vaccinated against Covid-19, although it is recommended. Zamzam water coolers in Mecca will not be available, with bottled zamzam water to be provided instead. The sharing and distribution of food will also be forbidden inside the mosque.

How have Ramadan traditions been affected?

A big Ramadan tradition around the Middle East is the beating of drums around the streets and alleyways of some neighbourhoods before the break of dawn. The musaharati, or the one who wakes people up for the suhoor (pre-fast) meal, walks around beating a drum to remind people to get up and eat. In some close-knit neighbourhoods, the musaharati will even call children by their individual names. The sound of the musaharati making their way down the street was largely silenced last year because of safety concerns relating to the pandemic. With curfews still in place in some parts of the Middle East and around the world, this tradition may be impacted once again. While Ramadan is a time of spirituality and reflection, it is also when the years most highly anticipated TV series are released. TV dramas spanning 30 episodes, for each day of the month, are popular and feature some of the most well-known actors. Ratings rocket at iftar time, as families watch the shows while breaking their fasts. Last year, filming schedules were affected by the pandemic, but social distancing measures have since allowed productions to continue.

Will Eid be celebrated differently?

Ramadan ends with the sighting of the next new moon. This marks the start of Eid al-Fitr, a three-day celebration. Early congregational prayers are held on the first morning of Eid and families usually have daytime meals together. In much of the Middle East, Eid is a national holiday, a time for food and festivities, when children wear new clothes, receive money or presents and eat sweets. Families typically organise days out, filled with activities for children and social gatherings for adults. Homes are decorated with lights and signs that read "Eid Mubarak ("Blessed Festival" in Arabic).

But due to the coronavirus pandemic, Eid is likely to be affected more than Ramadan this year. While the basic Ramadan traditions can be observed at home, including congregational prayers via streaming, Eid is typically a time when Muslims go out to celebrate. But with cinemas, theme parks and cafes closed this year, celebrations will have to be confined to the home. Given that religious authorities and governments are likely to ban large gatherings, we can expect Eid to be more muted and reflective this year.
The uranium market is emerging from years in the doldrums as the overhang from the nuclear disaster in Japan is cleared and global demand picks up steam.

The spot price for U3O8 moved above $30 per pound for the first time this year as uranium producers and mine developers hoover up above-ground inventories and reactor construction continues apace.

Two new research notes from BMO Capital Markets and Morgan Stanley say todays price marks a floor and predict a rally in prices over the next few years to the ~$50 level by 2024.

The stars seem to be aligning for a new phase of nuclear energy investment with the US, China and Europe bolstering the bull case for the fuel this month.

Although nuclear energy was not mentioned explicitly in the $2 trillion Biden infrastructure proposal released today, its federally mandated energy efficiency and clean electricity standard is hardly achievable without it.

Source: Cameco

Over the weekend leaked documents showed a panel of experts advising the EU is set to designate nuclear as a sustainable source of electricity which opens the door for new investment under the continents ambitious green energy program.

Related: The Future Of U.S. LNG Hangs In The Balance



Chinas 14th five-year plan released a fortnight ago also buoyed the uranium market with Beijing planning to up the countrys nuclear energy capacity by 46%  from 48GW in 2020 to 70GW by 2025.

There are several factors working in uraniums favour, not least the fact that annual uranium demand is now above the level that existed before the 2011 Fukushima disaster when Japan shut off all its reactors:

Uranium miners, developers and investment funds like Yellow Cake (13m lbs inventory build up so far) are buying material on the spot market bringing to more normal levels government and utility inventories built up over the last decade

Major mines are idled including Camecos Cigar Lake (due to covid-19) which accounts for 18m lbs or 13% of annual mine supply. The worlds largest uranium operation McArthur River was suspended in July 2018 taking 25m lbs off the market

Permanent closures so far this year include Rio Tintos Ranger operation in Australia (3m lbs) and Nigers Cominak mine (2.6m lbs) which had been in operation since 1978. Rio is exiting the market entirely following the sale of Rossing Uranium in Namibia

Like Cameco, top producer Kazatomprom, which mined 15% less material last year due to covid restrictions has committed to below capacity production (20% for the state-owned Kazakh miner) for the foreseeable future

Price reporting agency and research company UxC estimates that utilities uncovered requirements would balloon to some 500m lbs by 2026 and 1.4 billion lbs by 2035

Roughly 390m lbs are already locked up in the long term market while 815m lbs have been consumed in reactors over the last five years, according to UxC

There are 444 nuclear reactors in operation worldwide and another 50 under construction  2 new connections to the grid and one construction start so far in 2021

Much cheaper and safer, small modular nuclear power reactors which can readily slot into brownfield sites like decommissioned coal-fired plants (or even underground or underwater) are expected to become a significant source of additional demand.

There are caveats to this rosy scenario, however.

Morgan Stanley warns that the opacity of the inventory situation remains a key uncertainty to price  see for example palladium, which needed almost 7 years of deficit before the price really took off.

BMO says given the still high levels of inventories acute shortages and price squeezes are extremely unlikely, both for this year and the foreseeable future, adding that there is no obvious need for new mine supply in the near future.

Source: Cameco

By Mining.com

More Top Reads From Oilprice.com:
Australia will continue its inoculation programme with AstraZeneca, health officials said on Saturday, after a blood clotting case raised concern about the safety of the vaccine. A 44-year-old man was admitted to a Melbourne hospital with clotting, days after receiving the AstraZeneca vaccine, suffering serious thrombosis, a condition that prevents normal blood flow though the circulatory system.

The Therapeutic Goods Administration (TGA) regulator and a panel, the Australian Technical Advisory Group on Immunisation (ATAGI), met late Friday and early Saturday to discuss further advice on the AstraZeneca vaccine. "We have not been advised at this time by ATAGI or the TGA to pause the rollout of the AstraZeneca vaccine in Australia," Australia's deputy chief medical officer, Michael Kidd, told a televised briefing Saturday afternoon.

Kidd said, however, that the blood clotting case is "likely" related to the vaccine. "The risks of serious side effects remain very low, but safety is paramount and that is why TAGI and the TGA are continuing to do due diligence on this case," Kidd said, adding that further announcements would come next week.

On Thursday, Britain identified 30 cases of rare blood clot events following use of the vaccine. Several nations, including Canada, France, Germany and Spain, limited its use after similar reports. Possible complications with the rollout of the AstraZeneca vaccine could further slow the already delayed inoculation drive in Australia.

Australia launched mass vaccinations for its 25 million people in February, with most expected to receive the University of Oxford/AstraZeneca vaccine, as 50 million doses are being produced domestically by CSL Ltd. The country has had troubles, however, rolling out the programme, missing a March target by about 3.3 million doses as states and the federal government bickered over the blame.

The troubles follow a year of significant success curbing the virus, with snap lockdowns, border closures and swift tracking limiting coronavirus infections to just under 29,300 infections, with 909 COVID-19 deaths. On Saturday, Queensland state, the epicentre of the most recent small outbreak of the coronavirus, recorded one new infection, health officials said, but risks to the public were minimal as the victim had been in isolation for days.

Also read: Can you spread COVID-19 infection even after getting vaccine?

Also read: COVID-19 vaccine: Germany to restrict AstraZeneca in people over 60 years due to blood clot reports
New Delhi:

External Affairs Minister Sushma Swaraj on Saturday bombarded Pakistan with her piercing eloquence at the 72nd United Nations General Assembly (UNGA) session saying the country has only produced terrorists.

Sushma Swaraj replying to Pak PM Shahid Khaqan Abbasi accusations said when he was speaking, people sitting here were saying, look! Who is talking?

On Pakistan's demand to implement UN resolution in Kashmir, Swaraj reminded Pakistan of Shimla conventions when both countries agreed against third party involvement.

Here are the top quotes of Sushma Swaraj at UN General Assembly session:

# India is fighting poverty but neighbouring country Pakistan is fighting us.

# India and Pakistan got freedom at the same time but today, India is known as a superpower in Information Technology while on the other hand Pakistan is known as the land of terror.

Also said | Highlights of EAM Sushma Swaraj's speech at 72nd UN General Assembly session

# India created IITs, IIMS, and AIIMS. Produced scholars, doctors, scientists but Pakistan created LeT, JeM, HM and produced terrorists.

# The country (Pakistan) accused us of state-sponsored terrorism and human rights violation. Listening to the Prime Minister of Pakistan, people had only one observation, 'Look who is talking'.

# PM Narendra Modi has offered the hand of peace and friendship. Pakistans Prime Minister must answer why his nation spurned this offer.

# Countries still differ on the definition of terrorism and terrorists. I request all to find a unanimous definition of terrorism and resolve to fight it together.

# If we cannot agree to define our enemy, how can we fight together?

# India's culture&thought have been shaped by history &philosophy that believes in peace as humankind's only rational&practical objective.

# Early reform of the Security Council is an essential element of our overall effort to reform the United Nations.

# Nature sent its warning to the world. Once our gathering began, an earthquake struck Mexico. We are seeing tribulations across the world.

For all the Latest World News, Download News Nation Android and iOS Mobile Apps.
Yes, the COVID-19 vaccine works.

After two weeks, one vaccine shot is 80% effective at preventing infections, while a second shot carries 90% effectiveness, according to a new CDC study.

Our data from the CDC today suggest that vaccinated people do not carry the virus, said CDC Director Dr. Rochelle Walensky in an MSNBC interview from Tuesday, March 30.

The effective results from the vaccines clinical trials translated to real world application, said Liam Sullivan, infectious disease doctor at Spectrum Health in Grand Rapids.

They looked at cases among healthcare workers who are vaccinated and its very low, he said. Its nice to see that the vaccine is reflecting the efficacy established in the clinical trials, because in the real world you have a bunch of other factors that come into play when you look at effectiveness.

With these positive results in mind, Michigan health officials also want to caution the public: theres still a chance youll get sick even if youre vaccinated.

Officials at Covenant HealthCare in Saginaw told MLive they have seen multiple hospitalizations from patients that had already received their first vaccinations. That would track with reporting in other states, said Jim Lee, vice president of data analysis for Michigan Health & Hospital Association during a March 26 press conference.

There are no reports of a hospitalization from someone with both COVID-19 shots, he said.

So far no one has reported an individual whos been hospitalized at their facility who was fully vaccinated, so thats great news, he said.

Though the risk is greatly reduced post-vaccine, it is not eliminated, officials told MLive. People should not see the vaccine as giving them superpowers, said Emily Toth Martin, an epidemiologist with the University of Michigan.

Read more: Michigan hasnt reported any post-vaccination COVID-19 infections, but heres why its possible

One thing we need to remember about this period where some people are vaccinated and some people arent is that vaccine effectiveness estimates are calculated for a big group of people, Martin said. And so you may be an exception to that number, and we dont know whether you personally are protected right now or not. We know on average for the whole population, transmission will go down. But breakthroughs will still happen.

The vaccine takes full immunization effect 14 days after the shot is administered, according to the CDC. That leaves room for a moderate risk of infection, Martin said.

Id like people to keep this moderate risk perception in their mind, she said. You dont want to overplay your hand.

When its said that an initial COVID-19 shot has 80% effectiveness, that means that 200 out of 1,000 vaccinated people could still catch the virus (or 100 for two shots that are 90% effective). Vaccines dont eliminate the chance of transmission, said Dr. Christine Nefcy, chief medical officer for Munson Healthcare in Traverse City.

No vaccine is 100% effective in preventing illness, she said at a March 23 press briefing. So certainly, weve seen a couple of positive cases among people who have been vaccinated. But most of the positive cases were seeing are among people who are unvaccinated.

This continued risk puts on onus on Michigan residents to still follow health guidelines such as mask-wearing and social distancing, said Linda Vail, health officer for the Ingham County Health Department. According to the CDC, one study showed that a complete relaxation of prevention measures like these prior to adequate vaccination coverage resulted in essentially no reductions in SARS-CoV-2 infections.

We already have restrictions. Its like, what more do you need in this particular circumstance, Vail said. What you need is for people to actually be following these guidelines and complying with the restrictions that already exist.

With that in mind, partially vaccinated people that still get infected will see milder hospitalizations on average, Vail said.

The vaccine will prevent serious illness, hospitalization and death, she said, but may not necessarily prevent mild illness. The Moderna and Pfizer vaccines are known to prevent illness, but again, only at that 90 to 95% level.

Some local hospitals have noticed this trend, including Henry Ford Allegiance Health in Jackson and Covenant HealthCare in Saginaw. The severity of a hospitalized patients illness is much less now than it was during surges last year, said Joie Linn Nelson, director of nursing and patient care services at Henry Ford Allegiance Health.

The ICU level patients has really tapered off for us, she said. The acuity of the patient is not as high for the hospitalizations that were seeing currently.

Covenant HealthCare has seen a moderate increase in hospitalizations due to COVID-19, but its still a third of the number compared to the peak levels seen in 2020, said hospital spokeswoman Kristin Knoll.

In fact because of the vaccine, we are seeing less nursing home and elderly patients than in the prior waves, she said. While the vaccine is highly effective in preventing serious illness from COVID-19, we still encourage people to take reasonable precautions.

COVID-19 cases among residents in Michigans skilled nursing facilities have dropped 96% since the start of the federal vaccination program for long-term care facilities in late December, according to the Health Care Association of Michigan, with deaths down 99%.

Related: COVID-19 cases in Michigan nursing homes drop 96%, deaths drop 99% since late December

Nelson cautioned that recent outbreaks in Jackson County, one of the 10 Michigan counties seeing the most new cases per one million residents, could lead to an overwhelmed health system even with these milder hospitalizations.

I think if we continue to progress at the rate that we have been over the course of the last few days, we could certainly hit where we were in Phase Two (fall 2020), she said. Were very hopeful that we wont hit that peak.

While vaccines should not be seen as a shield from all forms of COVID-19, its importance to getting out of the pandemic is two-fold, Vail said.

One, we protect you, then we have to have protection around the people that cannot get vaccinated, she said. Theres always a percent of people who simply cannot get vaccinated. They would chose to if they could, but they cant. And when that happens, this herd immunity protects them.

We have to have both of those things. Not just one. We need both.

Read more from MLive:

Michigan coronavirus data statewide and by county for Wednesday, March 31: Pandemic rages in Macomb, St. Clair, Thumb region

Michigans COVID-19 numbers increasing at troubling pace. Whats going on?

Gender gap in pandemic unemployment shrinking, but mothers still left behind

When congregations cant congregate: Pandemic forces Michiganders to rethink church

FOX 2 Detroit anchor Maurielle Lue describes her terrifying COVID battle: I literally cant breathe
Tehran, Apr 3 (UNI) Iran may release MT Hankuk Chemi, a seized South Korean oil tanker, and its captain next week, South Korean media said.

In early January, Iran's Islamic Revolution Guards Corps (IRGC) captured the vessel with 20 sailors on board over oil pollution. Western media claimed that this was Irans response to the freezing of $7bln of Irans assets by Seoul upon the request by the United States. In February, Tehran agreed to free all the staff except the captain.

"I understand that there has been considerable progress in negotiations with Iran over the seizure issue  MT Hankuk Kemi and its captain are likely to be released in the near future," a diplomatic source told Yonhap News Agency.

The vessel had 20 sailors on board, among them 11 Myanmarese, five Koreans, including the captain, two Indonesians and two Vietnamese. Reports claimed that an agreement reached by South Korea and Iran to unlock Irans funds is a possible reason why Tehran might be willing to release the ship.

UNI XC GNK 0736
Determination and good fortune paid off for Sri Lanka's openers with Lahiru Thirimanne and captain Dimuth Karunaratne taking their team to 93 without loss at lunch after a rain-shortened first session of the last day of the second and final Test against the West Indies and the Sir Vivian Richards Stadium in Antigua on Friday.

Karunaratne will resume after lunch on 54 with Thirimanne, who has compiled half-centuries in the three previous innings in the series, on 37.

Set to start the day with 29 runs already on the scoreboard and faced with the challenge of getting 377 for victory, any realistic prospect of engaging in such a daunting chase effectively disappeared when early-morning rain resulted in just over an hour's play being lost before a ball was bowled.

When play did get underway, West Indies needed early success to keep them interested in pulling off a series-clinching victory following the drawn first Test at the same venue eight days earlier when it was the Caribbean side who batted through the final day to defy the tourists' victory bid.

Shannon Gabriel should have removed Thirimanne, then on 17, in the course of his second over when a lifting delivery on the body of the left-hander bushed a glove only for wicketkeeper Joshua da Silva to spill the chance having covered ground well down the legside.

Karunaratne, who has endured a terrible series with the bat before this final innings, looked decidedly uncomfortable to the off-spin of Rahkeem Cornwall, the inside edge of his bat saving him on a couple of occasions from concerted leg-before appeals.

Having survived that test, the Sri Lankan skipper brought up a 25th Test half-century with a straight-driven boundary off the part-time spin of Jermaine Blackwood and will be entertaining thoughts, together with the consistent Thirimanne, of getting to three figures in seeking to take their team to safety by the end of the day.

str/mw
BATON ROUGE, La. (AP)  A new complaint by a conservative Republican is alleging that Louisianas top GOP House and Senate leaders are engaging in improper political activities through a nonprofit they created to promote their agenda.

Michael Lunsford is asking the Louisiana Board of Ethics to investigate whether Senate President Page Cortez and House Speaker Clay Schexnayder are violating campaign finance laws with their organization Leading Louisiana Forward.

The organization is run by Republican political consultant Lionel Rainey. Rainey defended the nonprofit as complying with all laws.

It is registered as a tax-exempt social welfare organization that doesnt have to disclose its donors and can't participate in politics as its primary activity.
'Knowledge is high in the head, but the salmon of wisdom swims deep.' Scottish poet Neil Gunn.

While many who live or grew up on the banks of the River Boyne will be familiar with the myth of the Salmon of Knowledge, what might be less well known is the source of the wisdom bestowed upon the fish in the first place.

It was said to be the well of Segais and in his latest book, local author, photographer and podcaster Anthony Murphy dives into the fathomless pool behind this myth, taking the reader on a profound trip, mirroring the miraculous life journey of the salmon with the vagarious, yet annular route, of our own lives.

'This is my first real effort at creating a work of literary fiction and art and would describe it as my best effort at displaying my humanity and the mystery of life,' says Anthony, who has published six other books mainly on mythology and astronomy. 'It is the result of a 20-year awakening, and even though I couldn't have written this five years ago, it's not a culmination, as I believe you never culminate in your spiritual growth.'

This is not a work of fiction in the traditional sense, as in there are no characters or storyline, other than the miraculous journey taken by the salmon. But there are metaphors interwoven throughout the narrative which will resonate with many.

'This was written back in 2018 so was not inspired by COVID, but what I have noticed is people have been forced to go down into themselves and examine what's there, and that is uncomfortable for a lot of people,' he says. 'There are sections of the book where I talk about my own depressive episodes, and I pour my heart out with deep honesty, but as I say in the book, 'only that which is broken, can be made whole again.'

He says the book will be for anyone who has an interest in Irish mythology, the Irish landscape or the psychological effect of the landscape.

'I have a lot of followers of my live streamings on Mythical Ireland in the USA, and they tell me the sacred sites they visited in Ireland had a profound effect on them, so anyone who is a fan of poetic fiction or Jungian psychology will enjoy it.'

The book was written in the traditional manner of pen and paper, or as Anthony might put it, he poured a river of ink onto creamy paper.

'When you use a keyboard, you are not creating a physical copy of the manuscript, which can only be done with a pen and paper, or a typewriter, 'he explains. 'The notebook was a gift from Laura Murphy, who has supported me greatly, and it also forced me to write more slowly, and my words flowed more naturally.'

Anthony has self-published Return to Segais, and it was printed by local company Anglo Printers, and is available on his website www.mythicalireland.com or Mythical Ireland facebook page priced 21.99.
PLAINVIEW  Sitting in your Graphic Design I class during your first semester of college, chances are you arent thinking about publishing one of your class projects in an international publication. You certainly arent thinking about sending another class project to the Iraqi foreign embassy in Washington D.C. only to catch the eye of their cultural attache. Then again, you arent Allyson Vinson.

Vinson, a freshman at Wayland Baptist University, decided to major in graphic design when professor Dejan Mraovic encouraged her to take a course during the Fall 2020 semester. She quickly fell in love with the forgiving nature of design, Mraovics zest for his students and his approach to the art.

He is very open about his students going above and beyond, Vinson said. He is very proud of his students.

Of course, Mraovic is likely to say it helps when students show a passion for what they are doing in class. Vinsons passion and Mraovics leadership have brought the Lubbock native a little notoriety from the unlikeliest of places. In her Art History course, Vinson became interested in artwork from ancient Iraq. In particular, the Lamassu, a Sumerian protective deity with the head of a god, body of a bull and wings of an eagle, made a particular impression. Vinson was taking Art History at the same time as her Graphic Design I course.

For some reason, I just really hung onto the Lamassu, Vinson said. We were concurrently doing biometric forms on a grid (in Graphic Design.) Everyone else was doing animals and stuff, so I just decided to do the Lamassu.

The result was a 1980s, Andy Warhol inspired treatment of the Lamassu in a repeating pattern of vibrant colors.

The piece sparked an idea which led Mraovic to encourage Vinson to send it to the Iraqi Embassy in Washington D.C.

I was super nervous when we sat down and wrote that first email, Vinson said. I was shaking.

Not only was the email and artwork well-received, but Vinson was also contacted by the Iraqi Cultural Attache who thanked her for her work and her interest in Iraqi culture. Two other Iraqi consuls asked Vinson for her mailing address so they could send her a letter form the Iraqi ambassador who wanted to express his gratitude.

[The letter] essentially said, Thank for your contribution, and told me more about Iraqi culture, Vinson said. It is actually a really rich culture with art and inventions and science.

This is the second piece of Vinsons artwork to impress others in the art world. She also submitted a typography project for publication in Creative Quarterly, an internationally renowned graphic design and illustration magazine based in New York City. Her project was to use appropriate typography to add lettering to an emergency vehicle. Vinson selected a fire truck she thought was from the 1920s. Upon closer inspection, Mraovic informed her that it was a Soviet vehicle from the 1930s.

I had no idea, Vinson said. Once we figured that out, we embraced it. He helped me find a type face from a female designer from the 1930s. Its an old Soviet font.

Vinson selected the font Literatumaya by designer Lyubov Alexeevna Kuznetsova. She added the wording Lubbock Fire Department to the sides top and rear of the engine, along with a station number. Once submitted, the poster was selected for publication in the 63rd edition of Creative Quarterly.

Vinson joins artists from institutions such as the University of Arts London, Istituto Europeo di Design in Milano, Italy, New York Academy of Art, Savannah College of Art and Design and many others, in having her work published. She is the second WBU student of Mraovic to be published in the magazine in the past two years. Madeline Allison had a piece published in April of 2020.

Vinson said she will continue to work on her graphic design and to learn from Mraovics multi-cultural and historical approach to the art. While she hasnt narrowed down her career aspirations just yet, Vinson said she would like to work as a freelance graphic designer, among other things. For now, however, she is glad she chose Wayland where professors give her the freedom to pursue creativity within the arts.

Professors give us a loose-threaded prompt and say, Ok, go for it, Vinson said. That is something I like.
Morrison envisages its role will be to assess policies for their impact on women as theyre being developed and bring forward new policies and champion them across other portfolios, such as for childcare. Its anticipated Payne and the taskforce will take a little time to settle on the most effective ways to work but hopes are high it can actually drive action and not descend into yet another talkfest. Government MPs acknowledge real change is needed. They say the anger of the women who marched on Canberra, spurred on by Higgins call for justice, has seeped into suburbia and the consciousness of Morrisons quiet Australians. Newspoll showed the governments primary vote fell in early March, with the Coalition dipping behind Labor on the two-party preferred measure. The polling published this week had Morrisons personal net-approval rating down by half to 15 per cent over the past fortnight. At the same time, Essential Research found his personal standing plummeted with female voters, with just under half the women surveyed approving of his performance and two in five disapproving. Both measures shifted by 10 points in a fortnight. The women who have to save Morrison and his government have come under fire themselves for their mixed history in advocating for womens rights.

Sexual assault survivor, activist and Australian of the Year Grace Tame warned people hopeful of change not to be naively misled by superficial distractions posed as solutions. Loading She took particular issue with the promotion of Stoker, accusing the senator of endorsing columnist Bettina Arndts fake rape crisis tour aimed at falsifying instances of sexual abuse on school and university campuses across Australia and failing to support victims of sexual assault. Either the Prime Minister is ignorant of the cultural issues at hand, or he understands them completely, and is making calculated moves to perpetuate them, Tame wrote on Instagram. Stoker responded that Tame must be unaware of her career as a barrister and prosecutor working for justice for women and children, and her arguing out of the media spotlight for more resources and better systems to deal with sexual assault and harassment. Morrison said he didnt share Tames views.

Others have highlighted Stokers strong anti-abortion stance and comments she made last year that women shouldnt need to frame the challenges they face in politics through the lens of gender. South Australian MP Nicolle Flint, who is retiring at the next federal election because of sustained sexist attacks and harassment, defended her friend this week, saying Stoker had been one of the few to always support her. Only when we all work together will we achieve desperately needed change for all women, Flint said. Hume was promoting a policy that domestic violence victims should be able to draw on their superannuation to flee abusive relationships, until Payne dumped it in the same estimates hearing where she said she didnt have an impossible job. Cash has also drawn accusations of sexism in the past after she threatened to name every young woman in [Bill] Shortens office about which rumours in this place abound in Parliament. She later withdrew the remarks.

Macquarie University associate professor Michelle Arrow, who specialises in feminist history, would have preferred to see a standalone Minister for Women who had that as their sole portfolio. Putting a bunch of women who have not shown very much sympathy for womens plight or  the kind of record that they have in those portfolios around supporting women who are the most vulnerable, its not particularly great, she says. It reinforces the idea that these are womens problems that women have to solve as well. These are not minority issues, these affect more than 50 per cent of the population. Loading Hayley Foster, chief executive of Womens Safety NSW, the peak body for specialist domestic and family violence services in the state, says it was problematic that again responsibility for addressing womens issues seemed to have been thrust upon only women. But conversely, she was hopeful they would be able to bring their own life experiences and understanding of the problems to the table.

We cant have people who dont truly understand those issues heading up and leading in addressing those issues, she says. For Foster, the elevation of womens issues to cabinet level is positive but what happens in Mays budget will be the true test. For far too long, the issues affecting Australians, female Australians have been sidelined and put in the subsidiary or the ancillary bucket - and often the bucket of this is too hard and too expensive and we dont want to deal with it, she says. Once we see what is prioritised in the budget, and if we do start seeing a genuine commitment of action following up the words, then we will at that point be able to say that the government has heard us loud and clear and is starting to prioritise the issues that are facing Australian women. Foster has already met with Payne, Stoker and departmental representatives about ways to increase conviction rates for sexual assault and drive down the levels of harassment, and found them receptive.

The taskforce also has a couple of blueprints to guide its work. Sex Discrimination Commissioner Kate Jenkins landmark report on workplace sexual harassment, Respect@Work, was given to the government more than a year ago. The formal response to its 55 recommendations is imminent, Morrison has promised. Its expected this response will be the key focus for the taskforces first meeting on Tuesday. Just this week, a Coalition-dominated parliamentary committee handed down a 470-page report on its inquiry into family, domestic and sexual violence. It urges the government to act on 88 areas, including setting up an independent commissioner to oversee the next national action plan to reduce violence against women and children, universal age-appropriate education on respectful relationships and sexual consent, and tougher penalties for domestic violence. Labors spokeswoman on the prevention of family violence, Jenny McAllister, says the Liberal backbenchers putting this report together had been more ambitious than Morrison, Ruston and Payne.

The Coalition-controlled committee has issued a report that criticises the approach taken by the very ministers who now comprise the new womens safety taskforce, she says. The challenge for the government is to explain how this taskforce will change anything. Loading Ruston and her state and territory counterparts are now developing the next national action plan to reduce violence against women. This process is expected to include a national summit of women, peak bodies and domestic violence service organisations, similar to that called for by Liberal backbenchers Bridget Archer and Russell Broadbent. Ministers responsible for workplace health and safety - including Cash as the new Attorney-General - are set to decide next month on new work, health and safety laws designed in part to prevent sexual harassment. Much of this work plan was established well before Morrisons reshuffle. The formation of the dedicated womens taskforce adds another spotlight under which to scrutinise what is being done.
We're always interested in hearing about news in our community. Let us know what's going on!

Go to form
Drivers looking to save money on car insurance should take a look at the discounts offered by providers. Some of these discounts can help drivers save hundreds of dollars per year, said Russell Rabichev, Marketing Director of Internet Marketing Company.

Cheapquotesautoinsurance.com has launched a new blog post that presents the best discounts for saving money on car insurance.

For more info and free quotes, visit https://cheapquotesautoinsurance.com/top-car-insurance-discounts/

Drivers are constantly seeking ways to save money on car insurance. To pay less on their premiums, drivers should consider taking advantage of the discounts that are offered by insurers. Car insurance companies are offering discounts for various reasons, so it will be wise for drivers to check if they are eligible to get some of these discounts.

The best discounts that can help the policyholders save the most on car insurance are the following:



Bundling discount. In many cases, the bundling discount is the most rewarding discount a driver can get. To be eligible for this discount, drivers are required to purchase a house and car insurance together from the same insurance provider. If the policyholder doesn't own a house, then they can combine different types of insurance with their car insurance. Policyholders can combine renter's insurance, health insurance, life insurance, or even boat insurance in order to get a bundling discount. Depending on how many policies they combine and the value of the goods that are insured on those policies, drivers can get a discount that can be as large as 20%.

Good driver discount. Insurance companies are satisfied by their customers that manage to keep their driving records clean. For this reason, insurers are offering good driver discounts. However, drivers can be eligible for this discount only if they manage to keep their driving records intact for a period of years. In most cases, insurers will offer this discount to drivers that succeeded to stay away from traffic violations for a period that is between three to five years.

Good student discount. Teenage drivers are considered high-risk by insurance companies. This is no surprise, as statistics show that inexperienced teen drivers are more likely to be involved in a car accident. Also, teen drivers tend to drive recklessly. However, not all teen drivers have to pay for expensive insurance policies. Students that can prove they have 3.0 GPA will be rewarded with a discount from the insurance companies.

Good credit score discount. Insurance companies claim they found a correlation between a drivers credit score and the chances for that driver to file a claim. Therefore, drivers with a poor credit score are more likely to file an insurance claim. For this reason, drivers with a bad or poor credit score will pay more on insurance compared to those that have a good or excellent credit score.

Loyalty discount. Drivers that stayed with the same insurance company for a number of years, might be entitled to a loyalty discount that is around 10%. Usually, insurance companies will offer a loyalty discount to customers that stayed at them for a period that is between three to five years.

For additional info, money-saving tips and free car insurance quotes, visit https://cheapquotesautoinsurance.com/

Cheapquotesautoinsurance.com 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.
(CNN)  Foreign diplomats and aid workers have fled North Korea en masse in recent months due to shortages of goods and "unprecedented" restrictions on daily life imposed to stop the spread of coronavirus, according to the Russian Embassy in Pyongyang.

The embassy said in a statement on its official Facebook page that there are now only 290 expatriates within North Korea, including just nine ambassadors and four charge d'affaires. All foreign personnel working for NGOs and humanitarian organizations have left the country.

"Not everyone can withstand the unprecedented severity of total restrictions, the acute shortage of necessary goods, including medicines (and) the lack of opportunities to solve health problems," the embassy said in the post, which also wished some 38 foreign citizens well after they finished their post-North Korea quarantine in China.

Before the COVID-19 pandemic, Russia had one of the biggest diplomatic missions in North Korea, but its presence has dwindled recently. Months of living with strict public health measures and coping with extreme shortages of "necessary goods," including medicine appear to have taken a toll.

North Korea's borders have been effectively locked down for months as part of the Kim Jong Un regime's efforts to keep COVID-19 at bay, stranding the few diplomats operating inside Pyongyang.

North Korean state-owned airline Air Koryo operates flights from Vladivostok in eastern Russia, but the route has also been suspended for months. Leaving North Korea is reportedly quite difficult. In February, several Russian diplomats spent more than 34 hours trying to exit the country, a grueling trip that ended with at least one envoy pushing his luggage and young children on a railway trolley.

Experts believe Kim decided to sever almost all of North Korea's ties with the outside world because he recognized his country's dilapidated healthcare system would be overwhelmed by a COVID-19 outbreak.

Kim's strategy appears to have worked from a public health standpoint. North Korea has not reported a major outbreak of COVID-19, and there have been no indications one has taken place, though experts doubt Pyongyang's claim the country has not seen a single case of the virus.

Diplomats, aid workers and NGO staff have chosen to leave North Korea rather than risk being stranded due to the country's inflexible and strict border controls -- shrinking Pyongyang's already small expatriate community, a valuable source of information on one of the world's most reclusive and secretive countries. However, Russian diplomats have helped fill in some of the gaps in their descriptions of life on the ground in the North Korean capital.

Russian Ambassador to North Korea Alexander Matsegora said recently that grocery stores began running out of food following Pyongyang's decision to almost entirely stop imports in September. The comments were surprising, given North Korea enjoys closer relations with Russia than it does with almost any other country except China.

While Kim and other North Korean leaders have admitted the country's economy is suffering due to the virus, they have not admitted its food supply is under strain.

This story was first published on CNN.com, "North Korea sees mass exodus of foreigners due to Covid-19, Russian Embassy says."
The Nigerian government has threatened to invoke the no work, no pay rule on resident doctors who embarked on an indefinite strike on Thursday.

The minister of labour, Chris Ngige, issued the threat on Friday during an interview on Channels Television.

By Tuesday, I will invite them back, If they become recalcitrant, there are things I can do, Mr Ngige said.

There are weapons in the labour laws I will invoke them. There is no work, no pay.

By Nigerian law, while workers unions are on strike, their members are still entitled to their full salaries. However, the government can choose to implement the no work, no pay rule and stop paying the workers salaries if it believes the strike is illegal or unjustified. Although it had threatened striking workers with the rule in the past, it was rarely implemented and when done, was often reversed after the strike was called off or suspended.

The Strike

The National Association of Resident Doctors (NARD) commenced an indefinite strike on Thursday despite meeting with a federal government delegation on Wednesday night.

We commence strike 8 a.m. today while we are still trying to evaluate the federal governments offer, the president of the association, Uyilawa Okhuaihesuyi, told PREMIUM TIMES Thursday morning.

The decision was reached after NARDs extraordinary National Executive Council (NEC) meeting held last Saturday, according to the president.

He said the ultimatum given to the federal government to meet the associations earlier demands expired on March 31, with no significant achievement.

Doctors demand

The doctors are demanding, amongst other things, payment of all salaries arrears, review of the current hazard allowance to 50 per cent of consolidated basic salaries for all health workers, and payment of the outstanding COVID-19 allowance especially in state-owned tertiary Institutions.

Immediate payment of all salary arrears including March salaries for our members in all Federal and State Tertiary Health Institutions across the country especially ASUTH, IMSUTH and UNIMEDTH, the president said.

Upward review of the current hazard allowance to 50 per cent of consolidated basic salaries of all health workers and payment of the outstanding COVID-19 inducement allowance especially in State owned-tertiary Institutions.

Payment of death in service insurance for all health workers who died as a result of COVID-19 infection or other infectious diseases in the country.

The doctors are also demanding the implementation of September 2017 Memorandum of Terms of Settlement between NARD and the government in order to bring lasting peace to the health sector and curb the ongoing ugly trend of brain drain from the health sector.

Despite risks associated with their profession, there have been numerous complaints of poor remuneration of health workers in Nigeria.

The doctors had downed tools in June and September 2020 over these same issues.

A check by this newspaper on Friday showed compliance to the strike by doctors in Abuja, Nigerias capital city.

Averting strike

Before meeting with the federal government delegation on Wednesday, Mr Ngige appealed to the aggrieved doctors to consider the damage their withdrawal of services would cause the countrys health system already stressed by the COVID-19 pandemic.

ADVERTISEMENT

He said the majority of the welfare issues under contention were almost resolved even before the letter of complaint and notification of planned strike action was delivered to the ministry.

According to him, the government had started discussions on hazard allowance for health workers in the country.

But Mr Okhuaihesuyi told PREMIUM TIMES that the federal government is yet to fulfil majority of the associations demands.

He said none of his associations members has benefited from the life insurance scheme put in place by the federal government after considering the danger health workers are exposed to during the pandemic.

The life insurance promised, none of our members has received it yet and we have lost seven resident doctors so far and human lives should not be taken as insignificant, Mr Okhuaihesuyi said.

According to the NARD president, majority of the doctors have not been paid for months.

Resident Doctors

Resident doctors are certified doctors undergoing residency to become consultants. They make up a large bulk of doctors in Nigerias tertiary hospitals.

Health workers, being the first respondents to patients, have continued to be at risk of exposure to the COVID-19 virus.

Although health workers have been advised to use full PPE before attending to patients, many do not have access to this equipment.

As of June 2, 2020, about 812 health workers had tested positive for COVID-19 in Nigeria.

Barely four months ago, the Nigeria Medical Association (NMA), announced the deaths of 20 doctors within a week from complications arising from coronavirus, news President Muhammadu Buhari described as sad.
Americans who are most resistant to receiving a COVID-19 vaccine cite a lack of critical information regarding the vaccines safety and potential side effects, according to a recent study conducted by Philadelphia-based healthcare marketing agency LevLane and marketing research company MarketVision.

The study, which sought to gain insight into whats driving Americans ongoing vaccine resistance and what can be done to overcome their hesitancy, discovered a surprising number of Americans remain resistant to being vaccinated: Overall, more than a quarter of all participants (28 percent) said theyre hesitant to receive a COVID-19 vaccine, citing concerns surrounding medical privacy, levels of confusion or unfavorable reviews of the U.S. vaccine rollout.

Among those frustrated by the recent U.S. rollout of COVID-19 vaccines, 48 percent blame the Federal Government, 43 percent blame their State Government and 42 percent blame President Trump.

While this lack of trust presents a major challenge to federal, state and healthcare officials, the study identified key reasons for this hesitancy, suggesting what the government and healthcare leaders can do to overcome these concerns in an effort to get more Americans vaccinated. More than half (51 percent) of the studys participants said they think the vaccines were developed too quickly. And almost the same number (47 percent) said theyre leery of potential side effects.

The study found that women, members of the Black community, and the Gen Z generation are among those least likely to get a COVID-19 vaccine. Nearly half of the women surveyed (48 percent) said they wouldn't take a vaccine if one were offered today, compared to 30 percent of men who said theyd also refuse a vaccine. A similar number (40 percent) of African Americans said theyd turn down the vaccine if offered. Only 37 percent of Gen Z say theyd accept a COVID-19 vaccine.

Among those who think the vaccines were developed too quickly, nearly three-quarters (71 percent) are over the age of 65 (61 percent also identified as Baby Boomers and 54 percent identified as women). Among the respondents who said theyre unsure of side effects, 55 percent identified as Hispanic, 55 percent identified as women and 50 percent identified as Black.

Virtually every senior polled (100 percent) said they want to see more information regarding potential side effects, as did 71 percent of the Gen X members (ages 41-56) and 64 percent of female respondents.

More than half (58 percent) of Baby Boomers and 50 percent of seniors said theyd like to know more about the differences between current COVID-19 vaccine options.

Nearly half (47 percent) of the Black community said they want to know more about how long the vaccination process will take.

In total, more than a third of all respondents (39 percent) said they want to know more about how much immunity theyll really get from a COVID-19 vaccine.

LevLane and MarketVisions Vaccine Resistance Survey polled more than 400 U.S. adults in February. Research was conducted via an online survey using Viewpoint Forum, MarketVisions proprietary Internet platform.
Washington/Kiev, April 3 : In their first-ever phone call, US President Joe Biden and his Ukrainian counterpart Volodymyr Zelensky discussed the escalating conflict in the Donbas region.

During the call on Friday, Biden affirmed the US' "unwavering support for Ukraine's sovereignty and territorial integrity" and emphasised Washington's commitment to revitalise strategic partnership to support Zelensky's plan to tackle corruption and implement reforms, Xinhua news agency quoted the White House as saying in a statement.

According to Zelensky's press service, the Ukrainian leader apprised Biden with the situation in Donbas, which has been heating up since the beginning of this year.

Zelensky assured Biden of Ukraine's commitment to a peaceful settlement of the armed conflict in the region and pointed out the importance of maintaining a complete ceasefire for the continuation of negotiations between the Trilateral Contact Group and the Normandy Four.

"We have the full and unwavering support of international partners, including Europe and the US. And one of the proofs of that is the conversation I had today with the President of the United States, Joe Biden. We discussed the situation in Donbas in detail. President Biden assured me that Ukraine would never be left alone against Russian aggression," Zelensky said.

The two Presidents also discussed the implementation and continuation of reforms in Ukraine, including anti-corruption, judicial and Constitutional Court reform.

Zelensky invited Biden to visit Ukraine and called on the US to take part in the Crimean Platform summit scheduled for August 23.

The phone call followed at least three high-level calls between US and Ukrainian officials this week, which took place between Secretary of State Antony Blinken, Chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff Mark Milley, Pentagon chief Lloyd Austin and their Ukrainian counterparts.

The New York Times reported that the US European Command in the past week raised its watch level from possible crisis to potential imminent crisis, the highest level, in response to the build-up of Russian forces on the border.

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.

It further escalated on March 26 after four Ukrainian soldiers were killed.
Haloumi cheese could soon become very hard to find on Australian supermarket shelves after a shock regulator decision.

The European Union has declared the cheese to be a traditional product of Cyprus, which prevents foreign manufacturers using the name.

The ban is made on the same basis as Champagne wine only being allowed to be made in the Champagne area of France - the rest called 'sparkling' wine.

The Australian diary industry is gearing up to fight the ban, complaining local producers will be hit with tens of millions of dollars in losses.

Under a new deal with the European Union dairy farmers in Australia would be banned from using the name haloumi cheese (stock image)

Australian Dairy Industry Council Chair Terry Richardson said the EU had already brought up issues about various cheese names with Aussie farmers.

'Now they have opened up the possibility of adding to that list once the agreement is finalised and it is simply going too far,' he told 7 News.

Australia is in negotiations with the European Union over a Free Trade Agreement that would set out rules for streamlining trade between the regions.

The EU with its combined GDP of more than $14 trillion and is Australia's fourth-biggest trading partner.

'We need to prevent this FTA from allowing the EU to take over our cheese names,' Mr Richardson said.

The EU system of Geographical Indications legally requires certain product names to be made in a specific location or method.

Some wines, olive oils, beers, cheeses and sausages are example of the types of products included in the system.

Roquefort cheese, for example, must be made with a certain breed of sheep's milk and matured in caves near Roquefort-sur-Soulzon in France under a Protected Designation of Origin label.

An employee prepares haloumi cheese for packaging during the production process at the G.I. Keses Ltd. factory in Cyprus (pictured)

Mr Richardson argues haloumi refers to a type of cheese and not one that is unique to a region.

'The origin of the cheese is irrelevant because the name is generic and associated not with the region in Cyprus, but with a certain taste, texture, and functionality,' he said.

The peak dairy industry body estimates the impact on local producers of banning the name could be between $70 to $90 million a year.

The EU is demanding Australia adopt the Geographical Indications system under the Free Trade Agreement.

Haloumi is not currently listed but Tuesday ruling could set a precedent that more products could be added after the deal is in effect.
Almost 60 per cent of Labour Party members think Sir Keir Starmer should campaign to rejoin the European Union.

The Labour leader has voiced his desire to move on from Brexit, and evidence of the fierce Remainer sentiment will come as a blow as he marks his first anniversary in charge today.

The YouGov survey found 59 per cent thought they should campaign to rejoin the EU  compared to just 15 per cent who said they should not.

Critics are likely to seize on the results as evidence of a continuing 'disconnect' between the pro-EU party membership  based largely in the South East  and traditional Labour voters in key Northern seats.

The majority of the Labour Party polled believe Sir Keir Starmer should campaign to rejoin the EU

Labour 'must be ready for 2023 election' Labour must be ready to fight a general election in as little as two years, Sir Keir Starmer warned today as he promised bold action to 'get Britain working again'. Sir Keir, who marks the first anniversary of his election as party leader on Sunday, said Labour's ambition 'must match the moment' with a plan to build an 'economy that works for everyone'. His rallying call comes against a backdrop of mounting criticism of his leadership as the Conservatives have steadily pulled ahead in the polls since the turn of the year. He has faced accusations that he has been too cautious and failed to offer a clear direction for the party, while the Tories' fortunes have benefited from the rapid rollout of the coronavirus vaccine. Writing in The Observer, Sir Keir appeared to acknowledge some of the criticism directed at him, declaring: 'For me this is personal.' Under the Fixed Term Parliaments Act the next general election is not due until May 2014, but Boris Johnson has pledged to repeal the legislation and Sir Keir predicts the PM will probably go to the polls well before then. 'I've instructed the party to be ready to fight one as early as 2023,' he said. Advertisement

Once an arch-Remainer, Sir Keir enraged pro-Brexit colleagues by leading calls for a second referendum before the UK formally left the EU last year.

The move was partly blamed for Labour's catastrophic 2019 Election performance as traditional voters abandoned the party, allowing the Tories to storm to victory by breaching Labour's so-called Red Wall in the North.

Since becoming leader, the MP for London's Holborn and St Pancras constituency has sought to neutralise the issue by accepting Britain's position outside the EU.

But the poll shows his policy switch is at odds with the views of most party members.

Sir Keir's election one year ago today was greeted with relief by MPs as he vowed to address years of infighting and antisemitism allegations under Jeremy Corbyn.

But sources last night said that former Labour PM Tony Blair is beginning to lose patience as the party slips behind in the polls.

Critics are also scathing of what they say was Sir Keir's blunder in banking on branding Boris Johnson as a serial incompetent, only for the Covid jab programme's overwhelming success to trump that.

A Shadow Cabinet source said there was growing unease in Labour, adding: 'There is a void about what we stand for. You can't just not be the other guy.'

There are also claims of tensions between Sir Keir and his deputy Angela Rayner and Shadow Foreign Secretary Lisa Nandy.

Reports yesterday said Ms Rayner's camp felt she was too often 'blindsided' by the leader on important decisions.

Allies of Sir Keir were said to blame people close to Ms Nandy for briefings against Shadow Chancellor Anneliese Dodds, who has been tipped for the sack in a Labour reshuffle.

Sources say former Labour PM Tony Blair is beginning to lose patience as the party slips behind in the polls

The Mail on Sunday has been told there are even plans for the party's Right and Left factions to bury their differences and push to replace Sir Keir if Labour's decline continues.

One senior MP said an option being discussed was for a 'compromise candidate' such as former Minister Yvette Cooper, with Left-winger Richard Burgon as deputy.

But Starmer loyalists dismissed the idea as absurd, while even a critic of the leader said there was simply no alternative to him leading 'ungovernable' Labour.

However, a separate YouGov poll last week found that 45 per cent of the public thought Sir Keir was doing badly, compared to 32 per cent who thought he was doing well.
Disappointment has turned to anger in Byron Bay after the NSW government cancelled Bluesfest and enforced new restrictions but only one locally acquired case of COVID-19 emerged connected to the recent Brisbane outbreak.

Some Sydneysiders who had come especially for the festival have packed up and left the popular tourist town because of the cancellation of what was to be Australias first major post-pandemic music festival.

The popular Beach Hotel in central Byron was heaving on Good Friday afternoon. Credit:Danielle Smith

Local business operators such as Steve Borg, who owns one of the oldest beach houses on Belongil, is angry the Berejiklian government cancelled Bluesfest because of one community acquired case.

I thought the NSW government was a rock in a sea of bed-wetter states cancelling everything, but to cancel a festival because of one case is outrageous, he said.
Fashion label Jaeger has drafted in its own creative agency, Spring Studios, as part of radical plans drawn up by new owner Marks & Spencer to run it independently from the main business.

Jaeger has also drawn up a list of its own suppliers  separate from those used by M&S  as part of the strategy amid preparations to launch a new range before Christmas under a newly hired fashion team.

Spring Studios, a marketing and communications agency, has worked with luxury brands including Louis Vuitton, Marc Jacobs, Moncler and Porsche.

Strategy: Jaeger is hoping to maintain independence from its owner Marks & Spencer

One insider said the plan to make Jaeger a 'standalone independent business' is a departure for M&S not seen since it launched Per Una in 2001.

It has parachuted in Fiona Lambert, the former George at Asda and River Island executive, to make the brand's classic British identity 'current and desirable'.

Jaeger was snapped up in January and M&S is preparing to sell stock acquired online and in its Outlet stores this month.

Lambert said: 'We're proud to be part of the M&S family  utilising its reach and scale  but to operate independently we need our own team of clothing experts.

'So we're looking for fresh talent to join us and work with those already on board who understand the handwriting of Jaeger.

'As a team, we will also be supported by our own creative agency to ensure there truly is a Jaeger look and feel.'
WWII German Luftwaffe ace fighter pilot, Franz Stigler, risked his own life and spared a wounded American bumber and the enemy crews.

The Charlie Brown and Franz Stigler incident occurred on 20 December 1943, when, after a successful bomb run on Bremen, 2nd Lt Charles "Charlie" Brown's B-17 Flying Fortress (named "Ye Olde Pub") was severely damaged by German fighters. Luftwaffe pilot Franz Stigler had the opportunity to shoot down the crippled bomber but did not do so, and instead escorted it over and past German-occupied territory so as to protect it. After an extensive search by Brown, the two pilots met each other 50 years later and developed a friendship that lasted until Stigler's death in March 2008. Brown died only a few months later, in November of the same year.

Bomb run

Brown's B-17 began its ten-minute bomb run at 8,320 m (27,300 ft) with an outside air temperature of 60 C (76 F). Before the bomber released its bomb load, accurate flak shattered the Plexiglas nose, knocked out the #2 engine and further damaged the #4 engine, which was already in questionable condition and had to be throttled back to prevent overspeeding. The damage slowed the bomber, Brown was unable to remain with his formation and fell back as a straggler, a position from which he came under sustained enemy attacks.

Franz Stigler

Brown's damaged bomber was spotted by Germans on the ground, including Franz Stigler (then an ace with 27 victories), who was refueling and rearming at an airfield. He soon took off in his Messerschmitt Bf 109 G-6 (which had a .50-cal. Browning machine gun bullet embedded in the radiator, which risked the engine overheating) and quickly caught up with Brown's plane. Through the damaged bomber's airframe Stigler was able to see the injured and incapacitated crew. To the American pilot's surprise, Stigler did not open fire on the crippled bomber. He recalled the words of one of his commanding officers from Jagdgeschwader 27, Gustav Rodel, during his time fighting in North Africa, "If I ever see or hear of you shooting at a man in a parachute, I will shoot you myself." Stigler later commented, "To me, it was just like they were in a parachute. I saw them and I couldn't shoot them down."

Twice Stigler tried to get Brown to land his plane at a German airfield and surrender, or divert to nearby neutral Sweden, where he and his crew would receive medical treatment and be interned the remainder of the war. Brown and the crew of the B-17 did not understand what Stigler was trying to mouth and gesture to them and so flew on. Stigler later told Brown he was trying to get them to fly to Sweden. He then flew near Brown's plane in a formation on the bomber's port side wing, so German antiaircraft units would not target it; he then escorted the damaged B-17 over the coast until they reached open water. Brown, unsure of Stigler's intentions at the time, ordered his dorsal turret gunner to point at Stigler but not open fire to warn him off. Understanding the message and certain that the bomber was out of German airspace, Stigler departed with a salute.

Charlie Brown and Franz Stigler's video footage

Stigler's life risks are from several aspects:

If the incident was spotted from the ground and reported to German officals, he would be excuted for his act.

American Beoing B-17 Flying Fortess bomber could be equiped up to 13 defence machine guns, without knowing his intention, they could fire to him, luckily they all jammed, but Stigler did know that.

A wounded defenseless bomber to an average fighter pilot was a free meal, and Stigler was no average, he was an Ace, he did not take the free; FYI, shot down a bumber would count 3 three victories, which would increase his air combat victories from 27 to 30, and he did not take it. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Charlie_Brown_and_Franz_Stigler_incident

I just ordered the book A Higher Call which is based on this true story as a gift to my best friend Richard, who is retiring next week. He is a Canadian British, we share many common hobbies.
ALBANY -A Warren County man will spend the next two years in prison for sending profanity-laden and threatening emails to court employees in North Carolina in November 2019, federal authorities said Friday.

Fredrick Eli Knapp, 52, of Pottersville was convicted of transmitting interstate threats to injure another person, according to the Justice Department.
Can free parking convince notoriously budget-conscious Winnipeggers to drive electric vehicles?

Coun. Kevin Klein is lobbying for a city staff report on offering up to five consecutive hours of free parking for most all-electric personal vehicles at any city-owned surface parking lot or metered street stall.

Peter Holle with his electric car. (Submitted)

Any lost parking revenue would be well spent to help reduce greenhouse gas emissions, Klein said.

"I want to make sure that were doing our part to entice more people to buy electric cars and I think we can do that by offering something as small as free parking," he said.

In a motion headed for debate at the April 9 Assiniboia community committee meeting, the councillor asks the city to consider a permit process for eligible automobiles, which would exclude heavy-duty vehicles, towing trailers and hybrid models.

Klein said he would also like to see the city install more electric vehicle charging stations to make zero-emission cars and trucks more convenient to drive.

Any effort to encourage electric vehicle use is helpful, said Robert Elms, the president of the Manitoba Electric Vehicle Association.

"Its just one more indication that government endorses these vehicles," he said.

The move would slightly offset the typically higher initial price for electric vehicles, he said, noting the cost remains the biggest hurdle to people buying them. After the purchase, fuel and maintenance savings quickly add up for battery electric cars, reducing their overall cost, he said.

Elms believes the best way the city can inspire the public to choose electric vehicles would be to switch its own municipal fleet to those models.

"The most important thing is leading by example. There is no question about that. That is a huge, huge statement to the public when cities do that," he said.

More than 700 Manitobans own a battery electric vehicle, the association said.

A Winnipegger who regularly drives his wifes electric Tesla said his family didnt need government incentive to buy it. That decision was based primarily on the vehicles low energy costs and high performance, said Peter Holle.

"I can drive to my cottage for $1.50, so there are great advantages," he said. "Electric cars are coming and, as the costs of the batteries go down theyre going to become competitive. At some point it wont make sense to buy a gasoline car."

Free parking might trigger some interest in lower-priced electric vehicles but Holle is skeptical about whether that would result in purchases.

By contrast, electric vehicle owner Ron McLachlin said he expects any incentive would help.

"I think anything that shows that electric vehicles (EVs) are favoured and people are paying attention to them, that shows EVs have got some sort of status (is) a fabulous idea," said McLachlin.

Curt Hull, a project director with Climate Change Connection, said he expects the free parking initiative would provide a visible, low-cost way for the city to support electric vehicles.

Ideally, the city should take further steps to support zero-emission transportation, such as by requiring new building developments to include a certain number of charging stations, Hull said.

"Just the same as they require a certain number of parking spots, some percentage of them should (offer) electric charging stations," he said. "The world is headed this way and it makes sense to be leading rather than following."

Hull stressed theres an urgent need to combat climate change, which requires immediate action from all levels of government.

Joyanne.pursaga@freepress.mb.ca

Twitter: @joyanne_pursaga
A document presented to SAGE called for an increase in the 'perceived threat' of Covid using 'hard-hitting emotional messages', reports claim today.

Psychologists have accused Downing Street of using 'covert psychological strategies' to emphasise the threat from Covid-19 without contextualising the risks, the Telegraph reported.

It was said this created 'a state of heightened anxiety', adding many people became 'too frightened to attend hospital'.

Experts fear Britons have been the subject of an experiment in the use of tactics which operate 'below their level of awareness,' it was said.

They have now made a formal complaint to an organisation which will rule on whether Government advisers are guilty of a breach of ethics.

Downing street denies this, claiming it simply presented the facts.

A document presented to SAGE called for an increase in the 'perceived threat' of Covid using 'hard-hitting emotional messages', reports claim today. Pictured: Boris Johnson

Psychologists have accused Downing Street of using 'covert psychological strategies' to emphasise the threat from Covid-19 without contextualising the risks. Pictured: Chris Whitty, Mr Johnson and Patrick Vallance

Complainants point to a document handed to the Scientific Advisory Group for Emergencies last March, when the pandemic began to rapidly grow in Britain.

The paper, written by Scientific Pandemic Influenza Group on Behaviours, said: 'A substantial number of people still do not feel sufficiently personally threatened; it could be that they are reassured by the low death rate in their demographic group, although levels of concern may be rising.

'The perceived level of personal threat needs to be increased among those who are complacent, using hard-hitting emotional messaging. To be effective this must also empower people by making clear the actions they can take to reduce the threat.'

The document, seen by the Telegraph, allegedly then gave 14 options for improving compliance including 'use media to increase sense of personal threat', which they said would be highly effective but runs the risk of 'negative' side effects.

SAGE members have since claimed the British public have been 'subjected to an unevaluated psychological experiment without being told that is what's happening.'

They added that SPI-B reports are often not 'challenged' by SAGE because many of those involved are 'not very well equipped to evaluate it.'

'When someone from SPI-B is saying we need to ramp up the fear and keep it ramped up - there wasn't much questioning of that at the beginning and most of the questioning came from external sources, not from within.'

Complainants point to a document handed to the Scientific Advisory Group for Emergencies last March, when the pandemic began to rapidly grow in Britain. Pictured: Vallance

The Government told the Telegraph it has set out 'clear instructions to the British people as our approach and knowledge of the virus has developed'

SPI-B is described as providing behavioural science advice aimed at anticipating and helping people adhere to interventions that are recommended by medical or epidemiological experts.

They present independent, expert behavioural science advice to SAGE.

It is said SPI-B has drawn on advice from behavioural scientists, health and social psychologists, anthropologists and historians in response to the Covid-19 pandemic.

Last November, Sir Patrick Vallance admitted he had 'regrets' over frightening people with a doomsday dossier that forecasted as many as 4,000 Covid-19 deaths a day over winter and was used to justify a second national lockdown.

Number 10's top scientific adviser made the comments alongside Professor Chris Whitty, England's chief medical officer, after the pair were hauled before MPs to defend SAGE's modelling that also predicted hospitals would be overrun with virus patients by the end of this month.

During the grilling by members of the House of Commons Science and Technology Committee, Labour MP Graham Stringer asked Sir Patrick if he believed he had frightened people with the bleak deaths data presented during Saturday night's press briefing.

The Chief Scientific Adviser said: 'I hope not and that's certainly not the aim... I think I positioned that as a scenario from a couple of weeks ago, based on an assumption to try and get a new reasonable worst-case scenario. And if that didn't come across then I regret that.

Defending the dossier, he added: 'Those figures were ones done by major academic groups based on those assumptions and, in the spirit of trying to make sure that things are shared and open, they are the things that we have seen [in the data so far], and it's important and I think people see that.'

Professor Whitty conceded that the 4,000 daily deaths prediction was unlikely to come true because the modelling was a worst-case scenario based on a situation where no extra measures were brought in.

He told MPs: 'All of us would say that rates will probably be lower than that top peak [of 4,000]'.

Professor Whitty added that a figure of around 1,000 deaths a day was 'entirely realistic', without tougher action.

The Government told the Telegraph it has set out 'clear instructions to the British people as our approach and knowledge of the virus has developed.'

A spokesman added: 'We are clear: we want this lockdown to be the last and are easing restrictions in a way that is cautious and guided by the data.'

MailOnline has contacted the Department of Health for comment.
Karnataka notified a set of new restrictions on Friday as coronavirus cases continue to increase in the state. The state slashed the permissible capacity to 50 per cent at cinema halls, pubs, bars, restaurants and public transportation. Chief secretary P Ravi Kumar announced that the new order applicable to Bengaluru and seven other districts with high rate of infection will remain in force till April 20.

In-person classes for students from Class 6 to 9 have also been suspended. Students from higher classes can continue in-person classes but it is not mandatory, stated the new rules. The government also asked private sector companies to encourage work from home as far as possible.

The government ordered closure of gyms and swimming pools. No gatherings will be allowed at religious places. "If there is any violation, the facility shall be closed till the Covid epidemic is over," stated the order issued by Kumar.

The new restrictions have come as the state continued to report over 4,000 daily cases in the preceding three days.

Bengaluru Urban and Rural, Mysuru, Udupi, Dakshina Kannada, Kalburgi, Bidar and Hubli Dharwad have been asked to enforce the new rules.

"The situation of Covid-19 in Karnataka has been reviewed and it has been observed that there has been a persistent rise in the number of Covid-19 cases in the state during the last one month," stated the order.

While the Karnataka government had ruled out the possibility of the imposition of a lockdown, it banned protests and rallies for the next 15 days.

Also read: Karnataka govt launches 'quarantine watch' amid rising Covid-19 cases

Also read: Maharashtra, Karnataka, 6 other states account for over 84% of India's new COVID-19 cases
She's the ever-hilarious TV presenter who has been married to her husband, Welsh comedian Dan Thomas, for 18 years.

And on Saturday, Julia Morris candidly admitted she thinks about leaving her doting partner at least 'once a year', in an interview with Stellar magazine.

The 52-year-old, who shares daughters Ruby, 14, and Sophie, 12, with Dan, admitted the duo sometimes get in fiery arguments that have led her to briefly ponder moving out of the home they share together.

Candid: On Saturday, Julia Morris (pictured) candidly admitted she ponders leaving her doting partner at least 'once a year', in an interview with Stellar Magazine

'Once a year we'll have an argument and I'll think, "This is bulls**t, we don't need to live like this," and he'll feel the same way,' she said.

'We'll get into a bit of a blame game where you can't do anything right and they annoy the living daylights out of you, and you just imagine having a flat by yourself where you can sit on the couch all week.'

The duo have been through many a challenge during their almost two-decade long marriage, including a miscarriage, an ectopic pregnancy and Dan's battle with cancer - of which he's now clear.

Opening up: The 52-year-old, who shares daughters Ruby, 14, and Sophie, 12, with Dan, admitted the duo sometimes get in fiery arguments that have made her ponder moving out of the home they share together

Julia - who has just released her own 'anti-self help' book - admitted that the pair's arguments don't last long, and before long they're back to married bliss.

'I can't imagine being without him and alone,' she added, noting: 'If we split up, I couldn't do the admin.'

Julia recently revealed how she and her family were brought closer together during Melbourne's strict COVID-19 lockdown last year.

Marriage: Julia and Dan Thomas (pictured) have been through many a challenge during their almost two-decade long marriage, including a miscarriage, an ectopic pregnancy and Dan's battle with cancer - of which he's now clear

In an interview with TV Week, the I'm A Celebrity... Get Me Out Of Here! star said the family learned how to communicate with each other more efficiently after fighting during the first six weeks.

'There was something, after that first six weeks, where, I guess, we just found a new way to live,' she said.

'If we got any sort of storm-off, the girls would come back straight away and just go, 'OK, well, the reason I did that was because of this,' and I'm like, 'Yeah, right  totally get it.' It was amazing.'
ADVERTISEMENT

President Muhammadu Buhari has condoled with the family, friends and acquaintances of Yinka Odumakin, spokesman of Yoruba socio-political group, Afenifere, over the passing away of the activist.

Mr Odumakin was also Mr Buharis spokesman when he ran for president on the platform of the defunct Congress for Progressive Change.

In a condolence message issued by his Special Adviser on Media and Publicity, Femi Adesina, in Abuja on Saturday, the president described Mr Odumakin as dutiful, and a person of conviction.

He expressed sorrow at his demise, especially at a time when he had a lot more to contribute to society and the nation at large. Mr Buhari prayed God to grant repose to the soul of the departed activist and comfort all those mourning him.

Jonathan mourns

Also, former President Goodluck Jonathan expressed sadness over the passing on of Afenifere spokesman Mr Odumakin, describing his death as shocking.

Mr Jonathan, who stated this in a condolence message to the family, noted that he was a courageous patriot and rights crusader who contributed so much to the development of the nation.

In a message titled A Great Voice for Equity is Gone, the former President also described Mr Odumakin as a man with rich democratic credentials who played active roles in the years of activism that birthed and stabilised civil rule in our country.

Below is the full text of the condolence message:

A STRONG VOICE FOR EQUITY IS GONE

I received with sadness the news of the shocking death of Mr. Yinka Odumakin. He was a courageous patriot and rights crusader who gave his all to the struggle for a better Nigeria.

He was a great asset for just causes whose considerable contributions to the growth of civil society is not in doubt. He also acquitted himself as a seasoned journalist and columnist who promoted egalitarianism and social well-being, in his regular essays.

Mr. Odumakin exits this world with rich democratic credentials, having played active roles in the years of activism that birthed and stabilised civil rule in our country.

As a cultural enthusiast, Mr. Odumakin lived his short life as a force to be reckoned with in propagating and protecting the interest of the Yoruba in the larger Nigeria social space.

This is not a time to lose such a strong promoter of the ideals that would progress our nation in the desired direction of a united, just and equitable society.

My heart goes out to his wife, Dr. Joe Okei-Odumakin, other members of his family, the Afenifere social cultural association and the entire civil society.

I pray God to grant the soul of the departed eternal rest and bless Dr. Okei-Odumakin with the strength of spirit to bear the loss and sustain the crusade for a just society.
This Week in Review

A weekly review of the best and most popular stories published in the Imperial Valley Press. Also, featured upcoming events, new movies at local theaters, the week in photos and much more.
More than 250 new homes are on the way to Cane Bay in Berkeley County.

Homebuilder Centex plans to build 254 new houses in a new phase of Sanctuary Cove, one of the residential developments in the sprawling 4,500-acre Cane Bay tract in Berkeley County, about 30 miles northwest of downtown Charleston.

The one- and two-story, single-family floorplans with three to five bedrooms will start in the upper $200,000s. Each includes a two-car garage and so-called Smart Home technology. Offering six home designs, Centex has already closed on slightly more than 100 of the new houses. Prospective buyers can select their home sites as well.

"Sanctuary Cove has seen a high level of demand and tremendous growth in a very short time," said Ann Taylor, general sales manager of the subdivision.

Cane Bay is permitted for 10,000 homes at full buildout. Another 5,700 are planned for the neighboring 2,000-acre Wildcat Tract. At the end of 2020, about 4,500 were on the ground in both Cane Bay and the Wildcat Tract.

Affordable housing

A new affordable housing community in West Ashley is making its way through the city of Charleston review process.

Homes of Hope wants to build a 78-unit development near Ashley River and Dogwood roads.

The Design Review Board will consider the two-story townhome development on April 5.

New apartments

The long-planned multifamily project in front of West Ashley High School is making its way through the city review channels.

The 341-unit Founders Yard Apartments will be located in four buildings on 13 acres at Glenn McConnell and William Murray boulevards. Original plans called for 348 units. The developer is High Real Estate Group of Lancaster, Pa.

Also, The Beach Co.'s Fenwick multifamily project along Maybank Highway on Johns Island is being reviewed. The 240-unit development consists of eight buildings, a clubhouse and pool between Fenwick Hall Allee and River Road. A new road will extend from behind Food Lion supermarket to a tie in at Fenwick Hall Allee.

Sign up for our real estate newsletter! Get the best of the Post and Courier's Real Estate news, handpicked and delivered to your inbox each Saturday. Email

Sign Up!

Merging

A Mount Pleasant-based rental property management company recently added 75 additional sites in the Charleston area after acquiring another firm.

Charleston Rental Properties completed the acquisition of Tin Roof Properties LLC of North Charleston in late March, according to Daniel Gowdown, co-owner and broker-in-charge of CRP and CRP Real Estate.

The additional sites, mainly in North Charleston and Summerville, brings to 400 the number of properties valued at $160 million now managed by Charleston Rental Properties.

Gowdown said the acquisition expands the company's reach into the western suburbs where it opened a second rental office on Trolley Road in Summerville in March to support the growing area.

"More than ever, Charleston is on the radar for relocation and, with remote working opportunities attracting even more people to the Lowcountry, the need for rental properties and real estate services has grown exponentially during the pandemic," Gowdown said.

He also noted the company is looking for additional property management companies to acquire.

CRC was founded in 2004 on Daniel Island. It now operates off Johnnie Dodds Boulevard in Mount Pleasant.

Changing hands

A 20-unit multifamily property in Summerville has a new owner.

Lansmere Capital LLC of Ohio paid $1.87 million for Summerfield Apartments at 300 Miles Jamison Road, according to Woodlock Brokerage LLC.

The two-story structure at Arbor Road was built in 1984.
Russia's government has extended a space cooperation agreement with the United States until 2030, one of the few remaining partnerships between Moscow and Washington amid spiraling relations.

Russian Prime Minister Mikhail Mishustin approved and signed the extension on April 3, the government said in a statement.

The original cooperation agreement, signed in 1992 and extended four times previously, laid the groundwork for wide-ranging, space-related projects and research between NASA and Roskosmos, the two countries' space agencies.

That has included joint work on the International Space Station, and Russia's ferrying of astronauts and supplies and equipment to and from the orbiting station. Following the U.S. decision to ground its space-shuttle fleet, Russia's Soyuz and Progress spacecraft became the sole means of transport to get to the station.

That has changed recently as private space companies including SpaceX have neared gaining NASA approval to fly people to the station, a move that will deprive Roskosmos of much-needed revenues.

Bilateral cooperation has continued even as the United States imposed sanctions on Russia for its annexation of Ukraine's Crimean Peninsula, and other punitive measures.

The U.S. Commerce Department last month said it was tightening sanctions on some exports to Russia, but was partially excluding certain items such as those related to aviation and space.

The orbiting station, meanwhile, is approaching the end of its predicted lifespan, having flown about 400 kilometers above the Earth for more than 20 years.

In recent years, the station has been hit with leaks and depressurization concerns.

Roskosmos recently announced an agreement with China to explore building a joint lunar base. And NASA is gearing up for more missions aimed at exploring Mars.

With reporting by Reuters
My first food memory is of strawberry cream chocolates. In fact, this is my first memory of anything at all. Memory can serve as a kind of tally  a scorecard adding up the points, assuring us of who we are. We know our own identities, and feel certain of them because memory stacks up in corroboration. Imbued with great importance, our first memory is the prime mover.

My family lived out of town. The floor of our house was made of cork. It was my third Easter, but the first where I was aware that it was a special occasion. I remember standing in the hall near the kitchen, the cork cool under my feet. I wore a thin nightgown and the cat pawed at my bare ankles. In my hands I held the chocolates, which came from my brother. They were arranged in a heart-shaped box and were individually wrapped in bright pink foil. I felt precious and loved.

As soon as I put a sweet, all-mine chocolate into my mouth, I began to lose that gift from my brother. I guess this is what they mean when they say that you cant have your cake and eat it, too. Credit:Stocksy

There are some stories my family tell again and again  like any family, we have stories we recognise from their very first words. Theres a Dutch word, gezellig, which English fails to translate. Gezellig sits somewhere between cosy and comfortable, and its related to keeping warm, friendly company. My familys stories are gezellig  they are about where weve come from and where were going. They are the mythology we balance upon  and like all myths, they exist to explain how the world works. The immovable order of things.

Theres an unspoken contract within my family about which stories are to be uttered and which we dont mention, ever. The minute someone gets uncomfortable, we stop talking. We are what we repeatedly do, and as an adult I lean towards silence when things hurt or confuse me. Instead, we

focus on the tasty things. Discomfort is bitter and difficult to swallow. So we dont: we spit it out. It doesnt make the menu.
Minister of Foreign Affairs of Ukraine Dmytro Kuleba and Secretary of State for Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Affairs and First Secretary of State of the United Kingdom Dominic Raab discussed Russia's military and disinformation escalation.

Russian propaganda is not giving up its attempts to impose a misconception about Ukraine's alleged plans to carry out some military actions or provocations. This is complete nonsense. Ukraine has never sought and does not seek an escalation. Just the opposite, Ukraine has always sought and continues to seek peace, Kuleba said, the press service of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs of Ukraine informs.

Raab assured Kuleba that London was closely monitoring the Russian activities. He reaffirmed Great Britains complete solidarity with Ukraine and expressed his confidence that any attempt by Russia to create a large-scale military escalation would have heavy consequences for it.

The parties discussed an enhanced political and security cooperation between Ukraine and the United Kingdom in the context of the aggravation of the security situation by Russia.

As reported, in late March Russia escalated the situation in eastern Ukraine. In particular, on March 26, four Ukrainian servicemen were killed and two more were wounded in a shelling by the Russian occupiers near the town of Shumy in Donetsk region. In addition, according to the intelligence reports, the Russian side pulled 28 battalion tactical groups to the state border of Ukraine.

ol
The United States Capitol was locked down on Friday after a knife-wielding suspect identified as Noah Green rammed his car into two police officers at the North Barricade and then emerged wielding a knife.

The 25-year-old suspect from Indiana killed one Capitol police officer and injuring another before police fired upon him, according to Fox News.

A law enforcement source said Noah Green identified himself as a follower of the Nation of Islam and its founder, Louis Farrakhan, who has recently lost his job.

In his post on social media weeks before the attack, Noah Green said these past few months have been tougher, and he had been tried with some of the biggest unimaginable tests in his life.

"I am currently now unemployed after I left my job partly due to afflictions, but ultimately, in search of a spiritual journey," the suspect said as reported by Associated Press.

Noah Green also posted on social media, which has since been taken down, that he believed that federal law enforcement agencies targeted him for their "mind-control" experiments.

READ NEXT: FBI Releases Footage of Pipe Bomb Suspect Prior Capitol Riot; Suspect Still on the Loose

The Capitol Attack Incident

According to acting chief of the U.S. Capitol Police Yogananda Pittman, Noah Green ran at the pair of officers wielding a knife.

Pittman said police officers shot the suspect when he started lunging toward the cops. Noah Green later died at a hospital.

Pittman said that this had been a tough time for the U.S. Capitol Police after the Jan. 6 events and now the attack that killed its officer William "Billy" Evans.

Evans was an 18-year veteran and was a member of the department's first responders unit. Police said the injured officer is already in a "stable and non-threatening condition."

Two law enforcement officials said that investigators first believed that the suspect stabbed one of the officers. Later, it was unknown whether the knife made contact.

Officers were not allowed to discuss the investigation publicly. They spoke on the condition of not revealing their names.

President Joe Biden and First Lady Jill Biden are heartbroken over the attack on the Capitol. Biden said he had ordered that White House flags be lowered to half-staff in honor of Evans.

"I want to express the nation's gratitude to the Capitol Police, the National Guard Immediate Response Force, and others who quickly responded to this attack," Biden said as reported by New York Post report.

The President also sends his heartfelt condolences to Evans' family and everyone grieving his loss.

Two months ago, the Capitol grounds also faced a security breach when protesters entered the premises and crowded halls inside the Capitol building.

Five people were reported to have died in an attempted insurrection against the United States. It includes a Capitol police officer who died from his injuries, according to The Guardian report. Biden commented on the earlier attack saying that it was a riotous mob and the participants were domestic terrorists.

One avid Trump supporter had also died during the event. She was identified as Rosanne Boyland, a resident of Kennesaw, Georgia.

Boyland was known to have a criminal history, including battery, obstruction of law enforcement, and trespassing.

READ MORE: 7 More People Federally Charged in Connection to Capitol Riot

WATCH: Capitol Police Confirm Knifeman Killed One of Their Officers, veteran cop Billy Evans - From Daily Mail






New Delhi: Dismissing Chinas claim of appointing the next Dalai Lama, the President of the Tibetan Government in Exile has said that its Tibetans who have "copyright" over reincarnation, and Beijing plans to have a "duplicate" copy.

Lobsang Sangay, Sikyong (President) of the Central Tibetan Administration (Tibetan Government in Exile), said, "Communist Party of China has zero credibility, as far as reincarnation is concerned. The Communist Party believes in atheism. They say religion is poison, why do they want to interfere in our internal affairs."

Responding to a question from Zee News in an event, Sangay who is the political successor to Dalai Lama, explained, "for almost thousand years, we the Tibetans have selected our own reincarnate lamas, including the Dalai Lamas. So, we have the patent and copyright over reincarnation. So, we are the original and the Chinese will have a duplicate. Original original hota hai, duplicate, duplicate."

China, which is possibly keen to increase its influence on Buddhism, has said that it will appoint the next Dalai Lama, the 15th in the line of succession.

The current Dalai Lama is the 14th one and had to leave Tibet in 1959 after the region was occupied by China.

Asked if China could do a repetition of Galwan or Doklam incident, he said, "very likely, 60 years ago after they occupied Tibet, they said, once we occupy Tibet as the palm, they will come after 5 fingers right. What you saw in Doklam, is one of the 5 fingers. What you saw in Galwan is one of the 5 fingers, these kinds of incursions will continue ultimately Chinese govt policy is expansionist. These kinds of incidents will keep happening."

The 2020 Galwan incident saw the death of 20 Indian soldiers at the Line of Control in Eastern Ladakh due to aggressive Chinese actions. The 2017 Doklam incident saw China trying to occupied Bhutanese territories, which was stopped by the Indian forces.

The United States recently said that the Chinese government shouldn't interfere in the succession process of Tibet's spiritual leader Dalai Lama and as it is an "outrageous abuse of religious freedom".

Replying to a question on Joe Biden's position on the issue of Dalai Lama's reincarnation, US State Department Spokesperson Ned Price said "We believe that the Chinese Government should have no role in the succession process of the Dalai Lama".

Live TV
Cancer is the world's second deadliest disease which contributes towards the fatality of over 10 million people per year. Oncologists adopt a variety of treatment procedures to treat cancer cells. Among the different methods used to fight cancer, chemotherapeutic treatment is a prominent and well-adopted technique. It is a drug based method, wherein powerful chemical compounds are injected into the body to annihilate the malignant cells. Although these chemicals support the destruction of the cancerous cells, optimizing their dosage has always been a challenge to the medical specialists.

Cisplatin is a chemotherapy medication which is used to treat a number of cancers such as lung cancer, brain tumor, breast cancer, liver cancer etc. This platinum-metal based chemotherapy drug is highly powerful and is instituted by the intravenous route into the body. Although it is renowned for effective destruction of cancerous cells for the past 4 decades, its alarming side effects is of serious concern to the medical community.

Researchers have reported that administration of high dosage of the chemical is not only ineffective on the tumor cells but is also responsible for adverse side effects which may even lead to the sudden demise of the patient. The control on the level of the cisplatin drug has been a matter of persisting concern for medical practitioners.

A recent study on monitoring the cisplatin level in liver cancer cells reported by researchers from the Graduate School of Medical and Dental Sciences at Niigata University, Japan and their collaborators from Niigata Medical Center, Uonuma Institute of Community Medicine Niigata University Hospital, Niigata City General Hospital, Saiseikai Niigata Hospital and, Kashiwazaki General Hospital and Medical Center provides a ray of hope to the health professionals. The findings were published recently in the prestigious Scientific Reports journal from Nature publishing house.

The multi-disciplinary research team has identified adipose most abundant 2 protein (APM2) as a potential marker to indicate the permissible level of the drug. They have experimentally investigated the liver and gastro cancer cells and have compared the variation in the protein concentration in the presence and absence of the chemo drug.

Our results demonstrate a significant relationship between the high level of APM2 expression in serum, cancerous cells in the liver, the surrounding liver tissue and cisplatin resistance. The study reveals that APM2 expression is related to cisplatin sensitivity." Professor Kenya Kamimura, Division of Gastroenterology and Hepatology, the Graduate School of Medical and Dental Sciences, Niigata University

The research study paves way for effective monitoring of chemotherapeutic drug level and their safe administration. Professor Kenya Kamimura states with confidence that, "The serum APM2 can be an effective biomarker of the liver and gastric cancer cells for determining the sensitivity to cisplatin. The results of the study would provide an advantage for the technicians, allowing easy adaption in small local clinics."

The research group has noticed that APM2 concentration favours the development of ERCC6L gene card. This is manifested by the growth of the cancerous cells and marks the resistance to the chemo drug. The valuable findings offers the potential to control the cisplatin dosage level and avoid cytotoxicity. Such a study is essential in today's context as research groups across the globe strive to develop new methodologies to optimize the dosage and control the severe side-effects induced by the concentration of chemo drugs. The research team has also utilized bioinformatics based tools to complement the experimentally obtained results.

"To the best of our knowledge, this is the first report to demonstrate that the serum level of APM2 can be the predictor of the CDDP chemosensitivity. This study thus represents a milestone for detecting CDDP sensitivity, and further studies will help modify APM2 expression, which could contribute to the chemosensitization of the tumor" describes Professor Kenya Kamimura.

The interesting results of the research study has laid a foundation to track the chemo drug level. Future studies will explore the mechanism and relation between APM2 and ERCC6L. Such studies are on the cutting edge research areas of oncological sciences and hold immense potential in further extending the results to other types of cancers.
Every Student Deserves a Knowledge-Rich Curriculum

Commentary

While Prime Minister Wilfrid Lauriers support for conscription during World War II angered English Canadians, it ultimately strengthened the federation since it reassured French Canadians that the federal government took their concerns seriously.

Now, use your critical thinking skills to analyze this statement.

Hopefully, you didnt spend more than two seconds on this one. Thats because the statement is completely and utterly false. First, Wilfrid Laurier died in 1919, so he clearly wasnt prime minister during World War II, which took place from 1939 to 1945. Not only that, but Laurier was actually a strong opponent of conscription during World War I.

In addition, English Canadians supported conscription during both wars while French Canadians overwhelmingly opposed it. Far from strengthening the federation, conscription deeply divided Canadians and fuelled significant resentment in Quebec, where the great majority of French Canadians live.

Notice that we did not use any generic critical thinking strategies to come to this conclusion. There was no need to find the main idea, look up key words online, or discuss the statement with classmates. These strategies were unnecessary because we already knew that the statement had factual errors.

This exercise illustrates the power of content knowledge. Anyone armed with some basic facts about Prime Minister Wilfrid Laurier, World War II, and conscription has a huge advantage over someone who lacks this knowledge and needs to look things up on the internet.

Obviously, critical thinking is only possible when you know something about the topic at hand. Otherwise, it is impossible to distinguish fact from fiction.

This is why we should be pleased that the Alberta government is implementing a new curriculum that puts a much stronger emphasis on knowledge acquisition. Its particularly striking that Albertas K6 social studies students will learn more about key historical events in a sequenced way that builds up their content knowledge.

This is a stark contrast with the current spiral approach to curriculum design, which covers the same broad themes again and again from slightly different angles. Instead of a blank template where teachers must fill in their own content, Albertas new curriculum is far more focused on ensuring that all students acquire a common knowledge base.

This is necessary because common knowledge makes critical thinking possible. If you want to get advice from a friend regarding a problem, the first thing you need to do is fill them in on the situationthat is, the facts. Critical thinking skills are useless in the absence of knowledge.

There is a second, and perhaps even more important, reason why a knowledge-rich curriculum is the correct approach. There is plenty of research showing a strong causal relationship between background knowledge and reading comprehension. In other words, if we want students to become good readers, we need to help them acquire a rich knowledge base.

For example, in a 2011 study published in the International Electronic Journal of Elementary Education, researchers had 142 Grade 3 students read expository texts about four science-related topics (tree frogs, soil, jelly beans, and toothpaste). Contrary to what they expected, the researchers found that text complexity made little difference when the subject matter was familiar to the third-grade students. In other words, these students could read and understand complex text when they had the appropriate background knowledge.

Background knowledge about a topic has a much stronger relationship with reading comprehension than text complexity. This is far from the only research study that reached this conclusion.

Critics of Albertas new curriculum argue that it is developmentally inappropriate to expose young students to complex historical topics. On the contrary, it is developmentally inappropriate to waste students valuable time practising generic critical thinking skills that are useless without content knowledge.

As for the argument that the new Alberta curriculum will make students do little more than memorize a bunch of random facts, its important to realize that the new curriculum does not tell teachers how to teach. A curriculum guide prescribes content, or what needs to be learned. Professional teachers will still be in charge of pedagogy, the how of learning. Lets not mix these things up.

Finally, many students from disadvantaged backgrounds come to school with a knowledge deficit since they typically dont receive the same learning opportunities as their more affluent classmates. Fortunately, schools can partially compensate for this gap by ensuring that all students receive content-rich instruction from an early age. This shows that content-rich instruction is key to empowering students from disadvantaged backgrounds.

Consider the benefits. A knowledge-rich curriculum will improve critical thinking skills, enhance reading comprehension, and empower students from disadvantaged backgrounds. These are all very good reasons to make knowledge acquisition a primary curriculum focus in Albertaand in every other province for that matter.

A knowledge-rich curriculum is something every student deserves.

Michael Zwaagstra is a public high school teacher, a senior fellow with the Frontier Centre for Public Policy, and author of A Sage on the Stage: Common Sense Reflections on Teaching and Learning.

Views expressed in this article are the opinions of the author and do not necessarily reflect the views of The Epoch Times.
Burma Myanmar Regime Denies Child Killings, Rejects UN Envoys Allegations

Mourners flash three-finger salutes at the funeral of 15-year-old Aung Kaung Htet, who was fatally shot in the face by Myanmar's security forces during a crackdown on anti-regime protesters in Yangons Thaketa Township on March 20. / The Irrawaddy

Myanmars military regime has issued a blanket denial of abuses alleged by UN Special Envoy for Myanmar Christine Schraner Burgener at a UN Security Council (UNSC) meeting, rejecting her allegations as one-sided and not fair, while denying it had killed children, among other atrocities.

The special envoy on Wednesday told a closed-door session of the 15-member council that the military, which seized power in Myanmar on Feb. 1, was not capable of managing the country, and warned that the situation on the ground would only worsen, according to wire services.

She warned that the country faces the possibility of civil war at an unprecedented scale and that the whole country is on the verge of spiraling into a failed state. Schraner Burgener urged the UNSC to consider potentially significant action to reverse the Feb. 1 military coup and restore democracy, as civilians, including children, are being slain in their homes and on the streets by the regimes troops.

More than 500 people across Myanmar have been killed since the coup on Feb. 1. Save the Children said at least 43 children have been killed since the takeover.

In response to the UN envoys statement, Myanmars military regime claimed on state media on Friday evening that there was no evidence its forces had killed children, while denying all of Schraner Burgeners allegations.

The regime attempted to justify its deadly crackdowns on protesters by saying the protests had turned into an insurrection with arms since the first week of March, and that it had taken steps to quell it according to the laws.

She failed to point out the fact that the NLD [the National League for Democracy] and its sympathizers have turned the protests into armed violence and her one-sided accusations are not fair, said the junta.

It insisted that there had been no shooting by security forces during raids on civilians homes.

We dont have any evidence of the deaths of children, was its response to the UN envoys allegation.

However, news reports have documented many instances of children being shot while playing near or inside their homes as soldiers and police raided residential areas, shooting at random. Among the fatalities were a 5-year-old boy and a 6-year-old girl.

The 6-year- old, Khin Myo Chit, ran into her fathers arms when soldiers and police kicked in the door and broke into her family home during a raid in their neighborhood in Chanmyathazi Township of Mandalay region on March 23.

The little girl cried, Ah Pa, Im scared! as she sat frightened on her dads lap. Her sister said the juntas troops told the girl, This is not scared, then shot her. Her father ran to seek medical treatment, but the child died on the way before she could reach a clinic.

Last Saturday at least 11 children were shot dead, including an 11-year-old girl who was shot in the head while playing in front of her home, a 13-year-old who was shot in the back of the head while trying to run away from armed regime forces and a 14-year-old girl who was hit after a bullet pierced a bamboo wall at her home.

Save the Children said 15 under-16s have been killed by the regime. It said the death toll of children has more than doubled in the last 12 days, demonstrating the utter disrespect of the armed forces for the lives of children.

You may also like these stories:

KNU Calls for Intl Arms Embargo as Myanmar Regime Targets Civilians in Airstrike

Myanmar Villagers Take Up Homemade Weapons Against Regimes Security Forces

Myanmar Junta Killed At Least 43 Children Since Coup: Charity
Virgin Media Televisions Donate for Dementia fundraising and awareness week has raised 1 million for The Alzheimer Society of Ireland.

All last week, Virgin Media Television aired special programming around the disease, which affects half a million Irish families, with one in 10 of those diagnosed being under the age of 65.

The special week concluded on Sunday night with the highly anticipated broadcast of Finding Jack Charlton, which was commissioned by Virgin Media Television and the BBC. Over half a million people nationwide tuned into the programme which is now also available to view on the Virgin Media Player.

355,800 tuned in for Martin Kings documentary We Need To Talk About Dementia, with the entire week reaching over a million people.

All funds raised from the week will be used to fund The Alzheimer Society of Irelands dementia services that support the 64,000 people living with dementia in Ireland including redeveloping day care centres, providing family carer training, and providing information and support across the country.

Pat McLoughlin, CEO of The Alzheimer Society of Ireland, said: Everyone at The Alzheimer Society of Ireland is absolutely delighted after the success of the Donate for Dementia week with Virgin Media Television, culminating in the powerful and thought-provoking Martin King We Need to Talk About Dementia documentary and the inspiring Finding Jack Charlton documentary.

"During this past week we have raised an incredible sum in donations for vital dementia supports and services, raised awareness of dementia, and really kick-started a national conversation around dementia.

"We have, through the partnership with the Virgin Media team, brought dementia out of the shadows.

"I am so grateful to everybody who took part and supported the week, whether you did a Jump for Jack challenge, shared your story and experience, supported on social media or made a donation. We are so grateful and really taken aback by everyones generosity of spirit.

"All money raised from the Donate for Dementia week will be used to fund our dementia services that support the 64,000 people living with dementia in Ireland. We rely heavily on donations from the public to keep our supports and services in place, so any donation made really counts and means so much to the people who depend on these services."
On Tuesday, March 30, the 10th meeting of the Presidential Council for Interethnic Relations was held by videoconference under the chairmanship of Russian President Vladimir Putin. It was the first meeting during the coronavirus pandemic, and many issues were discussed, the analyst of Vestnik Kavkaza, Evgeny Nikolaychuk, said in the Natsvopros Question program on Vesti.FM radio.

The expert noted that the key topic of the meeting was the issue of "Strengthening the All-Russian Civil Identity. As the President noted, for our country, and any country in the world, now there is nothing more important, given the problems many states are facing today both in America and in Europe.

The President reminded the Council members of the adoption of amendments to the Constitution of Russia, pointing out that in the Basic Law of the country, the key guidelines of the state national policy were also fixed - the unity of the people of Russia, ensuring interethnic harmony, preserving the ethnocultural and linguistic diversity of the country, and the role of the Russian language for all Russians and socio-economic, spiritual, cultural consolidation of our society.

Further, the President recalled that "the reasons for the most conflicts in the world are economy and politics, but the conflicts themselves are spurred, as a rule, by the interethnic and religious intolerance, which is unacceptable in Russia."

It is curious that today more than 80% of Russians positively assess the state of interethnic relations in the country, but these issues require constant work. Thus, the politics, especially at the local level, should be as delicate, tactful and correct as possible, the president noted.

The President reminded about the upcoming All-Russian Population Census, noting that the picture must be absolutely objective, and thus, it is important to ensure the right to free expression of peoples will in determining their nationality and to strictly suppress any attempts to put pressure on them, Evgeny Nikolaychuk said.

The Russian leader also noted that the division into strangers and friends is not the best example for the younger generations, but is formed by the actions of adults and the entire social environment: culture, science and education.

Lilia Gumerova, Chairperson of the Federation Council Committee on Science, Education and Culture, also made good suggestions: Today, according to the Ministry of Education, 140,000 children of migrants are studying in Russian schools. In this regard, we propose to create a unified accounting system, a database, so that we can clearly see how many children have entered Russia, how many are left, what they are doing, what measures of social care of the state are needed since we are talking about future citizens of our great country, " she noted, adding that we need a comprehensive system of adaptation of migrant children - from kindergarten to acquiring a profession in our country, Evgeny Nikolaychuk said.

"The results of the meeting were summed up by the head of the Federal Agency for Ethnic Affairs, Igor Barinov. He noted that strengthening civil identity is a key task of state policy, and this topic should run like a red thread throughout the humanitarian sphere - in culture, science, education, tourism, youth policy and interethnic relations.

As the President said in his closing remarks, the list of instructions will highlight the need to take additional measures to adapt the children of foreign citizens who are living on the territory of the Russian Federation, touch upon tourism issues, support for the created ethnocultural parks, the creation of a national centre for the study of the history of the Great Patriotic War, as well as All-Russian population census, the expert of Vestnik Kavkaza said.
Governor of the National Bank of Ukraine (NBU) Kyrylo Shevchenko named the defense of the nationalization of PrivatBank (Kyiv) and the return of funds from bankrupt banks as a priority in response to information in the media about the investigation of offenses allegedly committed by the governor of the NBU and his deputies.

"I want to emphasize: for me, as the governor of the NBU (I am sure it is the same for all previous heads of the regulator), the absolute priority is invariable  protecting the interests of the state, ensuring financial stability, protecting the nationalization of PrivatBank and returning funds from bankrupt banks," he wrote on Facebook on Friday evening, April 2.

He added that, together with the NBU team, he will continue taking all the required measures for the successful implementation of these tasks.

As reported by Radio Liberty with reference to the State Bureau of Investigations (SBI), now the investigation against the governor of the NBU, his first deputy and one of the three deputy heads continues.

"The investigative bodies of the SBI, among other things, are performing a pretrial investigation of criminal offenses committed by the governor of the NBU, his first deputy and one more deputy. Within criminal proceedings, the investigators have not informed Kateryna Rozhkova that she will be prosecuted," the Radio Liberty said, quoting the response of the SBI to its inquiry.

At the same time, the SBI has not named the initiator of the investigation and the names of the persons in respect of whom it is being conducted.
In 2016, Hoboken resident Jill Singleton, a deacon at the Episcopal St. Pauls and Church of the Incarnation in Jersey City, had what she describes as the one true vision that Ive ever had in my life.

Singleton was volunteering with Kearny-based immigration advocacy nonprofit group First Friends of New Jersey & New York, which organizes meetings between volunteers and asylum seekers incarcerated in Hudson County Jail. On her first visit to the jail, she met a Nigerian detainee named Peter, who told her that, after months of detention, he had just been granted asylum and would be released that day.

I asked him, Where are you going to go? Singleton recalled in an interview earlier this week. He said he had no idea where he was going to go. He had no place to go.

Two nights after that meeting, Singleton had a vision of a place where newcomers could stay after gaining asylum, a home to not only be housed and safe, but just to return to themselves and come out of their shells and go through whatever kind of recovery or healing process one has to go through after something like that.

Now, that vision is coming to fruition. This week, St. Pauls and Church of the Incarnation, in partnership with the Episcopal Diocese of Newark, is opening the Lighthouse, a Union City home for people seeking refuge.

Its a beacon for people lost at sea, Singleton said.

The Lighthouse is the second iteration of a home that operated at Jersey Citys Church of the Incarnation from 2017 to 2018. After providing shelter to 75 people over 18 months, the house was shut when the church closed the property down.

Since then, Singleton has been working to open a new Lighthouse, or as she sometimes calls it, the Lighthouse 2. After finding a Union City house owned by the Newark diocese, Singleton and other volunteers convinced the administration not to sell the property.

But negotiations over the future of the building were delayed when a new bishop took over the diocese, and then delayed further by the COVID-19 pandemic. The house was also in dismal condition, with mold and termite infestations from long-term water damage.

Now, after years of meetings, negotiations and renovations, the Lighthouse is preparing to welcome its first guests.

The homes house manager moved in this week, and the first asylees, a Guatemalan family that has spent the last year and a half detained at the Mexican border, are expected to arrive within a couple of weeks, Singleton said.

When they arrive in the U.S., asylum seekers are often detained in prisons for months or even years as their cases are processed. Those who are granted asylum, like Peter, often have no money and nowhere to go.

Hes going to get released into the dark, Singleton remembered thinking after her meeting with Peter. Hes going to be on Route 1 and 9 in Kearny. Hes going to have the clothes on his back.

Thats where homes like the Lighthouse come in. Nonprofit support groups like First Friends and Jersey City-based Welcome Home, as well as churches or other sponsors, will connect asylees and refugees with Singleton, who will arrange room for them in the house. She expects new and recently-arrived asylees to stay anywhere from one night to four months, though there will be no hard deadlines.

Alain Mentha, executive director of Welcome Home, hopes the home will become a combination of freedom to go outside, and discover the world on their own and start to explore potentials for a new life, and then have a safe place to come home to.

We hope to really surround new members (of) our community and new neighbors with all the support and love that they really deserve, he said.

The six-bedroom, three-bath building in Union City could comfortably house 12 people, Singleton said, and an office and pull-out couch are also available if needed. Many local organizations and religious groups have pitched in to help. Welcome Home donated much of the furniture, including a foosball table. The United Synagogue of Hoboken donated a dishwasher. All Saints Episcopal Parish of Hoboken is supplying a washer and dryer, and the Wyoming Presbyterian Church in Millburn gave 23 sets of sheets, dishes and towels. One woman even donated a piano.

It was this idea of a house filled with light, Singleton said. Its filled with light and love and its there for people.
An Atlantic City Boardwalk store owner collapsed and died Thursday shortly after being robbed by a knife-wielding 12-year-old boy during a confrontation with multiple juveniles at his shop, authorities said.

The death of 66-year-old Mahmood Ansari sparked outrage among fellow merchants, who held a protest calling for justice in the case Friday afternoon. Two juveniles face charges related to the incident, authorities said, but were not accused of the mans death.

An autopsy was pending, and the circumstances surrounding Ansaris death were under investigation, according to Atlantic County Prosecutor Damon G. Tyner, who announced multiple charges were filed against the 12-year-old boy and a 14-year-old girl in the encounter.

Police received a 911 call reporting a person with a knife around 7:40 p.m. Thursday along the Boardwalk, between Kentucky and New York avenues, authorities said. Staff at the Atlantic City Police Surveillance Center also further advised officers that multiple juveniles were damaging the store and assaulting individuals, according to the prosecutors office.

While attempting to steal items, a 12-year-old male brandished a knife and threatened the store owner, Tyner said in a statement.

Shortly after the arrival of the officers, [Ansari] collapsed and was not breathing, the prosecutor added.

Community members and merchants have gathered outside of City Souvenirs on the boardwalk to protest harassment and shoplifting that they say has been persistent since the summer. The owner of City Souvenirs died last night following an altercation with shoplifters. pic.twitter.com/mrbbZ0PJ9q  Molly Shelly (@mollycshelly) April 2, 2021

A bystander began CPR before an Atlantic City police officer took over efforts to revive Ansari, according to authorities. He was rushed to a local hospital, where he died.

The two juveniles have not been charged in the merchants death. Both face counts of robbery, shoplifting, simple assault and conspiracy, the prosecutors office said.

The 12-year-old boy was also charged with terroristic threats and weapons offenses, according to authorities. He was taken to the countys juvenile detention center. The girl was released to her parents ahead of court proceedings. Authorities did not release the names of the Atlantic City juveniles because of their ages.

City Council President George Tibbitt told the Press of Atlantic City that Ansari suffered a heart attack during what started as a theft and fights involving children.

There have been complaints. They have a problem with youngsters always coming to the Boardwalk and stealing stuff, threatening the owners, Muhammad Anjum Zia, 5th Ward Councilman, told the newspaper.

Deputy Chief James Sarkos, interim officer-in-charge of the city police, addressed concerns from business owners Friday.

The Atlantic City Police Department is aware of the concerns and complaints from the business community, regarding juveniles, Sarkos said in a statement. As the weather turns warmer, the Atlantic City Police Department will work and coordinate with businesses along our famous Boardwalk and retail areas. We are working closely with the Atlantic County Prosecutors Office on this investigation.

At the protest Friday, family and fellow business owners gathered to remember Ansari and demand more protection on the Boardwalk.

Boardwalk needs protection, read one sign. We need justice, another sign stated.

Noah Cohen may be reached at ncohen@njadvancemedia.com.
More than 100 million Americans have received their first dose of a Covid-19vaccine, according to data from the US Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.

Roughly 58 million Americans  or more than 17 per cent of the US  have been fully inoculated from the coronavirus, the agency reported on Saturday.

President Joe Biden has committed to getting 200 million doses into Americans arms within his first 100 days in office, upping an initial goal of 100 million, which the US eclipsed on his 59th day in office.

At current vaccination rates, with more than 2 million daily jabs, the US is on pace to reach the presidents goal by late April.

I know its ambitious, twice our original goal, but no other country in the world has even come close  not even close  to what we are doing, and I believe we can do it, the president said during his first solo press conference on 25 March. I believe we can do it.

The majority of the people who have received the combined total of 159 million shots  which includes data from both first and second doses  are Americans ages 65 and older, according to CDC data.

Read more:

The latest milestone also follows guidance from the nations public health agency that Americans who have received two doses of Pfizer and Moderna vaccines or the one-shot Johnson & Johnson vaccine can begin travelling domestically and internationally, while continuing other distancing and mask-wearing guidance.

Vaccinated airline passengers do not need to quarantine upon return to the US or take a coronavirus test before they depart, the federal health agency announced on Friday.

CDC officials have said that while the risk of transmission still exists among inoculated people, a recent CDC study released earlier this week found that both doses of the Pfizer and Moderna vaccines were 90 per cent effective in preventing Covid-19 infections in a real-world setting.

But CDC and public health officials have warned that a rise in infections across the US could undermine the progress if Americans abandon mask and social distancing guidance too early. Cases have risen by roughly 10 per cent across the US compared to the previous week, amounting to some 60,000 cases per day, as some states have relaxed mitigation measures designed to stop the spread of the virus.

More than 554,000 Americans have died from the disease within the past year, and more than 2.8 million infections have been confirmed.

Coronavirus was the third-leading cause of death in the US, the CDC reported this week.

Hospitalisations remain at roughly 4,900 admissions per day, and nearly 900 Americans die every day from the disease, based on the CDCs current seven-day average.
Security forces recovered arms and ammunition during a search operation in the Budgam district of Jammu and Kashmir, police said Saturday.

The search operation was conducted in the forests of village Shanipora Khan Sahab in the central Kashmir district upon receipt of specific information, a police official said.

Incriminating material of the Lashkar-e-Taiba terror outfit, and a cache of arms and ammunition including a Chinese pistol, a UBGL (Under Barrel Grenade Launcher), four UBGL rounds, four pistol magazines, three radio set antenna, three rounds of 7.62 mm, a battery, 98 rounds of 9 mm and a bonnet cover were recovered, the official said.

A case has been registered and further investigation taken up, he said.

(Only the headline and picture of this report may have been reworked by the Business Standard staff; the rest of the content is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.)
The veteran officer was on the scene of a crash that occurred in the 9000 block of Pulaski Road in the when a vehicle hit him at 3:11 a.m., the department said. Suffering injuries, he later died, police said.
Email Whatsapp Menu Whatsapp Google Reddit Digg Stumbleupon Linkedin Comment

Whether youre a Christian or atheist, if asked to explain the resurrection of Jesus Christ from the dead, your answer will always involve a miracle. Let me explain why.

First, long gone are the days when an educated person could get away with saying that Jesus was a mythical invention vs. historical person. The scholarly works of both non-Christians and believers alike put the final nail in that coffin long ago with a good summation coming from Princeton professor Bruce Metzger: Today no competent scholar denies the historicity of Jesus.[1]

Second, there is also agreement in the academic camps on the key historical facts of Jesus resurrection event, which are:

Jesus was crucified and buried.

Three days later, His body was reported missing by a group of His women followers and remains missing to this day.

There were reported appearances of Jesus over the course of 40 or so days to both believers and unbelievers.

People were transformed from these appearance events and publicly proclaimed Christs resurrection, with many being martyred for that proclamation.

Given this data isnt in dispute, were left with the question of what cause best explains these details  which has the best explanatory power, scope, plausibility, and is less contrived than the others?

The non-Christian has basically two options[2]  both of which involve miracles  which for the sake of this article, well define as a highly improbable, rare or extraordinary event with only naturalistic causes.

The biological miracle

The biological miracle option takes one of two forms. An example of the first occurred years ago during a debate between then-atheist Anthony Flew and Gary Habermas on the resurrection. Agreeing with the core resurrection facts above, Flew conceded that Jesus did actually rise from the dead, but insisted it was a one-time biological anomaly that never occurred before or since.

The second form of the biological miracle asserts that Jesus didnt actually die, but rather those conducting His execution and burial falsely believed He was dead. Sometime after He was placed in the tomb, He revived, emerged, and presented Himself to His disciples as being raised from the dead.

Although an article published decades ago in the Journal of American Medical Association stated: interpretations based on the assumption that Jesus did not die on the cross appear to be at odds with modern medical knowledge"[3], this form of the biological miracle defense is still occasionally presented, although it wanes in popularity due to these reasons:

The New Testament specifically records that Jesus was beaten and scourged before His crucifixion  a procedure that often greatly weakened and caused the death of many condemned persons before they ever reached their appointed cross.

The Romans were experts at carrying out crucifixions. They knew death well; in fact, the soldiers themselves were held liable if any victim sentenced to death happened to survive.

John 19:34-34 describes a spear being thrust into Jesus side, with the description by John clearly showing a rupture of the pericardium, which would be instant death if a casualty had not already occurred via the crucifixion procedure.

Jesus death was viewed by close eyewitnesses, friend and foe alike.

After He was taken from the cross, He was wrapped in cloths and bathed in heavy spices by loving friends who certainly would have noticed if He was still alive.

Jesus would need to revive in the tomb, push back the huge stone covering the mouth of His grave, overpower the Roman guards sent to protect the tomb (Matt. 27:62-66), and then appear to His followers and skeptics  quite the task for a scourged and crucified man.

The disciples reaction to a clearly disfigured and crucified Jesus would have been much different than the gospel accounts of Jesus resurrection.

Lastly, the biological miracle option paints a dark picture of Jesus moral character. Jesus would be much worse than just a liar. Not only would He have deliberately deceived His disciples, He would have remained in hiding while His disciples were arrested, tortured, and murdered for proclaiming His false resurrection.

The psychological miracle

Nearly every atheist who publicly debates a Christian apologist on the resurrection today turns to the psychological miracle option. An example is Richard Carrier who writes, I believe the best explanation, consistent with both scientific findings and the surviving evidence . . . is that the first Christians experienced hallucinations of the risen Christ, of one form or another . . . In the ancient world, to experience supernatural manifestations of ghosts, gods, and wonders was not only accepted, but encouraged."[4]

However, when closely examined, the psychological miracle collapses under these critiques:

If the tomb wasnt empty, why didnt Jesus enemies simply go to the tomb and display the body of Christ to squelch any resurrection talk? Instead, this option confirms an empty tomb and leads to the question of who stole the body and the widely debunked theft hypothesis option (i.e. the disciples stole the body).

No hallucination experiences have ever been recorded like those depicted in this case. The appearances of Jesus are remarkable in that they occurred not just once, but multiple times; not just to one person, but to different persons; not just to individuals, but to groups of individuals; not just at one location, but at multiple locations; not just in one circumstance, but in multiple circumstances; not just to believers, but also to unbelievers, skeptics, and even enemies.

All gospel accounts showcase the fact that the disciples did not expect Jesus to rise from the dead. Instead, they are portrayed as being dull to the teaching of Jesus on His predicted resurrection. This fact is highly significant in that it shows that they were not mentally building themselves up to believe that their murdered leader would appear to them alive.

Standard Jewish belief only looked forward to a resurrection at the end of the world, with no one believing that anyone would be resurrected and remain alive before that appointed time (e.g. Dan. 12:2).

Skeptics and enemies of Jesus  including disbelieving members of His own family  claimed to see Him alive after His crucifixion. From a psychological perspective, these individuals had no reason to mentally concoct a false appearance of a person they didnt believe in from the start.

A theological miracle

With the unbelievers miraculous explanations for the resurrection being dismantled, we are left with one remaining choice: a theological miracle occurred. This differs from the naturalists miracle in that, while Christians agree a miracle is a highly improbable or extraordinary event, we add that it has divine origins, is performed by God for a distinct purpose, and always brings Him glory.

The theological miracle option simply claims the New Testament resurrection accounts are true. It eschews the anti-supernatural bias of naturalists in ruling God out in an a priori manner.

Including God in the equation automatically makes supernatural miracles possible as C. S. Lewis said: But if we admit God, must we admit Miracle? Indeed, indeed, you have no security against it. That is the bargain."[5]

If an open vs. closed universe worldview is allowed, then when the accepted criteria of examining a historical account is used that includes explanatory power, explanatory scope, not being ad-hoc, plausibility, not contradicting accepted beliefs, and far exceeding its rival theories in meeting those conditions, the theological miracle emerges as the easiest option to accept.

This being the case, the rational person can hardly be blamed if he/she concludes on the basis of the evidence and a commitment to unbiased historiographical investigation that a divine miracle occurred on that first Easter morning.

Summing up this position, Dr. Thomas Arnold, the former chair of modern history at Oxford and author of the well-respected three volume History of Rome, says: I have been used for many years to study the histories of other times, and to examine and weigh the evidence of those who have written about them, and I know of no one fact in the history of mankind which is proved by better and fuller evidence of every sort, to the understanding of a fair inquirer, than the great sign which God hath given us that Christ died and rose again from the dead.[6]

[1] Bruce Metzger, The New Testament: Its Background, Growth, and Content (New York: Abingdon, 1965), pg. 78.

[2] Of course other hypotheses exist (e.g. theft hypothesis), but there is near universal agreement in them being discredited.

[3] On the physical death of Jesus Christ, Journal of American Medical Association, March 21, 1986.

[4] Richard Carrier, The Spiritual Body of Christ in The Empty Tomb, pg. 184.

[5] C. S. Lewis, Miracles, Harper Collins, 1974, pg. 169

[6] Arnold, Thomas. Sermons on the Christian Life - Its Hopes, Its Fears, Its Close, sixth edition, London: T. Fellowes, 1859, pg. 324.
Los Angeles, April 3 : The suspect accused of killing four people during a mass shooting in in California earlier this week has been charged with multiple counts of murder and attempted murder, authorities said.

The suspect, 44-year-old Aminadab Gaxiola Gonzalez from the nearby city of Fullerton, has been charged with four felony counts of murder, one felony count of attempted murder, and two felony counts of attempted murder of a police officer, Xinhua news agency quoted the Orange County District Attorney's office as saying in a statement on Friday.

A nine-year-old boy, two adult women and one adult man were killed on Wednesday evening during the bloodshed in the city of Orange in Orange County.

Another woman was wounded and taken to a hospital where she remains in critical but stable condition.

Orange County District Attorney Todd Spitzer told reporters that the boy died in the arms of his wounded mother who was trying to save him in the shooting.

Prosecutors were quoted in the statement as saying that Gonzalez is eligible for the death penalty.

The suspect remains hospitalised in critical but stable condition.

The identities of the four victims were released by the Orange Police Department on Friday.

The nine-year-old is confirmed as Matthew Farias and the other three are 28-year-old Jenevieve Raygoza, 50-year-old Luis Tovar and 58-year-old Leticia Solis Guzman.

Officials said the suspect and all the adult victims had both personal and business connections to each other.

This was the latest mass shooting in the last two weeks.

On March 22, 10 people, including one police officer, were killed in a mass shooting at a supermarket in Boulder, Colorado.

On March 16, a series of mass shootings occurred at three spas or massage parlours in the metropolitan area of Atlanta, Georgia, which killed eight people including six Asian women.
DEAL OF THE WEEK

Morrow Takes the Measure of Erlick William Morrows Liz Stein preempted world English rights to Nikki Erlicks The Measure. The publisher said the debut novel is set in a world where people can find out how much time they have left to live and is being compared to The Age of Miracles and The Immortalists. As communities, groups of friends, families, and relationships change in dramatic ways, the truth about choice and destiny unravels long-held beliefs about our time on this Earth and our place in the world, Morrow added. The novel is slated for a 2022 release. International deals have closed in numerous countries and a TV adaptation is also in development, according to the publisher. Erlick is a writer and editor whose work has appeared in, among other outlets, Harpers Bazaar and New York magazine. She was represented in the deal by Cindy Uh at CAA.

FROM THE U.S.

Tea Delivers for Dey Street

In a six-figure agreement, Michelle Tea (Black Wave) sold her memoir, Knocking Myself Up, to Dey Street. Peter Kispert took world English rights to the book, which follows the authors plunge into the reproductive industrial complex, from Alison Lewis at the Zoe Pagnamenta Agency. Dey Street said Knocking Myself Up is about Teas raucous journey to get pregnant as a 40-year-old, single, queer, uninsured woman, venturing into the very straight world of prospective motherhood and artificial reproductive technologies.

Sourcebooks Rocks Coburns Cradles

Jennifer Coburn (Well Always Have Paris) re-upped at Sourcebooks Landmark, selling a WWII-set historical novel at auction to Shana Drehs in a world rights agreement. Cradles of the Reich is, the publisher said, inspired by the untold stories of the Lebensborn program, a state-supported effort to raise the birth rate of Aryan children in Nazi Germany. Sourcebooks compared the book to The Lilac Girls and The Nightingale. Marly Rusoff, who has an eponymous shingle, represented Coburn.

Beck Works Magic at Graydon House

After an auction, Brittany Lavery at Graydon House won world rights to four books by Hazel Beck. The titles will launch the Witchlore series, which, the publisher said, is set in the fictional town of St. Cyprian and follows a bookstore owner and Chamber of Commerce member who clashes with her rival, the mayor, and uncovers not only a clandestine group that wields a dark magic to control the idyllic river hamlet but hidden powers she never knew she possessed. Beck is a pseudonym for the duo Nicole Helm and Megan Crane; Helm was represented by Helen Breitwieser at Cornerstone Literary and Crane by Holly Root at Root Literary. The first book under contract, Small Town, Big Magic, is set for fall 2022.

Penguin Inks Cortez to Double

Writer and poet Rio Cortez closed a two-book, world English rights agreement with Penguin. Patrick Nolan struck the deal with Marya Spence at Janklow & Nesbit Associates. The first title, Golden Ax, is a poetry collection that will be released under the Penguin Poets line in 2022. The second, to be released by Viking, is nonfiction and will explore the authors family tree to reveal a history of Afro-pioneerism.

Graywolf Re-ups Sharif

NBAfinalist Solmaz Sharif sold a poetry collection, Customs, to Jeff Shotts at Graywolf. Sharifs 2016 debut, the collection Look, was also published by Graywolf. Customs, the house said, is engaged with both the border checkpoints where one provesor doesnt provenational belonging and the cultural customs of particular nations and communities. Sharif, who did not use an agent in the deal, sold world rights.
The Athens community has found companionship through the adoption of pets due to spending more time at home, bringing to light the important role that pet shelters are playing during the pandemic. With quarantine allowing more time to be spent at home, these new pet owners can now give the attention required for taking care of a new animal.

According to data from PetPoint, animal shelters and organizations across the country have seen a decrease in total intakes of dogs and cats. Compared to data from 2020, intakes of dogs decreased 29.3% and intakes of cats decreased 17.6% nationwide in 2021.

For the Athens Area Humane Society, pet fostering has increased as people find themselves spending most of their time at home, with others not sure if they currently have the finances needed to care for an animal, said program director Jed Kaylor.

For some people, fostering is a prelude to adoption.

Weve seen more people reaching out to us and being interested in volunteering and fostering, Kaylor said.

However, adoption rates at the humane society have stayed roughly the same in comparison to previous years, Kaylor said, due in part to social distancing regulations limiting large gatherings. The shelters partnership with animal control being limited due to their two-month closure and inability to fully run the facility with complete staff and resources also affects adoption rates, Kaylor said.

Following the closure during the initial stages of quarantine, the Athens Area Humane Society reopened and implemented a maximum capacity rule. This rule allows around 10 people a day to come in for appointments, with a mask requirement for everyone entering the facility.

Recent pet adopters are spending more time at home during the pandemic, resulting in fewer behavioral issues in the adopted pets since they arent being left alone, Kaylor said. Since more people are spending time with their pets, fewer pets are going up for adoption.

A lot of shelters that Ive spoken to have also seen a decrease in intakes, Kaylor said.

Those in the Athens community, especially University of Georgia students, who have looked to pets for companionship now have a unique opportunity to devote their free time to taking care of these animals.

I actually have more time to pay attention to my dog and make sure that hes well-trained since I have online classes and don't leave the house as much, said Kevin Khoshnood, a senior film studies major at UGA. Khoshnood adopted his dog Meatball in August.

Khoshnood is not the only UGA student looking to furry companions as a way to fill a void that quarantine and isolation have created.

I know several people who have also adopted pets over quarantine and are experiencing the same closeness with their animals due to isolation, Khoshnood said.

Caroline May, a sophomore art major, adopted her cat Luna in January.

With quarantine, I think it makes you want to find an emotional connection with a pet since it's difficult to find that in other people right now, May said.

People wishing to visit Athens Area Humane Society are required to book an appointment online in advance and those in the process of adopting are sent contracts virtually. Online appointments can be booked by sending a message of inquiry listed on the shelter's website or through a phone call beforehand.
In what is suspected to be a case of vigilantism in Karnatakas communally sensitive Dakshina Kannada district, a group of men assaulted and stabbed a Muslim man traveling in a bus from Mangaluru to Bengaluru along with a friend, a Hindu woman, on Thursday night. The two, who are friends and former classmates according to the police, boarded an overnight bus in Mangaluru bound for Bengaluru.

The victim, identified as Anwar Mohammed by police, has been admitted to the intensive care unit at a private hospital in Mangaluru. His condition is said to be serious.

Thursdays incident comes at a time several states in the country, including Uttar Pradesh, Gujarat and Madhya Pradesh, have introduced laws regulating inter-faith marriages, deemed by right-wing activists as love jihad.

According to police, the man and the woman (23), who knew each other from school, were travelling in an overnight bus from Mangaluru to Bengaluru when the group of men stopped the bus and attacked the man. It wasnt immediately clear how the group knew that the two were on the bus.

The woman, whose identity was not released by the police, was also attacked and suffered minor injuries.
Don't miss the big stories. Like us on Facebook.

The AP is answering your questions about the coronavirus in this series. Submit them at: FactCheck@AP.org.
Residents in an aged care facility are hungry after cold-hearted burglars allegedly broke in and stole all of their Easter holiday food.

Two hooded men were caught on CCTV ransacking the kitchen of the Suncare Village in Brisbane's Ipswich, before allegedly taking off with five days worth of meat.

Owner Louisa Galagher told the Courier Mail they only just made it through Thursday after going out and buying sausages but on Good Friday there was almost no food for the elderly residents.

With 60 mouths to feed, things were looking bleak until the community pitched in to help.

Ms Galagher said she was 'blown away' by the support offered by locals.

Donations came flooding in and now the nursing home has more meat than what was stolen.

A TV that was allegedly smashed during the break-in was also replaced so the residents can stay entertained over the long weekend.

Two men aged 21 and 25, were later arrested over the burglary when their homes were raided by police on Friday.

Two hooded men were captured on CCTV cameras ransacking the kitchen of the Suncare Village in Brisbane's Ipswitch, before allegedly taking off with five days worth of meat

They were both charged with two counts of entering premises and committing an indictable offence.

The 21-year-old was also hit with drug possession charges.

Ms Galagher said she'll sleep much better knowing the residents are fed and the two men are charged. But she fears the ordeal has frightened many residents.

'As you can imagine this is quite an upset for our tenants, some are scared for their lives due to the cook's knives being taken as well,' she said.

'This break-in will undo all the progress they have made in being able to feel safe and secure in their homes.'
New research led by investigators from Boston Medical Center and Grady Memorial Hospital demonstrates the significant decline in hospitalizations for neurological emergencies during the COVID-19 pandemic. The rate of Subarachnoid hemorrhage (SAH) - bleeding in the space between the brain and the tissue covering the brain - hospitalizations declined 22.5 percent during the study period, which is consistent with the other reported decreases in emergencies such as stroke or heart attacks.

Published in Stroke & Vascular Neurology, the study compares subarachnoid hemorrhage hospital admissions for the months following throughout the initial COVID surge, in hospitals that bore a greater burdened by COVID-19, and those that did not.

SAH is a global health burden, with high fatality and permanent disability rates, representing a potential impact of these emergent situations. These neurological conditions can be life-threatening if care is not being promptly sought." Thanh N Nguyen, MD, FRCPc, lead co-author, vascular and interventional neurologist at Boston Medical Center, and professor of neurology and radiology, Boston University School of Medicine

Other important data from this study includes the rate of embolization of ruptured aneurysms and aneurysmal SAH hospitalizations, which declined by 11.5 percent and 24.6 respectively.

Hospitals with a higher COVID-19 hospitalization burden were found to be more vulnerable to the decline in SAH admissions and ruptured aneurysm coiling volume. However, even hospitals with lower COVID-19 hospitalization burden were found to have decreases in SAH admissions, suggesting that access to hospital care was not the main factor for these decreases.

The cross-sectional, retrospective, observational study was done including data from six continents, 37 countries, and 140 comprehensive stroke centers. Patients with the diagnosis of SAH, aneurysmal SAH, ruptured aneurysm in need of coiling interventions, and COVID-19 were identified through prospective aneurysm databases and ICD-10 codes. Monthly and weekly admission volume data were collected over three periods of time: March 1, 2020, to May 31, 2020 (pandemic months), November 1, 2019, to February 29, 2020 (immediately preceding pandemic months), and March 1, 2019, to May 31, 2019 (equivalent period one year prior to pandemic). The findings are similar to reported decreases in SAH city-wide in Paris during a two-week period of the pandemic, and decreases in a Toronto hospital, whereas other cities such as Berlin and Joinville (South Brazil) reported no decreases in SAH during the COVID-19 pandemic.

High and intermediate procedural volume centers were more affected by declines in SAH hospitalizations and ruptured aneurysm embolization than low volume SAH coiling centers during the pandemic. However, hospitals with low SAH coiling volumes demonstrated an increase in the coiling of ruptured aneurysms during the pandemic, despite a significant decrease in total SAH admissions.

"This suggests a shift towards treating more patients with ruptured aneurysms with endovascular techniques during the pandemic to potentially shorten hospitalization times and mitigate risks of perioperative infection to the patient or provider," says Raul Nogueira, MD, director of neuroendovascular service at the Marcus Stroke & Neuroscience Center - Grady Memorial Hospital, lead co-investigator and professor of neurology and radiology at Emory University School of Medicine.
Hundreds of new houses for low income families in An Giang Province have been built over the past several years by a group of carpenters doing their best to support their community.

The group is led by Tran Van Hien, 81, also known as Tu Hien, a native of the region who is widely known across the province thanks to his charitable deeds.

Philanthropy on the frontier

The latest project being undertaken by Tu Hiens team is a new office for the border guards stationed at the Phu Huu Border Post. The building is the fourth phase in the teams project to rebuild five control posts for local security forces.

The carpenters in Tu Hiens group are laser focused on the job in front of them. Communication is minimal  after all, talking doesnt build buildings. At the forefront of the project is Tu Hien, who directs the group with vigor rarely seen of men in their 80s.

The living condition at the border post looks terrible. They are under a tremendous burden from the pandemic, yet their barracks barely look like theyll survive a harsh storm, Hien explained.

Hiens charitable acts have even caught the attention of the Cambodian guards stationed just opposite the Vietnamese post.

I used to travel to the other side of the border to help build houses for poor Cambodian households, so they know us well. There are times when [the border guards] over there even donate wood logs to us so we can make houses for more people in need, he said.

Each year, Tu Hien and his team build dozens of houses for the poor, but their charitable work doesnt stop at homes. In the past theyve built bridges for villages that lack connections to the outside world and even taken on burial work for families that couldnt afford a proper funeral.

Intact leaves cover the tattered ones

Though Tu Hien is known for his philanthropy, he himself has often been in tight squeezes for money, with barely enough cash to put food on the table for his children.

One of Tu Hiens most memorable philanthropic moments happened several years ago when he met a widow in Phu Thanh commune with no place to stay but the basement of a neighbors house. Tu Hien and his team stepped in to build the woman a place to stay using wood that Tu Hien had purchased to fix up his own dilapidated house before the rainy season.

Feeling like a new house wasnt enough for the woman, Tu Hien also scavenged more wood and built the woman an altar for the womans deceased husband. He also purchased furniture, kitchenware, food, and spices for the woman and her family using money from his own pocket.

The widow was just one of out of many individuals whose life has been changed by Tu Hiens good deeds.

Over the years, the carpenter has kept a secret notebook detailing the plights of those hes countered and planned to help every single one of them.

Members of Tu Hiens workshop eating vegan meals. Photo: Tien Trinh / Tuoi Tre

Of course, Tu Hien would not have been able to help so many people on his own and hes thankful for the contributions from his network of volunteers and for donations given to his cause by dozens of other benefactors.

In 2008, Hien received a surprise donation from three brothers  a plot of land for him to build his own carpentry workshop.

Using the gifted land as his headquarters, Tu Hien and his partners are able to help more people in need.

Each of the volunteers on Hiens squad have their own specialties, such as building houses, constructing bridges, and even making caskets. This mish mash of talents helps them cover all the needs of the regions poor.

The teams operate on a volunteer basis, but each member still strives to contribute massive amounts of effort, with about twenty volunteers showing up to tackle most projects.

Hien also saw people who joined his volunteer lineup after gaining a foothold and moving upwards in life thanks to the house hes built for them. Others in his rotation of volunteers are simply striving to give back to the community.

Nguyen Van Hon, who turned 91 this year, has been showing up to help Hien for many years despite his own impoverished conditions.

Im old but fairly healthy myself, so showing up here every day is no big deal, Hon said.

Nhan, a volunteer driver who transports wood for Hiens workshop, is another unlikely member of Tu Hiens team.

Last year, Nhan was in a road accident that broke his leg. His mobility has been significantly restricted ever since, yet he still manages to show up for the team as if nothing had ever happened. He also found a lover with whom he recently tied the knot.

I promised my wife that I would prioritize my familys financial stability before dedicating all my time to the workshop to help those who are less privileged than me, Nhan said.

Like us on Facebook or follow us on Twitter to get the latest news about Vietnam!
Professor Chau Van Minh (R) receives the Ordre national de la Legion d'honneur from French Ambassador to Vietnam Nicolas Warnery. Photo courtesy of Vietnam Academy of Science and Technology.

Professor Chau Van Minh has become the first Vietnamese working in natural sciences and technology to receive the Ordre national de la Legion d'honneur.

The Legion of Honor, as it is called in English, the highest French order of merit, was handed to Professor Minh, 60, by the French Ambassador to Vietnam Nicolas Warnery at a Friday event in Hanoi.

As President of the Vietnam Academy of Science and Technology, the largest and most prominent research institute in the nation, Minh has made efforts to support and promote the development, cooperation, training and transfer of a number of key technologies of the 21st century between French research units and the academy via almost 200 projects.

He has also proactively negotiated and developed a roadmap of cooperation to implement two Vietnamese projects supported by the French government, which comprise the first Earth observation satellite of Vietnam, VNRED-Sat1, and Vietnam-France University, or the University of Science and Technology of Hanoi.

"This is not only a great honor and a noble reward for me, but also a recognition of the contributions made by generations of staff at the Vietnam Academy of Science and Technology in promoting the long-term and sustainable cooperation with many research and higher education institutions in France. The award also contributes to strengthening the Vietnam-France strategic cooperation relationship," Minh said while receiving the merit.

A native of central Thua Thien-Hue Province, Minh became vice president at the academy in February 2007 and president the next year.

Several Vietnamese have been honored with the Legion of Honor, including Professor Ngo Bao Chau and former Minister of Health Nguyen Thi Kim Tien.
Syracuse, N.Y.  A two-year-old dog is still missing after its owner, a pregnant woman, was inadvertently shot in the back Wednesday night on Syracuses South Side, police said.

The shooting happened at about 10:30 p.m. in the 2800 block of Midland Ave., according to a news release issued by Syracuse police.

The 20-year-old woman was shot when people in one or two cars were shooting at each other as they drove through the area, police said. She was not the intended target, police said.

The woman was walking the dog, an Akita mix named Aisis, when she was shot, police said. The dog, which was last seen wearing a pink camouflaged collar and a black leash, ran away after the shooting, police said.

The woman was taken to Upstate University Hospital and is expected to survive, police said.

After Wednesdays shooting, police could be seen searching near several homes on Midland Avenue between West Matson and Hall avenues with flashlights.

Police ask anyone with information about the shooting or the missing dog to call the Syracuse Police Department at 315-442-5200 or dog control at 315-473-6608.

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.
Two Vallejo police lieutenants were fired this week and a third was recommended for suspension in disciplinary actions by the city, an attorney representing the citys police union said Friday.

Michael Nichelini, president of the Vallejo Police Officers Association, was fired Wednesday in part for sending an email in December to then-Chronicle columnist Otis R. Taylor Jr., said Nichelinis attorney Michael Rains.

We will warn our Georgia colleagues of your impending arrival, Nichelini wrote to Taylor, referring to law enforcement in Georgia, where Taylor relocated last year. Chief Shawny Williams opened an investigation into the email, said he was deeply disturbed by it and said his department does not condone intimidation.

The city also cited an email Nichelini circulated to members of the police union that included the image of a 1906 Vallejo police badge, which was inscribed with what appeared to be a Nazi symbol, Rains said. Nichelini was unaware of the presence of the symbol when he sent the email, his attorney said.

On Friday, Rains called the citys rationale for firing Nichelini nonsense.

They are trying to terminate him any way they can, Rains said.

Nichelini has been on paid administrative leave since July, his attorney said. He made $216,000 in 2019, according to public records.

Longtime Vallejo police veteran Herman Robinson was fired Thursday, said Rains, speaking on behalf of his colleague Julia Fox, who represents Robinson.

Robinson, the son of Vallejos first Black police officer, was fired after more than four decades with the department, said Rains.

The city terminated Robinson for sharing internal information with former and retired police department colleagues, Rains said. The information was related to who is getting promoted, internal assignments, crimes being investigated and was shared with old timers conversant with him, Rains said.

It was flawed reasoning and idiotic at best, he said, calling Robinson a pillar in the department.

Robinson has been on paid administrative leave, Rains said. He made more than $432,000, including overtime pay, in 2019, according to public records.

Rains called the citys investigations of the lieutenants shoddy, superficial and shameful.

Christina Lee, a spokeswoman for the city, declined to comment on the disciplinary actions, citing confidentiality in personnel matters.

The spokeswoman for Chief Williams could not be reached for comment.

A third lieutenant, Fabio Rodriguez, faces suspension for his role in replacing the windshield on a police car used in the shooting of Sean Monterrosa in June, Rains said.

Attorneys have appealed all three disciplinary actions, Rains said, meaning the cases are headed to arbitration. The appeals come amid ongoing scrutiny of Vallejo officers conduct, following longstanding allegations of misconduct and excessive use of force.

Nora Mishanec is a San Francisco Chronicle staff writer. Email: nora.mishanec@sfchronicle.com Twitter: @NMishanec
The first week of the murder trial of Derek Chauvin, the former Minneapolis police officer charged with killing George Floyd, has been an emotional one. Witnesses who watched Chauvin pin the 46-year-old Black man by the neck with his knee described the trauma they had to live with afterward. They said they were upset and desperate to save Floyds life; several testified to calling the police on the police. Four of the witnesses on Tuesday were under 18 at the time of Floyds death  the youngest is now 9  and testified with the cameras off, their voices wavering and sobbing as they narrated the nine minutes and 29 seconds they saw Floyd fighting to breathe.
Jessica Mulroney has paid tribute to her best friends  but, shock horror  the Duchess of Sussex isn't among them.

The Canadian TV stylist shared this snap of herself with pals, socialite Krystal Koo, event producer Kellie Smith and Karolina Segal and wrote: 'So lucky to have the best girlfriends in my life. I'm not sure I would have made it without these three.'

Followers quickly pounced on the post to reignite claims that Meghan and her old BFF have drifted apart since Jessica was accused of 'abusing' her white privilege last year. I certainly haven't seen a picture of them together now for quite some time.

Jessica Mulroney has paid tribute to her best friends  but, shock horror  the Duchess of Sussex isn't among them

Followers quickly pounced on the post to reignite claims that Meghan and her old BFF have drifted apart since Jessica was accused of 'abusing' her white privilege last year. I certainly haven't seen a picture of them together now for quite some time

Following my news that the Queen has been deluged with hundreds of letters of support in the wake of the Meghan and Harry interview, I have now been deluged too!

Royal devotees have revealed the replies they got back from Windsor Castle after sending Her Majesty their best wishes.

One response, by lady-in-waiting Dame Annabel Alice Hoyer Whitehead, said that the Queen was 'most grateful for your support during this sad time for her family'.

Last week a Palace aide confirmed there had been a spike in correspondence since the bombshell Oprah interview.

Meghan last month sent Mulroney a huge bouquet of flowers to mark her birthday - months after she stayed silent when the stylist was accused of 'racist bullying.'

The Canadian stylist, 41, from Toronto, shared a snap on her Instagram page of a large bunch of pink roses in a glass vase, penning: 'Luckiest friend, thanks MM.'

It was weeks after Jessica defended the Duchess of Sussex, 39, ahead of the explosive Oprah Winfrey interview, praising her 'kindness, empathy and love.'

Meanwhile Meghan stayed silent as Jessica found herself at the centre of a BLM race row last year when she was accused of using her 'white privilege' against a black social media influencer.

Sasha Exeter alleged Mrs Mulroney 'took personal offence' when she asked bloggers to use their platform to advance the Black Lives Matter movement and that private messages between the pair had left her 'paralysed with fear'.

Mulroney later faced accusations that she had used Meghan as her 'superpower,' though denied this was the case and refused to speak about the Duchess in interviews.

A source had claimed their friendship is no longer 'what it once was,' adding this was not due to the fall-out with Exeter, but because they have 'just grown apart.'

Meet the rivals to Kate and Cindy's crown

First there was Kate and Lila Moss, then Cindy Crawford and Kaia Gerber. And now there's a new mother-daughter modelling duo ready to make their mark  Liberty Ross and Skyla Sanders.

Liberty, 42, who famously appeared topless straddling Kate Moss on the cover of The Face in 2000, has come out of retirement to launch the career of her 17-year-old daughter.

Skyla's father is Rupert Sanders, the film director who was caught on camera cheating on Liberty with actress Kristen Stewart in 2012.

Liberty married music supremo Jimmy Iovine in 2016, in front of guests including Oprah Winfrey and Lady Gaga. She and Skyla are both featured on the latest cover of hip fashion magazine 10.
Carl F. Bucherers new partnership with the Lucerne Festival Orchestra  the internationally acclaimed symphony orchestra of Lucerne Festival  celebrates two creative forces that have a lot in common. Not only do the renowned festival and the Swiss luxury watch brand share a hometown, but also a rich history and the relentless pursuit of excellence. And these world class organizations pay a remarkable and fitting tribute to their passions with a breathtaking watch and a stunning new composition by Lisa Streich for the Lucerne Festival Orchestra, both of which defy conventions and expectations.

Le Lucerne Festival Orchestra  Carl F. Bucherer

But theres more: Lucerne Festival and Carl F. Bucherer seamlessly blend tradition and innovation. Both value their independence. Both are passionate about an open and creative exchange with their aficionados at home in Lucerne and abroad. With every nuance of their creativity, they encourage a fascination among their community. And they recognize the commitment to quality and excellence as the highest calling of their daily performance.



Swedish composer Lisa Streichs composition, intriguingly called PERIPHERY is a sonic counterpoint to a watch and its complex mechanics, which will be unveiled during this years Watches and Wonders. The musical piece establishes tangible references between specific instruments and some of the individual technical components of this soon-to-be launched watch movement and gives them an audio identity for 2 minutes and 30 seconds. This exciting pairing will be a highlight during the long-awaited digital fair bringing together the Swiss watch industry.

Lisa Streich  Carl F. Bucherer

Sascha Moeri, the CEO of Carl F. Bucherer, says that his brands partnership with Lucerne Festival and its orchestra is a natural one. A fine watch and a musical composition are similar in a number of ways," he declared. "They are both created from many individual components that have to work together perfectly. A conductor makes sure the musicians perform with each other precisely. A watchmaker has to do the same thing with the components of every timepiece.



A fine mechanical watch is a lot like a symphonic piece," says Michael Haefliger, Lucerne Festivals Executive and Artistic Director. "They both reflect creative passion and combine art with craftsmanship. And each has the goal of stimulating an emotional response. Sascha and his team do that very well, and, of course, Im always proud of the impact that the Lucerne Festival Orchestras performances have on our audiences, both at home and around the world.

A Festival Orchestra and a Luxury Watch Brand: Flawlessly Interacting Parts

Consider Carl F. Bucherer: located in the heart of Switzerland, it is at home in the much-loved city of Lucerne. It creates contemporary timepieces whose hundreds of tiny parts interact with each other flawlessly. Without any one of its components, the totality of the watch simply wouldnt be the same.



Now think about the Lucerne Festival Orchestra. Like Carl F. Bucherer, Lucerne Festival is based in the heart of Switzerland, and, similarly, the festivals reputation and its orchestras renown have spread far beyond the Swiss border to fans in practically every corner of the world, attracting a loyal following throughout Europe and the United States as well as in Japan, South Korea, and China, where it has toured regularly since 2009. Each instrument in the orchestra plays an essential role in every score, and the absence of any would compromise the brilliance of the performance.
"These business stories are inspiring and motivating, and the women behind these stories are no less amazing. We cant wait to share them with everyone in Frederick County! - Rick Weldon, President and CEO, Frederick County Chamber of Commerce

S.H.E. Pitch is a pitch competition for female CEOs - or "S.H.E.-EOs" - designed to give businesses both in the idea stage and growth stage significant cash prizes, publicity and networking opportunities. S.H.E. Pitch is a component of the 2021 programming for S.H.E. Week, a week of events celebrating the Strength, Heart and Equality of women in Frederick County. Enrollment is now open.

Were very proud that the Frederick County Chamber of Commerce focuses energy on recognizing and celebrating women and minority-owned businesses. We believe wholeheartedly that one of the key components of our economic success is the diversity and creativity of our owners and business leaders, said Rick Weldon, president and CEO. S.H.E. Pitch is the next logical progression of our amazing S.H.E. Week experience over the last few years. Weve learned so much about our incredible women entrepreneurs and nonprofit leaders that we now want to directly contribute to their missions and passions.These business stories are inspiring and motivating, and the women behind these stories are no less amazing. We cant wait to share them with everyone in Frederick County!

Eligibility for S.H.E. Pitch is based upon a set of criteria established for two categories of competitors - those in the idea stage of their business and those in the growth stage. Registration for the competition is free but requires a discounted investment of $26 to develop the necessary materials needed for judging and progression through the competition. Interested entrepreneurs are encouraged to enroll in the month of April as the process involves online coursework and submission deadlines for judging.

Finalists in both categories will pitch their businesses to a virtual audience on August 26 as part of S.H.E. Week 2021 programming. Winners will be announced during the live event with audience members also getting the opportunity to vote and award their favorite pitch a Peoples Choice prize.

This opportunity wouldnt exist without our partners at Frederick County Office of Economic Development, City of Frederick Department of Economic Development, Maryland Womens Business Center and Octavo Designs, said Jennifer Gerlock, vice president of the Frederick County Chamber of Commerce. Their vision, financial prize investments and work on behalf of established and emerging female entrepreneurs is nothing short of inspiring.

More details on the process, eligibility and registration can be found online at frederickchamber.org/shepitch.

Businesses who wish to get involved or sponsor either S.H.E. Pitch or S.H.E. Week are encouraged to reach out to Jennifer Gerlock at jgerlock@frederickchamber.org for more information.

S.H.E. Pitch is made possible through a partnership with the Maryland Womens Business Center, Frederick County Office of Economic Development, City of Frederick Department of Economic Development, the Frederick County Chamber of Commerce and Octavo Designs.

S.H.E. Week, which runs August 22-27 in 2021, is a program developed by The Frederick County Chamber of Commerce's Women in Business Committee.

The Frederick County Chamber of Commerce's Women in Business Committees mission is to empower and develop women through education, networking, mentoring and partnerships and to promote opportunities for all women throughout Frederick County. Women in Business Committee members develop programs that provide opportunities for women to learn and network as well as share their expertise with each other and to address the unique issues of women in business.
New Delhi:

Prime Minister Narendra Modi addressed his monthly radio address Mann Ki Baat at All India Radio. This edition of PMs Mann Ki Baat is a special one as it marks the third anniversary of the show.



Here are the highlights of the episode:

#Lt. Swati and Lt. Nidhi have made the nation proud, says the Prime Minister during

#PM Modi wishes nation on Navratri

#PM Modi urges people, especially youngsters to discover the wonders of #IncredibleIndia in the months to come.

Sardar Patel unified the nation. Let us always preserve this unity. #MannKiBaat pic.twitter.com/MzTjPUj7Gu

 PMO India (@PMOIndia) September 24, 2017 >





#Nanaji Deshmukh devoted his life towards the betterment of our villages: PM

Remembering the great men and women who lived for India. #MannKiBaat pic.twitter.com/sCCNAzDntP  PMO India (@PMOIndia) September 24, 2017

#PM appreciates the media for furthering the message of cleanliness

#PM appreciates young Bilal Dar from Kashmir for actively taking up the cleanliness drive

Swachhata movement has gained active support from people across the country: PM during #MannKiBaat pic.twitter.com/XxZYHIICHp  narendramodi_in (@narendramodi_in) September 24, 2017

#I am delighted to see the support towards Swachhata Hi Seva movement. People are actively contributing to a Swachh Bharat: PM

#This Gandhi Jayanti, let us buy a Khadi product and light the lamp of prosperity in the lives of the poor.

#I get so much feedback for MannKiBaat. Naturally, I am not able to refer to all of it but the inputs given help us in the Government: PM

People's contribution is vital for taking the nation ahead on the path of progress: PM during #MannKiBaat: pic.twitter.com/3rqcWpS1wM  narendramodi_in (@narendramodi_in) September 24, 2017

3 years of #MannKiBaat: Bringing to the fore the voices of people of India. pic.twitter.com/FVg6yKIrWR  narendramodi_in (@narendramodi_in) September 24, 2017

#PM Modi: Show helps draw attention to problems, achievements in nooks and corners of the nation

#MannKiBaat - an effective way to showcase the strengths of India.

#This is the 36th episode of #MannKiBaat, which completes 3 years with this episode: PM

#PM Modi to begin address at 11 AM

Read | PM Modi says development is solution to all problems; launches projects worth over Rs 1,000 Cr



The programme will be broadcast at 11 am on All India Radio and Doordarshan. Apart from this, it will also be streamed on YouTube channels of the PMs Office and Information and Broadcasting Ministry.



The regional versions of the Mann Ki Baat will be originated by the capital AIR stations in non-Hindi speaking zones immediately after its Hindi broadcast.



Earlier on August 27, in his 35th edition of Mann Ki Baat, PM while referring to violence in Panchkula following the conviction of Dera Sacha Sauda chief Gurmeet Ram Rahim Singh, had said that violence would not be tolerated and those indulging in it would be punished.

Read | Varanasi tour, day 2: It is our responsibility to provide home to poor, we will provide them one by 2022, says PM Modi

For all the Latest India News, Download News Nation Android and iOS Mobile Apps.
The SEC said that a special call centre has been started in the SEC office to receive complaints. (DC file photo)

VIJAYAWADA: AP State Election Commissioner Nilam Sawhney said that the election code has come into force in the state and asked political parties to cooperate with the commission for the smooth conduct of the mandal and zilla parishad territorial committee polls. The SEC said that a special call centre has been started in the SEC office to receive complaints.

The SEC called a meeting with leaders of political parties but the Telugu Desam, BJP and Jana Sena boycotted it to protest against the alleged arbitrary decision of commission to conduct the elections and announcing the schedule without considering objections. Sawhney said that there is no reason to halt the elections and the polls would be held as per the old notification.

Speaking to the media after the meeting, the SEC said that the list of candidates had already had been compiled. She asked all political parties to follow Covid-19 protocols during the election campaign.

The government, in view of the ongoing Coronavirus vaccination programme, had sought completion of the election process and collected the opinions of political parties at the meeting. She said that the election process had been resumed from where it was stopped and stated that there is no court order restricting the release of the election schedule. Delaying of elections would impact the vaccination programme.

BJP state president Somu Veerraju said that the party had boycotted the SEC meeting as it had been called after the election schedule had been notified, and termed the action undemocratic. Jana Sena chief K. Pawan Kalyan said the party had filed a petition in the High Court but the SEC without considering it had released the election schedule, which was severely objectionable.

CPI state secretary K. Ramakrishna objected to the issue of the notification when the court was hearing the matter, and boycotted the meeting. Congress senior leader Sk Mastan Vali said that the sought a fresh notification and to conduct all-party meeting afterwards.



The YSRC, interestingly, had not attended the meeting called by SEC Nimmagadda Ramesh Kumar before the gram panchayat and municipal elections, but attended the one called by Sawhney.

YSRC state secretary Lella Appi Reddy said that Opposition parties are trying to avoid elections. He objected to the boycotting of the SEC meeting as an act of flinching from the battlefield. He said that they sought SEC to take measures for the free and fair polls.
Australia's rollout of the AstraZeneca vaccine will continue despite growing fears the jab could be related to a blood clotting condition reported in some patients.

Acting Chief Medical Officer Michael Kidd has dismissed suggestions the vaccine poses any serious threat and the government's medical advice remains unchanged despite a man being hospitalised with a rare blood clotting condition after receiving it.

'The society recommends that benefits outweigh the risks of COVID-19 vaccination and the society's advice is that individuals should continue taking the offer of COVID-19 vaccination,' Professor Kidd said on Saturday.

'The risks of serious side effects remain very low. But safety is paramount, which is why ATAGI and the TGA continue to do due diligence on this case.

'I need to reiterate that at this time the risk of serious disease and death from COVID-19, if we experience a severe outbreak, especially among older Australians and those with serious health conditions, is far greater than the very small potential risk of a very rare clotting disorder associated with the vaccine.'

Australia's rollout of the AstraZeneca vaccine will continue despite growing fears the jab could be related to a blood clotting condition reported in some patients

Acting Chief Medical Officer Michael Kidd has dismissed suggestions the vaccine poses any serious threat

Acting Chief Medical Officer Michael Kidd has dismissed suggestions the vaccine poses any serious threat and the government's medical advice remains unchanged

Professor Kidd addressed concerns surrounding the vaccine on Friday, identifying the warning signs people should look out for after receiving the AstraZeneca vaccine.

'People should be particularly alert to severe persistent headaches occurring four to 20 days after vaccination and which are different to the usual pattern of headaches and do not settle with over-the-counter painkillers,' he said.

'If you received the AstraZeneca vaccine and experience symptoms of persistent headaches or other worrying symptoms four to 20 days after the vaccine, you should seek medical advice.'

Earlier this week an Australian man was put in hospital suffering from a rare blood clotting condition after receiving the AstraZeneca coronavirus vaccine.

An Australian healthcare worker receivers her AstraZeneca vaccine as the government continues to urge all residents to seek the jab

Acting Chief Medical Officer Michael Kidd addressed concerns surrounding the vaccine

Pictured: A nurse administers the AstraZeneca COVID-19 vaccine to a patient at the Austin Hospital on March 17, 2021, in Melbourne

The 44-year-old got the jab on March 22 and later presented to Box Hill Hospital in Melbourne suffering fever and abdominal pain.

He was also found to have blood clots in his abdomen and a very low platelet count, prompting concerns from doctors.

Professor Kidd said while the vaccine can cause blood clotting in people with low platelet counts he stressed that the chances of it happening are 'very small'.

'The serious risk disease and death from COVID-19, if we experience another severe outbreak,  is far greater than the very small potential risk of a very rare clotting disorder associated with the vaccine,' he said.

'Cerebral venous thrombosis is a very rare disorder that has previously not been known to be associated with vaccination, however it has been noted as a complication of people who have contracted COVID-19,' Prof Kidd said.

Professor Kidd said while the vaccine can cause blood clotting in people with low platelet counts he stressed that the chances of it happening are 'very small'

Australia will continue with its rollout of the AstraZeneca vaccine

'No cases of central venous sinus thrombosis have been reported in Australia to date, in the time period of concern following vaccination, which is within four to 20 days.

'The TGA has received only one report of a case of thrombosis and thrombocytopenia following vaccination with the AstraZeneca vaccine in Australia but the causal link has not yet been established.'

Professor Kid says they are taking the matter 'very seriously' and analysing any links between the vaccine and blood clotting.

'This condition has presented as either a clot appearing in the brain or as thrombosis in other sites, including in the intra-abdominal venous systems,' he said.

'If cerebral venous sinus thrombosis or another severe thrombotic case is suspected in a patient who has received a COVID-19 vaccine, please refer them to an emergency department for further urgent assessment and haematology consultation.'
Iowa Governor Signs Law Letting Residents Buy, Carry Guns Without Permits

Iowa Gov. Kim Reynolds signed legislation into law on April 2 lifting some restrictions on the purchase or carrying of a handgun in the state for law-abiding citizens.

The NRA-backed legislation, named House File 756, will take effect on July 1 and eliminates the requirement for law-abiding Iowans to obtain a permit to purchase a handgun from private nonlicensed sources. Additionally, people will no longer need a permit in order to carry a weapon.

Individuals will still have to follow federal law and go through an instant background check to buy from licensed sellers each time they purchase a gun.

People who fail to commit to the new law will be charged with a Class D felony, which is punishable by up to five years in prison. It will become a felony if a person sells, rents, or loans a firearm to someone the seller knows or reasonably should know isnt legally allowed to get a gun or is intoxicated.

Today I signed legislation that protects the 2nd Amendment rights of Iowas law-abiding citizens while still preventing the sale of firearms to criminals and other dangerous individuals, Reynolds said in a statement after signing the bill.

This law also takes greater steps to inform law enforcement about an individuals mental illness helping ensure firearms dont end up in the wrong hands, she said. We will never be able to outlaw or prevent every single bad actor from getting a gun, but what we can do is ensure law-abiding citizens have full access to their constitutional rights while keeping Iowans safe.

The new law has been supported by the National Rifle Association (NRA), which applauded the governor for signing the bill allowing law-abiding adults to carry a concealed firearm without first asking the government for a permit.

On March 22, House File 756 passed 6037, with all Republicans voting for it, along with Democratic state Rep. Wes Breckenridge. Republicans have a majority in the Senate and previously passed a similar piece of legislation through a committee.

Iowa now becomes one of 19 states in the U.S. that no longer requires law-abiding citizens to get a permit before carrying a gun for self-defense.

The 18 other states that eliminated this requirement are Alaska, Arizona, Arkansas, Idaho, Kansas, Kentucky, Maine, Mississippi, Missouri, Montana, New Hampshire, North Dakota, Oklahoma, South Dakota, Utah, Vermont, West Virginia, and Wyoming.

Democrats have opposed the bill, saying the reversal is dangerous and a reckless disregard for the safety and well-being of Iowans.

Our communities arent safer when criminals can legally purchase a handgun without a background check, Iowa Democratic Party Chair Rep. Ross Wilburn said in a statement in reaction to Reynolds signing the bill.

Background checks are wildly popular, even among gun owners, as a common-sense way to keep people safe, he said. Legislation like this serves no purpose other than appeasing the gun industry and its powerful lobbyists.

Mark Olivia, director of public affairs at the National Shooting Sports Foundation, told The Epoch Times that laws restricting gun ownership have dubious origins.

The history of gun-control laws really has its roots in Jim Crow-era racist laws that are designed to deny people their rights, he said. Your permit is your Second Amendment right. The idea of having to get a permit to be able to exercise your Second Amendment right to keep and bear arms is antithetical to what your rights are as an American at birth.

Zachary Stieber contributed to this report.
The spanking new big-budget blockbuster Godzilla Vs. Kong is not to be confused with its 1962 antecedent King Kong Vs. Godzilla, a product of Japans Toho Studios. The new film is a state-of-the-art monster movie, with elaborate special effects, a big international cast, and some very impressive actors navigating through the debris left by the titular titans. (Watch Rebecca Hall say the line Kong bows to no one! like a WWE announcer with Cambridge credentials.)

The spanking new big-budget blockbuster Godzilla Vs. Kong is not to be confused with its 1962 antecedent King Kong Vs. Godzilla, a product of Japans Toho Studios. The new film is a state-of-the-art monster movie, with elaborate special effects, a big international cast, and some very impressive actors navigating through the debris left by the titular titans. (Watch Rebecca Hall say the line "Kong bows to no one!" like a WWE announcer with Cambridge credentials.)

The older film starred two guys in suits, crashing around miniature cities before a climactic duel at Mount Fuji. It was long rumoured that the original had two different endings, one for western audiences, in which Kong emerged as the victor, and another for Japanese audiences, in which Godzilla prevailed. It was somewhat credible, assuming Japan and the U.S. might have been prejudiced in favour of their own monster products. But it wasnt true.

This film, the latest in Warner Bros. own take on the franchise following Kong: Skull Island (2017) and Godzilla: King of the Monsters (2019) doesnt bother nationalizing its two adversaries. It is suggested that they  or their fore-monsters  are ancient adversaries with animus presumably rooted in their respective simian/reptilian species.

Kong needs banana! (Warner Bros. Pictures and Legendary Pictures)

But both have sets of human allies who takes sides on their behalf. In Kongs corner is scientist Ilene Andrews (Hall), a so-called "Kong whisperer" who communicates with the big ape back on Skull Island, which we see has been retrofitted with a giant dome, keeping the beast trapped in an elaborate artificial environment. Ilene is aided by her adoptive daughter Jia (Kaylee Hottle), the last living human descendant of Skull Island, whose deafness provides an unexpected means of communication with Kong.

Meanwhile, in Florida, wealthy industrialist Walter Simmons (Demian Bichir) doesnt seem too surprised when the missing-in-action Godzilla comes calling, wrecking his mysterious complex. Suspicious of the coincidence is the conspiracy-minded teen Madison (Millie Bobby Brown), her long-suffering chum Josh (Julian Dennison) and podcaster Bernie (Brian Tyree Henry), who believes Apex Industries is up to no good.

It emerges that after a dormant period, Godzilla is spoiling for a fight, and after the last movie, Kong is the last titan standing. So Simmons sends Kong to the Antarctic where he will be dropped down a hole to the centre of the earth, the place from which all titans sprang, according to the theory of scientist Nathan Lind (Alexander Skarsgard) which is, of course, proved correct.

All this leads to the obligatory fight scenes promised in the title. Director Adam Wingard, whose more modest films include the horror thrillers The Guest and Youre Next, really delivers on these battles, the best onscreen kaiju action since Guillermo Del Toros excellent 2013 entry Pacific Rim.

Talk about some bad breath. ((Warner Bros. Pictures and Legendary Pictures)

But unlike Pacific Rim, which took the genre in an interesting new direction, Godzilla Vs. Kong is very much tied to the past. It is surprising how many of the battle scenes call back to the 1962 original. Other more discreet references hearken all the way back to the original 1933 King Kong. Even the premise of Pacific Rim gets a little referential love as well.

But therein lies its problem. The movie cranks up the digital whiz-bang, but it is just all too familiar. Perhaps thats not a bad thing, given that the pandemic has left many of us craving the pleasures of the mindless summer blockbuster.

But "mindless" is never a good thing. Like its two stars, Godzilla vs. Kong has muscle by the ton, but not a lot of smarts.

randall.king@freepress.mb.ca

Twitter: @FreepKing
.......... .......... .......... .......... .......... .......... .......... .......... .......... .......... .......... .......... .......... .......... .......... .......... .......... ..........

The Otero County Commission at its April 8 meeting will consider a resolution which proposes that all public buildings, private businesses and other public gathering spaces in the county operate as normal, in violation of New Mexicos emergency public health orders.

The resolution, proposed by Commissioner Couy Griffin, would declare Otero County 100% open for business, pointing to the U.S. Constitution and New Mexico Constitution as proof the orders are invalid.

This will be a great day for Otero County when we push back on the Unconstitutional Coronavirus mandates, Griffin said via email.

Resolutions do not hold the weight of law as an ordinance would. Instead resolutions show a political entitys support or understanding of a situation. This resolution states Otero County offices may reopen to pre-COVID-19 standards and that the use of face coverings is no longer mandatory.

All businesses, organizations, schools, and other institutions in Otero County are hereby requested to reopen to their normal occupancy, the resolution states. Decisions on opening, face masks and social distancing shall be at the sole discretion of the management of each entity.

As of March 31, Otero County reported 3,618 positive COVID-19 cases. Seventy-two deaths in the county were attributed to COVID-19.

The resolution also calls for the Otero County Sheriffs Office to assist local businesses and entities with resisting the public health orders whether that enforcement is by state or federal authorities.

ADVERTISEMENTSkip



................................................................

Otero County commissioners have a history of supporting resolutions that challenge the states mandatory public health orders. In a March 11 meeting, commissioners passed a resolution that called the orders unconstitutional on a series of grounds, including allegations that the governors emergency powers were meant for short-term issues and that the use by state officials of emergency power for extended periods is antidemocratic and is danger to the rights of the people, the resolution reads.

The March 11 resolution passed unanimously as did a similar resolution in August 2020.

However, the state Supreme Court has upheld the states authority to impose the public health mandates.
Mindy Corporon has chosen not to listen to court proceedings during Frazier Glenn Miller Jr.s recent appeal of his death sentence for killing Corporons father and son at the Jewish Community Center in Overland Park, Kan., and a third person at a nearby retirement center.

Instead, Corporon is concentrating on the upcoming release of her memoir about the tragedy and a week-long event later this month aimed at spurring people to make a positive difference in the world.

Everyone has a right to follow due process of law, said Corporon of Millers appeal, which is based on the assertion that he should not have been allowed to represent himself during the trial and sentencing, when he expressed no remorse for the 2014 shootings and yelled Heil Hitler.

ADVERTISEMENT



What our family continues to do is shine a light on hope and inspiration and kindness, said Corporon.

In spite of her focus on creating a better future, grappling with the past has not been easy for Corporon or her family.

In 2018, Corporon, her husband, Len Losen, and her younger son, Lukas Losen, relocated from the Kansas City area to Florida because Lukas needed healing. He was not healing, she said.

The trauma stems from April 13, 2014, when Miller, a lifelong anti-Semite, drove to the Jewish Community Center with the intent of killing Jews. But he killed William Corporon and his grandson Reat Griffin Underwood at the center and Terri LaManno at the nearby Village Shalom retirement center.

They were all Christian.

Miller was convicted in August 2015 of capital murder, three counts of attempted murder, and assault and weapons charges and sentenced to death later that year. He appealed the sentence on March 29.

Meanwhile, Corporon said her son Lukas is now a freshman at the University of Arkansas and thriving.

Corporons book, Healing a Shattered Soul, will be released May 3 and is available for preorder at Amazon and Barnes & Noble.

The book is a reflection of my personal journey receiving and offering courageous kindness, a guide to those grieving and in need of inspiration, and a tribute to the perpetual love of my father and son, Corporon writes on her website.

The author is also a motivational speaker and continues to lead her nonprofit, the Faith Always Wins Foundation, and produce an annual series, Seven Days  Make a Ripple Change the World.

This years event will take place virtually because of the COVID-19 pandemic and begins April 13 with Love Day, a celebration of the youth in Kansas City! We highlight teens making ripples of kindness, according to the website. Other events include an interfaith workshop on April 19 featuring Jewish, Christian, Muslim and Hindu religious leaders, and a networking event for women April 20.

Corporon also recently launched a business, Workplace Healing, to help people who have had a life disruption get associated back with work again. Its for employers to engage their employees in training to provide the knowledge and tools that people need so they can restore an employees productivity, she said.

For Corporon and her family, it wasnt just the move to Florida that allowed them to find some relief.

All humans have grief, but we all grieve individually, and even within our own household, we were grieving individually. What we had to do was be highly aware of that and get help in each instance, on each individual path along the way, she said. We held hands with a lot of people, and they held hands with us to help us on our journey.
Save Log in , register or subscribe to save articles for later. Normal text size Larger text size Very large text size All political careers end badly. This is an utterance often made, but I can attest to how it is more of an iron law than a piece of whimsy. Either the electorate will reject you or your colleagues will betray you, or if you try to anoint a hand-picked successor you will find your successor repudiates you. Even if you manage to leave on your terms, you are still likely to be seduced by delusion and go back into the burning house for the final incineration that you thought you had cleverly side-stepped. There are few exceptions. Those who escape tend to be those who can still recognise a wake-up call saying that the personal costs are getting too large. The life of a politician is quite unnatural, being an uncomfortable combination of celebrity, conflict, power and risk. I used to watch ministers walking to the chamber for Question Time with the bells ringing, clutching their folders and with a look on their faces which said: Is today the day I destroy my career? As a class, politicians tend to be risk-lovers, which explains why so many do inexplicable things. They wear scars from a highly adversarial working environment where they are continuously subjected to savage criticism, and a career structure where the pathway to success depends on the regard of their colleagues. Conflict is the nature of politics. It is how countries chart a new course, set priorities, make choices and resolve disputes. To deliver, a leader needs to be able to win an argument, stare down political opponents and marginalise any opposition. A leader who delivers will earn acclaim and is well placed to build a long career. Declining support for democracy elsewhere in the world and disenchantment with political leaders in general is no doubt linked to stagnant real incomes, rising inequality and the deep divisions that are appearing in many countries. To date, Australia has avoided the worst of the overseas experience, but there is a frustration and disengagement with political leadership in our country that is disturbing. Why is it that there have been some periods when great acts of leadership have been possible, and others when the country has seemed unable to deal with its problems? Prime Minister Scott Morrison and Opposition Leader Anthony Albanese during Question Time last year. Credit:Alex Ellinghausen There is a complicated story here involving how governments and decision-making are organised, but at its heart it is about what motivates our politicians.

Advertisement

Politics is a relative profession, with participants schooled in the notion that they only need to be better than their opponents to be successful. But a legacy is an absolute that needs to stand on its own  it requires broad recognition and must deliver lasting public benefit. Simply winning elections or holding high office is not enough. It can take time to see the full significance of somebodys contribution, but a legacy without consequence is usually immediately recognisable. The absence of supportive third-party endorsements is a good indicator, and there are certain other giveaways when a politician has added little to the public good. They tend to argue that black is white, they will repeat the same three points regardless of the question, and they will have a leadership style based around obfuscation and deflection. It is surprising that building a reputation and a legacy appears to be such a low priority for many politicians. They can be willing to lead an exceptionally harsh life, and take great risks with their personal relationships and their own wellbeing, for very little. This is puzzling behaviour. In 2008 I was in Canberra to present the Chris Higgins Prize to the student who had achieved the best result in the Australian National University course Case Studies in Applied Econometrics. As part of my prepared remarks, I made the observation that, based on my experience, which at that time was grounded in the Hawke-Keating years in Canberra, and my time in Washington as Australias ambassador during the early Clinton years, political figures can be divided into two groups. There are those who subscribe to the notion that if you are nice to the electorate, the electorate will be nice to you. The other group tends to believe that the electorate is much more impatient, and that unless you are being useful, they will inevitably tire of you and replace you. Loosely speaking, these two groups can be described as the pleasers and the doers. Pleasers try not to upset people and will seek approval from as many groups as possible. They will try and shield the electorate and themselves from bad news. Pleasers will be extremely interested in polling the views of people to be in a better position to please them. Doers, on the other hand, will identify problems. They tend to maintain a dialogue with the electorate and endeavour to educate and inform people. They will seek acknowledgement for tasks accomplished.

Advertisement

For a doer, transparency can be an asset. The identification of a problem can be the basis for their next challenge. For a pleaser, transparency can be scary. Once a problem is identified, it might need to be dealt with, which could have unpredictable and possibly painful consequences.I have observed that doers tend to have more fun. They also get to experience the exhilarating thrill of accomplishment and the knowledge that they have done something worthwhile. Pleasers find it hard to gain acknowledgement and live the life of a thousand miseries. Inside the ministers office To understand what political leadership means in the current context, we must consider changes to the framework in which ministers operate. There are three key influences here: the role of ministerial staff; the public service; and communicating with the public. The basic nature of ministerial offices has not altered that much since the Hawke-Keating years. What has changed is the nature and backgrounds of the staff. In the years after my return to public policy in 2011, I worked with 20-odd ministerial offices, as well as a premiers office and the PMO. What struck me was the diminished number of public servants across these offices. In the 1980s and 1990s, public servants on secondment would play a much more significant role. In fact, it was common practice for the head of a ministers office to be a relatively senior public servant. What does it mean to surround ministers with influential advisers who, by and large, no longer have public service or policy experience? Bob Hawke, Paul Keating, John Howard, Kevin Rudd, Julia Gillard, Tony Abbott and Malcolm Turnbull. Credit:Fairfax Media Time in a ministers office has always been viewed as a potential pathway to preselection and a political career, and Parliament House is clearly a strategic place to network and look for powerful mentors. However, the possibility of preselection for a House or Senate seat has not been a major motivator for career public servants recruited by ministers. The dramatic reduction in the number of public servants in ministers offices has meant that there are now many more advisers thinking of the time when they too will sit on the other side of the desk.

Advertisement

There are also now more advisers who see themselves as career ministerial staffers. Some move between state and Commonwealth roles; some consider themselves factionally aligned and expect to be looked after as ministers come and go; some see themselves as subject specialists; and some see themselves as generalists with an interest in tactics, communications or speechwriting. What these advisers are not are people experienced in public sector probity, administration and policymaking. Few can harness the strengths of the public service to the benefit of the minister. Many believe that the Australian Public Service is part of the problem and instinctively take an adversarial approach when dealing with their public service contacts. Those ministers who decide to head up their offices with an experienced public servant have tended to be more successful than those who do not. The standout success in this regard was Greg Combet, who chose Allan Behm, an experienced senior Defence official, as his chief of staff. Greg Combet was tasked by his prime minister, Julia Gillard, to develop and implement the Clean Energy Act 2011, a major piece of Commonwealth legislation. Those familiar with the Hawke-Keating era would have found the Combet office very recognisable. An office overly staffed with people experienced in conflict, crisis management and short-term political responsiveness will tend to approach everything from that perspective. Without the capacity to see the broader context, even a well-managed office, one adept at dealing with problems, will leave the minister adrift, with a limited ability to proactively control their destiny. Building a network of advice around ministers that restricts their capacity to think beyond the immediate does them no favours. It also weakens governments and certainly undermines the political process in delivering for the community. Morrison and the public service In December 2019, Prime Minister Scott Morrison released Delivering for Australians, which laid out the governments APS reform agenda. The publication also embodied the governments response to the Thodey Review of the public service, which was released at the same time and made 40 recommendations. In stating that it is Ministers who provide policy leadership and direction, Morrison was simply declaring what all Australian prime ministers since Whitlam have taken as an article of faith: ministers will not be dictated to by public servants.

Advertisement

Recommendation 11 of the Thodey Review called for the federal government to set guidance for ministerial offices for at least half of their policy advisers to have public service experience. This was rejected by the government, as were recommendations seeking to amend the Public Service Act, enshrining new principles of openness and integrity; make systematic changes to Cabinet and budget processes; establish an Integrated Strategy Office in the Department of Prime Minister & Cabinet; reinforce the leadership roles of the head of PM&C, the APS commissioner and portfolio secretaries; build more process around the appointment of agency heads; and establish more robust processes around the termination of secretaries. Given the adversarial stance of both major parties towards the public service when in office, the governments response was not that surprising. Prime ministers do not like to be hemmed in when it comes to appointing or dismissing secretaries, nor are they keen on increasing their powers in an ill-defined way. In his response to Thodey, the Prime Minister recognised the Commonwealths involvement in expanding new areas such as the National Disability Insurance Scheme, aged care, mental health and suicide prevention. As opposed to traditional Commonwealth service-delivery responsibilities such as pension payments, which rest on large, systems-based platforms, these new areas involve highly discretionary engagement with people and are more akin to the service-delivery responsibilities of the states. As is all too familiar to state ministers and premiers, things can go wrong when public servants need to use their judgment or are overseeing private providers and vulnerable people are involved. And when things go wrong, they can go wrong in an unconscionable way that brings a firestorm of public scrutiny. <i>Leadership</i> by Don Russell is published by Monash University Press. Credit: COVID-19 and its impact on aged care has already made the Commonwealth minister [Richard Colbeck] a focus of attention. I would anticipate that this level of scrutiny will be more damaging the more adversarial the nature of the relationship between ministers and public servants. Which brings me back to the core questions: What is the role of the public service and what is the role of the departmental secretary? And how is this related to political leadership and successful outcomes for governments and the community?

Advertisement
Ive viewed it from a speeding car, hurtling past at about 120km/hr for the best part of 20 years or more.

Always there to the right-hand side when you drive down the motorway onramp and steer the car in the general direction of Dublin.

It sits obvious in the field  prominent, grey, ruined, proud. Theres a rather unsightly-looking crack running from top to bottom; almost cleaving the tower structure in two.

When your life is limited to a 5km radius you start to see familiar things a little differently; see them with fresh eyes again. It helps that the mind is more idle these days; looking for anything new within a limited vista.

Dunmahon Castle, off the west side of the M1 motorway, lies in an empty field  bar some munching cattle  about 7km south of the town centre.

Theres not much to it these days, in fairness. A four-storey tower building with ivy taking a firm hold of certain sections. It does offer excellent views over the surrounding landscape and was well-chosen from a defensive viewpoint six hundred years ago.

Despite knowing of it and spotting it regularly for the better part of two or more decades, I had never thought to find out about it. I didnt even know the name of the castle until very recently.

A Google search brings up some quite fascinating historical conjecture as to what went on at Dunmahon Castle hundreds of years ago.

The grisly story (and demise) of the tower castle, and the poor souls that inhabited it, points the finger of blame to perhaps the evillest (and most obvious) villain this part of the world has ever known. Step forward Mr Oliver Cromwell.

When you see a ruined castle or other historically significant fixer-upper, you sometimes forget, in its sad, lifeless modern guise, that it once would have been a vibrant, busy building for, sometimes many hundreds of years.

Dunmahon Castle is just the same. Built in the 15th century, it remained inhabited and in use for well over 200 years  an astonishing lifespan for most buildings, when you think about it.

But the castles happier days are overshadowed by what happened in the 1640s, towards the end of its days of use. According to some rather divergent and not altogether cogent reports, up to 300 people were massacred by Cromwells army, having taken refuge within its walls.

The Journal of the County Louth Archaeological Society from 1947 even attributes a poem to the terrible event, which was found within manuscripts collected by a Nicholas OKearney one hundred years beforehand. The manuscripts are titled, imaginatively: On Dunmahon Castle.

The differing accounts of the Sack of Dunmahon Castle are said to have some glaring inconsistencies, according to a Mr Henry Morris of the Louth Archaeological Society, who, examined articles about the events behind the massacre that were published in the Dundalk Examiner newspaper in 1881.

While two accounts finger Cromwell as the bad guy, the dates are hazy to say the least. One says the slaying of the innocents took place in March 1641; however, Cromwell didnt arrive in Ireland for another eight full years, in 1649.

Theres also a tale which wouldnt have seemed out of place in an episode of Game of Thrones. Allegedly, a Mr Charles Townley, who commanded the garrison of Dundalk at the time, managed to inveigle his way into Dunmahon Castle, which was under the protection of the Lord Baron of Louth, Mr Thomas Bawn Plunket, through his pretended affection for Plunkets daughter.

He then went on to slaughter 309 people, including a poor priest who was in the middle of saying mass when the bloodletting began.

Having studied the conflicting evidence, Henry Morris was even less certain of the truth though. He questions the perpetrator, the date and the name of the castles occupier.

Which leaves a rather large question mark hanging over the whole sorry affair, in fairness.

Still, something of sad and tragic note happened there over 400 years ago and the place has a foreboding feel to it to this day, if you ever get a chance to see it up close. Bear in mind, it is on private property, so asking permission would be beneficial.

Another hidden piece of local history which surprised me when it revealed itself to me last week, is in a less obvious and more public spot closer to the town centre.

Along the bypass, beside the Finnabair Business Park, on the very edge of the road, surrounded by a three-foot-high square enclosure, lies the remains of a souterrain. Its been hidden in plain sight since the business park was constructed several decades ago.

Now, theres not much left when you peer over the low wall  a small, collapsed entrance to a mineshaft is the most youll see today, but back in the day - which was around 1000AD-ish  it would have been used as a place of underground refuge during attack or to store food.

While looking for further information on this souterrain, I happened upon a story published in the Irish Times in 2003; which will neatly bring this archaeological tangent right back to where we started out at the top of this piece.

The Times article would lead me to a report in the Democrats own archives from September 20th of that year which reported that a souterrain in the Haggardstown/Blackrock area (between Sextons Pub and the Green Gates) had been destroyed shortly after its discovery. Which prompted much understandable anger at the next local council meeting.

You see, a housing development was being built at the location and when the Democrat went to the site, the souterrain was already being filled in by heavy construction vehicles.

It was subsequently described as disgraceful and an act of cultural vandalism, by two vexed local councillors.

The Demo reported: The entrance of the site was discovered in the middle of a potato field by Pat Rafferty and his son Pat Jnr.

The Irish Times article adds that the duo were out walking a dog when they stumbled upon the historic passageway by chance.

The Democrat report concludes: A similar site was found in the same area in 1973, according to local historian Rory Conlon, who believes it may be part of a tunnel system that linked Heynestown or Dunmahon Castles.

The plot thickens.
(Natural News) Earthworms typically tunnel to the surface after a rainstorm and writhe on top of the soil and sidewalks. But a pack of worms in New Jersey did more than just litter the ground after a heavy downpour.

On March 25, a woman from Hoboken spotted hundreds of worms congregating to form a weird, tornado-like shape on a walkway near Maxwell Place Park. The woman, who asked not to be named, said that the worms were not actively forming a spiral when she arrived. She found the creepy crawlers writhing and spread out all over the place, clinging on the wall of a nearby building or dribbling down the curb and into the road.

She snapped pictures of the wormnado and sent them to Hoboken City Council member Tiffanie Fisher, who shared them on Facebook.

Has anyone ever seen anything like this? Fisher wrote in the post. This is a tornado of worms that were out this morning near Maxwell Park in Hoboken.

Why did the worms form a spiral?

Worms breathe through their skin, so they resurface after heavy or persistent rainfall to avoid drowning. While earthworms are typically solitary, they sometimes form herds  dense knots made up of tens to thousands of worms  when they are on the surface.

According to a 2010 study, earthworms of the species Eisenia fetida form clusters because they use touch instead of chemical signals to influence each other to select a common direction during their migration. This collective behavior helps them survive threats such as flooding, drought and predators.

In 2015, for example, park rangers at Eisenhower State Park in Texas found several masses of live pink earthworms on the parks backroad after heavy flooding. Officials surmised that the worms clumped together for protection and as a form of group communication.

But these worms congregated in lumps while those at Hoboken, whose species remains unknown, were spread thinly in a spiral.

This tornado shape is really interesting, Kyungsoo Yoo, a professor of soil and climate science at the University of Minnesota, told Live Science. Yoo said that though worms are known for emerging en masse from the soil after rain, he had never seen them form a spiral before.

Some people online opined that biblical plagues were behind the bizarre cluster while others argued that the worms were preparing for the Worm Moon, the supermoon that brightened the sky on March 28.

Others speculated that the creatures were in the middle of a death spiral, a phenomenon commonly observed in army ants that has gotten separated from their colony. These army ants eventually lose their colonys pheromone trail and begin following each other in an endless loop until they die of exhaustion. Besides army ants, the death spiral has also been observed in caterpillars and koi fish.

Another theory was that a small electromagnetic field created by nearby lampposts messed up the worms navigation. Some worms have magnetosensation, or the ability to sense magnetic fields, which they use to find food and navigate their surroundings. (Related: Worms are cool: They can regrow their brains if they lose their heads.)

Wormnado may be a sign of a sinkhole

Saad Bhamla, an assistant professor of chemical and biomolecular engineering at the Georgia Institute of Technology (Georgia Tech), suggested that sudden changes in the soils water, along with the shape of the landscape, could explain the appearance of the wormnado.

The ground there could be dipped, Bhamla told Live Science. If the water drained that way after flooding, the worms could be following a water gradient.

Bhamla and his colleagues observed this type of behavior before in California blackworms, which form an enormous living knot known as blobs when threatened by dry conditions. Weve seen them follow trails of water and form all kinds of paths and aggregate structures. These aggregations occur once water leaves, Bhamla said.

Harry Tuazon, a doctoral candidate at Georgia Techs Interdisciplinary Bioengineering Graduate Program, also thought that the circular pattern might have been indicative of water draining.

Perhaps a sinkhole is forming? It would be interesting if a bunch of earthworms provided telltale signs of a forming sinkhole, he remarked. Sinkholes form when groundwater dissolves the rock below the surface, creating cavities. The surface usually stays intact for a while until the cavities have grown too big, at which point the land caves in. (Related: Scientists to investigate mysterious underwater sinkhole off Florida coast.)

In any case, whatever caused the wormnado probably didnt last. The woman who took the picture said that the swirl had disappeared when she returned to the park a few hours later, though worms were still all over the place.

Learn more about animals and their amazing biology at Ecology.news.

Sources include:

DailyMail.co.uk

Independent.co.uk

LiveScience.com

USGS.gov
An urgent appeal has been launched to find a 15-year-old girl who has been missing for five days.

Nyala James, from Polegate in Wealden, Sussex, has been missing since Tuesday, March 30.

She is described as being 5'7 tall with a slim build, mixed race in appearance with brown hair and shoulder-length dark reddish hair.

Nyala James, from Polegate in Wealden, has been missing since Tuesday, March 30. Police believe she may be in the Croydon area of south London

When she was spotted earlier in the week, Nyala was seen wearing a dark green puff jacket, skinny jeans and black trainers.

Police believe she may be in the Croydon area of south London.

Anyone with further information is urged to get in contact with the police.

Sussex Police said in a statement: 'Police are searching for 15-year-old Nyala James who has been missing from her home in Polegate, East Sussex, since Tuesday (30 March).

'It is believed she may be in the Croydon Area.

'Nyala is mixed-race in appearance, 57 tall and of slim build, with brown hair and shoulder-length dark reddish hair. She was last seen wearing a short, dark green puffa jacket, skinny jeans and black trainers.

'If you see her or have information as to her whereabouts, please contact Sussex Police by calling 101 or reporting online quoting 226 of 30/3.'
Services at the Tyrone and Fermanagh-based South West College were seriously disrupted by the attack, reported to the PSNI on March 15, which left the college's IT system out of operation

Police are investigating after a Further and Higher Education College was forced to close all its buildings to students and staff for a week following a cyber attack which breached security systems.

Services at the Tyrone and Fermanagh-based South West College were seriously disrupted by the attack, reported to the PSNI on March 15, which left the college's IT system out of operation.

Police confirmed that investigations into the security breach are ongoing.

South West College is located in Cookstown, Dungannon, Enniskillen and Omagh.

Across the four sites, the college caters for more than 14,000 students and employs more than 500 full and part-time staff.

As a precaution, and to allow the investigation into the breach to take place, access to the college campus was withdrawn for a week after the incident.

In a notice to staff and students, seen by this newspaper, Michael McAlister, the college's chief executive, said: "We can now confirm that the college was the victim of a cyber-incident. A comprehensive investigation is ongoing and we have engaged third party IT security specialists to support us."

"We have informed the Information Commissioner's Office as well as police, who are investigating.

"We take the security of our systems extremely seriously and were able to respond quickly to this incident," he added. "We are in the process of assessing the extent to which the college's systems have been impacted."

Mr McAlister said the main teaching and communications were unharmed, but several other systems were affected.

"Fortunately our main teaching and learning communications systems remained operational, including e-mail, Canvas, Blackboard and one-drive," he said.

"We will continue to roll out network functionality and aim to do this as quickly as possible so as to minimise disruption.

Mr McAllister confirmed that due to the ongoing investigation, the college systems were out of operation.

"Some systems including EBS, e-registers, remote desktop access and reporting services were temporarily brought offline."

"Your health, safety and that of our students remain our number one priority," he told staff and pupils. "In order to allow us to manage this incident we took the decision to close our campus for the week to all student and staff access to allow further investigations.

"Our investigations into this incident remain ongoing."
She announced she was expecting her first child with fiance Luke Bennett last month.

And Manon Lagreve shared a sweet snap of her growing baby bump to Instagram on Saturday.

The French baker, 29, looked radiant as she cradled her bump in a green floral maxi dress.

Bun in the oven: Bake Off's Manon Lagreve shared a sweet snap of her growing baby bump on Instagram on Saturday, after announcing she is expecting her first child last month

Manon looked stunning as she relaxed in the sunshine. Her blonde locks were pulled back off her face in a pony tail and she wore tortoiseshell sunglasses.

In the caption she wrote 'Joyeuses Pacques Petit Cur' which means Happy Easter Little Heart.

She continued: 'Mama is going to make sure to eat enough chocolate eggs for two, to make sure you dont miss out.'

'Hope you guys have a great Easter weekend! I have my hot cross buns ready to bake this morning, and already thinking about what to make for dessert for tomorrow.'

Happy couple: The French baker, 28, shared the happy news that she was expecting her first child with fiance Luke Bennett last month (pictured in January)

Manon revealed her exciting baby news last month to Hello! magazine: 'I grew up knowing I wanted to be a mum so I'm very happy and relaxed with being pregnant.'

'The baby will be with me in the kitchen from the day it's born,' she said.

'We are so happy to be having a summer baby and the due date is on Luke's birthday - it feels like it's meant to be,' she gushed.

The former Great British Bake Off contestant also explained how much she wants to raise her child to be bilingual.

Big news: Manon revealed her exciting baby news last month to Hello! magazine: 'I grew up knowing I wanted to be a mum so I'm very happy and relaxed with being pregnant'

Manon said: 'That is one of the best gifts we can give them, so we're going to work hard at it.'

'I'd like the baby to be French speaking at home and then use English outside the home,' she explained.

Manon is planning to get married to her fiance Luke next year in her hometown of Louvigne-De-Desert, Brittany, France.

Her boyfriend popped the question last November while the couple were on a romantic trip to Barbados.

The French baker confirmed at the time that her boyfriend had 'dropped to one knee' with a stunning sapphire ring shortly after they arrived at their boutique hotel during the Caribbean holiday.

Manon admitted it had not been a surprise, saying: 'We'd been talking about getting married for a while. It was love at first sight...

'We were boyfriend and girlfriend after two weeks and I moved in with him within four months. When you find the one, you just know.'
The Mail-based miner had a transformational 2020, acquiring a proven gold mine and seeking to sell a promising lithium project.

We have all the ingredients for success; great people, great assets and a good culture, says chairman.

Firefinch Ltd (ASX:FFX) (OTCMKTS:EEYMF) (FRA:N9F) outlined its golden recipe for future success to investors in its 2020 annual report, released on Thursday.

The company has bold plans to produce 200,000 ounces of gold a year, as it aims to become a mid-tier gold producer.

Its key asset is the operating Morila Gold Project in Mali, which has a measured resource estimate of 3.15 million tonnes at 0.5 g/t gold, while the company is actively seeking the right partner for its Goulamina Lithium Project.

Plenty to look forward to

Firefinch executive chairman Dr Alistair Cowden, who will resume his previous role as non-executive chairman now that Dr Michael Anderson has been appointed as managing director, said shareholders could look forward to a bumper 2021.

I step back after a year as executive chairman with some pride, as we have all the ingredients for success; great people, great assets and a good culture, he said.

There is a sense of excitement and momentum around your company and Firefinch now is essentially a new company, with new projects, new investors and a clear path to wealth creation; a Firefinch taking flight.

As previously reported by Proactive, Firefinch undertook a definitive feasibility study on Goulamina, which underlined its status as one of the worlds best undeveloped hard rock lithium deposits, Dr Cowden said.

Morila potential

In 2020 Firefinch made a transformational acquisition with its US$29.7 million purchase of the Morila gold mine, adjacent to the companys existing Massigui Gold Project, after raising an impressive $74 million from existing and new shareholders.

Dr Cowden described the purchase as a remarkable turning point in the companys history.

This asset is transformational, he said. Firefinch is now a gold producer with over 200 employees and 400 contractors in Mali.

Your team has defined a 2.35-million-ounce resource at Morila, has largely refurbished the processing plant and tailings dam, and is nearing completion of a Life of Mine Plan which is targeting sustained 150,000 to 200,000 ounces per annum of gold production.

This rapid transformation has allowed us to rebuild board and management capability and

we are delighted to have attracted talent of such a high calibre.

Just this week Firefinch returned impressive drilling results at the projects Viper deposit, highlighted by an intercept of 5 metres at 17.7 g/t from 37 metres.

Next steps

Infill drilling is in progress at Viper to reduce drill spacing in these areas from 40 metres to 20 metres.

On completion of these holes, further holes will be completed to test down dip of better intersections.

Assay turnaround time from the independently operated on-site laboratory at Morila is about two to three weeks.

The company is working towards completing a life of mine (LoM) plan for the Morila gold mine.

Drilling has been underway at the Koting, NTiola, Viper and Pit 5 satellite deposits for some months and there is a backlog of 5,000 samples awaiting assay at both the Morila laboratory and at commercial laboratories.

The drilling will enable an estimate of new mineral resources for these deposits, the design of mine plans and the estimation of ore reserves.

It is expected that this information will be available by late April and permit the completion of the LoM plan for release to market thereafter.

Meanwhile, Firefinch continues to work with Macquarie Capital which is assisting in securing a partner, financing and offtake for the Goulamina Lithium Project, as well as advising on the possible demerger of the lithium and gold businesses into two separate, ASX-listed companies.

Firefinch shareholders are expected to receive a pro-rata allocation of shares in the proposed new lithium focused company with further details to be provided when available.

- Daniel Paproth
Pranksters have discovered Rep. Matt Gaetz's Venmo account and are using the money-sharing app to troll the congressman with offers of cash in the wake of mounting sexual allegations against him.

The congressman, who is under investigation by the Justice Department for allegedly having sex with a 17-year-old girl and trafficking her across state lines, has been mocked with donations listed as 'bail cash', 'legal defense fund' and even 'FBI extortion money'.

Severals users referenced their donations as bail money, while one sent Gaetz a donation with the note: 'Penny for your thoughts from prison.'

Another commented that the donation was for a 'legal defense fund for your sex trafficking charges', and a third simply stated: 'Have fun in jail'.

Rep. Matt Gaetz, who is facing mounting sexual allegations, is being trolled on Venmo, with jokers making donations listed as 'bail cash', 'legal defense fund' and 'FBI extortion money'

Pranksters are blasting Matt Gaetz's account on the money-sharing app with small donations and scathing comments in the wake of mounting sexual allegations against him

Social media has picked up on the trolling, with one Tweet stating: 'People have discovered Matt Gaetz Venmo and it's not pretty.'

Another asked: 'Are people actually paying Matt Gaetz just to leave hate mail on his Venmo? It is a unique fundraising strategy.'

Although the amount of each donation is not shown, it seems that each one is minimal, with Twitter users revealing that you can send as little as one cent on Venmo.

One Tweeted: 'I gave him a dime. Even felons deserve a snack from the commissary from time to time.'

The engaged congressman, 38, is expected to be indicted in a federal court over the next few weeks in connection to sexual activity with at least one minor, who testified before a Florida grand jury that she had sex with him before she turned 18, DailyMail.com has learned.

Investigators have also reportedly been looking into allegations he paid women via Apple Pay for ecstasy-fueled sex at Florida hotels after being introduced to them by former tax collector Joel Greenberg.

Social media has picked up on the trolling with Twitter users sharing the Venmo comments

Greenberg is currently in jail awaiting trial on sex trafficking charges related to a minor aged between 14 and 17 across a six-month period in 2017.

Sources said the minor is the same 17-year-old girl at the center of Gaetz's sex trafficking probe and the DOJ is investigating whether other men connected to the two men also had sex with the child.

Gaetz has denied the allegations and instead claimed he is the victim of an elaborate extortion plot by a former Justice Department official seeking to free an American hostage from Iran.

The Trump ally was elected to the House of Representatives in 2016. Prior to this, he represented Florida's 4th House district in the Florida House of Representatives in Tallahassee from 2010 to 2016.

Gaetz hit out at the media Friday night for covering the allegations against him claiming it 'protects Democrats and seeks to attack Republicans'.

'The media protects Democrats and seeks to attack Republicans,' tweeted Gaetz.

'But when it comes to Trump Republicans, and certainly Trump himself, the left levels the punishment before the facts are even known.'

Severals users referenced their donations as bail money, while one sent Gaetz a donation with the note: 'Penny for your thoughts from prison'

Although the amount of each donation is not shown, it seems that each one is minimal, with Twitter users revealing that you can send as little as one cent on Venmo

Reports surfaced this week claiming he had also showed off naked photos of women he said he had slept with to other lawmakers on the House floor and that he has been warned in the past about behaving professionally in Congress.

Multiple sources, including two people who said they had been shown the compromising photos first hand, told CNN the congressman displayed the images of the women on his phone including while he was on the House floor at the US Capitol.

One source described one video showing a naked woman with a hula hoop, as another said 'it was a point of pride' for Gaetz to show the images off.

There is no evidence that the nude photos are in any way connected to the DOJ's probe into allegations of sex trafficking. It is also unclear when these alleged encounters took place.

Gaetz has denied the allegations and instead claimed he is the victim of an elaborate extortion plot by a former Justice Department official seeking to free an American hostage from Iran

Gaetz is engaged to food analyst Ginger Luckey, 26. The couple met at Mar-a-Lago early 2020 and he proposed at the club in December.

Luckey has not spoken publicly since news of the DOJ probe broke or to comment on the reports into her fiance's behavior.

'He's a cancer on the party': GOP members past and present stay silent on support for Matt Gaetz

GOP members past and present have remained silent on their support for 'media-hungry' Congressman Matt Gaetz, who continues to refuse to resign and has hit out at the 'left' claiming it 'levels the punishment before the facts are even known'.

The Florida lawmaker and close Trump ally has found few friends on Capitol Hill since the scandal erupted this week revealing he is under investigation by the DOJ for having sex with a 17-year-old girl and trafficking her across state lines.

Out of 30 current and former Republican party members approached by Business Insider, only a handful would comment on whether they had reached out to the congressman or offered him advice in recent days.

Those who would speak had far from favorable things to say about the 38-year-old, calling him a 'cancer on the party' and claiming his political agenda merely centers around 'getting more clicks.'

Calls are mounting for him to resign from office with Meghan McCain demanding his removal while House Speaker Nancy Pelosi and House Minority Leader Kevin McCarthy said he should be kicked off his House committees if the claims against him are true.

A defiant Gaetz continues to claim he is the victim - of an elaborate extortion plot - and has vowed not to stand down, telling the Washington Examiner in a text Friday afternoon: 'I'm not resigning.'

Several social media users accused the Republican party of hypocrisy after many GOP lawmakers called for New York Governor Andrew Cuomo to resign over over allegations of sexual harassment.

'Republicans went on a soapbox demanding Gov. Cuomo resign. I have yet to see or hear one Republican call for Matt Gaetz resignation! Not one!' one person wrote.

'Dude allegedly shared pics/videos of women he slept with on the House floor. I mean...'

GOP members have fallen silent this week over the allegations, neither coming out in a show of support for Gaetz or condemning his alleged behavior.

According to Insider, only four of 30 Republicans including all the sitting Florida Republicans in the 117th Congress, fellow promoters of Trump's false claims of election fraud, former Trump appointees, local party leaders, Gaetz's colleagues from his time in the Tallahassee state house, and political strategists, would comment when approached about the congressman.

Former Republican Rep. Barbara Comstock of Virginia, whose time on Capitol Hill overlapped with Gaetz for two years, told Insider Gaetz was a 'cancer' for the Republican party and that she would be glad to see the back of him.

'Like Trump, he's a cancer on the party,' she said.

Former Republican Rep. Barbara Comstock of Virginia, whose time on Capitol Hill overlapped with Gaetz for two years, told Insider Gaetz was a 'cancer' for the Republican party and that she would be glad to see the back of him

Comstock also said she believes it 'speaks volumes' that Donald Trump has remained silent on the allegations against Gaetz, given the two men are close and the congressman has publicly supported the ex-president in his own hours of need.

Gaetz backed the former president during both impeachment trials and has been a regular fixture at his Mar-a-Lago estate - even proposing to his fiancee there in December.

The congressman also falsely claimed that the MAGA mob rioters that stormed the Capitol leaving five dead on January 6 were Antifa.

'Okay, you spent your whole four years pretty much sucking up and defending Trump. And where's Donald Trump? Where's Trump Jr.? Where are all these people who you spent all your time [with], instead of your constituents?' Comstock said.

'They aren't there for you. I think that speaks volumes.'

Former Rep. Denver Riggleman (left) hit out at Gaetz accusing him of throwing his support behind the 'crazy caucus' to get 'more clicks'. Mac Stipanovich (right), a long-time Republican strategist and lobbyist, said Gaetz is not well-liked even within his own party

Denver Riggleman, who served as the US Representative for Virginia's 5th congressional district from 2018 to 2020, also hit out at Gaetz accusing him of throwing his support behind the 'crazy caucus' to get attention and feed his ego.

He is 'really supporting the crazy caucus in a way that gets you more clicks,' he said.

'You see people who get drunk on their own bathwater. They drink it and drink it, until they can't take anymore.'

Mac Stipanovich, a long-time Republican strategist and lobbyist who now has no party affiliation, said Gaetz is not well-liked even within his own party.

'He is a slasher, and that does not endear you to people, even people on your side,' he said.

Even some of Gaetz's allies 'probably don't include his good health in their prayers every night,' said Stipanovich, who has been fishing with the congressman before.

Publicly, just two of 211 congressional Republicans have said they stand by Gaetz.

They are Marjorie Taylor Greene and Jim Jordan, both of whom have been plagued by their own scandals.

Greene is the QAnon-supporting freshman Georgia lawmaker who was stripped of her committee assignments in February as it emerged she had pushed unfounded conspiracy theories and showed support for executing top Democrats before being elected to Congress.

Meanwhile Jordan, who is also a Trump loyalist, was accused in 2018 of covering up sexual abuse by a team doctor at Ohio State University when he was a coach at the college from 1986 to 1994. Jordan has denied the allegations.

Jordan told CNN this week: 'I believe Matt Gaetz.'
A Place for All Conservatives to Speak Their Mind.
Rescue workers remove a part of the derailed train near Taroko Gorge in Hualien, Taiwan (Chiang Ying-ying/AP)

Prosecutors in Taiwan said they have questioned the owner of an unmanned truck that rolled onto a rail track on Friday and caused the countrys worst train disaster in decades.

The train was carrying 494 people at the start of a long holiday weekend when it smashed into a construction truck that slid down a hillside above the tracks, the Taiwan Railway Administration said.

Fifty-one people died in the incident while 146 were injured.

Many passengers were crushed just before the train entered a tunnel, while some survivors were forced to climb out of windows and walk along the trains roof to safety.

The trucks emergency brake was not properly engaged, according to the governments disaster relief centre.

Expand Close Fifty-one people died in the crash (Chiang Ying-ying/AP) / Facebook

Twitter

Email

Whatsapp Fifty-one people died in the crash (Chiang Ying-ying/AP)

The district prosecutors office in eastern Hualien County, where the train derailed, confirmed it had interviewed the truck owner, among others, but was not ready to file charges.

Prosecutorial staff were visiting a mortuary on Saturday to examine the bodies, office spokeswoman Chou Fang-yi said.

President Tsai Ing-wen was due to visit the site later on Saturday.

We have asked the Transportation Safety Committee to conduct a strict investigation of the accident, and after fully clarifying the cause of the accident, we will explain it to everyone, Ms Tsai told reporters on Friday.

Were asking passengers to forgive us for any delays, she said.

Workers have begun removing some of the train cars. Two large construction cranes could be seen drawn up next to the train on Saturday morning, as workers examined and removed some parts in a remote wooded cliff area on the islands east coast.

Expand Close No charges have yet been filed (Chiang Ying-ying/AP) / Facebook

Twitter

Email

Whatsapp No charges have yet been filed (Chiang Ying-ying/AP)

Repair work has also begun on the tracks including the tunnel where part of the eight-car train crashed.

The operation should be done within a week, said Weng Hui-ping, head of the railway administrations news group.

During the repairs, all east coast trains will run on a track parallel to the one damaged in the accident, causing delays of 15 to 20 minutes, he said.

The National Fire Service confirmed the death toll  which included the trains young, newly married driver and the assistant driver.

Train travel is popular during Taiwans four-day Tomb Sweeping holiday, when families often return to hometowns to pay respects at the gravesites of their elders.
Gorey Family Eyecare is a brand new independent business set up by Wexford optician Michelle Stokes who promises to provide clients with a unique and personal eye care experience at the McDermott Street premises.

Michelle qualified in 2000 as a dispensing optician whilst working in Martin Crowes on Gorey's Esmonde Street and she said that after two decades in the industry, she is optimistic for the future despite the pandemic.

'The first lockdown gave me time to sit back and evaluate what's important in life. For me it's my son James and I was spending far too many hours away from him and missing out on time that I will never get back. I took the leap of faith that I have been pondering over for so many years and I've no regrets so far. There is a lovely feel to this practice, and it feels like home. The street itself is always busy so I'm very optimistic about the future here.

'Back in the 2000s after a few years at Martin Crowes I wanted to try working in another area in the optical industry so I took a position as sales manager for Sola lenses in Wexford, which is now Carl Zeiss Vision. After this I took a few years out when I became a mother but have been back working since 2011, commuting to Dundrum in Dublin.

'I worked for Thomas Carroll Opticians in Dublin who specialise in paediatric dispensing. I saw children from all over Ireland who travelled to Dublin to be fitted for glasses. These were children with complicated prescriptions, children with autism and down syndrome. The training I got in those few years was amazing and is definitely a huge factor in the way I wanted my own practice to turn out'.

Having a particular interest in the child's experience of eye care, Gorey Family Eyecare has a special children's room which focuses on making the experience easy, fun and memorable.

Michelle focuses on contact lenses with onsite glazing and cutting, comprehensive eye examinations with retinal photography and visual fields screening.

Gorey Family Eyecare carries an extensive range of both designer and non-branded spectacle frames to suit all ages, with both prescription and non-prescription sunglasses.

A full range of stock and services is available to browse on www.goreyfamilyeyecare.ie and appointments can also be booked online during Level 5 restrictions.
Sinn Fein has hired a former Facebook manager whose digital consultancy business has operations in Ireland and Serbia to provide social support to the party on both sides of the Atlantic.

ODV Digital has bases in Stoneybatter in Dublin and Belgrade in Serbia.

The owner of the social media consultancy firm is Clare ODonoghue Velikic, a former Facebook government and politics client partner .

Ms ODonoghue Velikic has been providing social media services to Sinn Fein in Ireland and Friends of Sinn Fein USA.

Sinn Fein said the services provided by ODV Digital were entirely separate to consultancy work Ms ODonoghue Velikic had been paid for by Friends of Sinn Fein USA.

The Dublin-based digital consultant worked for Facebook for almost a decade and founded the controversial tech companys Government and Politics Marketing Solutions team.

According to her LinkedIn profile during her time in Facebook, she established and maintained trusting relationships with political parties and Government stakeholders in Downing Street.

She is an ardent supporter of paid-for political advertising on social media.

Ms ODonoghue Velikic described the impact of the Cambridge Analytica Facebook data scandal that emerged after the Brexit referendum as overstated in an article she wrote for The Guardian newspaper in Britain.

In it, she also criticised Twitters decision to ban political ads, saying that if political advertising was banned on all social media platforms it would push campaigning back into the shadows and result in parties finding more underhand ways to reach voters.

She also worked as head of paid social for the Together for Yes campaign during the Eighth Amendment of the Constitution campaign.

Details of Ms ODonoghue Velikics links with Sinn Fein emerged after Fine Gael Senator John Cummins questioned why the partys Facebook account was being managed from Serbia.

Facebook ad library information showed the partys account was managed by two people from Serbia and several Sinn Fein TDs accounts were being operated from Germany. Mr Cummins questioned why this was happening and called on Sinn Fein to explain.

In a statement, the party said its advertising on Facebook is managed in Ireland, in full compliance with Facebooks advertising policies.

A party supporter who is now based in Germany works for our social media team. In Serbia, we have two party supporters who occasionally help out our social media team. This information is publicly listed on Facebook, a spokesperson added.

When Sinn Feins comments were published, the partys online supporters, including current and former members of their communications team, flooded social media with criticisms of the decision to publish details of the partys links to Serbia. At first, Sinn Fein refused to answer questions about how those who manage their social media from abroad were paid for their work.

Ms ODonoghue Velikic told the Irish Independent she regularly travelled to Serbia with her partner before the Covid-19 pandemic.

She said her sister and her friend were currently based in Serbia and help her with the social media side of her business. They were not paid for their work and she described them as Sinn Fein supporters.

She refused to say whether she was working directly with Sinn Fein in Ireland, saying she would not discuss current clients and had signed a non-disclosure agreement with Mary Lou McDonalds party.

Contract

However, a Sinn Fein spokesperson confirmed ODV Digital provides digital services to the party on a contract basis.

Ms ODonoghue Velikic confirmed she provided consultancy services to Friends of Sinn Fein USA.

Publicly filed documents in the US show she was hired on two occasions by the US-based fundraising organisation.

The former Facebook manager said she was helping the organisation with its social media output in the US.

I am 100pc clear that any payment received for work with Friends of Sinn Fein was 100pc for work within the US, she said.

A Sinn Fein spokesperson said: Services provided to Friends of Sinn Fein are entirely separate to services provided to Sinn Fein.
LOS ANGELES - The University of California is warning its students and staff that a ransomware group might have stolen and published their personal data and that of hundreds of other schools, government agencies and companies nationwide.

LOS ANGELES - The University of California is warning its students and staff that a ransomware group might have stolen and published their personal data and that of hundreds of other schools, government agencies and companies nationwide.

A cybersecurity attack targeted a vulnerability in Accellion, a third-party vendor that is used to securely transfer files, the university said in a statement Wednesday.

We understand those behind this attack have published online screenshots of personal information, and we will notify members of the UC community if we believe their data was leaked in this manner," the university said.

The hacker or hackers also have been sending threatening mass emails threatening to publish data in an attempt to scare people into giving them money," the statement said.

In an update Friday, the university system said the cyberattack affected about 300 organizations, including universities, government institutions and private companies."

Other schools, including Stanford University's School of Medicine and Yeshiva University in New York City, have reported that student and employee Social Security numbers and financial information were stolen and that some were posted online.

The information was obtained in December and January when hackers exploited a vulnerability in a 20-year-old Accellion file transfer service, various reports have said. However, some organizations said they only recently became aware of the breach.

The Baltimore Sun on Thursday reported that private information of staff members and students at the University of Maryland, Baltimore was posted online this week. The school said a hacking group known as Clop gained access to Accellion in December, the Sun said.

The University of Colorado and the University of Miami reported that files were accessed in January and included personal data and some health, study and research data.

The Washington State Auditor's Office reported last month that information on nearly 1.5 million unemployment applicants had been stolen.

Accellion released a statement in March that said it had closed all known" vulnerabilities and no new ones had been found.

Ransomware attacks on a massive scale and seeking massive payouts have hit several organizations in recent months.

In an unrelated attack, the computer system of one of the nations largest school districts was hacked by a criminal gang that encrypted district data and demanded $40 million in ransom or it would erase the files and post students and employees personal information online. Broward County Public Schools, based in Fort Lauderdale, said in a statement Thursday that there is no indication that any personal information has been stolen and that it made no extortion payment to the ransomware gang.

An epidemic of ransomware attacks has been plaguing government agencies, businesses and individuals for the past three years. Most are Russian-speaking gangs based in Eastern Europe and enjoy safe harbour from tolerant governments. The more sophisticated groups identify their targets in advance, infect networks through phishing or other means and often steal data as they plant malware that encrypts a victims network.

After the ransomware is activated, the criminals demand money to unlock the malware and refrain from posting  or selling  stolen data. In the case of corporations, that data could be trade secrets. In the case of retailers or government agencies it could be Social Security, bank account numbers and birth dates.

Public school districts have been frequent targets of ransomware attacks. Overall, ransomware attacks disrupted learning at 1,681 schools, colleges, and universities in 2020 and at least 544 so far this year, said analyst Brett Callow at Emsisoft, a cybersecurity firm. Seven districts had personal data published.

The average ransom paid for to hacking gangs nearly tripled from $115,000 in 2019 to $312,000 in 2020, according to the cybersecurity firm Palo Alto Networks. It said the highest ransom paid by an organization doubled last year from to $10 million, up from $5 million in 2019.
ISTANBUL  Their happiness shines out of the photograph: 14 graduates of Turkeys Air Force Academy celebrating their completion of a flight training program with a picture together in front of a fighter jet.

Within months, all but one of the group would be in jail, accused of joining a 2016 coup attempt that brought blood to the streets and threw the country into turmoil from which it has yet to emerge. Last November, 13 of them  the other was not on base, because he was getting married  were found guilty of trying to overthrow the constitutional order and sentenced to life in prison, their military careers and their dreams of flying F-16s dashed.

President Recep Tayyip Erdogan faced down the coup attempt and cracked down hard in the aftermath, imposing a state of emergency for two years, detaining 100,000 people and purging 150,000 public employees from their jobs. More than 8,000 military personnel were prosecuted for their part in the insurrection, including more than 600 trainees, cadets and conscripts  most in their early 20s  whose misfortune was to have been given orders that night.

Their fate has been largely overlooked in Turkey, where government rhetoric against the coup perpetrators is strident and families and lawyers of the defendants have been scared to speak out. But after the 13 were sentenced to life in prison  12 of them receiving aggravated life, the harshest form of life sentence, without parole  some of their families decided to break their silence.
April 3, 1946

Payless payday problem solved

Officials with the Scranton School District believed they had averted a payless payday for April 8.

Three things occurred since the board raised the alarm about the possibility of the payless payday on April 1.

First, County Judge T. Linus Hoban dismissed a lawsuit filed by Leland Marsh that stopped the district from using tax revenue until the start of the new fiscal year in July.

The districts solicitor, attorney John Edwards, said he had to check to see if they could use the already collected tax money because Marsh filed an appeal to Hobans dismissal of his lawsuit.

Second, several businesses in Scranton announced they would make advance payments on their taxes pending the outcome of the other lawsuit filed by Martin Hayes that had caused the temporary suspension of tax collection in the city of Scranton.

The businesses issuing the advance payments were The Scranton Times, The Scranton Tribune, Comerford Theaters, Third National Bank and Trust and Simpson Realty Co.

Third, the district received a portion of delinquent tax money owed to it from Lackawanna County.

From the delinquent tax money and the advanced payments, they would have enough to make payroll on April 8.

Hoban appointed commander of 109th

Lt. Col. T. Linus Hoban, Lackawanna County Common Pleas judge, was appointed as the commanding officer of the 109th Infantry Regiment of the Pennsylvanias 28th Division.

Hoban would assume the rank of colonel at the time of the official announcement from the War Department.

Hoban served in both World War I and II. In the Second World War, he was injured and was held as a prisoner of war by the Germans.

Bank teller honored

John MacKay, head bank teller at the First National Bank of Scranton, was honored with a dinner to mark his 50th anniversary of working at the bank.

MacKay started at the bank on April 2, 1896, as a messenger. He was named head teller in 1931.

Bank President Dr. U.A. Noble and Executive Vice President Frank Stemple gave short talks before presenting him with a gold watch for his half-century of service.

The dinner was arranged by the banks currency department: C.H. Hawley, Mrs. Jean Bartholomew and Myfanwy Evans.
Fingal County Council is participating in an Irish Kidney Association initiative to light public buildings in green to support organ donation.

Swords Castle will be one of over 30 locations nationwide to be lit in green from dusk to dawn in solidarity with all involved in organ donation including patients, donors and families.

Green is the official international colour of organ and tissue donation, symbolising the hope organ donors provide to patients in need and their families.

By lighting up public sites in green we are drawing attention to organ donation being an integral part of active citizenship and that we should encourage open family discussion on our organ donor wishes.

Mayor of Fingal Cllr David Healy said: 'I am delighted to support the Irish Kidney Association's drive to foster conversation and solidarity around organ donation.

'It is an issue that affects many individuals and families throughout Ireland, and I welcome Fingal's involvement in efforts to highlight its importance.'

Share your photo and wishes on social media using the #LifeIsAGift then tag your friends. Eg: 'Life Is A Gift, I'm saying yes to Organ Donation, and I'm asking @friend1 @friend2 & @friend3 to do the same! Freetext DONOR to 50050 for your Organ Donor Card. #LifeIsAGift'
Kolkata, April 3 : On a day when Prime Minister Narendra Modi accused Mamata Banerjee of thwarting the pace of development in West Bengal, the Chief Minister accused the BJP of indulging in divisive politics and engineering communal strife to win the ongoing Assembly elections.

Addressing a rally at Raidighi in South 24 parganas district, which is a Muslim dominated area, Banerjee said, "Don't fall in the trap of a BJP-aided party from Hyderabad and its Bengal ally which are out to polarise votes." The Chief Minister was apparently hinting at the Asaduddin Owaisi-led All India Majlis-e-Ittehadul Muslimeen (AIMIM) and Abbas Siddiqui's Indian Secular Front (ISF). Both Owaisi and Siddiqui had earlier denied the Trinamool's insinuations.

The ISF is fighting the elections in alliance with the CPI(M) and the Congress.

Reiterating her 'outsider' theory, the Chief Minister urged the Hindus "to be on the guard against the BJP's attempts to instigate communal clashes" and called upon them to chase away the outsiders who have been sent to foment trouble in their respective localities.

"They will divide West Bengal and its people. Remember how they deleted the names of 14 lakh Bengalis and 2 lakh Biharis in the updated NRC in Assam," she said.

"I am a devout Hindu who recites Chandi mantra every day before leaving home. But I believe in our tradition of giving respect to every religion," she said.

Hinting at the BJP leaders having lunch at the houses of Dalits, she said, "I am a Brahmin woman. But my all-time associate is a Scheduled Caste woman who takes care of all my needs. She also cooks food for me. I need not advertise this as those bringing five-star hotel lunch to eat at the courtyard of a Dalit home are anti-Dalit, anti-backward caste and anti-minority in nature." Later in another election rally, the Chief Minister alleged that Central forces are terrorising people at every home 48 hours before polling, asking them to vote for the BJP.

"Don't be intimidated mothers and sisters, challenge them. We have no problems if the forces act impartially to ensure free and fair elections, but if they act on behalf of a particular political party, we will protest," she said.

The Chief Minister, who is campaigning for the third phase of Bengal polls scheduled on April 6, held a series of rallies in South 24 Parganas district, including in Raidighi, Canning and Kulpi, and Tarakeshwar in Hooghly district on Saturday.

She ended her rally with a roadshow at Howrah Sadar area in Howrah district.
In 2012, a dozen men and women from the federal electorate of Indi in Victorias north-east decided theyd had enough of politics as usual.

Last held by Labor in 1931, Indi had been represented by conservatives for more than 80 years  first by the United Australia Party, and then by the Country and Liberal parties. Sophie Mirabella had held the regional seat for almost 12 years.

Susan Benedyka is running as an independent Senate candidate for Victoria, part of a growing movement to get independents elected and shake up politics as usual in Canberra. Credit:Jason Robins

But Voices for Indi wanted to shake things up. To marginal seats, so the theory went, went the spoils. Safe conservative country seats were being dudded, they argued.

When Cathy McGowan - with the backing of Labor and Greens preferences - unseated Ms Mirabella, politics as usual was turned on its head. Suddenly, it seemed, community candidates could claim the same power as major political parties  at least, in the right target seats.
New Delhi, Apr 3 (UNI) India's cumulative number of COVID19 vaccine shots administered in the country crossed 7.3 crore mark on Saturday.

The cumulative vaccination figure includes over 6 crore (6,30,81,589) first doses, while the second dose numbers are also nearing the 1 crore mark (99,72,706).

Cumulatively, 7,30,54,295 vaccine doses have been administered through 11,53,614 sessions, as per the provisional report till 0700 hours, Ministry of Health and Family Welfare said in a statement.

These include 89,32,642 HCWs (1st dose), 52,96,666 HCWs (2nd dose), 95,71,610 FLWs (1st dose) and 39,92,094 FLWs (2nd Dose) and4,45,77,337 (1st Dose) and 6,83,946 (2nd dose) beneficiaries aged more than 45 years.

As on Day-77 of the vaccination drive (2nd April, 2021), 30,93,795 vaccine doses were given. Out of which, 28,87,779 beneficiaries were vaccinated across 35,624 sessions for 1st dose and 2,06,016 beneficiaries received 2nd dose of vaccine, it added.

India on Saturday registered 89,129 new cases of COVID-19 during the past 24 hours, pushing the caseload to 1,23,92,260, while the death toll climbed to 1,64,110 with 714 more fatalities.

UNI SV JW1454
(Natural News) The daily newspaper USA Today is the second-most circulated print newspaper in the United States  more than The New York Times and more than double The Washington Post. Only The Wall Street Journal has higher circulation numbers.

(Article by Glenn Greenwald republished from Greenwald.Substack.com)

On Sunday, the paper published and heavily promoted a repellent article complaining that defendants accused in the Capitol riot Jan. 6 crowdfund their legal fees online, using popular payment processors and an expanding network of fundraising platforms, despite a crackdown by tech companies. It provided a road map for snitching on how these private citizens  who are charged with serious felonies by the U.S. Justice Department but as of yet convicted of nothing  are engaged in a game of cat-and-mouse as they spring from one fundraising tool to another in order to avoid bans on their ability to raise desperately needed funds to pay their criminal lawyers to mount a vigorous defense.

In other words, the only purpose of the article  headlined: Insurrection fundraiser: Capitol riot extremists, Trump supporters raise money for lawyer bills online  was to pressure and shame tech companies to do more to block these criminal defendants from being able to raise funds for their legal fees, and to tattle to tech companies by showing them what techniques these indigent defendants are using to raise money online.

The USA Today reporters went far beyond merely reporting how this fundraising was being conducted. They went so far as to tattle to PayPal and other funding sites on two of those defendants, Joe Biggs and Dominic Pezzola, and then boasted of their success in having their accounts terminated:

As of Wednesday afternoon, the Biggs fundraiser was listed as having received $52,201. Pezzola had received $730. Biggs campaign disappeared from the site shortly after USA TODAY inquired about it. Friday, a USA TODAY reporter donated to Pezzolas fundraiser using Stripe. Stripe told USA TODAY it does not comment on individual users. A USA TODAY reporter was able to make a $1 donation to Pezzolas fundraiser using Venmo, a payment app owned by PayPal. After being alerted by USA TODAY, Venmo removed the account. Soon a PayPal account took its place. PayPal caught that and removed it, too.

Wow, what brave and intrepid journalistic work: speaking truth to power and standing up to major power centers by . . . working as little police officers for tech giants to prevent private citizens from being able to afford criminal lawyers. Clear the shelves for the imminent Pulitzer. Whatever you think about the Capitol riot, everyone has the right to a legal defense and to do what they can to ensure they have the best legal defense possible  especially when the full weight of the Justice Department is crashing down on your head even for non-violent offenses, which is what many of these defendants are charged with due to the politically charged nature of the investigation.

The right to a vigorous defense has always been a central cause of mine as a lawyer and a journalist (it also used to be a central cause of left-wing groups like the ACLU, years ago; it was that same principle that caused then-candidate Kamala Harris to solicit donations last summer that went to protesters charged with violent rioting). A federal prosecutor was recently referred for disciplinary procedures for publicly threatening to charge some of these Capitol protesters with sedition, one of the gravest crimes in the U.S. Code. That is how grave the legal jeopardy is faced by these people trying to raise money for lawyers.

What makes all of this extra grotesque is that, as The Washington Post reported, most of those charged with various crimes in connection with the January 6 Capitol riot, including many whose charges stem just from their presence inside the Capitol, not the use of any violence, are people with serious financial difficulties: not surprising for a country in the middle of a major economic and joblessness crisis, where neoliberalism and global trade deals have destroyed entire industries and communities for decades:

Nearly 60 percent of the people facing charges related to the Capitol riot showed signs of prior money troubles, including bankruptcies, notices of eviction or foreclosure, bad debts, or unpaid taxes over the past two decades, according to a Washington Post analysis of public records for 125 defendants with sufficient information to detail their financial histories. . . . The groups bankruptcy rate  18 percent  was nearly twice as high as that of the American public, The Post found. A quarter of them had been sued for money owed to a creditor. And 1 in 5 of them faced losing their home at one point, according to court filings.

This USA Today article is thus yet another example of journalists at major media outlets abusing their platforms to attack and expose anything other than the real power centers which compose the ruling class and govern the U.S.: the CIA, the FBI, security state agencies, Wall Street, Silicon Valley oligarchs. To the extent these journalists pay attention to those entities at all  and they barely ever do  it is to venerate them and mindlessly disseminate their messaging like stenographers, not investigate them. Investigating people who actually wield real power is hard.

Instead, the primary target of the Trump-era media has become private citizens and people who wield no power, yet who these media outlets believe must have their lives ruined because they have adopted the wrong political ideology. So many corporate journalists now use their huge megaphones to humiliate and wreck the lives of ordinary private citizens who they judge to have bad political opinions (meaning: opinions that deviate from establishment liberalism orthodoxies which these media outlets exist to enforce).

We have seen this over and over. CNN confronted an old woman on the front lawn of her Florida home for the crime of having used her little Facebook page to promote a pro-Trump event they claimed was engineered by Russians. The same network threatened to expose the identity of another private citizen who created an anti-CNN meme unless he begged and promised not to do it again. HuffPost doxed the real-life name of an anonymous critic of Islam (whose spouted views I find repellent) and triggered a boycott of her familys business.

A Florida woman who ran a Trump supporters page that unwittingly promoted a Russian-coordinated event on Facebook says she doesnt believe that she was influenced by Kremlin-linked trolls https://t.co/DmgDRFRwyn pic.twitter.com/OAz5julCyA  CNN (@CNN) February 21, 2018

Just last week, The Daily Beast decided to expose the identity of a private citizen at Spring Break in Miami and detail his marital and legal problems because a video of him went viral due to his being dressed as the Joker and uttering COVID truther phrases. The same outlet congratulated itself for unearthing and exposing the real name of an African-American Facebook user whose crime was posting videos mocking Nancy Pelosi.

My principal critique of the contemporary media posture  and my governing view of the real purpose of journalism  is summarized by this:

If you think the real power centers in the US are the Proud Boys, 4Chan & Boogaloos rather than the CIA, FBI, NSA, Wall Street and Silicon Valley, and spend most of your time battling the former while serving the latter as stenographers, your journalism is definitionally shit.  Glenn Greenwald (@ggreenwald) March 16, 2021

But increasingly, the largest corporate media platforms are used to punish ideological dissent and thought crimes by powerless, private citizens. They do not criticize or investigate real power centers, but serve them. And what makes it worse  so, so much worse  is that, as they assault, dox and harass private citizens, these journalistic bullies depict themselves as the real marginalized people, as those who are so fragile, voiceless, powerless, and vulnerable that criticizing them is tantamount to bullying, harassment, and violence.

This new journalistic tactic of weaponizing and misappropriating the language of marginalization, abuse, harassment and oppression and applying it to themselves  all to render any criticism of their work a form of assault and abuse  is one I have written about several times before. The last time was when a major front-page reporter at the most influential paper in the country, The New York Times Taylor Lorenz, got caught lying twice in six weeks, and those (such as myself) who criticized her for it  who criticized her journalism for the Paper of Record  were branded toxic, misogynistic bullies who were inciting dangerous hate mobs against her. And thus was criticism of this powerful journalist somehow manipulatively converted into an act of morally reprehensible harassment.

What these journalists are doing is as transparent as it is tawdry. They insist that you not treat them as what they are: people who wield extreme power and influence to shape political discourse, widely disseminate disinformation, wreck peoples reputations, expose the identity of private citizens, and propagandize the public. No, increasingly they are demanding that you treat them as exactly the opposite: the most marginalized, vulnerable, endangered and fragile members of society whose standing is so tenuous that publicly criticizing them should be barred as an act of violence, and those expressing critiques of their work must be consequently shunned as harassers and abusers.

This is the demented framework that allowed CNNs coddled, blow-dried, manicured and pedicured millionaire TV personality Jim Acosta, with a straight face, to write an entire book casting himself on the cover as someone in danger. What enabled Jim Acosta of all people to cast himself as a victim, to the point where so many liberals bought this book that it ended up on The New York Times bestseller list? He was criticized by the President and his supporters for his journalism. Thats it.

And just like that, the real victims in America are not the jobless or the homeless or residents of addiction-ravaged communities or victims of violent crime but, instead, the rich, famous TV personalities for CNN. This is the fictitious melodrama  with themselves cast as the stars  that they are demanding you ingest to treat them with deference and respect.

As Ive noted before, Ive been harshly criticized for my journalism for years. I was publicly attacked in deeply personal ways by the President of Brazil many times, and endlessly slandered by his movement. Thats not fun, but it is also not persecution. What is real persecution is being prosecuted or imprisoned or threatened with prison for your reporting. Real persecution is what is being done to Julian Assange. Criticism, even harsh criticism, comes with the territory: the cost of the immense privilege of having a public platform to shape debate. If you do not want to be criticized or called names, dont become a journalist or seek out public platforms.

Sundays USA Today article which tried to destroy the ability of these criminal defendants to raise donations for their legal fees contained the names of three journalists in its byline. The lead reporter  the one who the papers editors put first, Brenna Smith  took to Twitter to boast of this monumental journalistic expose. After I saw several commenters criticizing the story, I added my own critiques of this story:

Congratulations on using your new journalistic platform to try to pressure tech companies to terminate the ability of impoverished criminal defendants to raise money for their legal defense from online donations. You're well on your way upward in this industry for sure: https://t.co/pvpmX3DaaW  Glenn Greenwald (@ggreenwald) March 28, 2021

Note that the critique I voiced is about the reporting she had just published in one of the largest and most influential newspapers in the country. I also engaged the journalist whose name was listed last  a person named Will Carless  in a lengthy discussion expressing similar criticisms.

My criticism of Carless, a white straight male listed last on the byline, attracted no criticism for some reason. But my criticism of Smith, the lead reporter, caused such an explosion of indignation and rage from the corporate media class that it caused my name to trend on Twitter (yet again) as a dastardly online villain: thats how grave my moral transgression was.

What was my moral offense here? According to these media mavens and the self-serving, manipulative framework they are trying to implant, I did not voice criticisms of a piece of journalism in one of the most influential newspapers in the country. Instead  in their hands  they converted it, just as they did with criticisms of Lorenz, into a narrative in which I bullied a poor, fragile, young lady who is too weak and too vulnerable to handle public critique.

They emphasized that she is just an intern: in their eyes the equivalent of a high school junior  even though she has a long history of writing deranged articles for the U.S.-Government-funded Bellingcat and was, at least in the view of her editors, competent and professional enough to be the lead reporter on what they treated as a major news story designed to harm the lives of numerous private citizens. If she is merely an intern, then why is she listed as the lead reporter on a major news story? And if her editors determine that she is capable of fulfilling that role, then you cant simultaneously demand she be treated like a young debutante off-limits from critique.

Do you see what they are doing here? They are working to create a moral framework where it is always impermissible to criticize their journalism, no matter how shoddy, deceitful and amoral it is. They constantly concoct reasons why the journalist in question is too marginalized and too vulnerable to legitimately criticize. They are all apparently competent and sophisticated enough to be trusted to byline news reporting in major corporate outlets  and we must treat them as tough, talented professionals when it comes time to deference due  but we are then simultaneously instructed that they are not mature or strong enough to endure criticisms of that work. If she had not been an intern, they still would have decreed criticisms of her off limits on the ground that any criticism will stoke misogynistic abuse: after all, Lorenz is a borderline-middle-aged reporter, not an intern, but that is how criticisms of her are delegitimized.

What is even more remarkable is how these liberal media figures invoke the most long-standing sexist, racist and homophobic tropes to erect this shield of immunity around themselves that they demand you honor. Look at how they transformed this journalist from what I see her as and what she is  an adult professional reporter who has sufficiently risen in the profession to byline a major story in a national newspaper  into an offensive sexist caricature straight out of the 1950s. In their manipulative hands, she  like Taylor Lorenz of The New York Times  becomes not a professional adult journalist but just a fragile little china doll who cannot withstand any critiques.

A senior USA Today editor actually emailed me to chide me for my inappropriate behavior  i.e., critiquing the journalism of the reporter they placed first on the byline. And here is how USA Todays former diversity and inclusion editor Hemal Jhaveri  who just got fired for posting a series of racist decrees about how white people are the root of all evil  decided to interpret this event:

Two USA TODAY reporters getting targeted in the span of days isn't by chance. What is happening to Brenna Smith is not a coincidence. Top editors showed they would cave at the slightest provocation. Now, female journalists through the org will be more susceptible to harassment. pic.twitter.com/TrDjfmWH8x  Hemal Jhaveri (@hemjhaveri) March 29, 2021

Journalists with these outlets wield immense power and influence. These are not the voiceless, marginalized, powerless people in society. Theyre the ones who attack, expose and ruin marginalized people if they dare express political views of which these journalists disapprove.

It is not just morally repugnant but quite dangerous for them to try to place themselves off limits from criticism this way. The whole point of journalism  the reason why a free press is vital  is because it is the only way to hold accountable powerful institutions and powerful actors. Corporate media outlets and those they employ as reporters are among the most powerful and influential actors in society and, as such, are completely fair game for criticisms, protests, and denunciations.

What they are trying to do by exploiting the language of oppression and marginalization to cast themselves as vulnerable victims who cannot be criticized is despicable. It deserves nothing but contempt. That is precisely why I intend to heap scorn on it every time they try it, precisely because these in-group, swarming corporate journalists are the real bullies, trying to stigmatize and destroy the reputations of ordinary citizens who commit the crime of criticizing their journalism or expressing political opinions they want banished.

They know that the public  for very good reasons  has lost faith and trust in their work at unprecedented levels. They know that their industry is failing. When journalism turns its guns not on the powerful but on the powerless  descending as low as trying to prevent them from raising needed money for a legal defense  the contempt is well deserved. The demographic characteristics of the journalists doing this disgraceful, cowardly journalism is irrelevant. The only reason they even mention it is because they think they can weaponize it against their critics.

This lowly tactic will succeed only if people are cowed and intimidated by it. It will fail, as it should, if people ignore it and treat them like any other power centers by freely expressing the criticisms you think their journalism merits regardless of what names they call you as a result.

Read more at: Greenwald.Substack.com and Journalism.news.
Medina Spirit, with jockey Abel Cedillo aboard, wins the Robert B. Lewis Stakes at Santa Anita on Jan. 30. Medina Spirit is the favorite to win the Santa Ana Derby on Saturday. (Benoit Photo via Associated Press)

Racing returned to a semblance of normal Friday as fans were allowed back at Santa Anita. The small but enthusiastic crowd of about 3,200 cheered things that are normally ignored, and the feel of a close finish seemed to take on hyperbolized gravity.

Friday was sort of a practice session, a warmup act to Saturdays 12-race card highlighted by the Grade-1 $750,000 Santa Anita Derby, the biggest race of the six-month winter/spring meeting. The track is opening parts of the infield and a size-controlled crowd of 9,000 is anticipated.

They come to see the next winner of the Kentucky Derby, or at least hope to see the 20th horse that has gone on from this race to win on the first Saturday in May. Bob Baffert has won the Santa Anita Derby a record nine times and it should be no surprise he has the favorite in Medina Spirit, who is 5-2 on the morning line.

But the thrill of horse racing often can be found in beating the favorite, and a lot of money will be wagered on the eight other horses in the 1-1/8-mile qualifying race for the Kentucky Derby. A lot of hopes for that are pinned on Dream Shake, the 7-2 second choice, who has run only two races.

Peter Eurton, trainer of Dream Shake, said if they win, "Ill be riding so high youll have to hold me down from flying away in the winners circle. Ill be that way if we finish second too.

First place in the race gets 100 Kentucky Derby qualifying points, guaranteeing a spot in the big race. Second gets 40 points, which is usually north of the cutline in the 20-horse Kentucky Derby.

Dream Shake has taken a very different route than Eurtons Kentucky Derby horse last year, Storm the Court. As a 2-year-old, Storm the Court won the Breeders Cup Juvenile, making him the Derby favorite for a race that wouldnt be run for 11 months after his win. Along the way, Storm the Court never recaptured that 2-year-old brilliance and ran sixth in the Derby.

Dream Shake didnt even run as a 2-year-old, instead making his debut on Feb. 7, winning by 4 lengths over a maiden field that included Bezos, a $400,000 Baffert colt. Bezos won his next start by 4 lengths.

Story continues

Dream Shake finished third in last months San Felipe Stakes, behind Life Is Good and Medina Spirit. Life is Good subsequently suffered a minor injury and is off the Derby trail.

We were asking a lot of Dream going into his second start lifetime and first time going two turns against two of the best horses in the country, Eurton said. I thought he ran very well.  I think were just trying to peak at the right time, hopefully its Saturday, but hes trained forwardly to this point.

Storm the Courts early start presented one scenario for Eurton and Dream Shakes presents another.

Either way is good with me, Eurton said. Last year was really different, all my 3-year-olds came out late. Everything is late this year. You just never know.

One change that will not hurt Dream Shake is switching from jockey Joel Rosario to Flavien Prat, Santa Anitas leading rider. Rosario rode Dream Shake the first two races but elected to ride in Keeneland this weekend. Even if Rosario were to have come West on Saturday for Dream Shake, its anticipated that he would ride Concert Tour in the Kentucky Derby if the colt does well in next weeks Arkansas Derby.

Prat has even been working Dream Shake in the morning, something the top tier

of jockeys doesnt always do.

I think hes just really happy the way hes worked and hes pretty excited about how the horse has trained, Eurton said. His last two works were well within himself and he looked the part. And Flavien enjoyed getting to familiarize himself with [the horse] and he liked what he had underneath him.

While there is no verbal agreement, Eurton presumes that Prat will elect to ride the colt in the Kentucky Derby if he performs well on Saturday.

With the return of fans, there is yet one more unknown for trainers and horses. How will 3-year-olds deal with hearing fans for the first time after a year with no fans. Its not normally a problem with average-sized crowds but when you hit a wall of sound, such as at the Kentucky Derby, it can be unnerving.

Its going to be interesting this weekend, Eurton said. Some can handle it and some cant. It can affect horses just like people. But, I dont think its going to bother my horse.

Eurton is hoping a better answer to that question comes on a bigger stage in about four weeks.

This story originally appeared in Los Angeles Times.
College of Charleston staff members who do not teach classes are struggling to adapt after an executive order required all state employees to return to work in person immediately.

Gov. Henry McMasters March 5 order directed all state agencies to immediately expedite the transition back to normal operations, prompting publicly funded institutions like the college to send their employees back to the office.

At the College of Charleston, the order is causing stress among staff members, such as administration, admissions workers, advisers and financial aid workers, who are struggling to find child care options on short notice.

According to the colleges return-to-work plan, which was submitted to the S.C. Department of Administration, staff members will return in phases, with staff who need child care returning April 5 and staff with disabilities or medical concerns returning April 26.

The college opted to not disrupt current class schedules or teaching models, so professors will continue to teach a mix of in-person and remote classes as they have been since the beginning of the school year.

Because widespread vaccine availability has been able to ease some of the concern about the virus, the biggest stressor has to do with child care.

Although she has been working in person since the summer, Anastasia Gilpatrick, a College of Charleston staff member and chair of the staff advisory committee, said the order sent her and other staff members scrambling to find solutions for their child care.

"I do have children that are in care centers; that means that I need to leave work a little bit early and now I'm unsure about how I'm going to make this work," Gilpatrick said. "A lot of people are scrambling in a very short time period to come up with a full child care option."

Gilpatrick said many child care centers and after-school programs are full, leaving staff with few options.

For those with school-age children, the return to in-person work would mean moving some students from virtual to in-person school at the end of the school year. Some staff members, mostly women, may have to cut their work hours to adapt to the change, she said.

"If we truly honor academic excellence, we should not be causing further disruption to the education of our wider community, which includes our preschoolers and primary school kids," she said.

While faculty members are not disrupted by the transition to in-person work, professors have shared overall disagreement with the order. The S.C. Conference of the AAUP sent a letter to the Governors Office asking that colleges and universities be given autonomy in their return-to-work plans.

We look forward to a time in the near future when South Carolina colleges and universities can return to normal, face-to-face activities, but a premature, one-size-fits-all policy jeopardizes that prospect, the conferences executive council wrote.

The health and safety of students, faculty, and staff should be the primary consideration in decision making about when to reopen a campus as well as decisions about all aspects of campus operation during the pandemic, their note said.

The association of professors isnt the only group to come out against the order. The American Civil Liberties Union of South Carolina wrote a letter demanding that McMaster either rescind the order while the pandemic continues or delay it until June 15. McMasters spokesman told a Post and Courier reporter that the governor has no intention of meeting those demands.

The colleges leadership recognized the hardship the order places on its staff. College President Andrew Hsu said the administration requested an extra week for people who needed to find child care in its original plan, which the state denied.

Our original goal was, of course, to provide employees a little bit more time so that they can figure out where to send their children. Or if they have health care issues, give them time to get vaccinated, Hsu said. All state agencies are at the same place where everybody has to comply.

The colleges plan is in line with plans approved for other colleges in the region. According to plans submitted to DOA, Clemson University and Trident Technical College are requiring employees who are caregivers return April 5. The Citadel required employees, except for one individual with a medical accommodation, to return March 8.

To help support staff members who are struggling with child care, College of Charleston leadership has been in contact with school district superintendents, provided resources for finding child care and has looked into expanding the early childhood center to provide on-campus day care for employees, Hsu said.

Any staff members who have a medical concern will need to provide a doctors note to be able to work from home, Hsu said. Those employees are scheduled to return April 26, unless their doctors note says otherwise.

However, employees with a household member who is considered high risk for severe illness due to the virus won't have the same luxury.

According to DOA information given to the college in regards to the order, those employees will be expected to return to work. The DOA cited the American with Disabilities Act, which does not apply when a person has a family or household member with a disability.

Gilpatrick said staff members are advocating for those employees to be able to use a special request process to work remotely part time or for a limited time.

"They need additional time to either obtain vaccinations or work with their departments to address concerns or possible modifications to their work practices or their work place to make it safe for them," she said.

Many staff members have not been vaccinated because they were not eligible until recently, Gilpatrick added.

Officials havent expressly said what will happen if staff members dont return to work in person by the scheduled date. Paul Patrick, chief of staff at the college, said each situation will be handled individually.

Just as we do with any performance, efficiency or absentee issue, it is addressed on a case-by-case basis, Patrick said. Well work with the supervisor of the employee and HR to find out what we need to do to rectify the situation.

Gilpatrick said she and other staff understand that college leadership is unable to deviate from the state order. However, she would like to see the administration advocate for more flexibility.

"At a minimum, college staff should not be forced to return full-time in-person if they have virtual schoolers at home that need to finish out their academic year," she said. "Also, the college should allow supervisors to have the same flexibility that they had pre-pandemic to allow their employees to work. Offices are going to suffer, because people are going to be forced to either take reduced hours or unusual schedules."
(Newser)  When a blaze broke out Friday on the wooden roof of an ancient hospital in a remote Russian city, firefighters went to work on it. Officials said 128 people were evacuated, including 60 patients. But on the ground floor, a team of eight doctors and nurses carried on with heart bypass surgery. "There's nothing else we could do," a surgeon said later. "We had to save the person." Firefighters ran a cable to the operating room to ensure it didn't lose power, Reuters reports. The Blagoveshchensk hospital, in eastern Russia, filled with smoke, but firefighters used fans to keep it out of the ER.

story continues below

No one was injured in the fire, per Barron's. "There was no panic," a medic said. The hospital was built in 1907, officials said, and the fire "spread like lightning through the wooden ceilings of the roof." The fire was thought to be electrical, and it took crews more than two hours to put out. The heart patient, whose operation was a success, was moved to another hospital. Local officials said the surgical team and firefighters would be honored. (Read more uplifting news stories.)
Something just didnt feel right. Tom*, a clerical worker in one of the HSEs administration buildings in Dublin, had been working from home since the start of the pandemic. When the email came through from his line manager in February, telling him to get registered on the HSE online portal for vaccination, he wondered why he was being categorised as a frontline healthcare worker.

Like the majority of the staff in my building, I dont see patients at all, he said.

I fell under cohort six, non-patient-facing healthcare workers, not cohort two. These were not vaccines that were going to waste either. There are 120 people in my office and everyone was being told to register. I felt it was really wrong.

Read More

Its been a week since the HSE declared that vaccinations for cohort two  frontline healthcare workers  had been closed off.

The decision came after a series of stories revealing that staff within the organisation, many of whom are working from home, had been vaccinated out of turn.

Finance staff in Offaly, payroll workers in Galway, the pensions department in Cork, administration staff in Limerick, people on career breaks, staff who had retired  the list went on. Against this backdrop of rank-and-file vaccine queue jumping within the HSE administrative arm, other high-profile examples of the practice emerged in hospitals.

In the Coombe hospital, a consultant took leftover Covid-19 vaccines home to administer to family members. Meanwhile, it emerged that the CEO of the Beacon hospital had given leftover vaccines to teachers from a private school.

By the time the HSE finally called stop last Friday, more than 200,000 first doses had been pumped into cohort two, which includes frontline workers in both the HSE and private sector. The figures alone have raised eyebrows.

According to the HSE, it has more than 67,000 direct employees, and a further 35,000 employed by agencies funded by the HSE.

Only a proportion of that 100,000-plus number are frontline staff. Even taking into account frontline workers in the private and voluntary sector, the numbers of frontline healthcare workers (237,802 as of yesterday) who have had at least one dose would appear to be high.

Meanwhile, GPs around the country were receiving what one described as lucky dip deliveries of vaccine. Reductions in promised supplies saw clinics cancelled, elderly and vulnerable people left waiting for the protection the vaccine brings.

People in Cohort 4, many of whom have been shielding for more than a year, were being passed from pillar to post as they contacted GPs and hospitals enquiring about who would be giving them a vaccine and when.

Along the way, the HSE response to the many stories of queue jumping has been the same  there are strict guidelines in place regarding sequencing and examples of opportunistic vaccinations have occurred to avoid wastage. According to Paul Reid, very marginal numbers have cheated the vaccine system.

While cohort two was being worked through, the HSE guidelines allocated priority to those who were most at risk from exposure to the virus. Now that the cohort has been closed off, and questions linger over exactly how many people were coded within that group when they should have waited their turn, the allocation of vaccines to the wider public has changed.

On Wednesday, it was announced that once everyone aged over 70, those with underlying health conditions and vulnerable groups are vaccinated, people will begin to receive vaccines on the basis of age.

Under the provisional groups before this change, the roll-out progressed by job category such as essential workers and people in occupations important to the functioning of society, alongside age categories.

The change has been criticised by various groups, including the Association of Garda Sergeants and Inspectors which said it shows a scant regard for the unique and high-risk job that gardai do.

The Irish National Teachers Organisation said that the change abandons carefully considered priority groups who are working on the frontline.

This week, the HSE told this newspaper that it would be hard to quantify how many non-patient-facing healthcare staff have jumped ahead of sequence in the vaccine roll-out. It is understood that staff were able to access appointments via the HSE portal by signing up under sequence 2g. This is for all other healthcare workers without direct patient care but working in a healthcare facility with the potential to meet patients/service users.

Many of them, like Tom*, in fact fall under cohort six, which includes those providing essential health services, for example, management and administration.

The HSE told the Irish Independent that it would be hard to quantify how many had been vaccinated ahead of schedule as it would require a person by person analysis of 2g including those from private and other settings to ascertain if people had incorrectly registered.

Perhaps the only way to measure just how many non-patient-facing staff have been hoovered up in cohort six would have came when, under the original allocation sequencing, registration for cohort two came to pass.

This revised vaccine prioritisation list, recommended by the National Immunisation Advisory Committee, makes no reference or mention of healthcare workers after cohort two.

Instead key workers essential to the vaccine programme now fall under cohort six.

There is an argument that the number of healthcare workers who would have originally been vaccinated under this cohort may have been substantially lower than expected, given the evidence that suggests so many are already protected.

Any that remain will now simply be vaccinated according to age.

Yes, the staff in HSE roles who fell under cohort six have a right to be vaccinated, but not ahead of the elderly people in their 70s, or those in cohort four with serious medical conditions that put them more at risk of sever outcomes or death from Covid-19.

Someone working at home, who does not have patient contact, should not have the privilege of being protected at the expense of the most vulnerable.

By the same token, the CEO of a private hospital should not have given vaccines to teachers in a private school while sick patients attending the same hospital were left wanting.

Had the country been awash with vaccines, the disparity might not have been as acutely felt.

However, as the HSE has so often reminded us, supply has been the only limiting factor in the roll-out to date. Once vaccines arrive, they are sent out to the various vaccination centres and administered within days.

Indeed, perhaps in the rush to get vaccines into arms and push the numbers on the Covid-19 vaccination dashboard up, scrutiny around which arms they were going into was less of a concern.

* Toms name has been changed to protect his identity.
Yves here. While I wish I had some Easter programming, a mini tutorial will do. It would have been helpful for Richard Murphy to have also deployed the usual bookkeeping T accounts, since some find those visuals to clarify the money flows, but I trust this explanation of (fiat issuer) government bonds held by central banks works on a stand-alone basis.

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

I received this email very recently, and share it with the authors permission:

Hi Richard, Hope youre well. After reading some of your articles and watching one of your videos, Im left with a question that I hoped you could answer. The Bank of England holds lots of government debt. What happens when the bonds they hold mature? Doesnt the treasury need to pay the bank? From what I understand, any interest earned on the bonds makes its way back to the treasury but what about the payment for the bond when it matures? Isnt that used to fund more purchases of bonds? If the above is correct, isnt it right to say the debt remains a burden until the Bank of England forgive the treasury for the debt they hold and do not claim payments when the bonds mature? I hope you dont mind me disturbing you over the bank holiday weekend and theres obviously no rush to reply. All the best, Etc.

Since this seems to be a recurring question I thought it worth replying on the blog.

First, it is true that interest is still paid on these bonds. This is deliberate. It is intended to perpetuate the deficit narrative. The claim is that the country is over-burdened by debt and that as a result the country cannot afford things like education.

What the government never makes clear in its own accounting is that this money comes straight back to it from the Bank of England, which it owns. The cost is not real as a result. Good accounting would require that the income and expense be offset against each other and that only the net cost of interest be shown. But that would not play into the hands of the debt fetishists so that does not happen.

Lets deal with the second issue then, of debt repayment when a bond comes to the end of its life, and most especially with regard to those bonds notionally held by the Bank of England. Note I say notionally, because actually they are entirely beneficially owned by the Treasury, but we can ignore that in what follows.

To make things easier lets assume the bond is for a total of 10 billion and lets assume the entire bond issue is held by the Bank. That does not happen in practice, but making the assumption just lets me ignore third party repayment in what follows, and does not alter the key explanation.

Its important to recall that the Treasury has no money as such. That is hardly surprising. The only tangible representations of money that we have are notes and coin, and these are not used to repay bonds. So, in other words all the Treasury does have are electronic bank balances, which are held with the Bank of England, the governments wholly owned bank.

In that case, when redemption is due to the Bank of England the Treasury asks the Bank to pay the Banks subsidiary that owns the bonds 10 billion. And given that the Bank has to make any payment the Treasury asks it to do under the terms of the 1866 Exchequer and Audit Departments Act (last revised in 2000) that is exactly what the Treasury will do.

So now what has happened is that the Treasury no longer owes the Bank of England subsidiary in respect of a bond. It instead owes the Bank itself the same sum, but on its bank account. In other words, all that happened is that there has been an asset swap by the Bank and a liability swap by the Treasury.

The Banks subsidiary did have a bond. Now the Bank itself has 10 billion owing to it on a bank account. The Treasury did owe the Banks subsidiary for a bond. Now it owes the Bank on an overdraft. So, in effect, repayment means that nothing has changed. The Treasury stills owes its own bank exactly the same amount of money as it did before repayment was made. And the Bank is also no better off. Nor is it owed by anyone different to whom it was owed money before this swap took place.

But, as we know, the Treasury wont now run an overdraft with the Bank of England even though it is allowed to, and did so regularly until 2008. That means that in practice it will now issue a new bond for 10bn so that it can clear the overdraft. And since under current QE arrangements the Bank of England is effectively matching new bond issues by the Treasury with pound for pound new bond purchases this means that the Bank will, in effect (its indirect, but the substance is what I am suggesting) buy that new bond issue. In the case of QE bond redemptions this has, incidentally, been true since 2009, so nothing has changed in 2020, just to avoid the suggestion that there is something unusual about this current arrangement.

The result is that the Bank will now pay the Treasury 10bn, whether directly or via the money markets, to buy that bond. In effect, the Bank will clear the Treasurys overdraft and say that it now owns a bond again in its place. The Treasury is entirely happy with this arrangement, however it is organised, because that is precisely what it intended should happen.

What this means is that we have now had a reverse asset and liability swap that puts both parties back in the position they were in when they both started. The Bank of England subsidiary now owns a bond again, the Treasury owes for it, and there is no overdraft. It is as if nothing happened.

So the question is, might this be onerous? My answer is straightforward. It is only onerous if doing the little bit of double entry book-keeping within the governments accounts that this requires is onerous, because that is all that really happens.

Throughout these transactions there is no real change to the economic substance of the relationship between the parties. The Treasury always appears to owe the Bank of England 10 billion at all times, but since the government controls them both this is anyway meaningless debt because in reality no third party is involved. There is no burden then.

So, how was that burden of debt that once existed to third parties removed? The answer is, of course, through quantitative easing (QE). QE creates new money. That new money cleared the governments debt when QE took place, replacing it with what is called base money. Unless you can figure out a way that base money can be repaid without the government deciding to cancel it, and no one has yet, that debt has been cancelled in that case by QE. The obligation to pay has gone.

So, there is no burden left after QE is my summary, and the notional maturing, repayment and reissue of debt between the Bank of England and Treasury is just economic game playing of no consequence at all in the real economy.

I hope that helps.
Police investigate the scene of a shooting in Orange, Calif., on April 1, 2021. (John Fredricks/The Epoch Times)

Accused Orange County Shooter Had Previous Brushes With the Law

The chief suspect in a mass shooting that killed four people, including one child, and injured one, has been accused of violent crimes in the past, The Epoch Times has learned.

Records from the Orange County Superior Court show that Aminadab Gaxiola Gonzalez, 44, was charged with child abuse and endangerment, assault with a deadly weapon that was not a gun, dissuading a witness, and assault and battery charges on March 31, 2015.

Those charges came exactly six years prior to the most recent crimes hes accused of.

Gonzalez reportedly pleaded not guilty to all four charges, and three of the charges were dismissed on November 30, 2015. The battery charge was dismissed in 2017 after he completed a probationary sentence.

Gonzales was a truck driver, and on Sept. 18, 2014, was charged with a driving-related infraction.

A public records search shows that Gonzalez had been a truck driver for a number of years, for companies Mina Trucking, Red Cone Trucking, and USA Dump Trucking, all located in Anaheim.

This undated photo provided by the Orange Police Department shows Aminadab Gaxiola Gonzalez, a 44-year-old Fullerton, Calif., man who is the suspect in a shooting that occurred inside a counseling business in Orange, Calif., on March 31, 2021. (Courtesy of the Orange Police Department)

About 5:30 p.m. March 31, in Orange, California, a man used bicycle-type locks to secure the gates leading to an office building at 202 W. Lincoln Avenue and opened fire inside a Unified Homes office. He was later shot by police and was transported to the hospital in critical but stable condition.

The victims include 28-year-old Jenevieve Raygoza, her 50-year-old father, Luis Tovar, and 9-year-old Matthew Farias. Leticia Solis was also killed.

Jenevieves mother, Blanca Tamayo, survived the shooting. As of April 4, she remained hospitalized in critical condition.

Gonzales has been charged with multiple counts of murder and attempted murder. Hes also facing a special-circumstance allegation of multiple murders, which makes him eligible for the death penalty if convicted.

Police said that Gonzalezs last known address was in Fullerton and that he knew all of his victims, including the 9-year-old boy.

Gonzalez was reportedly shot by police and is currently in the UC Irvine Medical Center in Orange in critical yet stable condition. His arraignment was postponed until April 5.

He is not conscious, said Gonzalezs attorney, Assistant Public Defender Ken Morrison. We have been unable to communicate with him.

Investigators believe that Gonzalez had been living out of a motel in Anaheim and used a rental car to drive to the business center where the mass shooting occurred.

According to court records, Gonzalez filed for divorce from his wife on Jan. 25, 2005. The divorce was finalized on Dec. 11, 2006.

They had a child together.
Source: Xinhua| 2021-04-03 18:49:48|Editor: huaxia

Video Player Close

KABUL -- At least 35 Taliban militants were killed and 33 others wounded in Afghan army offensives in the Asian country's two northern provinces during Friday night, the country's Ministry of Defense confirmed on Saturday.

In Faryab province, 26 militants were killed and 33 wounded after the Afghan Air Force conducted airstrikes on a Taliban position in Sarchakan village of Gurziwan district, the ministry said in a statement. (Afghanistan-Taliban)

- - - -

MANILA -- The Philippines' Department of Health (DOH) reported on Saturday 12,576 new COVID-19 infections, bringing the total number of confirmed cases in the Southeast Asian country to 784,043.

The active cases ballooned to 165,715 while the death toll climbed to 13,423 after 103 more patients died from the viral disease, the DOH said. (Philippines-COVID-19)

- - - -

TEHRAN -- Iran's Foreign Ministry spokesman on Saturday ruled out any plan for the step-by-step removal of anti-Iran sanctions by the United States, Press TV reported.

"As it has been clearly stated many times, there is no step-by-step plan being considered" for the removal of sanctions, Saeed Khatibzadeh told Press TV. (Iran-US-Sanctions)

- - - -

LAGOS -- At least 14 persons were killed in a recent gunmen attack on a military base and some communities in Niger state, north-central Nigeria, an official said on late Friday.

A total of six soldiers and one policeman were killed in a recent attack by a group of unidentified gunmen "numbering about 200" on a military base at Allawa town of the Shiroro local government area of Niger state, Abubakar Sani Bello, the governor of the state, said in a statement on Friday. (Nigeria-Attack) Enditem
A Salem police officer shot and killed a man after responding to reports of a person in crisis on Friday evening.

Neither the man who was killed nor the police officer who shot him have been publicly identified.

According to a news release from the Oregon State Police, Salem firefighters around 5:15 responded to the 400 block of Ewald Avenue Southeast for reports of a man who had harmed himself, and may have been experiencing thoughts of suicide.

When firefighters arrived at the scene, the man threatened them with a gun, according to the news release. Police officers arrived shortly after, and the man confronted them.

A Salem police officer fired at the man and struck him. The man died at the scene.

According to OSP, two police officers were placed on administrative leave. It was not immediately clear what specifically led the officer to shoot the man.

The Marion County District Attorneys office assigned Oregon State Police to investigate the shooting.

Jayati Ramakrishnan; 503-221-4320; jramakrishnan@oregonian.com; @JRamakrishnanOR
One old dirty trick is still with us. However, other financial matters are changing quickly. Check out this weeks financial wrap.

Tax and Social Security Scammers Add to Their Bag of Tricks

The phone rings. Caller ID shows a Washington, D.C. number. You answer and an official-sounding recording says you are in trouble with the Internal Revenue Service (IRS). Or, your social security number has been used in criminal activity. You need to respond quickly.

You are on your way to losing money to a scam artist if you obey the instructions.

Consumers reported losing more than $3.3 billion to fraud in 2020, up from $1.8 billion in 2019, states a report from the Federal Trade Commission. Nearly $1.2 billion of losses reported last year were due to imposter scams, while online shopping accounted for about $246 million in reported losses from consumers.

Expanding Fraud Opportunities

The IRS and social security scams have been around for years. But now the same techniques are being used to take advantage of fraud related to COVID-19.

The crimes include stealing unemployment benefits, stimulus checks, fake COVID treatments, and bogus charities.

Formula for Fraud

The tried and true template for all these frauds is the IRS phone fraud. Although it can and has been carried out with texts and emails.

With IRS phone fraud, you get a call like the one detailed above. Fear is a big part of the schemes success.

The call seems official because it comes from a Washington, D. C. number. However, scammers spoof calls. That is where false information is used to make the call appear to come from a legitimate source. Some phone providers even offer spoofing services that work like prepaid calling cards.

The Call Is Not From the Government

Government agencies like the Internal Revenue Service (IRS) or the Social Security Administration (SSA) wont call, text, or email you out of the blue to demand payment right away, writes FTC Attorney Emily Wu in an agency blog post.

The IRS Confirms Wus Assertion

The IRS doesnt initiate contact with taxpayers by email, text messages or social media channels to request personal or financial information, the service says.

To help consumers, the IRS has posted a list of current scams.

To report a scam call, email or text, contact the FTC.

Here is how the FTC suggests you handle a government imposter call.

Heres Why Your Next Car (New or Used) Will Cost More

You may have heard semiconductor chips are in short supply. The chip drought will short circuit any ideas you had about getting a bargain on your next car.

Semiconductors make up around forty percent of the cost of a new car, according to consulting firm Deloitte. Without them, modern automobiles can not function properly. Auto manufacturers around the world have slowed production as a result of the shortage. That means fewer new cars are coming to market.

Check out Saving Advices look into the semiconductor shortage and the impact it will have on your wallet. Our special cover will be available in Sundays edition.

IPOs Continue To Boom, SPACs Bust As Opportunity Opens for Small Investors

The surge in IPOs that began last year has charged into 2021 and is rising. Meanwhile, small investors are able to join the stampede.

Companies raised $174 billion on 494 offerings in 2020, according to FactSet, a financial data and software company.

In aggregate, IPOs raised $174 billion in 2020, a 150% increase over 2019, according to FactSet.

The number of companies raising over $1 billion set a record at 28. DoorDash and Airbnb both exceeding $3 billion.

IPO Market Off to a Strong Start in 2021

This year is shaping up as an IPO tsunami. Through mid-March, 302 IPOs have raised 102.3 billion, according to Dealogic.

SPACs Go Splat

The only sour note is the recent downturn in Special Purpose Acquisition Companies (SPAC).

SPACs are often called blank check companies. They are shell companies. These companies raise money through a stock offering to invest in other companies.

SPACs joined in the IPO surge last year. They now have an estimated $1 trillion in buying power, according to Business Insider. However, average SPAC returns are minus 34 percent between January 2019 and June 2020. Many are trading below their IPO price. Consequently, the market seems to be cooling.

Democratization

IPOs have long been reserved for wealthy and institutional investors. However, SoFi is trying to change that. The investment company is offering IPOs to clients with $3,000 or more in their account. Robinhood is planning to do something similar.

Vaccine Passports Are Coming

Soon, you may be asked to show your passport when you attend public events. No, not that passport. The one showing you have been vaccinated against COVID-19.

The Biden Administration is considering vaccine passports. These credentials would be displayed on free smartphone apps or printed.

The White House, various tech companies, local governments, and universities in the United States are trying to develop a credentials plan.

Global Effort

Internationally, the World Health Organization (WHO) is exploring vaccination passport ideas.

Several airlines are testing a digital travel pass developed by the International Air Transportation Association.

The European Commission is contemplating a digital green certificate. The voucher would be for travel within the European Union. It would be proof of vaccination, a negative COVID test, or a previous infection.

Everybody Has a Plan

Countries and organizations are researching or have announced plans to implement vaccination passports.

Israel is developing a green pass to travel. In Demark, a Coronapas will be required to enter hair salons, movie theaters, and restaurants, according to the BBC. Meanwhile, Sweden, Estonia, and Greece are also considering issuing vaccine passports.

Standardization

The potential for chaos is great.

The Federal Health IT Coordinating Council cited the need for one coordinated plan to avoid confusion.

The council stressed that A chaotic and ineffective vaccine credential approach could hamper our pandemic response, The Washington Post reported.

Read More:

Save Money on House Repairs With This DIY Air Conditioning Repair

5 Tried-and-True Strategies for Saving Money on Health Insurance

Best Places to Put Savings From A Side Hustle

If you enjoy reading our blog posts and would like to try your hand at blogging, we have good news for you; you can do exactly that on Saving Advice. Just click here to get started. Check out these helpful tools to help you save more.
New York, 2 April 2021 (SPS) - The Polisario Fronts representative to the United Nations Sidi Mohamed Omar underlined that the Security Council is called to show awareness about the seriousness of the new situation in Western Sahara and to take concrete measures to seriously deal with the situation, in the meeting of the Security Council that will be held on 21 April.



In an interview granted to APS, Sidi Omar underlined that the Security Council will hold an in camera consultation session on 21 April, hoping that it will show awareness about the seriousness of the new situation following the military attacks conducted on 13 November 2020 by the Moroccan occupation State on the liberated Sahrawi territories and that it will take concrete action to seriously deal with the situation.



Any other position taken by the Security Council will only prolong the status quo, he warned.



Concerning the appointment of a personal envoy of the Secretary General for Western Sahara, Sidi Omar said the UN Secretary General continues his efforts for the appointment, as soon as possible, of a new personal envoy for Western Sahara and is in permanent contact with the two sides. (SPS)



062/090/700
Apr. 2KETTERING  A busy intersection near the heart of Kettering will be impacted by two projects that will restrict traffic there and close part of another road.

The Far Hills Avenue and Stroop Road crossroads will be the location this week for gas line repairs. It also will be part of detour routes next week as a section of West Dorothy Lane is shut down for the $3 million Ridgeway Road bridge replacement, Kettering officials said.

Work by Vectren will impact traffic at the Far Hills/Stroop intersection starting Tuesday at 7 p.m. until Wednesday morning. Traffic will be maintained, but lane restrictions will be in place, according to the city.

Traffic on West Dorothy Lane will be detoured between Southern Boulevard and Far Hills (Ohio 48) as that part of the road closes April 12 and April 13 due to the Ridgeway bridge work, Kettering officials said.

The detour routes in both directions for West Dorothy will use Southern, West Stroop and Far Hills from 7 p.m. to 6 a.m. both nights, according to the city.

"We're not anticipating major traffic issues and that's the whole reason we're doing this work at night...to avoid heavy traffic delays," Kettering Assistant City Manager Steve Bergstresser said.

"If motorists are traveling on the west side of Kettering  Dorothy, Stroop, Far Hills  during the evening hours or overnight on those days, just be aware of workers in the area, follow the signs, reduce your speed. All the typical things you should do in the work zone," he added.

Local traffic will be maintained on West Dorothy, but the road will be blocked at the Ridgeway bridge, according to the city.

West Dorothy will close so five steel beams can be installed, Bergstresser said. Each of them is about 114 feet long and weighs around 35,000 pounds, he added.

"Putting the beams in place will be quite an accomplishment," Bergstesser said. "It's really going to start to look like new bridge once that work is complete in the next couple weeks."

Story continues

The bridge work awarded to Brumbaugh Construction began last year and is expected to be complete in August, he said.

Construction of the new bridge will be about $2.67 million with a public art component budgeted at $350,000, Kettering records show.

The Ohio Department of Transportation is funding most of the costs, according to city documents.

The bridge has had a weight limit which includes "emergency vehicle load restrictions," barring Kettering's largest fire truck from crossing it, Bergstresser has said.

A section of Ridgeway from Oak Knoll Drive in Oakwood to Canterbury Drive in Kettering is closed for duration of the project, he said.
Apr. 3One officer with the Greenville Police Department recently had the opportunity to protect, serve ... and post up in the paint.

Officer Joshua Robinson spent a portion of one afternoon playing basketball with some local youngsters. The game was captured on video by Jeff Wheat and was posted to this Facebook page, as well as those of the police department and the Herald-Banner.

Robinson said he doesn't recall exactly how it all started.

"I don't remember if I was driving by, or whether I had left a call over there," Robinson said of the court at the intersection of Second and Pollard streets.

Regardless, he noted one of the kids was about to make a shot and he offered encouragement.

"And they said, 'Why don't you come out and play,'" Robinson said. He declined.

"And then one of them popped off and said, 'Why, are you scared or something?"" Robinson said, laughing at the thought. "They called my bluff. I wasn't going to be punked out by some 12-year-old."

Robinson boldly stepped up and quickly found himself outmatched.

"Oh, they definitely schooled me," he said, admitting that he was facing off against five opponents at once, as pretty soon kids from the surrounding neighborhood starting joining in.

"I thought it was going to be like two on two and be a pick up game, but it turned into them just trying to dunk on me," Robinson said.

The video shows the officer doing his best to keep up, and often failing.

"That video doesn't show everything," Robinson mentioned, referring to how he managed to make at least one impressive defensive stop against a bigger player.

"He was like 6-foot-four, he was my size and I rejected him," Robinson said.

Robinson is as involved as possible in community projects, volunteering with DrugFree Greenville and other organizations.

"I try to find ways to get with the kids, connect with kids and change the perspective of law enforcement," he said.

Even so, Robinson may hesitate before joining in another game.

"I was definitely out of breath," he said. "Those kids were in good shape. I was worn out in about 15 minutes, but they wanted to keep going."
The Middle East launch of the Global Partnership for Education (GPE) Case for Investment will take place on April 6 at 12:00 AST in partnership with the Islamic Development Bank and Dubai Cares, part of Mohammed Bin Rashid Al Maktoum Global Initiatives.

This will be a key milestone in GPEs Raise Your Hand campaign which aims to secure at least $5 billion to help transform education in 90 lower-income countries and territories which are home to one billion children. The campaign will culminate on July 28-29 in London at a landmark summit to finance GPE, co-hosted by UK Prime Minister Boris Johnson and President of Kenya Uhuru Kenyatta.

With a deeply rooted tradition of generosity, Gulf countries have played a vital role in supporting education systems in lower-income countries.

As Covid-19 hollows out entire economies and worsens the global education crisis, GPEs financing campaign is a unique opportunity to create systemic changes to education systems and provide the most vulnerable children with a chance to learn.

The launch of GPEs Case for Investment in the Middle East will feature a virtual event including remarks by high-level dignitaries from GCC countries along with other senior officials representing their development funds. The launch event comes as part of a three-day visit to the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia by Serigne Mbaye Thiam, Minister for Water and Sanitation of Senegal and Vice-Chair of GPEs Board of Directors, and Dr Tariq Al Gurg, Chief Executive Officer at Dubai Cares and GPE Regional Champion.

Dr Tariq Al Gurg, Chief Executive Officer at Dubai Cares and GPE Regional Champion commented: The launch of the Global Partnership for Educations Case for Investment in the Middle East comes at a time when the world is grappling with a major learning crisis that can only be addressed through sustained funding and support. We are pleased to collaborate with the Global Partnership for Education to further enhance the momentum that has been created with the Raise Your Hand campaign and remain committed in our efforts to advocate for education financing and investment in the region and beyond.

Islamic Development Bank President, Dr. Bandar Al Hajjar, asserted: The combined impact of school closures and economic hardship could push millions of vulnerable children out of education, thereby reversing decades of hard-won gains and negatively impacting on our fight against poverty. To mitigate the impact on the most vulnerable children, the GPE replenishment campaign is an opportune moment for the IsDB and the Arab donors to step up and reaffirm our commitment to fulfilling the fundamental right of every child to quality education. Our joint commitment to invest in quality education now will help shape the future ahead.

Thiam said: GPEs replenishment is a major opportunity for Middle East leaders to prioritise transformative investments in education. Through the Middle East launch of the Case for Investment, we hope to unlock educations global potential to boost mutual respect, strengthen social cohesion, generate prosperity and build more inclusive education systems that leave no one behind. Our aim of raising at least $5 billion will be a major step towards creating more inclusive education systems that support the most vulnerable children. -- Tradearabia News Service
FM spokesperson urges U.S. to stop official exchanges with Taiwan

Xinhua) 10:51, April 03, 2021

A man wearing a face mask walks past the U.S. Capitol building in Washington, D.C., the United States, Jan. 24, 2021. (Photo by Aaron Schwartz/Xinhua)

A Chinese Foreign Ministry spokesperson on Friday called on the United States to abide by the one-China principle and stop all forms of official exchange with Taiwan.

"We urge the United States to fully understand the highly sensitive nature of the Taiwan question and adhere to the one-China principle and three China-U.S. joint communiques," spokesperson Hua Chunying said at a daily press briefing.

Hua made the comments in response to U.S. State Department spokesperson Ned Price's remarks that the United States will continue to consider "opportunities for visits to Washington and Taipei by senior-level authorities" to advance their unofficial relationship.

"We urge the U.S. side to stop the dangerous practice of challenging the bottom line and playing with fire as the previous administration did," Hua said. She called for prudently and properly handling the Taiwan question, and not sending wrong signals to separatist forces seeking "Taiwan independence," so as to avoid undermining China-U.S. ties as well as peace and stability across the Taiwan Strait.

Hua noted that the U.S. ambassador to Palau joined the delegation of Palau on a visit to Taiwan, and asked, "Does the United States really care about the people in Taiwan? Or is it using Taiwan as a pawn in its plot to contain China?"

There is only one China in the world and Taiwan is an inalienable part of Chinese territory, and the government of the People's Republic of China is the sole legal government representing the whole of China, Hua said, adding that this is a basic fact recognized by the international community.

"The Taiwan question is the most important and sensitive issue in China-U.S. ties, and the one-China principle is the political foundation of the China-U.S. relationship, a red line that should not be crossed," she said.

Enable Ginger Cannot connect to Ginger Check your internet connection

or reload the browser Disable in this text field Edit Log in to edit with Ginger Log in to edit with Ginger

(Web editor: Kou Jie, Bianji)
Capitol Police identify officer killed, knife-wielding suspect who rammed car into checkpoint 25-year-old suspect from Indiana recently lost job, identified as Nation of Islam

Email Print Img No-img Menu Whatsapp Google Reddit Digg Stumbleupon Linkedin Comment

A Capitol Police officer is dead after a man plowed his car into two law enforcement officials and struck a barricade at the United States Capitol Friday.

The suspect, who remained unnamed for much of the afternoon, was identified by NBC News as 25-year-old black man Noah Green from Indiana. Green drove his vehicle into a Capitol security checkpoint on Constitution Avenue, the north side of the complex. He rammed his car into two Capitol Police officers, killing one and injuring the other. The slain Capitol Police officer was identified as William Billy Evans, an 18-year veteran of the force.

Green identified himself on Facebook as a "follower" of Louis Farrakhan and the Nation of Islam and had recently lost his job, according to multiplereports.

Yogananda Pittman, the acting chief of the Capitol Police, provided a rundown of the days events, which began shortly after 1 p.m. ET, at a mid-afternoon press conference: The suspect rammed his car into two of our officers and then hit the north barricade barrier. At such time, the suspect exited the vehicle with a knife in hand. Our officers then engaged that suspect. He did not respond to verbal commands. The suspect did start lunging toward U.S. Capitol Police officers  at which time U.S. Capitol Police officers fired upon the suspect.

#BREAKING: Acting chief of the U.S. Capitol Police Yogananda Pittman shares what they know so far about the attack on a Capitol checkpoint. She then confirmed that the suspect has died as well as one of the two injured Capitol Police officer. pic.twitter.com/jfuCf4sUcI  Curtis Houck (@CurtisHouck) April 2, 2021

The suspect has been pronounced deceased. Two Capitol Police officers were transported to two different hospitals and it is with a very, very heavy heart that I announce one of our officers has succumbed to his injuries, she continued.

At the time of the press conference, Pittman declined to give detailed information about the victim or the perpetrator because their families had not been notified. She concluded her press conference by asking the public to keep the Capitol Police and their families in their prayers, noting, This has been an extremely difficult time for U.S. Capitol Police after the events of January 6 and now the events that have occurred here today.

According to The Washington Times, Due to the incident, the Capitol was placed on a security lockdown, meaning no one could enter or leave the buildings. Additionally, the incident led to several road closures in the vicinity and forced a handful of public transportation routes to detour. While Congress was not in session and there were fewer employees at the complex than normal on Friday, the Capitol has remained on high alert following the Jan. 6 riot.

The incident comes less than three months after a group of fringe supporters of former President Donald Trump stormed the Capitol as Congress was certifying the electoral votes of the 2020 presidential election. The storming of the Capitol led to heightened security measures, including the deployment of over 10,000 National Guard soldiers and the installation of tall fencing and razor wire around the Capitol complex.

Late last month, a fence on the outer perimeter of the complex was removed, but a fence around the inner perimeter remains in place. In a statement Friday expressing his deepest condolences to the Capitol Police and to the family of the officer killed in todays tragic incident on Capitol Hill, U.S. Secretary of Defense Lloyd Austin thanked the National Guard troops for supporting the Capitol Police.

In addition to offering his thoughts and prayers to all those affected by this loss and best wishes for a speedy recovery of the injured officer, Austin stressed that events like this remind us of the bravery and skill of law enforcement professionals and of our shared commitment to protecting and defending this great country and its institutions.

In the wake of the Capitol attack, Democrats have tried to portray Trump supporters and white supremacy as major national security threats. Examinations of Greens social media accounts reveal that he was a follower of Louis Farrakhan, who has made anti-Semitic remarks describing Jews as Satanic and likening them to termites. In a March 17 Facebook post, Green referred to himself as Brother Noah X and praised the Honorable Minister Louis Farrakhan as the man who can carry us through the dark hour.
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.
Chris Proby from Inch, Gorey has a reason to celebrate today (Tuesday, March 30) as it marks exactly four years since he left hospital having finished his treatment for cancer.

After receiving a bone marrow transplant from his brother, Jonathan, Chris made a promise to himself in his hospital bed that when he got out and recovered from an aggressive form of Non-Hodgkins Lymphoma, that he'd use his experience for something positive and raise awareness about his illness.

Fast forward those four years and Chris is set to host his third Never Give Up run for the Irish Cancer Society and Arklow Cancer Support between July 1 and July 11 and he explained that there will also be a focus on blood, platelet and organ donation this year.

'This year is the first opportunity I've had to raise awareness and focus on this as it was only through my illness that I realised how vital that the service of blood and organ donation. My cancer was stage four cancer which is nearly the worst and it was very aggressive. My treatment was so intense that I had to get the treatment given as soon as possible on each cycle and there couldn't be any delays. During one cycle I was preparing for the next one when I was told that the hospital had no platelets, something cancer and leukaemia patients need, and I needed them for my body to be able to take the treatment

'I remember the nurse coming in to me one morning to say that there was a guy in the hospital who had come in to donate platelets and those would be the ones that I'd be getting to get me started on the treatment. I remember that day so clearly when I was hanging around, sitting there waiting for someone to come into the hospital to make a donation so that I could get my chemotherapy.

'I remember thinking that there was a guy at the other side of the hospital and I really hoped that he knew where his donation was going and how vitally important that donation was. I can't explain how important these services are, because they are literally life saving. Your blood or platelets could be used for saving people who are having an operation, someone who was in a serious accident or it might help save the life of someone battling cancer'.

Chris said that he would never forget those days in the hospital, where he spent a total of five weeks in isolation.

'With my treatment I was in and out hospital for the guts of two years, but when I was allowed home I wasn't able to go to the cinema, out to eat, go on public transport and any food that I ate had to be what we brought home to the house ourselves. Covid for me meant that I was used to what we're being asked to do now in terms of sanitisation and hygiene.

'One thing I wasn't allowed to do during those five weeks in hospital, and any cancer patient will understand this, was go outside in the fresh air and although the pandemic is awful and nerve-racking for cancer patients, I'm grateful that we're able to get out for a walk and just go outside. Contact with friends and family through video calling has been vital and during this time our mental health is so important too.

'When I walked out of hospital four years ago in March 2017, it was the first time I had breathed fresh air in five weeks. I remember I took a big deep breath and I was nearly high on it, it was so significant'.

With about 700 people taking part in Never Give Up virtually in 2020 and thousands of euro raised, runner Chris is hopeful that this year's event may be able to go ahead if restrictions ease.

'When I set up the Never Give Up event originally, it was only meant to be one year but I enjoyed it so much and raised so much awareness that I decided to just keep it up. In 2019 I wanted to mark my transplant anniversary but use my own experience to create something positive and bring people together.

'This year I've set the run up as a virtual event again, but I'm leaving it open in the hope for an event on the day closer to the time. Level 1 or less will allow us to have 200 people and I want it to be open for that many in a safe environment. The virtual event last year seemed like a lot of extra work but it was worth it for what we raised and this year popupraces have made it a bit easier by logging the details.

'It's early days but already we've had 100 people register and made donations, so it's very positive'.

To find out more about Chris' story or sign up for the 5km, 10km or 21.1km, visit www.popupraces.ie by searching '2021 Never Give Up Virtual Challenge'.

Chris also encourages those interested to register on the Bone Marrow Transplant register, Irish blood transfusion service or simply visit www.giveblood.ie.
Islamabad, April 3 : A slight reduction in violence was observed in Pakistan during the month of March, according to the statistics released by an Islamabad-based think tank.

The statistics released by the Pakistan Institute for Conflict and Security Studies (PICSS) on Friday revealed that a total of 20 militant attacks were monitored last month, in which 25 people were killed, while 37 others were injured, Xinhua news agency.

In February, the same number of militant attacks were reported, but the number of deaths and injuries were higher compared to March as 30 people were killed while 42 others were injured, according to PICSS.

Increase in militant attacks as well as security forces actions in Sindh province indicates that militants are trying to create troubles in this province.

According to the PICSS report, the highest number of militant attacks were reported from the tribal areas where five militant attacks were monitored in which four people were killed and two others were injured.

In Balochistan province, 10 people were killed and 24 others were injured in four militant attacks.

In other areas of Khyber Pakhtunkhwa, three people were killed and three others were injured in four militant attacks.

In Sindh, five people were killed and six others were injured in four militant attacks.

Punjab province witnessed two militant attacks in which two people were killed, while Islamabad reported one incident in which a policeman was killed and two others were injured.
The tree animal life had to start somewhere. Discovering that first branch amongst such a tangled canopy is difficult than it seems, though. A recent analysis of genomic data proposes that one phylum in the running for the most ancient branch has been misguiding us all along.

First Animal in the World

Since the 19th century, most researchers have presented one of the easiest creatures that have existed (the sponge) as the first animal in the world. Recent genomic studies, however, have marked this muscle-less, organ-less, nerve-less, and blob against a complex creature by far.

Comb jellies include a small phylum called Ctenophora, but unlike Porifera, the phylum sponges relate to these orb-like creatures exhibit much more traits that are advance, including muscle cells, neurons to discover and feed on prey, as well as a gut for digestion.

If these jellies truly came first, it shows that many of their traits were lost among Porifera subsequently, only to develop again later in the future. While this might seem totally illogical, it's not completely out of the question, although it threatens to alter our knowledge of the evolution of early animals and the nervous system development itself.

Also Read: Comb Jellies Show there is More than One Way to Make a Brain

Phylogenetic Signal

Biologist Anthony Redmond from Trinity College Dublin in Ireland explains that it may look very improbable that such complex traits could develop over again independently, but evolution doesn't follow an easy path always. For instance, bats and birds are distant relations but have independently developed wings for flight.

In current years, some models that have broken genes up into smaller groups for comparison have discovered that comb jellies carry a larger phylogenetic signal than sponges, which proposes that these animals developed and existed first. Using the same details, other models that do not separate genes but depend on a larger super-matrix have disclosed the specific opposite timeline, with sponges landing on the scene earlier than comb jellies.

Far Distant Relatives of Animals

Both of these approaches have their barriers, but examining them at once aids in the alleviation of some of the previous errors and biases when glancing at the data. A reexamination with the use of a more integrative model now proposes that scientists were on the right track to start with, sponges, were specifically it .

Redmond said that their method bridges the gap between two methodologies in disagreement, and makes available strong evidence that sponges, and not comb jellies, are our most far distant animal relatives.

Partitioned models

Natural selection in evolution tends to preserve the role and shape of certain proteins by replacing specific amino acids with others that their biochemical properties are the same. These properties can, however, vary from site to site, between and within genes.

Partitioned models, where genes are broken up and replacement patterns amid sites are compared in sets, often do not give account for this diversity, which implies they could be omitting multiple substitutions that are 'hidden', mostly in species where brand-new amino acids were chosen for relatively quickly.

Related Article: Sponges Collect Penguin, Seal, and Fish DNA from the Water they Filter

For more news, updates about first animals and similar topics don't forget to follow Nature World News!
WOOD RIVER  The regions unemployment rate in February improved over the previous month, but remains high as many people delay going back to work or looking for a job.

The Illinois Department of Employment Security released local February unemployment figures on Thursday.

According to data from the Illinois Department of Employment Security, the unemployment rate for February in the St. Louis MSA, which includes Bond, Calhoun, Clinton, Jersey, Macoupin, Madison, Monroe and St. Clair counties, was 5.6 percent, down one percentage point from Januarys 6.6. percent.

It is still much higher than the 3.2 percent figure from February 2020, the last full month before the impact of COVID-19 sent rates skyrocketing as much of the economy shut down.

Locally, unemployment rates by county ranged from 3.7 percent in Monroe County to 6.1 percent in Calhoun County. Madison, Macoupin, Greene and Bond counties all have unemployment rates of 5.3 percent; Jersey County is 5.1 percent; and Clinton County is 4.2 percent.

By cities, Altons rate was 7.3 percent. Edwardsvilles was 3.8 percent, Collinsvilles rate 5.8 percent, and Granite City was at 6.6 percent. All were down by at least about 1 percent from the previous month.

Statewide, the unemployment rate was 7.8 percent, down from 8.5 percent in January.

As expected, the global, national, and state impacts of the COVID-19 pandemic are still very present and the effects continue to linger on the economy and the workforce, said Deputy Governor Dan Hynes.

The unemployment rates have been going back and forth for several months as the economy improved, then reacted to a second wave of COVID cases, and now is reacting to decreased cases and the implementation of widespread vaccination efforts.

Madison County Employment and Training Director Tony Fuhrmann said there were no surprises in the newest data.

He said people are going back to work, but some are still hesitant to get out there.

Part of the reason is that factors relating to childcare and the opening of schools are still causing concerns, and extended unemployment benefits are making some people take a hard look at whether it is time to return to the workforce.

People are weighing options, he said, adding if someone is breaking even while on unemployment and still has concerns about COVID, it makes sense to hold back.

Theres no benefit to work at this point, he said.

However, he said those wanting jobs should be able to find them.

Were still seeing a lot of interest from employers looking to hire people, he said.

That includes the hospitality industry, which was especially hard-hit by COVID.

In addition, he said the MCET office has a number of programs and funds available to help people look for new jobs, or get 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.
Cognitive Security Market Opportunities, Future Plans, Competitive Landscape and Growth by Forecast 2027

Posted by Publisher Internet

Market Overview

The cognitive security market 2020 can expect to attain an approximate valuation of USD 10 Billion by 2023, believes Market Research Future (MRFR). MRFR adds in its latest study that the market can also progress at a rate of 19% between 2017 and 2023 (evaluation period). We will provide COVID-19 impact analysis with the report, along with all the key developments since the coronavirus disease outbreak.

Get a Free Sample @ https://www.marketresearchfuture.com/sample_request/3986

Market Boosters and Key Deterrents

Businesses everywhere are coming together to strategize on ways to deal with the COVID-19 outbreak and its aftereffects. The pandemic has led to a dramatic shift of companies? schemes from long-term to short-term, with more focus on customer engagement and continues business flow. Businesses are learning how to address the COVID-19 impact in terms of healthcare as well as economics. Cognitive security has always been an important market for businesses, given its ability to secure data from cyber and virus attacks using machine learning, data mining, human-computer interface and natural language processing. However, following the SARS-CoV-2 outbreak, the market value has multiplied significantly in view of the expected threats and various forms of attacks that can weaken the company?s infrastructure as well as its systems.

In the wake of novel coronavirus, businesses have apparently become more vulnerable when it comes to their reputation. They are now no more in the position to afford any cyber-attacks on cloud that can damage their image in front of their clients. Experts believe that only those businesses can thrive that are well-equipped with the necessary data security tools and solutions such as Cognitive Security Global Market.

The lockdown has led to higher adoption of work-at-home model among enterprises, which is prompting companies to spend more energy and money on adopting cognitive security solutions and services to manage threats while working from home. The exponential growth of the online industry has also been an incredible booster for the cognitive security market. Cloud security has become one of the major focus areas for the businesses, especially since the pandemic. Mergers and acquisitions are also some of the growth tactics employed by the players to remain relevant in the global market.

For instance, in June 2020, reports confirmed that IBM is ready to acquire Spanugo, a cyber-security firm, to cater to the protection and compliance requirements of the clients in extremely regulated industries.

Market Segmentation

The cognitive security industry has been considered for deployment, organization size and vertical.

The deployment-wise segments are cloud and on-premise.

The organizations, size-wise, mentioned in the study are large enterprises and SMEs/small and medium enterprises.

Verticals that deploy cognitive security solutions include supply chain and logistics, IT & telecommunication, energy and power, healthcare, education and government, BFSI, and more. BFSI is the most significant vertical that uses cognitive security, as these solutions provide a number of advantages such as prevention techniques, automated threat intelligence, fraud analysis as well as investigation.

Regional Insight

Europe, Asia Pacific/APAC, North America, and Rest of the World/RoW are the key markets for cognitive security.

North America has secured the biggest share in the global market, as a result of the well-developed network infrastructure, prevalence of digitization and the high consumption of advanced technologies. The region is in the lead also because of the large number of leading players that have expertise in cognitive security. The market attractiveness is also the result of the BYOD trend that is quite common across enterprises.

The fastest expansion rate can be procured by the APAC market, since more and more enterprises are spending massively on research and development with regard to cognitive security. The expanding IT landscape along with the escalating uptake of internet of things, bring your own device and artificial intelligence technologies by enterprises can also induce major growth. India and China are progressively deploying cognitive security solutions given the surge in digitization and the developing industrialization rate, which can also drive the market demand in the region.

Leading Industry Players

The leading industry players listed in the market study include Check Point Software Technologies (Israel), Intel Security (U.S.), CA Technologies, Inc. (U.S.), Fortinet, Inc. (California, U.S.), Cisco systems (U.S.), CSC (U.S.), Cato Networks (Israel), Symantec Corporation (U.S.), XTN (Italy), IBM Corporation (U.S.), and more.

Browse Complete Report @ https://www.marketresearchfuture.com/reports/cognitive-security-market-3986

About Market Research Future:

At Market Research Future (MRFR), we enable our customers to unravel the complexity of various industries through our Cooked Research Report (CRR), Half-Cooked Research Reports (HCRR), Raw Research Reports (3R), Continuous-Feed Research (CFR), and Market Research & Consulting Services.

MRFR team have supreme objective to provide the optimum quality market research and intelligence services to our clients. Our market research studies by products, services, technologies, applications, end users, and market players for global, regional, and country level market segments, enable our clients to see more, know more, and do more, which help to answer all their most important questions.

Contact:

Market Research Future

+1 646 845 9312

Email: sales@marketresearchfuture.com
A loving and thought-provoking tribute to Jonathan Aitken by the daughter who only found out he was her father when she was 18.

If my father, the Reverend Jonathan Aitken, could give an Easter morning sermon it would be a powerful message of hope and of brighter days ahead, assuring us that we will be united with loved ones again. Today, as he lies critically ill in hospital, I know how many people are hoping for his full recovery so he can return to doing what he loves  being of service.

A couple of weeks ago, on a quiet Saturday morning in New York, I received a frantic phone call from my brother that our father was about to undergo emergency stomach surgery in London and that, if I called his mobile, I might be able to speak to him, possibly for the last time.

Always the father, Jonathan has been an immense supporter of my work as a writer (Pictured, Petra Khashoggi and her father Jonathan Aitken in 2005)

But it was too late. My dad, now 78, was already on the operating table. I waited on tenterhooks for the next few hours, confident he would pull through  only to hear further harrowing news. During the operation, he had suffered two heart attacks, a priest had been called to read his last rites, he had been resuscitated twice and although still alive, was now in an induced coma with failing organs.

The doctors had no idea when, or even if, he would wake up. That he has somehow survived it all and is now conscious once again seems nothing short of a miracle.

I have already seen the death of one father. Adnan Khashoggi  the larger-than-life Saudi Arabian businessman who gave me his name and treated me as one of his own  passed away four years ago. Now my real father, the man I first met at the age of 18, is lying in a hospital bed fighting his way back from death  for the second time in a year.

It was March 2020 and the beginning of worldwide lockdown when I'd received another, equally dramatic phone call to say that Jonathan was dying of Covid-19  and that I should 'keep praying'.

I couldn't get back to the UK in time. Frightened and powerless to do anything from more than 3,000 miles away, I couldn't even go and meet a friend.

Covid was spreading rapidly in New York. That same day, I learned there were four confirmed cases in my apartment building alone. Even setting foot outside my front door put me at risk of contracting the virus.

I had no one to run to, and nowhere to run. Like everyone else, I was trapped inside my head. I sat alone for hours, days and nights, staring at the walls and ceiling, trying to come to terms with what seemed like my dad's certain demise.

I filled pages and pages of my journal, called friends for comfort, lit candles, tried getting on my knees and praying and finally found peace by listening to Buddhist teachings about the nature of impermanence.

A couple of weeks ago, on a quiet Saturday morning in New York, I received a frantic phone call from my brother that our father was about to undergo emergency stomach surgery in London. (Petra with Adnan Khashoggi, above left, who gave her his name)

Asthmatic and now in his eighth decade, my father had been poleaxed by respiratory and gastrointestinal infection. Yet he beat all the odds to make his first, remarkable recovery.

After that, we spoke on the phone frequently.

He proudly informed me that, as an Anglican priest, he was considered an 'essential worker' and how fulfilled he felt at this late stage of life, busier and happier than ever.

In one of our calls, I asked him what it was like to come so close to death. He told me he did, briefly, cross over to the other side, and that from what he saw, there was nothing to fear.

In another conversation, I listened to his stories as a war correspondent in Vietnam, his time in San Francisco with Allen Ginsberg, Jim Morrison and The Grateful Dead, and how he accompanied them to the 1967 Monterey Pop Festival.

He'd been getting high with icons and I, at last, was getting to know the man he'd been before he was my father.

I was born a Khashoggi. It's the name on my birth certificate. I grew up with nannies and at boarding schools. Home was my mother's house in London and when I wasn't at school, I was on the periphery of what I now call 'Khashoggiland'.

Life with Adnan was an alternative reality. 'Welcome to My World,' he used to say. And what a world it was.

Adnan was magical. He was the closest thing I had to a father but he was inaccessible, surrounded by an entourage of bodyguards and hangers-on.

As one of the most powerful men in the world, he retained a childlike wonder to the end of his days. He was kind and inclusive, his older children were my brothers and sister, and the word 'half' was never used.

I was incredibly fortunate, but something paramount was missing  half of my DNA. The physical differences with my olive-skinned, dark-haired siblings were obvious. I am blonde. My mother refused to discuss the mystery of my paternity, but occasionally she would let something slip. And at boarding school the fantasies began, hours upon hours of dreaming up the perfect father. The first time I saw, or even heard about Jonathan Aitken, was on television. Still a Government Minister, he was giving his famous speech about the 'simple sword of truth', his defence to media allegations about improper business dealings which would eventually lead to his spectacular downfall.

My mother was in the room and casually blurted out that she knew him  had been engaged to him  once upon a time. I added him to my list.

A couple of years later, I was in a nightclub when a friendly girl came up to me and introduced herself as Victoria Aitken. We were the same age and mixed in the same circles.

She invited me to her birthday party at her family home in Westminster, and that was the night I met Jonathan. As I stood in front of the tall, dark and handsome man in the middle of the room, his eyes were flicking around to see who was behind me, perhaps someone more important.

I can't fault him because he had no idea that I even existed. I was just one of his daughter's friends. After we were introduced, he said to me: 'I knew your mother once. Do send her my regards.'

Another meeting followed, arranged by his daughters Victoria and Alexandra who were now convinced I was their long-lost sister.

People kept commenting on the uncanny resemblance, including our father, which led to a DNA test. After our blood was taken, I asked for the results to be sent by mail in a letter for me to open, read and digest at my own leisure. Jonathan requested them by phone.

A few days later, I was sitting on my sofa when the phone rang. It was Jonathan. 'Good news,' he said. 'I am your father.'

I told him I would have to call him back. I went upstairs, sat on my bed and stared out the window for a long time. There were no intense emotions, just a faint sense of relief tinged with anxiety. I knew that from this moment forward, my life would be for ever changed.

I was also terrified of telling my mother that I had done a DNA test behind her back.

Jonathan stepped into his fatherly role with gusto. He showed great interest in my day-to-day life. He offered to pay for me to go back to college, but I had been modelling for a couple of years by then and did not want to be a schoolgirl again.

Looking back, I wish I had taken him up on his offer. It wasn't until I turned 30 that I picked up my education to get a master's degree.

A few months later, Jonathan was sentenced to prison for perjury at The Old Bailey. He'd sued ITV's World In Action and The Guardian newspaper over claims that the Saudi Arabian government had paid his hotel bill at the Paris Ritz  a conflict of interest as he had been Minister of Defence Procurement. And he lied. I stood in court with my new family, united in our sorrow. But part of me felt like I didn't belong there. I was the newbie. The other children, who had grown up with him, were witnessing something deeply traumatic  their beloved father being sent to prison. He was stoic and dignified as he blew us kisses from the dock before being led away.

I shed a tear for the man I barely knew. While he was behind bars, we started building a relationship through long and loving letters.

I visited him a few times, sat across from him in his orange overalls. My father, the prisoner.

I took Jonathan to see Adnan just before he died. My father can be very impatient and he lost his temper at the taxi driver while we were stuck in traffic en route to the hospital.

I was worried he would still be in a bad mood when we arrived, which would spoil this meaningful moment.

As soon as he saw his old friend Adnan, his face lit up and all traces of irritation vanished.

This was the first time I had seen my two fathers together. Knowing that Adnan was nearing the end (Jonathan was his last visitor before he was admitted to intensive care) and that a moment like this would never happen again, I was unable to control my emotions.

We all sat together holding hands as I wept. A moment of gratitude  I for my two fathers, and they for each other's roles in my life.

Jonathan lightened the mood by recounting stories from the good old days and made us laugh when he reminded Adnan how he had encouraged Jonathan to marry my mother when they were dating in the 1970s, years before I was born.

A few years ago, my father received 'The Call' to become ordained as a priest. This wasn't that surprising to me as he had always been religious.

Jonathan has told me that you can't just pray when you need something  it has to be a daily commitment. But if there was ever a time for prayer, it is now. I fully believe Jonathan will recover and return home to his wife Elizabeth, whom he loves so much. He is a fighter and a survivor. I can't wait to see him again after this long and enforced separation.

Jonathan's escape from death has been called a 'medical miracle' but perhaps there are higher forces at work. Is he still with us because there's more work for him to do? He has changed and enriched so many lives and, through his service, transformed himself.

He is often called a 'disgraced' former MP but I have only known him on his road to redemption and all I see is Grace. Maybe that word can be replaced with 'Redeemed', or even better, 'Resurrected'.

Always the father, Jonathan has been an immense supporter of my work as a writer. A few years ago, he helped me conceive an idea for a book called A Tale Of Two Fathers. A story of two extraordinary men. Perhaps this will be my first draft.

Dad, I know you will be reading this from your hospital bed and I hope it brings a smile to your face. Thank you for inspiring me to write it. Happy Easter. I love you.
It varies church by church, he said. Pledges are not necessarily dramatically down, but donations given to the collection plate are hopelessly down.

The Rev. Patrick J. West, the pastor at St. Sebastian, said he and other priests have fretted over the return of parishioners when they gather for meals. Parishioners still fear the virus, which has killed tens of thousands of New Yorkers, and many have become accustomed to watching Mass online from the comforts of home, he said.

The word I use is repatriate, he said. How are we going to repatriate people back to the church? I dont think its a matter of peoples faith, its a matter of health and safety. They need to be convinced that it is safe to worship in a congregation again, and I think that is absolutely right.

The hardships of the pandemic have been keenly felt at St. Sebastian, a bustling parish that offers Mass in English, Spanish and Tagalog inside a soaring, windowless space that was once a Loews movie theater.

It sits on a busy intersection in the shadow of elevated subway tracks in Woodside, a working class but quickly gentrifying part of Queens where roughly 10 percent of the residents have been infected by the coronavirus, according to city data.
As officials try to tamp down on coronavirus' spread in South Carolina's most rural counties, leaders have organized eight mass vaccination sites in key areas.

The S.C. Department of Health and Environmental Control and U.S. Rep Jim Clyburn, D-S.C., have organized free events in Allendale, Bamberg and Hampton counties. Anyone age 18 or older is eligible, and no appointments are required.

It is my hope that every American will get vaccinated as soon as they are able so that we may save lives and ultimately defeat this virus, Clyburn said.

Rural communities and communities of color have been disproportionately affected by the current public health crisis," he added, and that "many of these communities also lack access to reliable internet service, which is why we have chosen not to require appointments for these sites. These mobile sites allow us to reach our most vulnerable communities, which improves health outcomes and get those hit hardest by this virus back on track.

Each clinic will be open from 10 a.m. to 6 p.m., and second dose appointments will be automatically scheduled.

Hampton County

Tuesday, April 6th  Bull Durham Center, 380 Railroad Ave., Estill

Thursday, April 8th  Community Center, 10 Mixon St., Yemassee

Monday, April 12th  Hampton County Administration Building, 200 Jackson Ave., Hampton

Tuesday, April 13th  Varnville Town Hall, 101 Town Circle, Varnville

Allendale County

Thursday, April 15th  Allendale Community Center, 202 E. Flat St., Allendale

Friday, April 16th  Fairfax Mini-Mall, 128 Sumter Ave., Fairfax

Bamberg County

Monday, April 19th  Bamberg County Courthouse Annex, 1234 North St., Bamberg

Tuesday, April 20th  Denmark Technical College, 1126 Solomon Blatt Blvd., Denmark

Statewide numbers

New cases reported: 632 confirmed, 365 probable.

Total cases in S.C.: 467,016 confirmed, 88,258 probable.

Sign up for our new health newsletter The best of health, hospital and science coverage in South Carolina, delivered to your inbox weekly. Email

Sign Up!

Percent positive: 3.5 percent.

New deaths reported: 13 confirmed, 4 probable.

Total deaths in S.C.: 8,105 confirmed, 1,091 probable.

Percent of ICU beds filled: 69 percent.

How does S.C. rank in vaccines administered per 100,000 people?

42nd as of April 1, according to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.

Hardest-hit areas

In the total number of newly confirmed cases, Greenville County (128), Richland County (52) and Charleston County (50) saw the highest totals.

What about the tri-county?

Charleston County had 50 new cases on April 3, while Berkeley had 25, and Dorchester had 14.

Deaths

Four of the new confirmed deaths reported were people age 35 to 64, and nine were patients age 65 and older.

Hospitalizations

Of the 486 COVID-19 patients hospitalized as of April 3, 117 were in the ICU and 52 were using ventilators.

What do experts say?

The CDC issued new travel recommendations for fully vaccinated people on April 2. The federal health authority said people who have had both doses of the Pfizer or Moderna vaccines or the single-dose Johnson & Johnson vaccine can safely travel internationally.

The CDC still recommends travelers get tested for COVID-19 three to five days after the travel. The agency said "you do NOT need to self-quarantine after arriving in the United States."
In this file photo dated Monday, March 22, 2021, vials of the AstraZeneca COVID-19 vaccine in a fridge at the local vaccine center in Ebersberg near Munich, Germany. German officials have decided to limit the use of AstraZeneca's coronavirus vaccine in people under 60 after more unusual blood clots were reported in a small number of people who received the shots. Earlier this month, more than a dozen countries, including Germany, suspended their use of AstraZeneca over the blood clot issue. (AP Photo/Matthias Schrader, File)

Britain's medicines regulator is urging people to continue taking the AstraZeneca coronavirus vaccine, despite revealing that seven people in the U.K. have died from rare blood clots after getting the jab.

The Medicines and Healthcare Regulatory Agency, or MHRA, said it wasn't clear if the shots are causing the clots, and that its "rigorous review into the U.K. reports of rare and specific types of blood clots is ongoing."

Though the agency said late Friday that seven people had died as a result of developing blood clots, it didn't disclose any information about their ages or health conditions.

In total, MHRA said it had identified 30 cases of rare blood clot events out of 18.1 million AstraZeneca doses administered up to and including March 24. The risk associated with this type of blood clot is "very small," it added.

"The benefits of COVID-19 vaccine AstraZeneca in preventing COVID-19 infection and its complications continue to outweigh any risks and the public should continue to get their vaccine when invited to do so," said Dr. June Raine, the agency's chief executive.

Concerns over the AstraZeneca vaccine have already prompted some countries including Canada, France, Germany and the Netherlands to restrict its use to older people.

The U.K., which has rolled out coronavirus vaccines faster than other European nations, is particularly reliant on the AstraZeneca vaccine, which was developed by scientists at the University of Oxford. It has also been using the vaccine developed by Pfizer-BioNTech, of which the agency has not seen any reported blood clot events.

Figures Saturday showed that the U.K. has given a first dose of vaccine to 31.4 million people, or around 46% of its population, a much higher rate than the rest of Europe. Delivering second doses is the priority for April, with 5.2 million people now having received two jabs.

In this Monday, March 22, 2021 file photo, a member of the the medical staff prepares a syringe with the AstraZeneca coronavirus vaccine, during preparations at the vaccine center in Ebersberg near Munich, Germany. German officials have decided to limit the use of AstraZeneca's coronavirus vaccine in people under 60 after more unusual blood clots were reported in a small number of people who received the shots. Earlier this month, more than a dozen countries, including Germany, suspended their use of AstraZeneca over the blood clot issue. (AP Photo/Matthias Schrader, FIle)

The relative success of the country's vaccination program has been credited for helping to sharply reduce new coronavirus infections in the U.K. after a winter surge, paving the way for a modest easing of lockdown restrictions on gatherings.

On Saturday, the U.K. recorded another 3,423 infections, slightly up on the previous day's six-month low of 3,402. It also recorded only 10 coronavirus-related deaths, its lowest daily total since early September.

Despite the improved coronavirus backdrop, the U.K. has recorded Europe's highest COVID-related death toll, with over 126,500 deaths.

In France, which has restricted use of the AstraZeneca vaccine to people over 55, the family of a 38-year-old woman who died after suffering post-vaccination blood clots in the brain filed a criminal complaint in Toulouse on Saturday seeking a manslaughter investigation.

She is among four people in France who died after suffering blood clots in the weeks after getting an AstraZeneca vaccine shot. France's national medicine safety agency says it is investigating those cases and eight other cases of severe blood clotting in people who survived.

MHRA's view about the relative benefits of the vaccine is shared by the European Medicines Agency. It has said a causal link between unusual blood clots in people who have had the AstraZeneca vaccine is "not proven, but is possible," and that the benefits of the vaccine outweigh the risks of side effects. The World Health Organization has also urged countries to continue using the jab.

Adam Finn, a professor of pediatrics at the University of Bristol, said the "extreme rarity" of the blood-clotting events in the context of the millions of jabs administered in the U.K. makes the decision very straightforward.

"Receiving the vaccine is by far the safest choice in terms of minimizing individual risk of serious illness or death," he said.

Explore further Follow the latest news on the coronavirus (COVID-19) outbreak

 2021 The Associated Press. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten or redistributed without permission.
The debate over whether places like nursing homes, hospitals and companies should face liability for COVID cases is playing out in the state legislature.

A month after Gov. Ned Lamont ended legal immunity protections in the pandemic for hospitals and nursing homes, the General Assembly seems less likely to either restore them, or extend proposed shields to other locations.

But state Rep. Craig Fishbein, R-Wallingford, ranking member of the Judiciary Committee, is worried that some well-meaning companies might become targets for frivolous lawsuits, even though its nearly impossible to prove when and where a patient may have contracted COVID-19.

Cleaning companies have contacted me to say in the pandemic they are being asked to give a level of assurance that a facility is sanitized, and they are concerned about liability, Fishbein said in a Friday interview. He said that companies and other entities that follow the guidance of Lamont and the state Department of Public Health shouldnt be exposed to legal action.

Fishbein and other House Republicans sponsored legislation that would protect from lawsuits the businesses, nonprofit organizations, schools, towns and state agencies that safely reopened in the pandemic. The proposal turned into a bipartisan committee bill that would allow immunity from civil liability to any entity that observed health and safety guidelines.

I dont know whether anybody would actually prove being at a certain place at a certain time and exposed to activities could prove a cause of COVID, given its rampant and contagious nature, Fishbein said.

A related bill would allow nursing homes to be sued for injuries resulting from a failure to comply with standards of COVID-19 care. Fishbein doubts that either bill will make it out of the committee next week, when the Democratic-dominated panel votes on a variety of bills.

To take a guidance standard and use that to impose liability on nursing homes would be very unfair and unprecedented, said Matthew Barrett, president and CEO of the Connecticut Association of Health Care Facilities / Connecticut Center for Assisted Living, in a Thursday interview. Barrett recalled that public health standards and practices changed many times since March of last year when Lamont first declared the public health emergency.

A longstanding and well-developed right of action to sue for negligence already exists under the common law, and therefore passage of this bill is unnecessary to protect the rights of individuals to bring claims arising from COVID-19, said Heather O. Bercham, attorney for the association, in testimony before the Judiciary Committee.

State Rep. Steve Stafstrom, D-Bridgeport, co-chairman of the Judiciary Committee said Friday hes not sure whether either bill is needed. They are too broad in scope and dont take into account that current law allows patients and nursing home residents - and their their families - to sue facilities if their care violates health protocols.

Conversely, companies and non-profits that act in good faith within health and safety guidelines are already protected from liability suits under current law, he said.

In order to establish liability in personal injury or wrongful death, you have to prove they breached the duty of care, so if someone in good faith tried to comply with the CDC and (state Department of Public Health) directives, I dont believe a court of law could fine that you breached your duty of care, Stafstrom said.

He gave the hypothetical example of two restaurants. One spaced tables properly, six feet apart, but during a cleaning, a staff member accidentally puts a pair of tables five feet apart. At the second restaurant, management tries to fit in more diners and places tables five feet apart.

The first restaurant should not face a liability, but the second could, said Stafstrom.

Among those supporting the expanded-immunity bill was the Connecticut Campground Owners Association, who wrote that since camping has inherent risks, dangers can arise. This is not about protecting campground owners from negligence on their part; it is designed to shield them from liability for injuries that may occur because of campers encountering risks that exist in the natural world and are beyond the campground owners/operators control, the association wrote in testimony for a recent public hearing.

Mark R. Nemec, president of Fairfield University, told the committee that the college has already spent about $10 million in COVID related expenses.

Some may argue that any institution that follows public health standards will prevail in litigation, and thus a safe harbor is not needed, Nemec said in prepared testimony for the committee. However, the direct and indirect cost of successfully defending lawsuits will nonetheless be very high at a particularly fraught moment when time and resources across the sector have never been more strained. Moreover, insurance for pandemic risks is limited or unavailable, creating significant financial exposure.

Supporters of the proposed immunity expansion include the National Federation of Independent Business, representing smaller companies; and the New England Convenience Store & Energy Marketers Association.

But Kelly McConney Moore, senior policy counsel for the American Civil Liberties Union of Connecticut said the bill would likely shield the state Department of Correction, which oversaw prison operations where 4,200 inmates contracted COVID and 19 died.

Even if the DOCs health and safe operations guidelines were created carefully, the contents of those guidelines were probably inherently negligent, since they made it difficult or impossible for incarcerated people to properly distance, sanitize, hand wash, or take other commonsense, reasonable steps to stay safe from COVID-19, Moore said in prepared testimony. To give the DOC a free pass for these decisions, just because they were following the rules they themselves made, encourages negligent rule-making.

Kathleen Flaherty, executive director of the Connecticut Legal Rights Project, Inc., told the committee that she favored making it easier for people to sue hospitals and nursing homes, but she also opposed the bill that would to expand legal immunity.

When COVID-19 first struck the state, providing civil immunity to hospitals and long-term care facilities made sense - everyone was trying to do the best they could with a novel coronavirus, Flaherty said. Now we know what works to control the spread of infection, and continued immunity is inappropriate. But she said the standard for gross negligence or willful misconduct is too high in the other piece of legislation.

The deadline for the Judiciary Committee to act is Friday, April 9.

kdixon@ctpost.com Twitter: @KenDixonCT
Now that theres some glimmer of hope for a return to restaurant normalcy, speculation is intensifying as to the stickiness of the restaurant industry operational changes the COVID-19 pandemic brought about.

Most  but not all  in the industry seem to be betting that many of those innovations  family meal packs, curbside pickup, third party delivery, and the like  will become permanent parts of the dining out experience.

One of the big beneficiaries of the pandemic have been the third-party delivery services such as DoorDash, Postmates, Uber Eats, and the like. All were able to dramatically increase their volume of business as restaurants  both chains and independents  scrambled to find options after in-restaurant dining was shut down. Operations that previously saw 2 or 3% of their orders come in from these third party services suddenly were finding that such orders accounted for a quarter or more of their restaurants total dollar sales.

The problem with sustaining high levels of third party delivery after the pandemic passes are the costs involved. Though hard data is difficult to come by, most third party delivery brands take 20 or 30% of every dollar of restaurant sales that get ordered through such a service.

That hefty cut was tolerable when third party delivery sales were a small, incremental part of a restaurants business but become unsustainable at higher levels of volume. Even well-run restaurant have a tough time realizing five or ten percent profit on sales; having a delivery service take 20% off the top is unrealistic.

A few independents and chains have experimented with higher menu prices for delivery, but most operators have been eating the losses they book on delivery sales. Whether or not restaurant owners continue to take such a bottom line hit as on-premises dining returns is yet to be seen.

Another issue with third party delivery is the ownership of customer data. Since orders are placed through the services app, marketing intelligence on who orders what and when is typically retained by the third party service. They are then free to monetarize that information, either by using it for their own marketing or even selling it to data brokers.

Side dishes

Cals Wood-Fired Grill & Wine Bar in West Springfield has announced that its $23.99 Prix Fixe menu is now being served on Mondays (holidays excluded). Available at dinner only, the four-course menu includes a choice of starter, a salad, an entree, and a dessert.

Entree selections include a classic chicken Parmesan, eggplant Neopolitan, redfish nouvelle, hazelnut-encrusted salmon, a grilled, 10-ounce top sirloin steak, and more.

The prix fixe menu is not available for takeout.

Contact the restaurant at (413)827-9353 for more details.

Throughout the pandemic Chez Josef in Agawam has been creating an assortment of Complete Dinner Packs that it made available for either pickup or local delivery on a weekly special basis.

Now the operations Chez2Go division is offering a complete library of dinner packs on a one-week-advance-notice basis.

Options include a Fall Harvest pack that includes Cape Cod chicken, butternut squash ravioli, and roasted potatoes; an Hawaiian pack with teriyaki chicken pineapple skewers and Island fried rice; and a BBQ pack that features baby back ribs, mesquite chicken, baked beans, and white cheddar mac & cheese.

The packs include rolls and dessert.

For more details, call Chez Josef at (413) 786-0257; their web site is chezjosef.com.

Now that the option of dine-out weekend breakfasts is coming back strong, operations like Burgundy Brook Cafe and Restaurant in Three Rivers are enhancing their morning food options with creativity aplenty.

Some typical experiences that before-noon customers can find include cinnamon bun French toast, banana Nutella crepes, and a rattlesnake omelet thats filled with sausage, red peppers, jalapenos, and melted Swiss cheese.

Traditionalist can enjoy choices such as a corned beef skillet topped with poached eggs and hollandaise or sausage biscuit with gravy, while those who like it hot might opt for a dialed-up chicken sriracha benedict.

Open Thursday through Sunday from 8 a.m. to 1 p.m., the Burgundy Brook Cafe also serves dinner from 5 p.m. to 9 p.m. on Thursdays, Fridays, and Saturdays.

More menu details are available at the CafC's web site, burgundybrook.com. Their telephone number is (413) 289-6359.

Like many restaurant chains, UNO Pizzeria & Grill is anxious for employees to get vaccinated, and in order to improve the likelihood that will happen, the Boston-based pizza chain has created an in-house vaccination concierge service. Staffed by volunteer employees, the service helps those who work at UNO-owned restaurants and facilities schedule vaccination appointments.

UNO is also further encouraging vaccinations by offering a $50 gift card to every employee who completes a course of immunization against COVID-19.

The Student Prince Cafe and Fort Restaurant in Springfield has expanded its brunch program. The restaurant now offers a brunch menu every Saturday and Sunday from 11 a.m. to 3 p.m.

Buffet selections include breakfast favorites such as eggs Benedict, waffles, an omelet station, home fries, and a selection of breakfast meats.

Supplementing those choices are pasta salad, several hot entrees, and a carving station; a dessert table is also part of the buffet package.

In addition to the brunch, the Student Prince makes its regular a la carte menu available during weekend lunch hours.

Contact the restaurant at (413) 734-7475. Reservations can also be made online at studentprince.com.

Seattle-based Starbucks has begun providing technology solutions that help blind and low-vision customers more easily access the coffee chains retail locations.

The company has partnered with Aira, an online service that provides real-time assistance from a remotely-located human agent. Airas smartphone solution helps visually impaired customers navigate the restaurant and read signage and menus.

Starbucks also has made a commitment to provide Braille and large-print menus in all its U.S. and Canadian stores by this summer.

More information about the Aira service is available at aira.io.

Max Burger in Longmeadow has updated the availability of its Fried Chicken Family Pack.

Now offered every other Wednesday, the pack include eight pieces of fried chicken, mashed potatoes, mac & cheese, coleslaw, hot honey, and buttermilk biscuits with honey butter.

The Family Pack is available for either dine in or take out; advance orders by noon on Wednesday are appreciated. Takeout packs can be picked up between 4 p.m. and 6 p.m.

Max Burger in Longmeadow answers at (413) 798-0101. Online orders can be placed at maxburgerma.com.

Tips are going digital at Sonic Drive-In locations, with about a third of the chains restaurants currently able to process gratuities for carhops through the Sonic App. A systemwide rollout of the apps tipping functionality is planned by the end of 2021.

Sonics management claims that a digital tipping capability has been among the top customer requests.

Of course, the digital tipping will give the chain more information about (and control over) the amount of tips carhops receive, functionality that could prove useful in managing tip reporting and pooling requirements.

In order to promote the use of their products, some food companies set up contests for culinary professions, soliciting new ideas and recipes.

Mondelez International, which makes RITZ crackers, promoted such a competition late last year, challenging chefs to come with new ways of using RITZ crushed crackers.

Though the contests are often high visibility, the winning chef typically dont get as much exposure, which makes Eric Stein, the Grand Prize Winner of the 2020 RITZ Crushed Cracker Contest, an exception.

Mondelez recently announced his winning entry, a Fudgy Peanut Butter and Chocolate Truffle Ice Cream Pie. Stein, who is the research chef for the Atlanta-based Churchs Chicken chain, modified a recipe for Mississippi Mud Pie by using the savory Ritz cracker crumbs in both the crust and crumble topping of his ice cream pie creation.

The pies recipe will be featured in future Mondelez promotional materials.

Louisville, Kentuck-based Yum Brands has announce that its Pizza Hut restaurants will soon incorporate the Hut Lane, a dedicated drive-thru window where customers can pick up orders placed remotely at Pizza Huts website, on the Pizza Hut app, or over the phone.

The first wave of this roll-out will add the Hut Lane to more than 1,500 locations nationwide. Contactless curbside pickup will continue to be offered at locations not yet equipped with a Hut Lane.

The Hut Lane is part of Pizza Huts strategy of focusing on the digital ordering experience.

Hugh Robert is a faculty member in Holyoke Community Colleges hospitality and culinary arts program and has nearly 45 years of restaurant and educational experience. Robert can be reached on-line at OffTheMenuGuy@aol.com.
Lost Voice Guy Lee Ridley now has a Geordie accent after reprogramming his speech synthesiser.

The comedian, 40, who has cerebral palsy and is unable to speak, listened to almost 500 voices from across the Newcastle area in his search for a voice that better reflected his Durham roots, before choosing voice-over artist Dan Pye.

Each potential donor read a short extract from his 2019 book, I'm Only In It For The Parking, and winner Dan grew up in Whickham and currently lives in Hunwick, County Durham.

New voice: Lost Voice Guy Lee Ridley, 40, now has a Geordie accent after reprogramming his speech synthesiser for a voice that paid tribute to his Durham roots

Lee previously communicated in an electronic voice through a speech app on his tablet, but wanted a new voice which pays tribute to his roots in Consett, County Durham.

Speaking about the exciting outcome, Lee said: 'I'm very excited to finally be getting a Geordie accent, so I can sound more like my family and friends.

'I had a great response to my request for a voice donor. In fact, the number of people willing to help out blew me away. So, it was hard to choose the voice that I thought suited me best.'

He added: 'But, in the end, Dan's voice was the one that I kept coming back to and listening to over and over again.

'Thankfully, my family agreed with my choice too. I can't wait to get started on the project with Dan and (technology company) CereProc, and I look forward to you all hearing my new Geordie accent soon.'

Intense: Lee listened to almost 500 voices from across the Newcastle area in his search before choosing voice-over artist Dan Pye (pictured)

As for Dan, the artist told of his delight, saying: 'I spend much of my life lending my voice to fictitious characters for a range of projects, the idea of being able to lend my voice to an actual human is just such an honour at the best of times, but when that individual is as inspirational as Lee, it's an even greater one.'

He went on: 'Being able to help Lee communicate in a tone which is more personal to him is fantastic.

'Being a Geordie has a very distinctive, nationally recognisable tone which I am very proud of.

'Sharing that with Lee, I hope will give him a sense of identity that the rest of the North East are famed for.'

Candid: Revealing whether he'll be sad to see Graham go, Lee said during an appearance on This Morning in February: 'Definitely, I've had this voice for most of my life'

When Lee first got the voice synthesiser, he decided to go with UK adult male Graham - which he previously joked was like a posh version of 'Robocop.'

Revealing whether he'll be sad to see Graham go, Lee said during an appearance on This Morning in February: 'Definitely, I've had this voice for most of my life so it's a part of me now.

'And of course, everyone recognises it as my own voice, so it's going to be strange to sound different.'

Lee captured the heart of the UK to win Britain's Got Talent in 2018 by the public vote, taking home 250,000 and a slot at the Royal Variety Performance.

He previously won the BBC New Comedy Award in 2014 and has performed at a range of festivals including the Edinburgh Fringe.

The comic also created a sitcom on BBC Radio 4 called Ability.

Lee was brought up in the village of Medomsley, County Durham, by his dad David, who has since retired as a sales rep for the Mars confectionery company and mum Janet, who is a former cancer nurse.

His younger sister Nicola Roberts, - who the young Lee was fiercely protective of - works in an administrative role at Newcastle University.

Lee's grandmother his Ethel Foster, who was widowed 10 years ago, previously told how Lee refused to allow his childhood to be blighted by cerebral palsy, which only became evident when he was aged two.

He became ill in her home, running a high fever and had to be taken to Newcastle's Royal Victoria Infirmary where there was initially a fear that he may not survive.
After a Texas Supreme Court emergency order lapsed this week, Texas judges were advised to stop enforcing a key protection renters have used to fight evictions during the COVID-19 pandemic.

Since last September, renters throughout the U.S. have postponed late rent evictions through a mechanism known as the CDC declaration. Texas tenants could give the declaration directly to their landlord or, if an eviction had been filed against them, turn in copies to their landlord and to a Justice of the Peace Court.

Although many renters were unaware the declaration existed, it has helped around 1,400 tenants postpone evictions in Tarrant County through the JP court system, according to research firm January Advisors. Many other renters have likely used the declaration to avoid the court process altogether. Because Texas has offered almost no state-centric protections, the CDC declaration is basically the only defense renters affected by the pandemic can use.

But things started to get complicated on Wednesday. With the CDC declarations powers set to expire, the Biden administration extended them through the end of June. But the Texas Supreme Court, which outlined CDC declaration enforcement procedures in a September emergency order, did not extend its order. The court had twice extended the order before Wednesday, most recently in late January.

The Supreme Courts decision left the Texas Justice Court Training Center (TJCTC), the state-sanctioned advisory body for JPs, questioning the role Texas JP courts should play.

The groups executive director, Thea Whalen, told the Star-Telegram it believed the CDC declaration is only directed at landlords. The only part tying the JP courts, she said, was the Texas Supreme Courts executive order. In updated guidelines for JPs, the TJCTC stated the CDC declaration is not a matter that a justice court can or should enforce in the absence of authority from the Texas Supreme Court, effectively telling JPs to disregard the declaration. It also recommended JPs begin scheduling hearings for cases that were previously postponed by use of the CDC declaration.

Story continues

The TJCTC only provides recommendations. JPs have wide discretion to make their own decisions in their courtrooms. But if they follow the TJCTC, renters will have to rely on landlords to accept the declaration and have no outlet for making their case to JPs.

The guidance provoked disbelief among Texas legal advocacy groups. Legal Aid of Northwest Texas, Texas Rio Grande Legal Aid, and Dallas Evictions 2020 were among organizations whose leaders sent a letter to the TJCTC to question its interpretation of a federal FAQ related to the CDC declaration and ask it to revise the guidance to be compliant with federal law. The FAQ includes the language courts should take into account the orders instruction not to evict a covered person from rental properties where the order applies, suggesting courts should play a role.

For the last 12 months, these groups have warned of a disastrous rise in evictions once various protections and federal funding expire. The picture had improved in recent weeks with Texas setting up a statewide rent relief package from $1.3 billion in federal funding. Now, Stuart Campbell, staff attorney for Legal Aid of Northwest Texas, is afraid the state is inching closer to the precipice with the latest decisions by the Supreme Court and TJCTC.

For some reason, he said, Texas has decided they want to be first to start the eviction wave.
Biden lifts Trump sanctions on international court officials View Photo

President Joe Biden on Friday lifted sanctions that Donald Trump had imposed on two top officials of the International Criminal Court, undoing one of the past administrations more aggressive moves targeting international institutions and officials.

Secretary of State Antony Blinken in a statement stressed that the United States still strongly disagreed with some actions by the court, which is a standing body based at The Hague in the Netherlands charged with handling genocide, crimes against humanity and war crimes. The United States is not one of the about 120 member countries of the court.

We believe, however, that our concerns about these cases would be better addressed through diplomacy rather than through the imposition of sanctions, Blinken wrote.

The removal of the sanctions was the latest signal that the Biden administration is intent on returning to the multilateral fold. The Trump administration had unapologetically removed the United States from numerous international institutions and agreements and harshly criticized others, including the ICC, deeming them flawed and working against American interests.

Since Biden took office, his administration has rejoined the World Health Organization, re-engaged with the U.N. Human Rights Council, returned to the Paris climate accord and on Friday started talks aimed at returning to the Iran nuclear deal. Trump had pulled out of all five.

The court was created to hold accountable perpetrators of war crimes and crimes against humanity in cases where adequate judicial systems were not available. The U.S. has not joined the ICC, which began operations in 2002 after enough countries ratified the treaty that created it, because of concerns the court might be used for politically motivated prosecutions of American troops and officials.

Silvia Fernandez de Gurmendi, president of the courts management body of member states, said the U.S. removal of sanctions was helpful in promoting a rules-based international order. She noted the court and its managing states are currently studying the tribunals procedures to improve its work providing accountability in the worst crimes of international concern.

Rights groups on Friday applauded Biden for throwing out Trumps sanctions  Amnesty International called those an act of vandalism against international justice  but called for Biden to go further, by supporting the courts work and making the United States a member country.

The U.S. sanctions had targeted ICC chief prosecutor Fatou Bensouda and the courts head of jurisdiction, Phakiso Mochochoko, for pressing ahead with investigations into the United States and its allies, notably Israel, for alleged war crimes. Two sets of sanctions were imposed, the first being a travel ban on Bensouda in March 2019, and then 18 months later a freeze on any assets she and Mochochoko may have in the United States or U.S. jurisdictions. The second round also made giving the pair material support a potentially sanctionable offense.

Both sets of sanctions had been roundly denounced by the ICC itself as well as a number of court members and human rights groups. When former Secretary of State Mike Pompeo imposed the financial penalties in September 2020, he attacked the court as a thoroughly broken and corrupt institution and said we will not tolerate its illegitimate attempts to subject Americans to its jurisdiction.

U.S. presidents since Bill Clinton have expressed deep reservations about the court, although some, including President Barack Obama, agreed to limited cooperation with it.

The Trump administration, however, was openly hostile to the tribunal and lashed out at Bensouda and others for pursuing prosecutions of Americans for actions in Afghanistan and Israelis for actions against the Palestinians. Israel is not a member of the ICC and, along with the U.S., rejects Palestinian membership because it is not a state.

Blinken said the United States sees accountability for atrocities as a national security interest, and pointed to U.S. support for other, often temporary, tribunals globally.

-

This story has been corrected to show that the statement was from Secretary of State Antony Blinken, not President Joe Biden.

By ELLEN KNICKMEYER and MATTHEW LEE

Associated Press
Where to begin? Lets take the end of a piece written by a Spanish journalist, Javier Mato. We simply dont have a government. We have no direction. This is useless. Its pitiful.

Technically speaking, the mandatory wearing of masks on beaches, irrespective of safe distancing, arose from Congress approval of an amendment to existing emergency law regarding health measures.

This amendment was passed on March 18. It established that masks are obligatory even in situations where safe distance is maintained, i.e. a distance of 1.5 metres. And you had thought this was the case anyway?

Well yes, it was. But the Senate had yet to definitively ratify a royal decree of the new normality that had been approved way back in June last year.

Once it did, Congress then rubber-stamped the Senate ratification and included the definitive obligation regarding the wearing of masks, which had in any event been in the text of another decree that followed the one in June.

The health minister, Carolina Darias, said that a long time had passed since the processing of the new normality law had begun last summer.

Into this framework, therefore, came the masks on beaches business. A regulation for this appeared in the Official Bulletin of State, at which point there was a public outcry and there were objections from regional governments - the Balearics and the Canaries most prominently.

Within a matter of hours, the masks on beaches business was up in the air. It was now that Spanish and British journalists almost gave up trying to figure out what was going on.

Darias proceeded to baffle everyone by referring to working in a technical way to elaborate technical application criteria and to harmonise the regulation that had appeared, because there are regions which have different regulations.

It is very important to be able to harmonise, homogenise and contextualise. These are the three main reasons why I have proposed to the Inter-Territorial Council for the National Health System to work in a technical way to achieve these objectives.

What was she was talking about? Some attempted to make sense of the gobbledegook but only succeeded in adding to it.

The health minister of Cantabria, Miguel Rodriguez, observed that the law may be nuanced between the government and the regions because it has been decontextualised.

Essentially, the government, having published its order, then realised that there needed to be an interpretation that would in effect allow masks not to be worn under certain conditions.

And these conditions are precisely those contained in regional government regulations, e.g. those of the Balearic government, where - for example - the wearing of masks is not mandatory so long as safe distance can be maintained.

A principle which was seemingly being forgotten was that of co-governance between the state and the regions.

The Spanish government was overriding what it had facilitated - the ability of the regions to establish their own rules within the general framework of health measures.

Such was the degree to which this principle was being neglected that it was clear that the Balearic government had no idea that the new masks regulation was about to be introduced.

The regional health minister, Patricia Gomez, said as much. Meanwhile, and because these things get somewhat tangled up, it was reported that it was the Balearic government which had decided on the measure, when it had done nothing of the sort.

Jorge Marichal, who is the president of the Ashotel association in Tenerife and also the president of the Cehat national confederation of hotels, has been critical of the Spanish government in recent months, and the business with the masks offered him a further opportunity.

Making masks obligatory, he said, was untimely and made no sense unless it is shown that it is in these places (e.g. beaches) where the greatest infections occur. It is a disincentive for the coming months ... If it is justified, we will abide by it, but if not, then we ask for its withdrawal, as it will do a lot of damage to the image of this country, to the economy and therefore to the tourism industry.

It seemed strange to Marichal that at the current stage of the pandemic, one year after the state of alarm was declared, this type of measure should be adopted.

The government, through all the data from health authorities, must know perfectly where the sources of contagion are. According to information we have, these are precisely not beaches or mountains.

Marichals reference to the state of alarm is relevant in this context.

It has been suggested that the masks measure would only apply to the current state of alarm, which is due to end on May 9.

This isnt how I read it because it is linked to the post-state of alarm new normality decree in June last year. In other words, it would be a measure that could potentially remain in place for the summer.

As things are probably going to turn out, Carolina Darias will find some interpretation to contextualise the order which means that regulations will indeed be left to the regional governments.

The Inter-Territorial Council will convene again next week, and this will be the likely outcome. But this shouldnt have to be, as the measure should never have surfaced. Useless. Pitiful.

Germany doesnt know whether its coming or not

Thomas Bareiss, Germanys commissioner for tourism, has said that there should be less talk about bans and more about making travel possible.

With the German government struggling with the legalities of implementing a travel ban, Bareiss stated earlier this week that he didnt believe that we can currently impose a travel ban in Europe, because we have freedom of movement within the European Union.

While one member of the government was in favour of travel, another - Helge Braun - was not. The head of the chancellery, Braun is of the view that holidays should only be possible from August.

Echoing what has been said in the UK (foreign holidays unlikely until August), Braun incurred the wrath of the president of the DRV travel association, Norbert Fiebig.

The minister had spoken rashly, and the German government seizes whatever opportunity it can to present travel as morally reprehensible and impose innumerable restrictions.

Instead, the government should make vaccination and testing a top priority, so that we no longer have to restrict our freedoms.

Where have we heard that before?
Mermaid Arts Centre is currently seeking applications from artists for TRANSFORM - an associate artists scheme that will see Mermaid employ four professional artists of varying practices and disciplines on a part-time basis for one year.

Applications for this scheme close on Friday, April 2.

Artists will be employed, not on a project or commission basis, but rather to proceed with their work in a self-directed fashion except with less economic precarity. Mermaid is interested in artists whose work is forward-looking and who may be struggling to find viable employment right now.

So many artists are vulnerable just now, but there are some for whom that vulnerability might ultimately result in a cessation of practice - to their personal detriment, but also to the detriment of wider Irish society. Mermaid believes that one of the ways to mitigate against this potential loss is to provide solid, consistent employment for artists and in so doing, acknowledge their value and the value of their continuous creative work. Mermaid Arts Centre secured Arts Council funding to support this scheme.

Applicants must have an interest in contributing to Mermaid's strategy and helping them to imagine new possibilities. It is hoped that by including the voices of artists on elements of their work such as audience development, programme, artist supports and inclusion, Mermaid can improve the systems, processes and culture of the organisation beyond artistic activity alone.

TRANSFORM is a pilot scheme. Mermaid will commission a report on this process and will endeavour to share this information with the Arts Council, arts centres nationwide, strategically funded companies and other stakeholders.

'Mermaid is determined to put the voices of communities and artists at the heart of our work, to be a home where everyone can be creative, where everyone can belong,' said artistic director at Mermaid Arts Centre, Julie Kelleher.

'We want to embed artistic thinking and energy into our systems and processes, for artists to help shape the future of the organisation, and to have the opportunity to invest in their own practice. It's a crucial element of our mission to be a creative hub and artistic resource for artists and companies in Wicklow and beyond, providing employment opportunities, advocacy and practical supports for the creative process. We're looking for brilliant individuals who aren't necessarily already connected with Mermaid, as well as those we already know. In particular, we want to hear voices and perspectives from the margins.'

To read a full job description and information on how to apply for the TRANSFORM scheme go to mermaidartscentre.ie.
Trocaire is calling on supporters in Co. Louth to return donations from their Trocaire boxes, warning that a decline in donations to its Lenten Appeal would put many of its life-saving programmes at risk.

The charitys biggest fundraising campaign, which finishes this weekend (Easter Sunday), has been affected by the Covid-19 pandemic, with many supporters unable to access their Trocaire boxes through the usual channels due to ongoing restrictions.

Trocaire CEO Caoimhe de Barra said: Unless our generous supporters in Co. Louth return their boxes or donate online this year, we wont be able to provide life-saving support to almost 3 million people who rely on our work overseas each year.

We are asking our supporters in Co. Louth to make your Trocaire box count.

"Please count or estimate what is in your box and donate the equivalent amount online, over the phone or via post.

"Many parishes have their own local arrangements in place for collecting Trocaire boxes, so people can also contact their local parish to see if it is possible to return their box within the public health guidelines.

Trocaires campaign this year focuses on people who are trapped in long-running wars, such as those affecting places such as South Sudan and Somalia. Generations of people in these countries have been forced to live through conflict. Their resilience and determination to help each other is remarkable.

"By donating to our Lenten Appeal, you will be helping them to help themselves.

How to return your Trocaire box donation.

Simply count or estimate what is in your box and donate now in one of these four easy ways:

Online at trocaire.org

Over the phone at 1850 408 408 (ROI) or 0800 912 1200 (NI)

By post to Trocaire, Freepost, Maynooth, Co. Kildare (ROI) or Trocaire, 50 King Street, Belfast, BT1 6AD (NI)

Check with your local parish if it is possible to arrange a safe drop-off.


The Vietnamese Prime Minister on April 1 endorsed Resolution 40, which calls for the restart of the suspended tidal flood control project in Ho Chi Minh City.

The resolution prompts immediate solutions to speed up the project for tidal flood control with consideration to climate change in the southern metropolis.

Allocated with a budget of VND10 trillion (US$435 million) from investor Trungnam Group, the project saw 90 percent completion when it was paused in December 2020 due to disputes in annex contracts among stakeholders.

Despite negotiation efforts from the investor as well as authority officials, the conflict remains in gridlock, causing the project to be delayed up until now.

The Prime Minister requested that the Ho Chi Minh City Peoples Committee take full legal responsibility in ensuring the progress of the project.

The city authority is also instructed to pay the dues for the investors and weed out unnecessary overhead costs from the projects expenditure.

Regarding capital investment, the Ho Chi Minh City Peoples Committee must reach agreement with the State Bank of Vietnam and the Bank for Investment and Development of Vietnam (BIDV) on refinancing the project in the coming months.

The Prime Minister also ordered the city leaders to screen and fix legal conundrums that the project is facing.

Like us on Facebook or follow us on Twitter to get the latest news about Vietnam!
An Afghan-Canadian Meladul Haq Ahmadzai, the CEO of Taleam Systems shares his story about some events from the war when he was a child to this day. He says, Unfortunately, the Afghan people never have had the chance for a peaceful life." He adds, Peace is the utmost desire of all Afghani people. The war in Afghanistan which started in 2001 under then the George Bush administration is still going on with no end in sight to the conflict.

A lot of young people like Ahmadzai have grown up during the war and are calling for real peace in Afghanistan. Ahmadzai, who has also written extensively on the peace and war issues in Afghanistan, now says that life has improved for some western favours, but not for many ordinary poor people. I dont have to provide a statistic to prove my point," refers to all the research done by scholars and academics on the need in Afghanistan to do.

Meanwhile, tensions between the American government and the Taliban are high at all times than ever before. The Taliban and US signed an agreement back in February 2020. Ahmadzai says that this agreement is now not being upheld by all groups. The war is dragging on under the new President." He refers to U.S. President Joe Biden who recently took office and said that the USs troop withdrawal timeframe would unfortunately be extended under his presidency watch.

Afghanistans President Ashraf Ghani has called for a new election after six months to be held sometime this year which would include all groups and potentially for the election turnaround to be higher than before. In the last election, about 1.5 to 2 million votes were cast. I recall during the last election what happened. I think we all do.

Both Ashraf Ghani and Dr. Abdullah claimed victory that they were the winners and hold themselves to power.

Ahmadzai concludes, While the US and Afghans have different views about Afghanistans future democratic system, but it is clear that the time for peace has come."

Taleam Systems is a technology company in Canada. Visit http://www.taleamsystems.com to learn more.
(Photo : Flickr/Mike Mozart) T-Mobile teams up with Google TV

T-Mobile and Google are announcing a massive partnership on Apr. 3, with the carrier agreeing to showcase a suite of Google's services on Android phones sold on the carrier's network.

T-Mobile and Google TV merge

The list includes officially supporting Google's Android Messages with RCS apps on all of T-Mobile's Android phones, removing T-Mobile's very own TV services for Google's YouTube TV, showcasing Google One as the default backup service, and expanding the support and the sales of Google hardware, like Pixel.

T-Mobile and Google stated the carrier has the most Android smartphone customers in the US.

With this massive partnership, those customers will have a phone that is more likely to showcase native Google services instead of less-well-supported services from the carrier or manufacturer.

Also Read: OnePlus 9 and OnePlus 9 Pro 5G in Verizon: T-Mobile Rumors to Give Discounts on the Model

According to PCMag, it is also a massive win for Google, which will finally see another US carrier besides Verizon take a real shot at promoting the Pixel line of phones.

The Pixel sales in the US have not reached any type of real critical mass, though they have done better since Google started selling less-expensive versions like the 3A and 4A. Early on, Verizon was the premier partner, but it never materialized into big numbers.

However, the biggest news is probably that T-Mobile is winding down its Live, Live Plus, and Live Zone services in favor of YouTube TV.

T-Mobile customers get $10 off that service, and there will be different other offers, including three months free of YouTube Premium.

For messaging though, it is yet another step forward in the long and harrowing journey to normalize the next-gen RCS standard across the United States, as per Geek Wire.

In January, some strange backroom dealing meant Samsung's Galaxy S21 devices shipped with Samsung Messages as the default in the country, while most of the rest of the world got Android Messages.

Samsung phones on T-Mobile will use Android Messages as the default in the future, as will every other Android phone T-Mobile sells.

Google stated that the switchover will happen before 2021 ends.

Google's update

Google is also giving a small update on its ongoing effort to support secure end-to-end encryption for RCS on Android Messages. It reiterated that the rollout for beta testers already started and that it will continue throughout the year.

Fully encrypted chat for 1:1 messages for RCS is only supported inside Android Messages, so T-Mobile's decision to make it the standard will mean that more people will have it made available, 9to5Google reported.

Google and T-Mobile are also announcing plans to create a messaging business together. That is a reference to RCS's ability to be used for business chat, just as you can with iMessage or WhatsApp for some businesses.

It is one of the things that originally seemed like it might be a driver for adoption since there is money to be made on the backend as businesses pay for the service, but it has not reached its potential yet.

T-Mobile is adopting Google One's cloud storage as the default backup service for Android phones. Not like with TV, it does not appear there will be any discounts on offer.

Google refused to disclose the financial terms of this deal. Google and T-Mobile already have a pre-existing relationship, as T-Mobile is the network that supports Google's MVNO, Google Fi. The deal does not affect anything for Fi customers.

Related Article: T-Mobile Youtube TV: Google Messages Soon to Become Default Messaging App for Android Phones

This article is owned by Tech Times

Written by Sieeka Khan

 2021 TECHTIMES.com All rights reserved. Do not reproduce without permission.
Sports

Djokovic pulls out of Madrid Open: reports

Madrid, Apr 3 (IANS) | Publish Date: 4/3/2021 1:07:12 PM IST

Tennis ace and world No. 1 Novak Djokovic will not be competing in this years edition of the Madrid Open, according to reports in Serbian media. It was expected that the Serb, fresh from his Australian Open triumph in February, would compete in the clay-court Masters 1000 event, which was called off last year due to the Covid-19 pandemic.

But the winner of 18 Grand Slam titles, only two behind the joint record holders Switzerlands Roger Federer and Spains Rafael Nadal with 20 Slam titles each, has decided to skip the tournament from May 2-9 where he is the defending champion. The 33-year-old has won the Madrid Open title thrice with the last triumph coming in 2019 where he defeated Greeces Stefanos Tsitsipas in the final.

Had Djokovic not pulled out, he would have been defending 500 points from his 2019 result -- half of the usual total of 1000 for a Masters series title --- due to Covid-adjusted Best-of ATP ranking system.

The Serbian has also pulled out of the Miami Open Masters 1000 tournament, currently underway. Djokovic had last featured in the Australian Open in February, where he crushed Daniil Medvedev for the title.

Djokovics pull-out means that his clay-court schedule before the French Open had got considerably shortened, with the Serb only expected to play the Monte Carlo Masters, the Serbia Open ATP 250 in Belgrade and the Rome Masters.
OTTAWA  Statistics Canada is hiring thousands of Manitobans in preparation for a census period that will shed light on how Canadians are living throughout a pandemic.

OTTAWA  Statistics Canada is hiring thousands of Manitobans in preparation for a census period that will shed light on how Canadians are living throughout a pandemic.

"Were confident that weve got a plan that will work and achieve our response-rate target, which is at least 98 per cent, and well do so safely," Geoff Bowlby, Canadas census manager, told the Free Press.

The agency is leaning on technology and locals to help get a sense of Canadians, their finances and lifestyles.

About 90 per cent of Canadian households will receive a letter on May 3, asking them to use an online code to access the census, or call to request a paper version. Some in rural zones will have a paid contractor drop off the letter.

Canadians will be asked to answer questions about their demographics and household makeup as of May 11, known as Census Day. People who dont answer by then will get followup letters.

Bowlby expects only 10 per cent of people wont fill out the census within a month, and those people will get a knock at the door from an enumerator.

This year, those paid staff will be strictly told not to enter residences. Theyll instead stay on the porch, and have masks and hand sanitizer.

Normally, Statistics Canada flies in enumerators to remote communities, but this year it plans to hire locals.

The agency will offer work to 32,000 enumerators from late April to July, about 3,000 of whom will work in northern and Indigenous communities.

In Manitoba, 1,300 people, including 350 in Winnipeg, will be hired.

The job normally pays $18 an hour, but in fly-in communities such as the Island Lake region in northern Manitoba, it will be $29 hourly, to accommodate for higher living costs.

The agency is recruiting through the website: census.gc.ca/jobs

For those in communal living situations, Statistics Canada will ask general questions to the head of personal care homes, and might do the same for hospitals, shelters, hotels and campgrounds.

"The census has to include everybody in the country, and that includes people who dont live in private dwellings," Bowlby said.

Hes confident that the trend of working from home will make 90 per cent of Canadians comfortable with filling out the census online, which 68.3 per cent did in the last census in 2016.

The census acts as a guide for social programs in Canada, making it vital for provinces with small populations, and minority communities, to ensure everyones counted.

Health transfer payments from the federal government to the provinces and territories are based on census population data, which occur every five years. Statistics Canada makes interim yearly estimates based on trends, but they all hinge on the actual census numbers.

The last census revealed everything from how many "boomerang kids" moved in with their parents due to a tough job market, to the condition of housing on remote reserves.

This years census will ask about how and where people worked in 2020, and about their current housing arrangement, which should shed light on how Canadians are faring in this pandemic.

The results will be released in phases, starting in February 2022.

dylan.robertson@freepress.mb.ca
President Muhammadu Buhari has condemned the Monday night attack on three communities in Ishielu Local Government Area of Ebonyi State. Th...





President Muhammadu Buhari has condemned the Monday night attack on three communities in Ishielu Local Government Area of Ebonyi State.

The President directed law enforcement agencies to fish out the attackers and make them face justice.

The affected communities are Egedegede, Obegu and Amuzu communities.

The Nigerian leader stressed that the perpetrators of the heinous attacks must not be spared.

Buhari extended his sympathies to families and friends who have lost loved ones and to the communities.

He also sympathized with the former Governor of the Central Bank of Nigeria and a member of the Presidential Economic Advisory Council, Professor Chukwuma Soludo.

Soludo, a governorship aspirant in Anambra, was attacked during a town hall meeting in Aguata LGA. Three police escorts were killed.

Our prayers are with him and the families of the security operatives who lost their lives trying to defend innocent citizens assembled for a peaceful meeting.

Buhari reassured Nigerians that ongoing efforts which had led to the record recovery of illegal weapons and arrests of a large number of arms suppliers would be intensified.
It is becoming increasingly difficult to travel outside Luxembourg due to changes in anti-Covid measures adopted in various countries.

Our colleagues at RTL 5minutes looked into the possibilities, restrictions and obligations for Luxembourg residents who wish to travel for a few days.

The Luxembourgish government does not apply specific measures concerning the movement of its citizens and residents within and outside its borders. However, this is not the case in other countries, especially our neighbours.

France

The conditions for travel and residence are becoming stricter in France. Luxembourgish residents wishing to stay in France are subject to several obligations.

When crossing the border, all travellers over the age of 11 must present a negative PCR test less than 72 hours old. They must also be in possession of a declaration confirming that they have no symptoms of Covid-19 infection and have not been in contact with a confirmed case in the 14 days preceding the trip. A further declaration must be completed for children under 11 years of age.

Once you arrive at your place of residence, you will have to respect the new lockdown rules applied from Monday evening.

Travelling within a 10km radius will be authorised on presentation of proof of residence. To travel further, you will need a certificate explaining the journey, which must not exceed a radius of 30km.

Travel between two regions will be forbidden except for compelling or professional reasons. Meetings of more than six people and the consumption of alcohol will be prohibited on public roads.

Other measures, such as the closure of certain sites, such as beaches or parks, which encourage gatherings, may be taken locally. Museums, cafes and restaurants are still closed.

Belgium

Travel to Belgium is prohibited, except for essential reasons. People travelling to Belgium must be in possession of a declaration justifying the stay. If you are travelling by plane, train, bus or boat and staying for more than 2 days, you must have a negative PCR test less than 48 hours old before arriving.

A Passenger Location Form (PLF) must also be completed 48 hours before arrival. As Luxembourg is considered to be a high risk country, travellers must observe a quarantine and retest on the seventh day. If the test is negative, the quarantine can be lifted.

In Belgium, a curfew is in place from 10pm to 6am in Brussels, and from midnight to 5am in Wallonia and Flanders. Gatherings of more than four people over the age of 12 are restricted. Cafes and restaurants are closed and appointments must be made for shopping in non-essential shops. Theatres and cinemas are closed but museums are open.

Germany

Tourist overnight stays are not permitted in Germany. Before travelling there for other reasons, it is necessary to identify yourself online by registering your departure destination and contact details.

Luxembourg is one of the risk areas. By air, a negative test less than 48 hours old must be presented before boarding.

This test is also required to enter the Federal Republic by land. At the time of registration, the address of the place of stay is requested.

A mandatory 10-day quarantine must be observed. This period can be reduced or extended according to the regulations of each state.

For example, Saarland and Rhineland-Palatinate exempt Luxembourgers who stay there for less than 24 hours from quarantine.

Some states have also introduced a curfew. Others, such as Saarland, are preparing to reopen terraces and cultural venues on presentation of a negative test after Easter Monday. But the situation can change quickly, as the federal government is calling for firmness in the measures to be taken by the individual states.

Rest of Europe

Among the other destinations considered, the following restrictions take into account the incidence rate of 210 cases per 100,000 in Luxembourg.

To travel to Portugal by land, the borders with Spain are currently closed to non-Portuguese nationals. By air, only for essential reasons, a PCR test less than 72 hours old is required. The country is under strict lockdown with travel restrictions: travelling between two municipalities is prohibited.

For Italy, a negative Covid test less than 48 hours old and a 5-day quarantine on arrival are required. You must also complete a registration document and report to the regional health authority upon arrival. A curfew is in effect from 10pm to 5am. Travel between regions is prohibited and there are restrictions even within regions.

In the Netherlands, Luxembourg is classified as orange: only stays for serious reasons are allowed. A PCR test less than 24 hours old must be performed before boarding a plane. A test of less than 72 hours is required for travel by public transport, none by car. A 10-day quarantine must be observed on arrival, althouh a negative test after 5 days allows this restriction to be lifted. The Dutch are advised to stay at home as much as possible.
Source: Xinhua| 2021-04-03 05:37:31|Editor: huaxia

Video Player Close

U.S. National Guard members stand guard in front of the U.S. Capitol building in Washington, D.C., the United States, on April 2, 2021. One of the two police officers hit by a car ramming into barriers surrounding the U.S. Capitol complex on Friday afternoon was pronounced dead, Acting Chief of Capitol Police Yogananda Pittman said. (Xinhua/Liu Jie)

WASHINGTON, April 2 (Xinhua) -- The lockdown at the U.S. Capitol was lifted about two hours after a person rammed a car into barriers surrounding the complex on Friday afternoon, leaving one police officer dead and another injured.

The driver was shot by police and died in hospital. Local media citing senior law enforcement officials in charge of the investigation said the suspect has been identified as Noah Green, a 25-year-old man from Midwest state Indiana.

Green is a Nation of Islam follower, according to MSNBC, citing Facebook content that was thought to be posted by him. The authorities have not yet confirmed the suspect's identity or specified a motive.

The killed police officer was named by Capitol Police as 18-year veteran William "Billy" Evans.

"It is with profound sadness that I share the news of the passing of Officer William 'Billy' Evans this afternoon from injuries he sustained following an attack at the North Barricade by a lone assailant," acting U.S. Capitol Police Chief Yogananda Pittman said in a statement.

White House Press Secretary Jen Psaki told pool reporters that President Joe Biden, who arrived at Camp David at noontime on Friday to spend the Easter weekend, is "aware" of the Capitol incident.

House Speaker Nancy Pelosi ordered the flags at the U.S. Capitol to be flown at half-staff due to the death of the Capitol Police officer, Pelosi's deputy chief of staff tweeted.

"This has been an extremely difficult time for U.S. Capitol Police," Pittman said at a news conference on Friday afternoon, noting the attack underscores that the Capitol Hill remains a potential target for violence.

After ramming his car into the barricade, the suspect exited the vehicle with a knife, started lunging at and was killed by the police, Pittman said.

"The suspect entered what we refer to as the north barricade of the Capitol. The suspect rammed his car into two of our officers and then hit the north barricade barrier," Pittman said.

"At such time the suspect exited the vehicle with a knife in hand. Our officers then engaged that suspect. He did not respond to verbal commands," said Pittman, "The suspect did start lunging toward U.S. Capitol Police officers, at which time U.S. Capitol Police officers fired upon the suspect. At this time the suspect has been pronounced deceased."

The exact cause of the police officer's death was not immediately clear.

The attack occurred about 91 meters from the entrance of the building on the Senate side of the Capitol before 1:30 p.m. eastern time.

There was a heavy police response outside of the Capitol, including a helicopter landing on the premises. Washington Field Office of the Federal Bureau of Investigation said it also provided support to the Capitol Police.

The D.C. National Guard also deployed an Immediate Response Force made up of members of the National Guard to the Capitol complex to support the Capitol Police.

It was the second line-of-duty death in Capitol Police this year. Capitol Police officer, Brian D. Sicknick, died a day after rioters supporting former President Donald Trump stormed Capitol on Jan. 6 "due to injuries sustained while on-duty." Two Capitol Police officers have died by suicide in the wake of the the riot leaving five people dead including Sicknick,

Barbed wire fencing has been set up around the Capitol complex since the Jan. 6 riot. Several thousands of the National Guard troops still remain in Washington, D.C. over security concerns. Enditem
: qing11 (qing11), : Programming

 : Stop Terror of Police Hacking Violence

: BBS  (Sat Apr 3 15:47:32 2021, )



PlS help to share the Facebook Event Link:

https://fb.me/e/U8MJbnU0



Justice for Victimized Internet User, Stop Terror of Police Hacking Violence



Time: Apr 5, 2021 11:00 AM Pacific Time; 2:00 PM Eastern Time (US and Canada)



Join Zoom Meeting:

https://us02web.zoom.us/j/84594797346?pwd=QWVCT2tMNzcxQVRFd3VDTElvQ0gxZz09

Meeting ID: 845 9479 7346

Passcode: 2021





Panelists:

-California 1441 Manufactured-Home Residents Association, President Ken Meng

(MRA1441.org)

-NAACP Bethlehem Branch, President Esther Lee (bethnaacp.org)

-New York Tao Xingzhi Academy, Executive Director Frank Xiao (

taoxingzhiacademy.com)

-Computer Expert Mr. Fan Jiao, 30+ years software development experience,

former Sr. Engineering Manager of Cisco Systems, and Distinguished Engineer

of Verizon

-Computer Expert Mr. Shawn Wang, 26 years of software development

-criminal defense lawyer, etc.





Wikipedia clearly defines Malicious Government Hacking as The

government can hack into computers remotely, whether authorized or not by a

court. To meet needs, agents CAN copy, modify, delete, and create data. It

is typically also told by Mr. Weiwu Zhao case.



The state police officers involved investigate child porn cases based on a

database including 4.5 million files that are related to the sexual

exploitation of children . They illegally obtained these 4.5 million child

porn files as the tools for their crimes, planted these illegal files on

innocent internet user computer by illegally hacking and by controlling

the ISP - RCN to illegally lock internet users dynamic IP address to only

one static IP address, and disseminated these illegal files, in order to

manufacture many cases.



Mr. Weiwu Zhao, 80 y/o, one victimized internet user, an lawful immigrant

with language barrier, and he lived in Easton PA 18042. The state police

officers involved remotely planted the child porn files on his computer,

falsely accused him of downloading, uploading and disseminating

the alleged digital child porn files, and published the fake news that he

admitted downloading child pornography and he doesn't recall downloading

child pornography. He is being wrongfully imprisoned in PA Waymart State

Correction Institute, and tortured nearly to death.

See police criminal complaint: https://drive.google.com/file/d/

1vfeRyedCARauWYC3z5L96jy9TmuogXfx/view?usp=sharing



Mr. Bin Xie, CISSP, CISA, a senior cyber security expert

witness in Texas revealed the truth in this case, and concluded that makes

the police prime suspect.

See this expert report: https://drive.google.com/file/d/

1eQ5SgQNxDnCgAceSemDaZbN0buZ1DFmc/view?usp=sharing



In digital age, we are all Weiwu Zhao, and we must Stop Terror of Police

Hacking Violence.



Host:

California 1441 Manufactured-Home Residents Association

President Ken Meng

[email protected]

[email protected]







--

 :qing11  Apr 3 16:02:19 2021 [FROM: 37.]

 :WWW  mitbbs.com [FROM: 37.]


In less than two weeks, Megan E. Hall should learn when she will go on trial for allegedly killing Pottsville businessman and civic leader Patrick J. Murphy in February 2019 in New Orleans.

At Wednesdays pre-trial conference, the Criminal District Court of Orleans Parish scheduled another conference for April 14. On that date, the court will schedule Halls trial, according to the official docket.

Hall, 27, of New Orleans, formerly of Tennessee, faces charges of second-degree murder, armed robbery and obstruction of justice. She remains in prison in lieu of a $750,000 bond.

New Orleans police allege Hall stabbed Murphy, 62, three times in the early morning hours of Feb. 28, 2019, in a room at the Empress Hotel in the citys Treme section. Hall stabbed Murphy once in the neck and twice in the abdomen, according to prosecutors.

A housekeeper discovered Murphys body at 11:41 a.m. in a room registered to Hall, prosecutors allege.

Video surveillance footage showed Murphy and Hall arriving at the hotel together at 2:10 a.m., according to prosecutors. Hall was seen leaving the hotel room alone and briskly walking out the front door at 3:42 a.m., prosecutors allege.

Police said they believe Hall left the hotel with some of Murphys possessions.

No one else was seen entering or leaving the room until the housekeeper eight hours later, according to prosecutors.

Murphy and his family have operated Murphy Jewelers at the same 115 W. Market St. location since 1913. The business also has locations near Hamburg, Berks County, and in the Lehigh Valley Mall, Whitehall, Lehigh County.

Murphys civic involvement included service on the Pottsville Parking Authority and Pottsville Area school board.

Hall faces a mandatory life sentence if convicted of second-degree murder. As is the case in Pennsylvania, a life sentence in Louisiana carries no chance of parole.

She also faces maximum prison sentences of 99 years and 40 years, respectively, for armed robbery and obstruction of justice.
Four Studies of Black Healing

April 2, 2021

Care and community take different forms after a painful year of plague and protest.

Gioncarlo Valentine and

After a year of disproportionate loss from the pandemic and the continuous threat of police violence, on top of centuries of discrimination and disenfranchisement, what does healing look like for Black Americans? The photographers Gioncarlo Valentine and Elliott Jerome Brown Jr. traveled to Virginia, the Carolinas, Louisiana and Georgia looking for answers to that question  reaching out to friends and family, artists and organizations along the way. They sought to document the rituals and relationships that create space for joy, solace and restoration.
Authorities in the West African country of Cape Verde on Friday barred three Nigerians from entry into the country while allowing white foreign travellers in, according to the account given by one of the victims.

Teni Tayo, a Nigerian and an African development expert, said in a tweet Friday that she was back in Dakar, the capital of Senegal, after she was deported by authorities in Cape Verde.

So I got deported today. Mostly because I am black but also because I am Nigerian, she wrote in one of her tweets.

https://twitter.com/aloinett/status/1377995569906511875

She noted that she arrived at the airport in Praia with a group of other travellers which included an Italian couple, my Sudanese-American friend, a Spanish couple, a Kenyan, an Ivorian, a Jordanian, a Guinean and four Nigerians.

All white travelers as well as my black friend with an American passport were passed, she alleged, adding that those with a Nigerian passport were denied entry.

They were barred alongside a Jordanian, whom she said she believed was lumped with us because he has Nigerian visas in his passport.

The airport authorities told them they were turned back due to COVID-19.

Then we asked why the white people and my American friend were let through. They said they decided who could stay and who could go. So everyone with a Western passport went through. In West Africa, Ms Tayo said.

We had all the entry requirements. The pretext, despite lack of pre-information, was that holidays are not allowed due to COVID-19 restrictions, she added.

Since she made the statements on Twitter, angst has spiked among Nigerians on the microblogging site with some of them urging the Nigerian government to ensure that the incident is investigated.

Some recalled their experience in the hands of authorities in the Portuguese-speaking island country in the central Atlantic Ocean.

Some other nationals joined the Nigerian commentators by accusing the government of the tiny nation of having racists tendencies.

A Twitter user in South Africa, Khrist, said she had similar experience when she travelled to Cape Verde.

Im South African and had the same issue in Praia. I got detained in that airport named after a South African struggle hero, Khrist wrote, referring to the Nelson Mandela Airport located in the island of Santiago in the capital city of Praia.

I was saved by a friend who alerted the SA embassy in Dakar, the Twitter user added.

Cape Verde Prime Minister Ulisses Correia e Silva declined comment when reached Saturday. The countrys head of internal affairs, Carlos Reis, also could not be reached for comment. His number was unreachable.

Meanwhile, the Nigerians in diaspora commission boss, Abike Dabiri-Erewa, has said home authorities will investigate Ms Tayos experience.

ADVERTISEMENT

Pity this happened to you but its important we get the full story and all sides of the story properly documented, she tweeted Friday.

Pity this happened to you but its important we get the full story and all sides of the story properly documented. When you get back , pls pop in to @nidcom_gov .Send an e mail to us admin@nidcom.gov .ng or DM @nidcom_gov . We would like to hear from you one on one . https://t.co/d8hzniVQqx  Abike Dabiri-Erewa (@abikedabiri) April 2, 2021

Suspicion

There is subtle surveillance on the Nigerian twittersphere which has in recent weeks been trending with calls for the release of a political detainee, Alex Saab.

Mr Saab, a Venezuelan diplomat, was held in June during a stopover at Amilcar Cabral International Airport on the Island of Sal by the Cape Verdean authorities.

The West African government has since ignored at least three court orders to release Mr Saab, whom the Venezuelan government said was on a humanitarian mission to Iran from Venezuela.

It is believed that his arrest warrant was issued by Interpol at the request of the United States, who is opposed to the regime of Venezuelan President Nicolas Maduro, a close ally of Mr Saab.

Former U.S. President Donald Trump had made Mr Saabs extradition a top priority, at one point even sending a Navy warship to Cape Verde to keep an eye on the captive and scuttle any plans by Venezuela to try to sneak him out of jail, Al Jazeera reported.

Observers believe the growing demand for his release in Nigeria could have contributed to the stiff travel restrictions against Nigerians wanting to gain entry into the African archipelago.

Inhabited by less than 550,000 people with a mixed blend of people with African and European heritage, Cape Verde is blessed with little natural resources.

Its developing economy is largely service-oriented, and driven by tourism and foreign handouts. It has one of the most stable representative democracies in Africa.
April 03, 2021 Former U.S. Official: Al-Qaeda In Syria Is "An Asset" For U.S. Strategy There is a new public relation campaign pushed by Turkey to whitewash al-Qaeda in Syria. 'Western' journalists were invited to Idleb governorate through some Turkish agency to make some fan flicks about Hayat Tahrir al Sham, the al-Qaeda entity under Abu Mohammad al-Jolani, which rules in Idelb. The U.S. Public Broadcasting Service sent a crew for the gig and scored an interview with Jolani himself: In his first interview with an American journalist, Jolani told FRONTLINE correspondent Martin Smith that his role in fighting Assad and ISIS, and in controlling an area with millions of displaced Syrians who could potentially become refugees, reflected common interests with the United States and the West. Jolani told Smith that his group, Hayat Tahrir al-Sham, posed no threat to the United States, and the government should remove him from its list of designated terrorists. First and foremost, this region does not represent a threat to the security of Europe and America, Jolani told Smith. This region is not a staging ground for executing foreign jihad. There is of course no reason to believe such nonsense: Aaron Y. Zelin, whose research at the Washington Institute for Near East Policy focuses on jihadi groups in North Africa and Syria, told Smith that its hard to know what Jolanis intentions are because he has been a chameleon. Zelin said in an interview conducted March 8, How can you necessarily trust somebody thats just trying to survive and continue to remain in power, because thats the only way he can? Still - PBS is whitewashing the guy. Just see this passage: Since the start of the conflict in Syria a decade ago, the Assad regimes forces and ISIS have conducted large-scale human rights abuses. The Assad regimes actions, Jolani told Smith, fit the definition of terrorism because it was killing innocent people, children, poor people, women. Human rights organizations have also documented violations by Hayat Tahrir al-Sham, from indiscriminate attacks on civilian areas to arbitrary arrests. "Arbitrary arrests" seems mild when compared to "large-scale human rights abuses". That is until you learn form recent news how Hayat Tahrir al Sham really rules: Three women and one man were stoned to death in Idlib, northwestern Syria, on Monday, on the orders of Islamist militant group Hay'at Tahrir Al-Sham (HTS). According to sources close to HTS, who spoke to The New Arabs Arabic language service Al-Araby Al-Jadeed, the individuals executed were charged with "adultery" and "attempted murder". They were brutally executed in the city centre and the sentence was carried out by the security apparatuses, sources said. But the U.S. government and its media never had trouble to ally with entities who commit such crimes. They are in fact often seen them as valuable tools. Former U.S. officials no problem with admitting that: James Jeffrey, who served as a U.S. ambassador under both Republican and Democrat administrations and most recently as special representative for Syria engagement and special envoy to the global coalition to defeat ISIS during the Trump administration, told Smith that Jolanis organization was an asset to Americas strategy in Idlib. Is Jeffrey now in breach of the Intelligence Identities Protection Act? The Intelligence Identities Protection Act of 1982 (Pub.L. 97200, 50 U.S.C.  421426) is a United States federal law that makes it a federal crime for those with access to classified information, or those who systematically seek to identify and expose covert agents and have reason to believe that it will harm the foreign intelligence activities of the U.S. Probably not. The law protects only covered agents and it has long been obvious that Jolani and his group were working in U.S. interests. Posted by b on April 3, 2021 at 17:05 UTC | Permalink Comments
Photojournalist Dave Killens picture of the so-called Naked Athena protester has won best news photo in the annual Best of the West journalism competition.

Killen was one of The Oregonian/OregonLives journalists covering nightly protests over the summer of 2020. On July 18, after midnight, he was close to Third Avenue and Taylor Street downtown.

Killen and a group of protesters had been pushed by police northward on Third Avenue, and officers stood across the intersection, facing the group of protesters.

Then, a young woman wearing only a face mask and stocking cap appeared. She walked into the intersection, paced and did a few poses before she posed as Killen captured here. After photos of the woman went viral, some dubbed her Naked Athena. She has not come forward publicly.

This photographer was covering the Portland protests and was nearing the end of his late night shift when he made this image, the contest judge wrote. Its clear this woman wanted to make a bold statement and this photographer captured the moment in an equally bold photo.
Modakurichi, Apr 3 (UNIL) BJP National President J P Nadda

today made a scathing attack on the Opposition DMK and its

ally, the Congress, and said time has come to reject these

dynastic parties that did not believe in democracy.

Addressing an public meeting ahead of the April six Assembly

poll, he said 'our opponents are trying to defame Tamil Nadu.

The DMK-Congress are parties of dynastic values. They don't

believe in democracy and both have been rejected twice by the

people of Tamil Nadu and India."

Democratic parties like AIADMK and BJP will keep growing

forward with your blessings, he added.

Pointing out that the DMK stands for Dynasty, Money and

Katta panchayat, he said the DMK-Congress is known for

2G, 3G, 4G and Jija Ji.

'2G is 2 generations' corruption of Maran family. 3G is

3 generations' corruption of Stalin family. 4G stands for

4 generations' corruption of Congress-Gandhi family',

Mr Nadda said.

'If you want land grabbing should not take place in Tamil

Nadu, goonda raj should not happen, power cuts should not

take place and religious and cultural sentiments are kept,

then the AIADMK-BJP candidates should be elected', he said.

'The time has come to reject DMK', he added.

Noting that DMK is losing the polls as well as its patience,

Mr Nadda said the statements given by big DMK leaders

against women and Dalits was shameful and they must be

taught a lesson.

'When it comes to saving regional aspirations, DMK has miserably

failed', he said, adding, that was why the then Union Minister

and Congress leader Jairam Ramesh came with a law to against

Jallikattu (Taming of bulls) which was subsequently banned.

'On the other hand, Prime Minister Narendra Modi decided to

come out with an Ordinance and ensured Jallikattu continued',

he added.

Mr Nadda said Mr Modi took the Tamil language to the global

level and to the highest political platform in the world, the UN

General Assembly where he narrated the lines of a Tamil Poet.

He said shooting of Tamil Nadu fishermen by the Sri Lankan

Navy has stopped after Mr Modi became the Prime Minister

and the decades-old demand of DevendraKula community

giving them rights of Vellalar has been accepted.

Stating that Mr Modi has brought Tamil Nadu in the mainstream.,

Mr Nadda said 'in the 13th Finance Commission, Tamil Nadu got

only Rs 94,000 crore. Under the 14th Finance Commission under

Mr Modi, TN got Rs 5.42 lakh crore, which was 4.5 times more'.

Mr Modi had also given Rs 7 lakh crore for the defence corridor

that will bring jobs to the youth.

'Ms Nirmala Sitharaman is our finance minister and was the first

women defence minister of India, and Dr S Jaishankar is our

External Affairs Minister and both are from Tamil Nadu', he said.

Mr Nadda also pointed out that the Centre has given 11 medical

colleges to TN, which was the highest in India.

UNI GV
Over the past few months, one of the most influential investors on Wall Street has been throwing its full weight behind ESG and the clean energy transition. Back in January, BlackRock Inc. (NYSE:BLK), the worlds largest asset manager with $9 trillion in assets under management (AUM), disclosed plans to pressure companies to do a lot more to lower their carbon emissions by leveraging its mammoth asset base.

A couple of months ago, BlackRock CEO Larry Fink called for corporate climate disclosures while proclaiming that companies must have a purpose beyond profit.

In fact, BlackRock says it plans to stop investing in the worst offenders of greenhouse gas emissions.

But now a former BlackRock head honcho is claiming just the opposite: Green investing does little to stop climate change.

Tariq Fancy, a former chief investment officer for sustainable investing at BlackRock, says greenhouse investing is headed for massive failure because the entire energy investment system is merely designed for profits.

Primed for profits

Fancy argues that in many cases, its actually cheaper and easier for a company to market itself as green as opposed to actually doing the long-tail work of actual sustainability. Not only is that expensive, but it also incurs zero penalties from the government in the form of a carbon tax.

Related: Is Russia About To Invade Ukraine?

Fancy, who currently runs the digital learning non-profit Rumie in Toronto, says BlackRocks move is fundamentally flawed because the climate crisis cannot be solved via free markets because the system is built to extract profits.

Fancy argues that investors have a fiduciary duty to maximize returns to their clients, which essentially means that they will continue to invest in activities that contribute to global warming (read: oil and gas) as long as returns there are more favorable.

Even oil and gas divestments are doomed to fail.

According to Fancy:

If you sell your stock in a company that has a high emissions footprint, it doesnt matter. The company still exists, the only difference is that you dont own them. The company is going to keep on going the way they were and there are 20 hedge funds who will buy that stock overnight. The market is the market.

Fancy is hardly alone in that view.

No energy restrictions

Back in February, analysts at Bloomberg Intelligence (BI) published a research note about the banking industry aptly titled What Energy Restrictions? The research notes that JPMorgan has provided nearly $250 billion of loans and bonds to fossil-fuel companies since the ratification of the Paris Agreement in December 2015, nearly 30% higher than its closest rival Wells Fargo (NYSE:WFC), which provided $193B over the timeframe.

Collectively, Wall Streets biggest six banks provided nearly $900B in loans and bonds to the oil and gas industry over the past five years alone.

Fossil fuel apologists contend that JPMs sheer size and the fact that it has its fingers in so many pies make it nearly impossible to avoid involvement with climate-unfriendly businesses.

In its defense, JPM has lately become more proactive at fighting climate change than ever before.

JPM [belatedly] made its debut in the green bonds market in September 2020, selling $1 billion in green bonds maturing in four years. Green bonds are fixed-income instruments that are specifically earmarked to finance environmentally friendly projects.

However, that represented a mere sliver of the more than $300B in green bonds sold last year.

After a lull in the first half of the year due to the pandemic, green bond issuance spiked to $62 billion in September and maintained strong volume through the tail-end of the year. Last year saw a total of $305.3 billion in green bonds issued, 13% higher than 2019 levels, thus bringing cumulative levels since 2007 to $1 trillion.

JPMs climate commitments also pale in comparison to what its peers are doing.

In 2019, Goldman Sachs (NYSE:GS) became the first big U.S. bank to rule out financing new oil exploration or drilling in the Arctic, as well as new thermal coal mines anywhere in the world before the rest of the horde joined the bandwagon. In its environmental policy, GS declared climate change as one of the most significant environmental challenges of the 21st century and pledged to help its clients manage climate impacts more effectively, including through the sale of weather-related catastrophe bonds. The giant bank also committed to investing $750 billion over the next decade into areas that focus on climate transition. Related: The Future Of U.S. LNG Hangs In The Balance

In October, Morgan reiterated its commitment to achieving operational carbon neutrality by aligning with Paris Agreement goals. The bank announced that it will establish intermediate emission goals for 2030 for its financing portfolio with a heavy focus on the oil and gas, electric power and automotive, and manufacturing sectors and set and continue to support market-based policy solutions such as putting a price on carbon.

Not my money

But as Fancy has observed, giant Wall Street investment companies such as BlackRock, JPM, and money managers have a hard time divesting themselves of oil and gas.

Critics have in the past pointed out that BlackRock has not been moving fast enough to fulfill climate pledges and pointed at the firms $85 billion of assets tied to coal, not to mention big holdings in major oil and gas producers such as Royal Dutch Shell (NYSE:RDS.A) BP Plc. (NYSE:BP), and ExxonMobil (NYSE:XOM).

BlackRock remains waist-deep in fossil fuel investments and the worlds top backer of companies that destroy the Amazon rainforest and ignore the rights of indigenous people, environmental group Extinction Rebellion has carped.

BlackRocks defense has been: Its not my money.

Turns out that much of BlackRocks fossil fuel companies are held in passive index funds, meaning it cannot directly divest.

BlackRock, though, says its working behind the scenes with coal companies, urging them to adopt cleaner technologies. CEO Fink acknowledges that financial markets have been slow to reflect the threat posed by climate change but has promised that:

In the near future--and sooner than most anticipate--there will be a significant reallocation of capital.

But BlackRock appears to have its priorities right.

Some money managers have been defending their decision to continue buying oil and gas stocks by claiming that divestitures dont get these companies to change.

According to Mark Regier, vice president of stewardship at Praxis Mutual Funds:

Theres a fundamental mythology in the divestment movement that when you divest, youre somehow fundamentally hurting that company, and thats just not how the markets work. When we sell, someone else buys.

Chris Meyer, manager of stewardship investing research and advocacy at Praxis, says that by selling oil and gas stocks, investors are missing the opportunity to advocate for change and also fail to support companies powering a transition to green energy.

Praxis owns shares or green bonds from companies such as The Southern Company (NYSE:SO), ConocoPhillips (NYSE:COP) and NiSource Inc. (NYSE:NI).

Praxis cites its decision to stick with NiSource Inc. (NYSE:NI), an energy holding company that operates as a regulated natural gas and electric utility, as a textbook example of what can happen when [large] investors advocate for change. Praxis says that it started engaging with NiSource back in 2017 and managed to convince the utility to commit to a complete coal phaseout by 2028 to be fully replaced with wind and solar power generation. If successful, that scale of renewable investments will cut Indianas overall greenhouse gas emissions by 90%, according to Meyer.

Climate advocacy can certainly work, but claiming that its the best way to solve the climate crisis is questionable wisdom at best and downright disingenuous at worst.

By Alex Kimani for Oilprice.com



More Top Reads From Oilprice.com:
Source: Xinhua| 2021-04-03 17:03:56|Editor: huaxia

Video Player Close

MANILA, April 3 (Xinhua) -- The Philippines' Department of Health (DOH) reported on Saturday 12,576 new COVID-19 infections, bringing the total number of confirmed cases in the Southeast Asian country to 784,043.

The active cases ballooned to 165,715 while the death toll climbed to 13,423 after 103 more patients died from the viral disease, the DOH said.

The Philippines, with a population of 110 million, has tested over 9.5 million people so far. The daily tally breached 15,000 cases on Friday, a new high since the outbreak in January 2020.

The government is rushing the building of modular hospital tents in Metro Manila, the epicenter of the outbreak, to keep up with the rising number of patients, the DOH said.

"To augment hospital capacities following the increased occupancy rates in Metro Manila hospitals, (the government is) fast-tracking the delivery and set up of modular tents across Metro Manila," the DOH said in a statement on Saturday.

The DOH is also intensifying efforts to augment the number of frontline healthcare workers in select Metro Manila hospitals by deploying volunteers from regions with low COVID-19 cases within the week.

"More volunteers from Visayas region in the central Philippines and Mindanao region in the southern Philippines are expected to be deployed over the next weeks," the DOH said.

The government would further deploy military and police medical workers in reactivated temporary treatment facilities to care for recovering mild and asymptomatic patients. The government shut down the facilities when cases slowed down last year.

DOH data showed that 82 health care workers had succumbed to the disease as of April 1. It said at least 15,990 medical workers, mostly nurses and physicians, contracted the virus.

At least 760,938 of the country's over 1.7 million health care workers have been vaccinated with the first dose of COVID-19 vaccines, while 10,007 had been fully vaccinated as of April 1. Enditem
Source: Xinhua| 2021-04-03 03:20:39|Editor: huaxia

Video Player Close

PARIS, April 2 (Xinhua) -- France registered 46,677 new coronavirus cases in the past 24 hours, pushing the cumulative total to 4,741,759. The death toll increased to 96,280, up by 332 in one day, the health authorities said on Friday.

Currently, 28,729 COVID-19 patients are hospitalized, including 5,254 in intensive care, up 148 and 145, respectively, compared to the previous day.

Starting Friday midnight, the whole of France enters a new lockdown to contain COVID-19. On Wednesday evening, President Emmanuel Macron called on the country's 67 million inhabitants not to leave their homes. Schools will be closed for three weeks, teleworking must become the rule and inter-regional travel will be prohibited for at least one month.

Unlike during the strict lockdown in the spring of 2020 or the less stringent containment in November, people will be allowed to move around within a 10-kilometer radius of their homes during the day without a time limit or the need to fill out a certificate.

It is also exceptionally allowed, until Monday, to leave one's place of residence to settle in other regions during the confinement. "Either you go for four weeks, or you do not go," explained Minister of State for Tourism Jean-Baptiste Lemoyne.

As shops not selling essential goods will have to shut down across the country for one month, the government is currently evaluating the consequences of the third confinement.

New forecasts will be released within "a few days," Minister of Economy, Finance and the Recovery Bruno Le Maire told CNews TV early on Friday.

On Wednesday, his ministry said that aid to businesses would total 11 billion euros (13 billion U.S. dollars) per month, up from 7.2 billion euros per month quoted in mid-March, when part of the country was put under restrictions.

"All the aid to companies discharged in 2020 amounted to 47 billion euros. Until now, the Ministry of Economy has forecast a bill of 32 billion euros for the whole of 2021. This figure will have to be reviewed," the French daily Les Echos wrote on Friday.

Since the start of the vaccination campaign, 9,086,564 people in France, or 17.3 percent of the adult population, have received at least one injection and 3,049,333 people, 5.8 percent of the adult population, have received two injections, the Health Ministry said on Friday.

France has approved the use of four vaccines developed by Pfizer/BioNTech, Moderna, Johnson & Johnson and AstraZeneca.

Meanwhile, 269 candidate vaccines are still being developed globally -- 85 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 Friday. (1 euro = 1.18 U.S. dollars) Enditem
Russia-occupation forces violate ceasefire in Donbas once, no casualties reported since beginning of day  JFO HQ

Since the beginning of this day, Russia-occupation forces have violated the ceasefire in Donbas once, no casualties have been reported, the press center of the Joint Forces Operations' headquarters has said.

"As of 7:00 am on April 3, the situation in the area of the Joint Forces Operation remains under control. On the part of the Russian occupation forces, one violation of the ceasefire was recorded. So, not far from Vodiane, in the Azov area, the enemy opened fire from hand-held anti-tank grenade launchers and heavy machine guns," JFO HQ said in a report on its Facebook page on Saturday morning.

Over the past day, April 02, 21 violations of the ceasefire in Donbas were recorded.

In the area of the settlement of Krasnohorivka, the enemy fired at a civilian infrastructure, as a result of which a civilian was wounded by shrapnel. The victim was taken to a medical facility.

The Ukrainian side of the JCCC promptly informed the OSCE SMM of the facts of violations.

"Ukrainian servicemen continue monitoring the situation in the area of the Joint Forces Operation and respect the ceasefire," the JFO HQ said.
New Delhi, April 3 : Amid the surge in the number of Covid-19 cases in the national capital, the Delhi government has pushed the healthcare centres to increase the number of vaccination sites.

To prepare for more Covid-19 vaccinations in the coming days, given that the national capital has been witnessing an exponential spike in the number of cases in the past few weeks, the Delhi government has started reviewing the situation at its hospitals.

As per the information received, several MLAs have been assigned for different healthcare centres, who would review the situation with the hospital authorities.

They would also review the preparations for mass vaccination in the coming days, including the requirements like medical staff and equipment.

AAP MLA Raghav Chadha, who has been given the responsibility of Lok Nayak Jai Prakash (LNJP) Hospital, told IANS, "As the number of Covid-19 cases has gone up at a fast pace, the Delhi government has planned to enhance the number of ICU beds, medical staff, equipment among many other things.

"A review meeting was held at the LNJP today where I asked the hospital management to send their recommendations to the government so that we can be ready for an emergency situation. We are doing it in all Delhi government-run hospitals." Many Delhi government-run hospitals, which have set up vaccination centres, are planning to increase the number of inoculation sites.

Amit Gupta, administrative in-charge at the LNJP Hospital, told IANS, "At present we have two vaccination sites. Earlier, hardly around 150-200 people were coming for vaccination, but now this number has increased and after April 1, around 350-400 people are coming everyday. Many of them come for the second shot. We need at least two more sites." B.L. Sher, Director of the Rajiv Gandhi Super Speciality Hospital, which is under the Delhi government, said that it has prepared to enhance the number of vaccination sites from 2 to 6 for which additional medical staff and non-medical staff would be required.

"We have sent our recommendations to the Delhi government. We have demanded medical staff and non-medical staff and some equipment as well," he added.

Deputy Chief Minister Manish Sisodia, who received the first vaccine dose at the Maulana Azad Hospital on Saturday, said that all Delhi government-run hospitals have adequate Covid-19 vaccines.

"We have to break the coronavirus chain and for this purpose we need to vaccinate the maximum number of people. There is only one way to control the situation and that is to break the chain of Covid-19.

"We will request the Union Health Ministry to allow the Delhi government to conduct a mass vaccination drive. Delhi government is prepared for a mass vaccination drive with hundreds of additional vaccination sites to be added soon," he added.

Latest updates on Coronavirus (COVID-19)
On behalf of members of the Senate of the Kingdom of Cambodia, I would like to express my delight and give you my warmest greetings as you were elected as Chairman of the National Assembly and the National Election Council of the Socialist Republic of Vietnam at the 14th legislatures 11th session on March 31, 2021, Sim Ka wrote.

He affirmed his willingness to cooperate closely with the Vietnamese NA and its new Chairman for the progress and prosperity between the two countries and their peoples, and continue nurturing the fine relationship between legislative agencies and cooperating with and supporting each other in the region and in the international arena.
Millennial Liu Lurui quit her job and moved to the outskirts of Beijing, where she built a farm on three acres of land to create a healthier lifestyle for herself and five friends. The farm was completed in April 2020, and includes a house, a garden and an organic orchard. They hope that their hobo life can set an example for people looking to lead alternative way of life

Jun 04, 2021 06:31 PM
Local Minister Darragh O'Brien TD has met with the Minister for Education, Norma Foley, to discuss the need for new school buildings, the lack of spaces for children in certain areas and the issues surrounding feeder schools in North County Dublin.

Minister O'Brien welcomed the opportunity to speak with his Cabinet colleague about the issues which constituents have raised with him.

'The need for new school buildings, the lack of spaces for children in certain areas and the issues surrounding feeder schools are just some of the matters we discussed', he said.

'I impressed upon the Minister the fact that we do have very unique educational needs here in North County Dublin. We have the youngest and fastest growing population here and securing the future education for our children is vitally important.'

'I absolutely acknowledge that the impact of COVID-19 on the entire education system and the upheaval it has caused is the Minister's priority.

'I also recognise the strides have been made since the Minister took office last June but it is important to keep the needs of our school children here in Fingal on the agenda and that is something I will continue to pursue.'
This is groundbreaking, not only for Temecula Valley, but also for wine regions throughout the country, said TVWA Executive Director Krista Chaich.

The Temecula Valley Winegrowers Association (TVWA) today announced the successful passing of The Temecula Valley Wine and Agricultural Heritage District (TVWAHD). This new assessment district will fund key programs aimed at marketing Temecula Valley Southern California Wine Country as a premium wine travel destination. The Riverside County Board of Supervisors unanimously approved the district at a meeting on March 2, 2021.

This is groundbreaking, not only for Temecula Valley, but also for wine regions throughout the country, said TVWA Executive Director Krista Chaich. Up until now, we have relied solely on membership dues and fundraising programs to market our region, as many other smaller wine regions do. The passing of this district will allow us to continue to grow our burgeoning Wine Country and, as other regions are inspired to pursue similar funding models, the wine tourism industry as a whole.

The assessment district will include all current and future wineries located in the Temecula Valley region of the County of Riverside. Wineries within this area will be assessed at a 1% rate on all direct-to-consumer transactions within the State of California, including wine, merchandise, wine club subscriptions, events, and restaurant sales, as well as items purchased via Internet, phone and wine club, shipping to California customers. The creation of the assessment district is anticipated to generate approximately $1.2 million in funds for the promotion of Temecula Valley Wine Country.

As the world slowly and surely returns back to normal, we are looking forward to exploring new and engaging ways to introduce Temecula Valley Wine Country to wine lovers all over the world, and welcome back long-time fans with elevated wine experiences, said Phil Baily, Owner and Winemaker at Baily Winery and TWVA Board of Directors President. The increase in budget as a result of this new assessment district will allow us to completely reimagine what is possible for marketing our extraordinary wine region.

A complete summary of activities that may be covered through the use of the district funds can be found HERE. While other wine regions have pursued the establishment of a similar assessment district, no other region has successfully passed one to-date.

ABOUT TEMECULA VALLEY WINE COUNTRY

Located within a 60-minute drive from San Diego, Orange County, and Palm Springs, and within 90 minutes of Los Angeles, Temecula Valley is widely recognized as Temecula Valley Southern California Wine Country. The popular wine destination is southern Californias largest wine producing region by volume.

The Temecula Valley Winegrowers Association (TVWA) is a 501 (c) 6 nonprofit regional organization. The TVWA (TemeculaWines.org) is dedicated to promoting the making and growing of quality wine and wine grapes in the Temecula Valley A.V.A. (American Viticulture Area).

###
New York, March 31, 2021 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) -- Reportlinker.com announces the release of the report "Competitive Intensity Transforming Thailands Off-highway Vehicle Market, 2020" - https://www.reportlinker.com/p06018986/?utm_source=GNW





In 2019, Thailands off-highway vehicle equipment market reached a total sales volume of 57,800 units.Of this figure, the sales included 4,000 mini excavators, 3,200 hydraulic excavators, 46,000 tractors, and 3,800 combine harvesters.



The Thai governments significant investment in infrastructure is forecast to boost national demand for off-highway vehicles. The EEC, a project with investments worth $49.9 billion by 2025, is part of Thailands 4.0 program to transform the country into a high value-added economic and logistics hub. The EEC covers 3 provincesChachoengsao, Chonburi, and Rayongin southeastern Thailand and seeks to develop this region into a vital economic hub and attract foreign investments, driving demand for construction machinery. Increasing population and rising urbanization in multiple cities will increase housing and agricultural products demand. The steady population growth is the driving force of the urbanization process. Almost half of the population (46%) are young people (2554 years old), who will need housing, increasing the demand for construction equipment (hydraulic excavators and mini-excavators in urban areas). The high cost of living in the Bangkok metropolitan area makes cities outside Bangkok attractive, such as Chiang Mai, Khon Kaen, and Songkhla. These provincial capitals offer high-quality universities, innovation-focused science parks, low-cost manufacturing bases, and increasing connectivity to nearby international markets, such as China, Cambodia, Laos, Myanmar, and Vietnam. As the worlds second-largest rice exporter and one of the leading exporters of rubber and cassava, Thai agricultural exports also have a positive outlook in the long term. Demand from China and the ASEAN region will lead the agricultural export market. These factors signal an opportunity for the agricultural equipment market. However, the economic downturn as a result of COVID-19 is placing pressure on investment and expenditure. In 2020, demand for construction machinery is expected to drop by approximately 20%30%, and in some regions, by 50%. The pandemic has led to a liquidity crunch, collapse of the global trade, and supply chain disruption. Factory manufacturing machinery (including earthmoving equipment) is also affected by labor movement restrictions, impacting factory production output. Contractors and construction equipment providers that relied on timely cash flow from the government budget have been affected by the delayed release of funds as the government prioritized outflows.Refurbished off-highway vehicles have a higher usage rate than new off-highway vehicles. Used off-highway vehicles, imported from Europe and other Asian countries, present commendable demand in Thailand. As emissions standards are still being developed, used vehicles continue to attract healthy demand and are a key restraint for new off-highway vehicle sales.

Read the full report: https://www.reportlinker.com/p06018986/?utm_source=GNW



About Reportlinker

ReportLinker is an award-winning market research solution. Reportlinker finds and organizes the latest industry data so you get all the market research you need - instantly, in one place.



__________________________
The effort to develop a passenger rail line linking New Orleans and Baton Rouge could be gaining momentum.

The topic came up Wednesday during the 10th annual Louisiana Smart Growth Summit at the Shaw Center for the Arts in downtown Baton Rouge.

Knox Ross, secretary-treasurer of the Southern Rail Commission, an agency set up to promote rail service, said the cities that are succeeding and growing have made tremendous commitments to rail. That includes places across the political spectrum from Austin, Texas, to Salt Lake City, Utah.

These are amenities young people want, Ross said.

Both state Rep. John Bel Edwards and U.S. Sen. David Vitter, the two candidates for governor, have said they would support a rail line connecting Baton Rouge and New Orleans. Ross said theres a study about extending Amtrak service from New Orleans to Orlando, Florida, and talk about creating a line along the Interstate 20 corridor linking Dallas-Fort Worth with Meridian, Mississippi.

So many of our cities are losing air service, theyre at a competitive disadvantage, Ross said. Rail service allows communities to tie themselves to a larger metro area like New Orleans, Dallas or Orlando.

John Spain, executive vice president of the Baton Rouge Area Foundation, said a play book has been developed to help Edwards or Vitter establish rail service between Baton Rouge and New Orleans during their first term as governor.

We have an opportunity, he 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

In a separate discussion, the head of the U.S. Department of Transportation said that urban planners and engineers have a chance to build transit systems that create opportunities for more people.

We have an opportunity to make this generation of American transportation planning the most restorative in our history, Anthony Foxx, secretary of the federal transportation department said in his closing keynote address to summit participants.

Foxx said there have been problems with highways, airports and rail lines carving up neighborhoods and leaving a bitter taste in the mouth of residents. Instead of a lifeline, transportation became a wall, he said.

The new thinking is building transportation networks that bring opportunities for jobs and a better life to people, instead of cutting them off.

One technical assistance program launched by the agency is LadderSTEP, which seeks to connect people to jobs, build transportation infrastructure and revitalize distressed neighborhoods.

In April, Baton Rouge was one of seven cities selected by the Federal Transit Authority to participate in LadderSTEP and get technical assistance for developing a streetcar line connecting LSU and downtown. The first meeting with federal officials was held Wednesday.

Michael Townes, a rail and transit market sector leader for HNTB, a Virginia-based engineering firm working on several projects in Baton Rouge, said officials with the FTA see the LSU to downtown streetcar line as a showcase project.

This could be a national template for implementing a streetcar line and the economic development benefits in a medium-sized community, Townes said.
An Albanian family whose two children were born in Ireland are fighting a deportation order so they can remain in Wicklow and start a proper life for themselves.

Vera and Arjol Kociraj came to Ireland in 2017 and stayed at Waterford and Cork before arriving at the Direct Provision Centre in the Grand Hotel, Wicklow town, in 2018.

Their two children, Belkisa aged three and Enis aged seven months, were both born here and the family have been sharing a room since their arrival in Wicklow.

They were served with a deportation order in July of 2019 having been refused leave-to-remain permission, which they are still fighting against.

'We want to be given the chance to make a contribution to Irish society,' said Vera.

'Me and my husband see the future of our children as being here. We really like Wicklow. It's nice and quiet and the people are very friendly. We are constantly afraid that someone will arrive at our door to deport us back to Albania. They could arrive at any time. Our kids are both born here so it would be like me taking them to a place where they don't belong.

'Enis attends playschool in Wicklow and she would really miss all of her friends. We have been living in Ireland since 2017 and most of our friends would be Irish.

'We do volunteer work for Wicklow Tidy Towns, which we love, though Covid has made that more difficult. This is our home.

'We are being told by officials that Albania is considered a safe country, but we don't agree. We have our own situation and reasons for not thinking that.'

Vera and Arjol have to visit an Immigration Registration Office every two months to register the fact they are still living in Ireland, though a number of those appointments have been cancelled due to Covid.

Vera has a Bachelors Degree in Biology, while Arjol is an IT expert, and both feel they have plenty to offer if they are allowed stay.

'We are both still young looking to work and build a future for ourselves and our kids in Ireland. Immigrations officials keep saying that we are well-educated so we could go anywhere, but Ireland is where our children were born and where we want to make our home,' added Vera.

They are also keen to get their children out of Direct Provision, as it is the only life they have known since their births.

'It's not easy all four of us living in the one room,' added Vera.

'It's particularly difficult during Covid, though the staff here are very hard-working people and try their best. We still have to go down and collect our food, where we are in contact with other people, but we try to be as safe as we can.

'Belkisa has never even seen me cook and doesn't know what it is like to live in a home.

'I find myself getting very stressed and I try not to, but sometimes I pass that stress onto Belkisa. For us it is just horrible to see a child stressed at such a young age.'

The family have been getting assistance from MASI, the Movement of Asylum Seekers in Ireland.

The independent platform for asylum seekers has established a petition which was started due to concerns that a number of children born here in Ireland face the threat of deportation. The petition calls on Minister for Justice Helen McEntee to put into law the Irish Nationality and Citizenship (Naturalisation of Minors Born in Ireland) Bill 2018, to provide a pathway to citizenship for children who are born in Ireland to non-EU/EEA nationals.

'At the moment we can't study, work or even open a bank account. Ireland is where our children were born and it is our home,' said Vera,

The petition is available for signatures at my.uplift.ie/petitions/citizenship-for-children-born-in-ireland-to-non-eu-eea-parents.
Prime Minister Scott Morrison said the country had lost a truly great and inspirational Australian. Jen and I are terribly saddened by the passing of Carla Zampatti, Mr Morrison said in a statement issued on Saturday afternoon. Italian-born Australian fashion designer Carla Zampatti has died at age 78. Credit:Getty Carla was an icon to the fashion industry, a pioneer as an entrepreneur and a champion of multicultural Australia. It was our great honour to have known her. Mr Morrisons wife Jenny has been an enthusiastic devotee of Ms Zampattis designs, donning a black sequinned evening number for her meeting with then United States first lady Melania Trump in 2019.

Mr Morrison said Ms Zampatti would be remembered as a very kind, strong, elegant and sincere woman.  Her contribution to our nation will be timeless, just like her designs, he said. Ms Zampatti served as chair of the SBS Board for a decade from 1999. A spokesman said the broadcaster was deeply saddened to hear of her death, after she steered the organisation through a decade of great change in the media industry. Having migrated herself as a young child  Ms Zampatti truly believed in SBS and its purpose, the spokesman said.

Carla will be remembered as an extraordinary leader, and a legend in Australian business. Ms Zampatti became a confidante to the current ABC chair, Ita Buttrose. We sometimes used to discuss common chairman challenges of looking after national broadcasters, Ms Buttrose told the ABC. Ms Buttrose attributed Ms Zampattis appeal to her timeless, feminine designs. Her style was distinctive, Ms Buttrose said. You could run into women anywhere and you say oh, you look fantastic and they say yes, its Carla.

Ms Buttrose said Ms Zampatti single-handedly put Australian fashion on the international map. Before the 70s we looked overseas for designs - there wasnt really an Australian fashion label that stood out in the crowd, she recalled. Loading Shell be a very hard act to follow. Ms Zampattis peers in the Australian fashion industry were grief-stricken on Saturday. Kaftan queen Camilla Franks told the Herald she was heartbroken over the loss of my muse and treasured friend.

Carla was our matriarch, she said. An inspiration, an Australian fashion icon and a trailblazing powerhouse whose grace, wisdom and unique elegance will forever be held in the hearts of an industry which will feel her loss so deeply. The chief executive of Melbourne Fashion Festival, Graeme Lewsey, said each member of the Australian fashion industry had been a pupil to Ms Zampattis magic touch. The bright light of Carlas creative wisdom may have softened today, he said. Her chic, creative, generous and gracious impact is a truly inspiring legacy.

Singer Dami Im recalled how she bonded with Mz Zampatti about their shared experience of forging a career in Australia after arriving as migrants during their childhood. I will never forget our chats, when she asked me about my experience as a Korean Australian and shared her own stories of her coming to Australia as a young girl, she wrote on Instagram. You will be forever an icon, an inspiration for women and for people with diverse backgrounds. Ms Zampatti was a board member of the Australian Multicultural Foundation for over 12 years. Carlas advocacy, commitment and encouragement to young people from all cultural backgrounds to reach their goals in life was truly inspirational, said Dr. Hass Dellal, the foundations executive director.

David Jones chief executive Scott Fyfe said Ms Zampatti seemed to possess an innate understanding of the modern Australian woman. She knew how to make women feel fabulous, empowering them through her timeless collections, he said. Premier Gladys Berejiklian described Ms Zampatti was a true trailblazer in every respect. The world will never be the same without Carla Zampatti, she said on Twitter. NSW Labor leader Jodi McKay said she treasured her Carla pieces and had kept every one since her late twenties.

You never give away a Carla, she tweeted. Former Foreign Minister Julie Bishop - once photographed in a show-stopping Zampatti ball gown - was a personal friend of Ms Zampatti. Julie Bishop has long championed Australian fashion. Carla Zampatti Royal Engagement ball gown, $1199; earrings, Bishops own. Credit:Stef King Carla Zampatti was a truly great Australian who inspired generations of women with her style, grace and determination, she wrote on Instagram on Saturday. She was in a class of her own - #sprezzatura personified. Sprezzatura is an Italian term which means to perform impressively but with grace and ease rather than apparent effort.

Melbourne-based fashion designer Toni Maticevski remembered Ms Zampatti as someone who championed talent and pushed me to believe what I did mattered. Carla has always been bigger than life, he told the Herald. Even though I towered over her delicate frame she really was the rock and the strength. She always had my back. We laughed all the time and each moment was a delight. I will miss her immensely and cherish our friendship. She survived and thrived in this industry. Carla love forever. Former Matildas captain Melissa Barbieri described Ms Zampatti as a humble genius on Twitter.
City tighten grip on title - while Chelsea suffer

Chelsea boss Thomas Tuchel reacts during his side's defeat by West Bromwich Albion. Photo: AP
Credit: Unsplash/CC0 Public Domain

Cheap and easy to store, the Oxford-AstraZeneca vaccine has boosted the global fight against coronavirus but fears over cases of rare blood clots and production delays have marred its rollout.

Here are five facts about the vaccine.

Practicality

The AstraZeneca vaccine costs about 2.50 ($3.40, 2.75 euros) per dose and can be kept at refrigerator temperatures, making it ideal for large-scale vaccination programmes.

The vaccine has been authorised for use in more than 70 countries, AstraZeneca says.

More than 9.2 million jabs have been administered in the European Economic Area, including the EU, Norway, Iceland and Liechtenstein.

Blood clot fears

Cases of rare blood clots in vaccinated people have prompted numerous countries to halt or limit rollout.

The European Medicines Agency (EMA) said on March 31 that there had been 62 cases worldwide of a rare clotting condition, cerebral venous sinus thrombosis, 44 of them in the European Economic Area.

Thirty cases of rare blood clotting conditions have been recorded in Britain, and seven people have died.

AstraZeneca said in mid-March that there was "no evidence" of higher risk of blood clots from its vaccine.

But as a result, Denmark and Norway have paused vaccinations.

Some countries rejected a batch of vaccines after an Austrian nurse died from multiple thrombosis following vaccination and another person suffered a pulmonary embolism.

Many countries have resumed the vaccine's use only for older people, aged 55 and above, because the blood clots affected younger people.

These include France, Canada, Germany, the Netherlands, Finland, Iceland and Sweden, as well as Canada.

The EMA said March 18 that the AstraZeneca jab is safe and effective.

Some countries including Estonia, Latvia, Lithuania, Luxembourg, Portugal, Italy, Ireland and Spain resumed full rollout after reassurance from the EMA.

The EMA is expected to announce updated advice on April 7.

Delays in delivery

The vaccine was first approved for use in the general population in Britain, which ordered 100 million doses.

In the EU, delivery delays have led to strong criticism of the Anglo-Swedish firm.

AstraZeneca announced in January it could only deliver one third of the 120 million doses initially promised to the 27 member states in the first quarter.

In March, Italy blocked the export of 250,000 doses to Australia, citing "persistent shortage" and "delays in supply", a move backed by the European Commission.

EU member states were set to receive 29.8 million doses of the AstraZeneca vaccine by the end of March, the European Commission said.

Chimpanzees

The vaccine is "virus-vectored", meaning it is a version of a virus that normally infects chimpanzees and has been modified with a portion of the COVID-19 coronavirus called the "spike protein" to fire the immune system.

Once in human cells, the vaccine should help stimulate the production of antibodies that recognise the virus.

The vaccine is "safe and effective", according to data published by The Lancet medical journal in December, with only one of 23,754 volunteers who participated in the trials experiencing "possibly-related severe side effects".

This was a case of a rare neurological condition that forced the temporary suspension of trials.

Result confusion

AstraZeneca announced in interim findings in November that its vaccine was on average 70 percent effective, compared with more than 90 percent for Pfizer/BioNTech and Moderna.

The efficacy of the AstraZeneca vaccine was 90 percent for volunteers who first received only a half dose and then a full dose one month later, but only 62 percent for those in another group who were vaccinated with two full doses one month apart.

The injection of a half dose was conducted by accident, raising criticism over the robustness of the results and prompting the company to conduct additional studies.

A more recent study conducted by health authorities in England has shown protection of between 60 percent and 73 percent against symptoms in people over 70 years old, with a single dose.

Last month, AstraZeneca announced a US trial showed 79 percent effectiveness but then revised this to 76 percent after the US authorities raised concerns that some results were outdated.

The US has not yet approved its use domestically.

Explore further Follow the latest news on the coronavirus (COVID-19) outbreak

 2021 AFP
Iran has done nothing to deserve a resumption of nuclear talks, Donald Trump's former State Department spokesman said on Friday, as she attacked Joe Biden for agreeing to resume talks.

U.S. and Iranian diplomats will take part on Tuesday in talks in Vienna about bringing Tehran into compliance with the controversial 2015 nuclear deal.

The deal was negotiated under President Barack Obama, and ripped up by Trump.

Morgan Ortagus, who was spokesman for Mike Pompeo's team from 2019, said Biden was misguided in restarting talks.

Morgan Ortagus, spokesman for the State Department under Trump, criticized the Iran talks

Officials from Tehran and Washington will travel to Vienna next week as part of efforts to revive the 2015 nuclear deal between Iran and global powers, although they will not hold direct talks, diplomats said on Friday. Iranian president Hassan Rouhani is pictured left

'Iran has done nothing in the past few months, since this new administration took power, to deserve sanctions relief or to deserve the United States entering some sort of deal,' she told Fox News on Friday night.

She said that the Biden administration was living in the past, and failed to realize the current reality in the region.

'I think what's fundamentally happening here is you're seeing that this administration does not appear to understand how much the Middle East has changed in the past four years,' she said.

'We had four peace deals between Arab states and the state of Israel.

'And so the region has fundamentally changed, but this new administration, because all of their political appointees worked in the Obama administration, they seem hell bent on repeating what they did four years ago without realizing how much the Middle East has changed.'

The talks are being seen as an initial step and, in a sign of the tightrope diplomats are walking, Iran on Friday rejected any direct meeting with the U.S.

The American team is expected to sit in one room and the Iranians in another room, with the Europeans shuttling between them.

'The United States will not attend any meeting in which Iran is present, including the meeting of the joint commission ... and that is certain,' said Iran's Deputy Foreign Minister Abbas Araqchi, according to the ministry's web site.

Although Tehran has ruled out direct discussions for now, it has agreed to a meeting that could be the first step to bring all side back into compliance.

Diplomats from the U.S., Iran, France, Germany, the U.K., Russia, China and the European Union will all be in attendance.

Trump campaigned against the deal in 2016 and pulled out of it in 2018, calling it 'the worst deal ever negotiated.'

Trump re-imposed sanctions on Iran as part of his new 'maximum pressure' campaign in a hope to drive Tehran back to the negotiating table.

The purpose of the indirect talks is to 'identify the issues involved in a mutual return to compliance,' a State Department spokesperson told Fox News.

Why Donald Trump pulled out of the 'horrible' Iran nuclear deal negotiated by Barack Obama Former President Donald Trump attacked the Iran nuclear deal throughout his 2016 presidential campaign. He called it the 'worst deal ever negotiated' and repeatedly went after the Obama for authorizing the repayment of about $1.7 million in money plus interest that had been frozen after the Iranian revolution. He echoed complaints by Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu that the deal didn't have sufficient verification of enrichment activities that it allowed, although with limits. The 2015 deal peeled back some sanctions on Iran that been imposed over a period of years amid Iran's nuclear activities and missile launches. Iran maintained its nuclear program was peaceful, but the U.S. and Israel have long considered a nuclear Iran a grave threat to its neighbors. After he took offices, some of his advisors urged him to try to keep the deal intact. 'This was a horrible one-sided deal that should have never, ever been made,' Trump said in 2018 when he announced the U.S. was pulling out of it. He called the agreement, negotiated by a team headed by former Secretary of State John Kerry, and worked out with European allies as well as UN Security Council members including China and Russia, a 'horrible one-sided deal that should have never, ever been made.' Instead, Trump relied on a new 'maximum pressure' campaign, meant to bring Iran back to the table to negotiate a stronger agreement by reimposing sanctions. Iran announced plans to resume enrichment, setting in motion a series of moves and U.S. efforts to try to punish Iran for its moves. Relations hit another low in 2020 when Trump ordered an airstrike that took out Iranian General Qassem Soleimani in Baghdad. Trump said he was 'plotting imminent and sinister attacks' and that the leader of the Quds force had been involved in attacks on U.S. forces in the region. Advertisement

'These talks will be structured around working groups that the EU is going to form with the remaining participants in the JCPOA [Joint Comprehensive Plan of Action], including Iran.

'We do not anticipate presently that there will be direct talks between the United States and Iran through this process, though the United States remains open to them.'

Iranian foreign minister Mohammad Javad Zarif tweeted about the in-person talks.

'Aim: Rapidly finalize sanction-lifting & nuclear measures for choreographed removal of all sanctions, followed by Iran ceasing remedial measures. No Iran-US meeting. Unnecessary.'

The announcement of talks comes after Biden launched an airstrike on Tehran-backed militia in Syria at the end of February.

He said at the time that it was a warning to Iranian President Hassan Rouhani to 'be careful'.

Biden campaigned on reentering the deal, but after Iran returned to complying with its limitations.

His security team has said it wants to negotiate longer-lasting provisions and seek to limit Iran's ballistic missile program.

Iran holds its presidential elections in June, providing a goal on the calendar to try to force progress.

Biden has said he wants to bring back the accord, but Washington and Tehran have been at odds over who should take the first step.

The U.S. has resisted Tehran's demands that sanctions first be lifted to commence talks.

'Iran and the U.S. will be in the same town, but not the same room,' a European diplomatic source said.

A Western diplomat said a shuttle diplomacy approach would be adopted.

Western officials have said one move toward a breakthrough came when European powers in contact with Washington pitched an arrangement that would hand Tehran $1 billion in oil revenues frozen by South Korea.

They would be able to use it to buy humanitarian items, according to the report.

Biden issued a warning to Iran last month after he authorized U.S. airstrikes in Syria, cautioning the rival not to back proxies or militia groups that threaten U.S. interests.

'You can't act with impunity. Be careful,' Biden said when asked what message the strikes were sending.

The talks will seek to create negotiating lists of sanctions that the United States could lift and nuclear obligations Iran should meet, the EU official said  setting in place a step-by-step framework that could result in the resumed talks.

Those lists 'should marry at some point. In the end, we are approaching this in a parallel way. I do think we can do it in less than two months,' the official said.

He was speaking after Iran, China, Russia, France, Germany and Britain - all parties to the 2015 deal - held virtual talks on Friday to see how to progress.

This handout satellite image shows the Bushehr Reactor in Iran in March 2001

Iran stepped up some enrichment activities after Trump's administration pulled out of the deal

President Biden authorized a military strike in Syria last month and issued a warning to Iran

An Iranian official said U.S. Iran envoy Rob Malley and National Security Adviser Jake Sullivan would be in Vienna, but insisted there would be no direct or indirect meetings between Iranian and American officials.

'If we don't get there in two months we will see what happens, but it will be definitely bad news,' the EU official said.

Under the accord, U.S. and other economic sanctions on Tehran were removed in return for curbs on Iran's nuclear program to make it harder to develop a nuclear weapon - an ambition Tehran denies.

German Foreign Minister Heiko Maas said it was good that talks were resuming, but time was of the essence.

'An agreement that is once again fully respected would be a plus for security for the entire region and the best basis for talks on other important issues of regional stability,' he said in a statement.
Aurangabad: A news that has recently grabbed headlines about a farmer from Bihar's Aurangabad growing the world's costliest vegetable called the Hop Shoots turned out to be fake.

As per the investigation by ZEE NEWS, no such cultivation has been done. The family members of Amresh Singh, villagers and the district agriculture department have dismissed the claim saying there is no such crop on the fields.

Who is Amresh Singh?

A farmer from Bihar's Aurangabad Amresh Singh was in news for a report claiming that he is growing the world's costliest vegetable Hop Shoots. Since reports debunking the claim went viral, Amresh has gone underground and is avoiding public glare.

Why it was in news?

The news report stated that Amresh had used five katha of his land and did not use any kind of chemical fertilizers or pesticides to increase the productivity of the crop. He reportedly invested Rs 2.5 lakh to grow this vegetable on his farm and turned out successful.

However, Nityananda, Senior Scientist, Center for Agricultural Sciences, Aurangabad found that the temperature required for cultivation of Hop Shoots is not consistent with any season in Aurangabad, thus debunking Amaresh's claim.

What is Hop Shoot?

Hop Shoot is a vegetable that is generally found in the international markets costing around Rs 85,000 per Kg. Scientifically known as Humulus Lupulus, the plant is a native of Europe and North America, this vegetable was initially believed to be a weed. However, soon, people's confusion cleared when they got to know about its properties.
A West Michigan based restaurant chain and two former workers who claimed workplace discrimination have settled a lawsuit, court documents show.

The lawsuit against Annas House was filed in late January 2020 by two former workers at the chains Westland location.

They alleged they were fired without justification.

A manager alleged she was asked to tell a front-counter worker that she needed to remove her hijab at work. She refused to do so. A hijab is a head covering worn by some Muslim women as governed by a religious code.

According to the lawsuit, the Annas House owner also had allegedly asked whether the kitchen supervisor prayed at work. The supervisors lawyer claimed he was targeted because he is a Muslim.

Details of the settlement were not immediately available.

An attorney for one of the workers said she could not comment on the specifics of the settlement.

The only statement I can provide is that it settled upon terms agreeable to all parties, Amy Doukoure said.

An attorney for Annas House, Brett Miller, on Friday said he was checking to see if a company statement would be issued.

Lawyers for Annas House, in a March 2020 response to the initial January 2020 filing, denied the allegations of workplace discrimination and the workers version of events.

Plaintiffs were not subjected to any adverse disparate treatment or any adverse employment action by Defendants because of any protected category or activity nor did Defendants act in reckless disregard of any protected rights, according to the response.

Defendants did not retaliate against Plaintiff in any way or for any reason, the lawyers said.

More from MLive

Grand Haven Public Safety officer collapses at fire, expected to be OK

Grand Rapids culinary students compete in NASA competition to create meals for astronauts
Uttar Pradesh Chief Minister Yogi Adityanath announced that all schools will be shut for students up to class 8 till April 11 across the state amid rise in COVID-19 cases. The state government had previously shut schools for students up to class 8 till March 31.

The Chief Minister made this announcement during a review meeting at his 5-Kalidas Marg residence. Teachers will, however, continue to report for administrative work during this period while no educational activities will take place.

Yogi Adityanath has also directed officials to ramp up COVID-19 vaccination programme in the state and increase the capacity of COVID-19 hospitals. India's most populous state has reported over 6.22 lakh COVID-19 cases till April 3, i.e., Saturday with 2,953 cases in the last 24 hours. Out of these, over 5.99 lakh people have recovered from the contagion with 782 recoveries on Friday.

Uttar Pradesh has 14,073 active COVID-19 cases and 2,155 cases were reported in the last 24 hours. The state's death toll due to COVID-19 reached 8,836 with 16 fatalities in the last 24 hours.

Uttar Pradesh is not the only state to shut schools due to the rise in COVID-19 cases. Karnataka government has also suspended in-person classes for students of classes 6-9. Students from classes 10-12 can attend in-person classes but it is not mandatory.

Edited by Mehak Agarwal; with PTI inputs

Also read: India records highest COVID-19 cases in six months with 89,129 cases, 714 deaths

Also read: Karnataka imposes new restrictions: 50% capacity at bars, pubs, cinema halls; gyms, pools closed
Floor tiles, signs and posters urge us to KEEP A SOCIAL DISTANCE, while arcane one-way systems stop us from passing one another. Sinks have been taped up, just in case we get too close while carrying out all-important hand-washing, as have some of the urinals in the mens loo, presumably to mitigate the Covid risk of standing next to someone while having a pee. And thats just in my office.

Its a picture being seen in workplaces and public spaces up and down the country.

Government advice, for almost a year now, is that we should all stay at least two metres away from anyone we dont live with.

Government advice, for almost a year now, is that we should all stay at least two metres away from anyone we dont live with

The idea is that, if we are far enough apart, well avoid transmitting the virus. And if we cant be, theres always those plastic screens that seem to have been erected everywhere to protect us. But is it that simple?

Social distancing policies have been instigated by many businesses at the start of the pandemic. And as Britain edges out of lockdown, they remain unchanged.

But the science has moved on, and for months experts have been urging the Government to reconsider the approach  warning that these measures alone wont prevent infections. One leading public health researcher, speaking to this newspaper, went as far as to brand many of rules well meaning but pretty much useless.

Last week we revealed how workplaces were ignoring Public Health England guidance by relying on temperature checks  which had been found to be inaccurate and ineffective at picking up Covid cases.

Could a fixation with one-way systems and two-metre rules also present a similar problem? Giving the illusion of safety, while distracting us from the true risks?

Part of the problem lies in the fact that, initially, it was believed Covid, like colds and flu, is mainly transmitted through coughs and sneezes. When sprays of tiny moisture droplets carrying the coronavirus are expelled this way, they can land on other people and potentially infect them. But these droplets are also subject to the laws of gravity  they travel just a metre or so before falling to the ground.

The idea is that, if we are far enough apart, well avoid transmitting the virus

Mask-wearing is a vital measure to mitigate the risk of this sort of transmission  they block droplets from being expelled from the mouth and nose. This became particularly relevant when it emerged that large numbers of people with Covid get few, if any, symptoms but are still potentially infectious.

But it has become increasingly clear that droplets are not the only way the disease spreads. Infection also occurs from so-called airborne exposure to the virus.

Microscopic viral particles can remain hanging in the air for hours, like smoke, experts have warned. Outdoors, these particles are quickly blown away.

But indoors, without adequate ventilation, this viral smoke rapidly builds up.

Again, masks can mitigate this to a degree, soaking up some of these particles. But they arent 100 per cent effective, and this means that simply being in the same room for any length of time with someone carrying Covid poses a risk, no matter how far apart you are.

Studies of super-spreader events  of which there have been many  are proof of this.

In March last year, there were reports that 50 people who attended a choir practice in the US state of Washington for an hour and a half were subsequently diagnosed with the virus. Two of them died.

And then there are the outbreaks in meat factories. Researchers who studied a slaughterhouse in Germany, where about 1,500 workers contracted the virus, suggested cold and stale air conditions allowed coronavirus particles to travel more than 26ft.

In December, an outbreak in Adelaide, Australia, was traced to a security guard at a quarantine hotel. After examining CCTV footage, it was concluded he caught the virus by standing outside the room of a Covid-positive couple. Health chiefs said poor ventilation was to blame. The list goes on and on.

Mask-wearing is a vital measure to mitigate the risk of this sort of transmission  they block droplets from being expelled from the mouth and nose

In a study, researchers had a young woman whod tested positive for Covid, but had mild symptoms, drive a car that contained a virus-detecting sensor.

It was still picking up viral particles in the air two hours after she had got out.

This, perhaps, explains why during the first wave of the pandemic, in the UK, men who worked as cab drivers were found to be most likely to die from Covid.

In October the US Centres for Disease Control updated its guidance on Covid transmission, recognising that airborne transmission can occur in enclosed, poorly ventilated spaces.

Prof Trish Greenhalgh said: Distancing round the sinks and urinals would only work if the mode of transmission were limited to droplets. The virus is airborne. We need to ventilate to reduce its transmission

A month later more than 200 scientists signed an open letter urging all public health authorities to recognise the potential for airborne spread of Covid-19. They highlighted numerous studies that had proven the virus could easily travel more than 30ft.

Due to the tiny size of these particles, they settle in the air at a height of about 5ft, research suggests.

Last week, the Government updated its hands, face, space slogan to include fresh air  acknowledging that being outdoors presents the lowest infection risk. But what about the air in offices and shops, and, soon, pubs and restaurants?

Cath Noakes, a professor of environmental engineering for buildings at Leeds University who campaigned for the slogan change, warns: The virus is carried in peoples breath. If youre close to someone whos infected, you are at higher risk, so social distancing does matter. But it only deals with part of the risk.

If you are indoors, in a poorly ventilated space, viral particles build up and we breathe them in.

The Health and Safety Executive says the law requires employers and business owners to open windows or install mechanical ventilation  fans and ducts that bring in fresh air from outside.

Spaces that are most risky are those that have no mechanical ventilation, or access to open windows and doors, says Prof Noakes.

In pubs, restaurants and other small businesses, there are a lot of spaces like this.

Mask-wearing in these settings will help a bit, but they dont mitigate the risk completely.

Without good ventilation, those social-distancing stickers, one-way systems and desk-dividing screens  Ah, the magic screens, Prof Noakes chuckles  are fairly futile.

Prof Trish Greenhalgh, a University of Oxford public health expert, was even more critical of many social-distancing measures.

She says: Distancing round the sinks and urinals would only work if the mode of transmission were limited to droplets. The virus is airborne. We need to ventilate to reduce its transmission.
Those planning to make the most of the latest easing of restrictions on socialising this Easter will have to dig out their warm coats again.

Temperatures are set to plunge over the bank holiday weekend, with snowfall even possible in some areas.

The wintry weather comes just days after the UK recorded its highest March temperature in 53 years.

While Londoners sunned themselves in 24.5C heat on Tuesday, the temperature in the capital is expected to plummet to freezing on Monday night.

Today will be mostly dry, with some areas covered by patchy clouds.

Those planning to make the most of the latest easing of restrictions on socialising this Easter will have to dig out their warm coats again, with temperatures set to drop

Easter Monday is set to turn especially chilly for most parts and some areas should prepare for 'thundersnow'  a mix of thunderstorms and snow.

Although the South will hang on to warmer temperatures for the longest, the entire country will see the mercury drop to single digits by the end of the bank holiday weekend.

Southern England and Wales will see temperatures peak at 15C today but drop to -3C late on Monday.

Meanwhile, the North will nose-dive to as low as -4C on Monday evening.

Forecaster Stephen Davenport, from the Meteogroup, said: 'We're probably good up until Sunday, then a cold front comes southwards.'

Heavy snow warnings are in place for parts of northern Scotland, but forecasters have said nowhere in the country will be 'immune' from snowfall by Monday as temperatures continue to drop.

Despite the chilly weather, the public have been urged to respect the rules and only meet friends and family outdoors now that restrictions have started to ease.

People walk under blossom in Battersea Park, London on Friday April 2, 2021. Temperatures are set to plunge over the bank holiday weekend, with snowfall even possible in some areas

Despite the chilly weather, the public have been urged to respect the rules and only meet friends and family outdoors now that restrictions have started to ease. Pictured: A police van patrols as people relax in Hyde Park in central London on April 2, 2021

More than half of British households - 51% - had planned to swap a traditional Easter roast for a barbeque or picnic this year, a survey by Sainsbury's found.

Plans are likely to have to change in Fife, Strathclyde and the Highlands, which are due to see gale-force winds and snow showers as the country enters an 'Arctic trough'.

By Easter Monday morning, there could be as much as 15cm of snow in higher areas.

The Met Office's yellow warnings are in place from 6pm on Sunday until midnight on Monday.

Craig Snell, forecaster for the Met Office, said: 'After a taste of summer for a lot of the UK, we will see things turn much colder as we go through the second half of the Easter weekend.

'A lot of the UK will be prone to seeing some wintry showers as we go through the course of Monday but northern Scotland is where we'll see the heaviest and most frequent snow.

'That's where there's most concern that we might see some disruption.'

A return of the February chills? While Londoners sunned themselves in 24.5C heat on Tuesday, the temperature in the capital is expected to plummet to freezing on Monday night. Pictured: People walk on the south bank of the river Thames, in London on February 8, 2021

Mr Snell said although it was not unusual to see snow at this time of year, it would be a 'shock to the system' for many, following balmy temperatures felt earlier in the week.

On Saturday, temperatures in the South East and London are expected to be about 12C and, further north - Manchester and Leeds - could see highs of 13C and 10C respectively.

By Monday, London may drop to 8C, Manchester 7C and Leeds a chilly 5C.

'Nowhere is going to be immune from potentially seeing some snow showers on Monday, even down towards the south west of England,' said Mr Snell.

But he said it was unlikely that the snow would settle.

Despite the disappointing weather, Britons still made the most of the Good Friday holiday - flocking to parks and beaches.

The Metropolitan Police issued a warning before the long weekend, telling people not to gather in large groups ahead of a number of planned protests.

A Kill the Bill rally against the Government's proposed Police, Crime, Sentencing and Courts Bill was staged in Finsbury Park on Friday afternoon, with similar events taking place elsewhere.

The Met is expecting more protests in the capital over the weekend, which are now lawful providing organisers submit a risk assessment and take steps to ensure the gathering is safe.

The force said: 'Enforcement action will be taken, if needed, in the interests of public health.'
The age of being able to speak to our computers just as we do with other humans is finally upon us but voice-activated assistants like Siri, Alexa, and Google Home haven't proven quite as revolutionary  or inclusive  as we'd hoped they'd be. While these systems make a commendable effort to accurately interpret commands regardless of whether you picked up your accent in Houston or Hamburg, for users with heavier or less common accents such as Caribbean or Cockney, requests to their digital assistants are roundly ignored. In her essay "Siri Disciplines" for Your Computer Is on Fire from the MIT Press, Towson University professor Dr. Halcyon M. Lawrence, examens some of the more glaring shortcomings of this nascent technology, how those preventable failures have effectively excluded a sizeable number of potential users and the western biases underpinning the issue.

MIT Press

Excerpted from Your Computer is On Fire Copyright  2021 Edited by Thomas S. Mullaney, Benjamin Peters, Mar Hicks and Kavita Philip. Used with permission of the publisher, MIT Press.

Voice technologies are routinely described as revolutionary. Aside from the technologys ability to recognize and replicate human speech and to provide a hands-free environment for users, these revolutionary claims, by tech writers especially, emerge from a number of trends: the growing numbers of people who use these technologies, the increasing sales volume of personal assistants like Amazons Alexa or Google Home, and the expanding number of domestic applications that use voice. If youre a regular user (or designer) of voice technology, then the aforementioned claim may resonate with you, since it is quite possible that your life has been made easier because of it. However, for speakers with a nonstandard accent (for example, African-American vernacular or Cockney), virtual assistants like Siri and Alexa are unresponsive and frustrating  there are numerous YouTube videos that demonstrate and even parody these cases. For me, a speaker of Caribbean English, there is silence when I speak to Siri; this means that there are many services, products, and even information that I am not able to access using voice commands. And while I have other ways of accessing these services, products, and information, what is the experience of accented speakers for whom speech is the primary or singular mode of communication? This so-called revolution has left them behind. In fact, Mar Hicks pushes us to consider that any technology that reinforces or reinscribes bias is not, in fact, revolutionary but oppressive. The fact that voice technologies do nothing to change existing social biases and hierarchies, but instead reinforce them, means that these technologies, while useful to some, are in no way revolutionary.

One might argue that these technologies are nascent, and that more accents will be supported over time. While this might be true, the current trends arent compelling. Here are some questions to consider: first, why have accents been primarily developed for Standard English in Western cultures (such as American, Canadian, and British English)? Second, for non-Western cultures for which nonstandard accent support has been developed (such as Singaporean and Hinglish), what is driving these initiatives? Third, why hasnt there been any nonstandard accent support for minority speakers of English? Finally, what adjustments  and at what cost  must standard and foreign-accented speakers of English make to engage with existing voice technologies?

In his slave biography, Olaudah Equiano said, I have often taken up a book, and have talked to it, and then put my ears to it, when alone, in hopes it would answer me; and I have been very much concerned when I found it remained silent. Equianos experience with the traditional interface of a book mirrors the silence that nonstandard and foreign speakers of English often encounter when they try to interact with speech technologies like Apples Siri, Amazons Alexa, or Google Home. Premised on the promise of natural language use for speakers, these technologies encourage their users not to alter their language patterns in any way for successful interactions. If you possess a foreign accent or speak in a dialect, speech technologies practice a form of othering that is biased and disciplinary, demanding a form of postcolonial assimilation to standard accents that silences the speakers sociohistorical reality.

Because these technologies have not been fundamentally designed to process non-standard and foreign-accented speech, speakers often have to make adjustments to their speech  that is, change their accents  to reduce recognition errors. The result is the sustained marginalization and delegitimization of nonstandard and foreign-accented speakers of the English language. This forced assimilation is particularly egregious given that the number of second-language speakers of English has already exceeded the number of native English-language speakers worldwide. The number of English as a Second Language (ESL) speakers will continue to increase as English is used globally as a lingua franca to facilitate commercial, academic, recreational, and technological activities. One implication of this trend is that, over time, native English speakers may exert less influence over the lexical, syntactic, and semantic structures that govern the English language. We are beginning to witness the emergence of hybridized languages like Spanglish, Konglish, and Hinglish, to name a few. Yet despite this trend and the obvious implications, foreign-accented and nonstandard- accented speech is marginally recognized by speech-mediated devices.

Gluszek and Dovidio define an accent as a manner of pronunciation with other linguistic levels of analysis (grammatical, syntactical, morphological, and lexical), more or less comparable with the standard language. Accents are particular to an individual, location, or nation, identifying where we live (through geographical or regional accents, like Southern American, Black American, or British Cockney, for example), our socioeconomic status, our ethnicity, our cast, our social class, or our first language. The preference for ones accent is well-documented. Individuals view people having similar accents to their own more favorably than people having different accents to their own. Research has demonstrated that even babies and children show a preference for their native accent. This is consistent with the theory that similarity in attitudes and features affects both the communication processes and the perceptions that people form about each other.

However, with accents, similarity attraction is not always the case. Researchers have been challenging the similarity-attraction principle, suggesting that it is rather context-specific and that cultural and psychological biases can often lead to positive perceptions of non-similar accents. Dissimilar accents sometimes carry positive stereotypes which lead to positive perceptions of the speech or speaker. Studies also show that even as listeners are exposed to dissimilar accents, they show a preference for standard accents, like standard British English as opposed to nonstandard varieties like Cockney or Scottish accents.

On the other hand, non-similar accents are not always perceived positively, and foreign-accented speakers face many challenges. For example, Flege notes that speaking with a foreign accent entails a variety of possible consequences for second-language (L2) learners, including accent detection, diminished acceptability, diminished intelligibility, and negative evaluation. Perhaps one of the biggest consequences of having a foreign accent is that L2 users oftentimes have difficulty making themselves understood because of pronunciation errors. Even accented native speakers (speakers of variants of British English, like myself, for example) experience similar difficulty because of the differences of pronunciation.

Lambert et al. produced one of the earliest studies on language attitudes that demonstrated language bias. Since then, research has consistently demonstrated negative perceptions about speech produced by nonnative speakers. As speech moves closer to unaccented, listener perceptions become more favorable, and as speech becomes less similar, listener perceptions become less favorable; said another way, the stronger the foreign accent, the less favorable the speech.

Nonnative speech evokes negative stereotypes such that speakers are perceived as less intelligent, less loyal, less competent, poor speakers of the language, and as having weak political skill. But the bias doesnt stop at perception, as discriminatory practices associated with accents have been documented in housing, employment, court rulings, lower-status job positions, and, for students, the denial of equal opportunities in education.

Despite the documented ways in which persons who speak with an accent routinely experience discriminatory treatment, there is still very little mainstream conversation about accent bias and discrimination. In fall 2017, I received the following student evaluation from one of my students, who was a nonnative speaker of English and a future computer programmer:

Im gonna be very harsh here but please dont be offended  your accent is horrible. As a non-native speaker of English I had a very hard time understanding what you are saying. An example that sticks the most is you say goal but I hear ghoul. While it was funny at first it got annoying as the semester progressed. I was left with the impression that you are very proud of your accent, but I think that just like movie starts [sic] acting in movies and changing their accent, when you profess you should try you speak clearly in US accent so that non-native students can understand you better.

While I was taken aback, I shouldnt have been. David Crystal, a respected and renowned British linguist who is a regular guest on a British radio program, said that people would write in to the show to complain about pronunciations they didnt like. He states, It was the extreme nature of the language that always struck me. Listeners didnt just say they disliked something. They used the most emotive words they could think of. They were horrified, appalled, dumbfounded, aghast, outraged, when they heard something they didnt like. Crystal goes on to suggest that reactions are so strong because ones pronunciation (or accent) is fundamentally about identity. It is about race. It is about class. It is about ones ethnicity, education, and occupation. When a listener attends to anothers pronunciation, they are ultimately attending to the speakers identity.

As I reflected on my students evaluation of my accent, it struck me that this comment would have incited outrage had it been made about the immutable characteristics of ones race, ethnicity, or gender; yet when it comes to accents, there is an acceptability about the practice of accent bias, in part because accents are seen as a mutable characteristic of a speaker, changeable at will. As my student noted, after all, movie stars in Hollywood do it all the time, so why couldnt I? Although individuals have demonstrated the ability to adopt and switch between accents (called code switching), to do so should be a matter of personal choice, as accent is inextricable to ones identity. To put upon another an expectation of accent change is oppressive; to create conditions where accent choice is not negotiable by the speaker is hostile; to impose an accent upon another is violent.

One domain where accent bias is prevalent is in seemingly benign devices such as public address systems and banking and airline menu systems, to name a few; but the lack of diversity in accents is particularly striking in personal assistants like Apples Siri, Amazons Alexa, and Google Home. For example, while devices like PA systems only require listeners to comprehend standard accents, personal assistants, on the other hand, require not only comprehension but the performance of standard accents by users. Therefore, these devices demand that the user assimilate to standard Englishes  a practice that, in turn, alienates nonnative and nonstandard English speakers.
NEW YORK, April 3, 2021 /PRNewswire/ -- The Monoethylene Glycol market will register an incremental spend of about USD 8.31 Billion, growing at a CAGR of 6.67% during the five-year forecast period. A targeted strategic approach to Monoethylene Glycol sourcing can unlock several opportunities for buyers. This report also offers market impact and new opportunities created due to the COVID-19 pandemic. Download free sample report

Key Highlights Offered in the Report:

Monoethylene Glycol Market Procurement Research Report

Information on how to identify strategic and tactical negotiation levels that will help achieve the best prices.

Gain information on relevant pricing levels, detailed explanation on pros and cons of prevalent pricing models.

Methods to help engage with the right suppliers and discover KPI's to evaluate incumbent suppliers.

Get a free sample report for more information

Insights into buyer strategies and tactical negotiation levers:

Several strategic and tactical negotiation levers are explained in the report to help buyers achieve the best prices for the Monoethylene Glycol market. The report also aids buyers with relevant Monoethylene Glycol pricing levels, pros, and cons of prevalent pricing models such as volume-based pricing, spot pricing, and cost-plus pricing and category management strategies and best practices to fulfill their category objectives.

For more insights on buyer strategies and tactical negotiation levers, Click here.

Key Drivers and Trends Fueling Market Growth:

The pressure from substitutes and a moderate level of threat from new entrants has resulted in the low bargaining power of suppliers.

Price forecasts are beneficial in purchase planning, especially when supplemented by the constant monitoring of price influencing factors. During the forecast period, the market expects a change of 4.00%-6.00%.

Identify favorable opportunities in Monoethylene Glycol 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 Monoethylene Glycol suppliers listed in this report:

This Monoethylene Glycol procurement intelligence report has enlisted the top suppliers and their cost structures, SLA terms, best selection criteria, and negotiation strategies.

Royal Dutch Shell Plc

SABIC

BASF SE

Equate Group

LyondellBasell Industries NV

Nan Ya Plastics Corp.

Mitsui Chemicals Inc.

Reliance Industries Ltd.

LOTTE Chemical Corp.

Huntsman Corp.

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

Related Links

http://www.spendedge.com/


Every Easter, we have a debate about replacing the Easter Bunny with the Easter Bilby. This year, another exotic native has also emerged from its comfortable nest. Its distinctive cry, the warbling sound of the Angry Nimby, echoes around our suburbs.

From Sandown to Collingwood, Alphington to Maribyrnong, and Camberwell to elsewhere across the vast sprawl that makes Melbourne one of the most dispersed of cities, the Not In My Back Yard song can be heard. But the plumage of this neighbourhood regular is changing.

The Aerial apartments in Camberwell defied critics and were built at the junction. Credit:Tim Doutre

Typically, the Nimby is fiercely protective of its habitat, whether endangered or not, and swoops and harasses intruders, often forcing them to beat a hasty retreat or at least to take evasive action. It can often disguise its true intentions, mouthing platitudes about local amenity and grassroots community while disguising a singular concern with property values. The leafy affluent eastern suburbs have long hosted thriving colonies of this Nimby variant, finding in particular the Camberwell precinct so attractive it is allergic to any change.

A new sub-species of the Nimby has been seen in the inner city this past week  the plumage showing a new green outer skin. The City of Yarra, with a Greens councillor majority, tried to impose a massive fee hike on grassroots sport clubs  triggering howls of outrage  and also rejected a state government proposal for a social housing development in the precinct around the Collingwood Town Hall. Years of work on a plan to provide 200 units  100 of them for social housing  has been abandoned as the council refused to endorse the state government plan.
President Biden offers his condolences following a deadly attack on Capitol Police (Copyright 2021 The Associated Press. All rights reserved)

President Biden offered his condolences after the car attack that killed Capitol Police Officer William Billy Evans on Friday.

Jill and I were heartbroken to learn of the violent attack at a security checkpoint on the U.S. Capitol grounds, which killed Officer William Evans of the U.S. Capitol Police, and left a fellow officer fighting for his life, the president said in a statement . We send our heartfelt condolences to Officer Evans family, and everyone grieving his loss.

Mr Biden added that he was lowering White House flags to half-mast and was ordering an investigation into the attack.

US Capitol Police say a vehicle rammed into two officers outside the Capitol on Friday, killing Mr Evans and injuring the other officer. A suspect was shot, and is now in custody. Police say Mr Evans had been a USCP officer for 18 years.

This was the first deadly attack on the Capitol since 6 January, when a mob of Trump supporters stormed the building , leading to the deaths of five people. In his statement, President Biden put Mr Evans death in that tragic context.

Read more:

We know what a difficult time this has been for the Capitol, everyone who works there, and those who protect it, the president said. I want to express the nations gratitude to the Capitol Police, the National Guard Immediate Response Force, and others who quickly responded to this attack.

Congressional leaders of both parties offered their sympathies as well.

Today, Americas heart has been broken by the tragic and heroic death of one of our Capitol Police heroes: Officer William Evans, Democratic House Speaker Nancy Pelosi said in a statement . He is a martyr for our democracy.

Praying for the United States Capitol Police officers who were attacked at the Capitol, Republican Senate Minority Leader Mitch McConnell tweeted after the assault but before the death was announced. We are still learning whats taken place. Grateful to all the USCP and first responders who are on the scene.

Story continues

Democratic Leader Chuck Schumer issued a similar statement.

Im heartbroken for the officer killed today defending our Capitol and for his family. Im praying for the officer injured and his family, the Senate Majority Leader tweeted . Were in their debt. We thank the Capitol Police, National Guard, & first responders for all they do to protect the Capitol and those inside.

Speaker Pelosi ordered that flags at the Capitol be lowered to half-mast.

Members of Congress, staff and Capitol workers, and indeed all Americans are united in appreciation for the courage of the U.S. Capitol Police, her statement continued. Today, once again, these heroes risked their lives to protect our Capitol and our Country, with the same extraordinary selflessness and spirit of service seen on January 6.

Yogananda Pittman, acting chief of the USCP, asked for the publics support as she announced the death of the officer killed today.

This has been an extremely difficult time for US Capitol police after the events of January 6, and now the events that have occurred here today, Ms Pittman said at a press conference. So I ask that you keep our US Capitol police family in your thoughts and prayers.

As the day went on, more members of Congress spoke out about the incident. Representative Mikie Sherrill of New Jersey expressed her sadness on MSNBC that another deadly attack had befallen the Capitol Police, who she said were still traumatized by the January riot.

So many members of Congress, myself included, feel we owe them a huge debt that we can never repay for their bravery on January 6th, and to see the ongoing attacks against them Ms Sherrill said, trailing off. My hearts going out to all of their families, to all of their loved ones.

Representative Ro Khanna of California was more blunt.
In the case of the attack on the woman outside the apartment building in Manhattan, the victims daughter said someone had tried to help: A passerby yelled at the perpetrator in an attempt to distract him. There were no calls to 911, but the union representing the doormen who were seen watching the attack from inside a lobby  and who then closed the front door once the assailant fled  defended the men, saying the brief clip from the surveillance footage did not show what had come afterward. The men, the union said, went outside to help the woman and flagged down a passing police car.
State Sen. Adam Hinds, D-Pittsfield, chairs the Special Committee on Reimagining Massachusetts: Post-Pandemic Resiliency, which holds its first meeting Tuesday.
President Volodymyr Zelensky discussed with U.S. President Joe Biden his possible visit to Ukraine, as well as the participation of the United States in the Crimean Platform.

"We also talked about the participation of the United States in the Crimean Platform and President Biden's upcoming visit to Ukraine," Zelensky said in a video address.

As reported, on Friday, April 2, the presidents of Ukraine and the United States had their first telephone conversation since Biden took office on January 20. According to media reports, the conversation lasted 30-40 minutes at least.

Crimean Platform is a new consultative and coordination format initiated by Ukraine to improve the efficiency of the international response to the occupation of Crimea, respond to growing security challenges, step up international pressure on Russia, prevent further human rights violations, protect victims of the occupying power and to achieve the de-occupation of Crimea and its return to Ukraine.

The Crimean Platform is expected to operate at the level of heads of state and government, foreign ministers, in the dimension of inter-parliamentary cooperation and expert network.

The Crimean Platform is to be launched officially at an inaugural summit in Kyiv in August 2021.

ol
New Delhi :

A new page has been added to the chapter of Honeypreet Insan today. The Haryana police is in the process of declaring the adopted daughter of Dera Sacha Sauda chief Gurmeet Ram Rahim Singh and others associated as Proclaimed Offenders (PO).

The police have also attached the properties of Honeypreet, Aditya Insan and Pawan Insan. Haryana DGP B S Sandhu in a warning said that Honeypreet and the other two should come forward and help the police in investigation.

"Legal action against two to three people, who are untraceable, is being taken. We have started the process ofdeclaring them proclaimed offenders. Their personal properties will also be attached...These persons are Aditya Insan, Pawan Insan and Honeypreet Insan," Haryana DGP B S Sandhu said while talking to reporters in Sirsa today.

For this, an international alert has been issued and teams are conducting raids, he said. The DGP said that till August 25 there was no case against Honeypreet but after the arrest of Dera functionary Surinder Dhiman, her role became suspect.

"Therefore, a case was registered and a search is on to nab her," Sandhu said. He said the police had information that Honeypreet had come to Dera Sacha Sauda in Sirsa after the violence.

It should be noted that the police has not met with any success so far to nab Honeypreet. A joint operation was conducted by Haryana and Rajasthan police teams in Sri Ganganagar district of Rajasthan to trace Honeypreet Insan on September 21.

For all the Latest India News, Download News Nation Android and iOS Mobile Apps.
Burma Myanmar Security Forces Kill Another Six on Saturday, Sending Death Toll to 556

Regime's troops during a crackdown in Yangon in March. / The Irrawaddy

At least six civilians were killed by Myanmars military regime on Saturday, sending the death toll in the crackdown on anti-regime protests to at least 555 across the country.

Despite violence at the hands of the military regime, thousands of civilians in Sagaing, Mandalay regions, and Mon, Kayah and Kachin States took to the streets to take a stand against military rule.

Three civilians were shot dead when police and soldiers opened fire into crowds of protesters with live ammunition early Saturday morning in Monywa, Sagaing region.

Ko Wai Moe Naing, a leading member of the Monywa general strike committee told The Irrawaddy, When police and soldiers sprayed bullets into the crowd, young people from the defensive team fought back. They tried to deter them from entering our neighborhoods. But we lost three people in the early morning.

He said two were shot dead in head and another one was shot dead in neck by the security forces. Many at the protest were also wounded, he added.

Soldiers and police have been patrolling around the neighborhoods in the city where people have shown strong support for the anti-coup protesters. Since the Feb.1 coup, at least 20 people in Monywa have been killed by security forces during the crackdown on pro-democracy supporters.

Another two civilians were also killed by the military regime during an attack on an anti-coup protest in Thaton, Mon State. Residents said that at least 20 young people were also arrested by the regime at the protest event.

A local medic said that one person was shot dead in the chest while another was shot dead in the head by the security forces.

A 26-year-old Chin ethnic man, Salai Than Gang, died at this home Saturday afternoon from an abdominal wound suffered when he was shot by security forces in Kale, Sagaing, on March 1 during an assault on an anti-coup protest.

Moreover, a bystander was shot when the regimes forces opened fire randomly from a monastery compound where they have established a base near Shwe Maw Daw Pagoda, in Bago. An 18-year-old, Ko Aung Myat Mon, was in critical condition after he was shot in the abdomen.

He was on the way to see his friend. It has been ten days that they have occupied the monastery. Four were already shot dead by them, a resident in Bago told The Irrawaddy.

We dont dare to walk near the monastery. They shoot randomly as soon as they see people on street, he said.

In the early morning, an unidentified woman was found dead with her hands tied behind her back in a ditch in Thamine No.1 ward, in Yangons Mayangone Township. Police took her body away, and the cause of death is still unknown.

You may also like these stories:

Myanmar Regime Forces Stop Buses, Beat Passengers in Yangon

Myanmar Regime Denies Child Killings, Rejects UN Envoys Allegations

KNU Calls for Intl Arms Embargo as Myanmar Regime Targets Civilians in Airstrike
U.S.-China Agriculture Dialogue Aims Be Happy with Others, Rather Than Trying To Be Happy Alone

April 2 , 2021 (EIRNS)On April 1, the third of four U.S.-China Agriculture Dialogues took place, lasting almost three hours, titled, Agriculture Education Dialogue: Together, How Can the U.S. and China Transform Agriculture? The dialogue brought together the deans and presidents of Peking University, Nanjing Agricultural University, China Agricultural University, Zhejiang University, with University of California at Davis, Ohio State University, Tuskegee University, Oklahoma State University, and Iowa State University. The overall sponsor was the Missouri-based U.S. Heartland China Association. The topic was the state and future of agricultural educationextension services for farmers in China and the U.S., and educating students for careers in agriculture.

Among the outstanding presentations, Prof. Sun Qixin of China Agricultural University, discussed 40-year history of Chinese and American colleges exchanging students and training students together, which he characterized as of strategic importance. Quoting Chinas President Xi Jinping, he explained the identity of food security and poverty alleviation for China and for the whole world. He said that Chinas development policy aimed to make sure that we have a good environment for the Chinese peopleChina will never be a threat to other countries. Quoting Mencius, he said, It is better to be happy together with others, rather than trying to be happy alone. He said that Yuan Longping, the father of hybrid rice, is a friend of his, and that he had met with American agronomist, creator of the agricultures Green Revolution Dr. Norman Borlaug in 1992 and in 2002.

Prof. Huang Jikun of Peking University stressed the many hundreds of agricultural science scholarly papers jointly written by Chinese and American researcherswritten in both English and Chinesewhose authors were pursuing food science with a single universal purpose.

Prof. Kevin Chen, of the China Academy of Rural Development at Zhejiang University described how the Chinese government has 1 million farm extension workers, serving 200 million farm families with small farms, many with aging owners. He reported that only 40% of the farms have access to the interneta problem to be solved. They have formed the National Cloud Platform for Grassroots Ag Tech Extension in China.

Among the Americans, Dr. Walter A. Hill, the Dean of the College of Agriculture, Environment, and Nutrition Sciences of Tuskegee University, made the greatest contribution. He framed his talk on the notion from W.E.B. Du Bois of double consciousnessseeing oneself and the world with two sets of eyes, ones own and those of the oppressor. He said, We need the brilliant young minds discussing China trade. He reported that 90% of American farms are small farms, and most are losing money. Speaking of the high quality of American Land Grant colleges (compared to the Ivy League), he asserted, Big is not better. Its the smaller that can produce the geniuses. He called on Chinese universities to collaborate with Black colleges: Lets get Chinese to come here (to Tuskegee), and to work with us in a new wayI challenge you!

Stressing the rich common history of U.S.-China collaboration in education, Prof. Zhu Jing, dean at the Nanjing Agricultural University, reminded the audience that NAU was founded in 1921 by American agriculture economist and agricultural missionary for the American Presbyterian Mission, John Lossing Buck.

The American speakers uniformly stressed sustainable agriculture and CO2 emission reduction (climate-smart agriculture). The world food crisis in the former colonial sector and the famine was not discussed, and only Professor Sun discussed the China miracle of eliminating all extreme poverty in China. What was documented was a very deep 100-year historycontinuing into the presentof the U.S. and Chinas combined passion for and science of food production improvement and expansion. The Dialogue was introduced by Chris Chinn, the Missouri Director of Agriculture, and by Tom Peterson, the Commissioner of the Minnesota Department of Agriculture.
New Delhi:

The railway tourism and catering arm have recently issued a statement denying the reports that IRCTC is barring certain banks from using its payment gateway for debit card transactions.

The options to pay through payment gateway using debit/credit card and internet banking are open for all banks, the IRCTC said. "No debit or credit card of any bank has been restricted by the IRCTC for acceptance on any of the gateway," it said.

The statement clarified that the debit and credit cards of any Indian bank powered by Mater or Visa can be accepted in any of the seven gateways on the site.

There is sm news circulating in the social media regarding non-acceptance of Debit Cards on IRCTC website which is factually not correct.1/3  IRCTC (@IRCTC_Ltd) September 22, 2017

Debit Cards of all the banks are accepted through 7 Payment Gateways at IRCTC for booking of tickets. 2/3  IRCTC (@IRCTC_Ltd) September 22, 2017

Matter has been taken up with the concerned editor for issuing rejoinder/clarification abt d misleading news. 3/3 pic.twitter.com/15uF1gdeuT  IRCTC (@IRCTC_Ltd) September 22, 2017

To allow speedy transactions and reconciliations, IRCTC has provides a value-added service of direct integration to some banks.

"Since direct integration comes at an added cost to the IRCTC, these banks were asked to share a part of their transaction charges with IRCTC," it said.

A senior official of the IRCTC said that it was not possible for it to bear the cost of individual linkage to bank websites. "IRCTC had asked banks to share the revenue earned from online tickets because of these value-added services but some banks refused," he said.

The IRCTC has said that if banks are willing to give the facility of zero transaction charges on their debit cards to rail ticket customers then it will give them the facility of direct debit card integration also.

The statement has further said that banks should abide by the RBI guidelines regarding transaction charges on debit cards by charging only 0.25 percent on transactions of up toRs 1,000 and a maximum of 0.5 percent on transactions of values between Rs 1,000 and Rs 2,000.

(With PTI Inputs)

For all the Latest India News, Download News Nation Android and iOS Mobile Apps.
Line of Duty has seen its gender gap closing as the number of female police officers on screen has tripled since the show first aired.

The BBC drama - which is in its sixth series - now has three times more female officers in the AC-12 department than in 2012.

When the super-popular drama first aired nine years ago, there were four female speaking parts and four women extras in the background.

On the up: Line Of Duty has seen the gender-gap closing as the number of female police officers on screen in its sixth series has tripled since the show first aired in 2012

That figure has more that tripled when compared with the current series, which returned to screens on March 21 - with 13 female speaking parts and a further 13 white women officers in the background.

The increase in women in the force is reflective of real life as in March 2020, 31 per cent of the police force for England and Wales were women - amounting to 40,319 female officers.

This is up from 28.6 per cent four years previously, with a total of 35,498 female police officers in England and Wales in 2016.

Fictional: When the BBC cop drama first aired nine years ago, there were four female speaking parts which has now risen to 13 speaking parts

However, according to The Sun, former Met detective chief inspector Mick Neville denied that there would ever be a 50:50 gender divide in the force.

He said: 'It is a fantasy, both on TV and in reality, to have 50 per cent women in the police.

'Men and women have different skills which can be used in policing. But crime is the core business of police  and its not an equal opportunities employer.'

In a statement to MailOnline, Met police commissioner Dame Cressida Dick said: 'I urge all women to consider the wide variety of job opportunities on offer if they choose to join the Met.

'That choice will open the door to an exceptional and highly skilled service, where they will get excellent training to equip them for the unique challenges of policing a place like London and great support from both female and male colleagues to become the very best they can be.

Signing up: This comes as it seems Line Of Duty has boosted the number of those applying to join the MET Police's anti-corruption teams

'We are determined to continue striving towards a workforce that is truly representative of all our communities in this great city.

'I want to encourage even more talented women, particularly from the Black, Asian and minority ethnic communities, to think about joining the thousands of females we already have thriving at all levels and in all kinds of roles, each of whom is making a difference every single day. There really has been no better time to be a woman in the Met.'

This comes as it was revealed that the cop show, which is based around a fictional department investigating internal police corruption, has appeared to have boosted the number of those applying to join the MET Police's anti-corruption teams.

According to The Sun, the real-life equivalent - the Directorate of Professional Standards - has seen the number of applicants triple since 2018.

In 2017, 96 people applied to join the hunt for 'bent coppers'. The same year saw the fourth season of the show aired on the BBC, with it gaining traction as a fan-favourite.

While season three averaged 5.42 million viewers, season four climbed to 9.55 million.

Season five climbed further, to 12.85. Season six's premiere episode alone raked in 13.36 million.

Meanwhile the Directorate of Professional Standards received 387 applicants in 2018, with 340 applications made in 2019.

Join us: The super-popular BBC cop drama - which returned to screens last month for its sixth series - follows AC-12, a fictional department investigating internal police corruption

A further 354 people applied following season five.

The stats have been acquired by The Sun, via a Freedom of Information request - who also report that more than 1300 officers were investigated between 2015-2017.

This has dropped slightly since. MailOnline has approached the Met for comment.

Police chief Dame Cressida Dick has been known to slam the show, saying: 'Its so far from that. The standards and the professionalism are so high.'

She also slated BBC series Bodyguard, also created by Line Of Duty scribe Jed Mercurio.

In 2019, Dame Cressida said she sat next to Line Of Duty star Vicky McClure at an awards show and was inspired to give the drama a try.

Clearly unimpressed by both programmes, the police chief told the Radio Times: 'I found myself sitting next to the lead actor [McClure] at an event and I thought she was quite interesting and so I thought, "I'd better watch a bit of this".

'But I was absolutely outraged by the level of casual and extreme corruption that was being portrayed as the way the police is in 2018-19.

Not a fan: Met Police chief Dame Cressida Dick has slammed Line Of Duty, saying 'the standards and the professionalism [in the police] are so high'

'It's so far from that. The standards and the professionalism are so high. But I could see that it was good drama.'

But she admitted that she was far more irritated by Bodyguard, which starred Richard Madden as an officer protecting the Home Secretary, played by Keeley Hawes.

'It drove everybody round here absolutely up the wall!' Dame Cressida said. 'I actually did have to switch it off after about 20 minutes - the moment when the Home Secretary made a pass at the Protection Officer was just beyond me, I'm afraid.

'But both series actually make us look a bit cool and interesting - a net positive, probably. They bring in interest and applications. Even though it's all completely ludicrous.'

Unimpressed: She admitted that she was far more irritated by Bodyguard, which starred Richard Madden as an officer protecting the Home Secretary, played by Keeley Hawes, who are both pictured above

She also explained at the time that BBC One's police documentary, The Met: Policing London, had also helped to increase recruitment to the service.

While her number one operational priority is to reduce violence, she explained she also wanted to increase public confidence in the police.

'I do believe that the more people know, the better it is', Dame Cressida said of having a documentary made. 'So we've nothing to hide. These are good documentary-makers, and we get lots of interest from people as a consequence of it. People wanting to volunteer with us and get involved.'
Ghislaine Maxwell will not call 'self-destructive' Prince Andrew as a defence witness at her trial in the summer, her brother has claimed.

Referring to the Duke of York's infamous BBC television interview in 2019, Ian Maxwell told the Daily Telegraph: 'It was the most remarkable piece of self-destruction.

'I think he would be - as he proved in that interview - I think he's a pretty serious hostage to fortune. I don't think that's going to happen.'

Ghislaine Maxwell's brother Ian has said he does not think his sister will call on Prince Andrew (pictured leaving his Windsor home this week) as a defence witness at her summer trial

Ian Maxwell, pictured, has said his sister Ghislaine is a victim of hate and that she is being treated far worse than convicted male sex offenders such as Bill Cosby and Harvey Weinstein

He claimed his younger sister, 59, was 'a victim of hate' because she is a woman and is being treated far worse than convicted male sex offenders such as Harvey Weinstein and Bill Cosby.

Maxwell is on suicide watch at a Brooklyn detention centre. She is accused of conspiring with Jeffrey Epstein, her former lover, to provide him with girls as young as 14 to abuse in the 1990s.

She has also been accused of participating in the abuse and of perjuring herself in a civil case. Maxwell denies all of the allegations.

Maxwell, pictured with former lover Jeffrey Epstein, is on suicide watch at a detention centre

A court sketch of Ghislaine Maxwell after she appeared via video link during her arraingment

Mr Maxwell said: 'My sister has been banged up for 280 days. It really is grotesque.'

He claimed her depiction as a sexual predator and procurer of girls and young women is incorrect, adding it was 'not in her nature to do any of these things'.

Mr Maxwell's comments came as the Duke of York faced renewed calls to be questioned by the FBI after developments in the child sex inquiry expanded the breadth of the investigation.

Maxwell, who was Epstein's longtime associate and former girlfriend, faces new charges of sex trafficking conspiracy and sex trafficking of a minor in the eight-count indictment, as well as earlier charges that include perjury.

An amended indictment against Maxwell now covers alleged crimes stretching from 1994 to 2004 in New York and Florida, including accusations that she paid the girl, known as Minor Victim-4, hundreds of dollars for each sexual act with Epstein. The girl was 14 when the grooming began, the indictment said.

She had previously pleaded not guilty to helping Epstein recruit and groom three teenage girls for sex between 1994 and 1997 in New York. Maxwell, 59, has been held in a jail in Brooklyn since her arrest last July.

Ghislaine Maxwell faces new charges during a time when Prince Andrew became friends with Epstein and allegedly had sex three times with one of his victims, Virginia Roberts, allegations the Duke denies. Andrew is pictured with Virginia Roberts, aged 17, and Maxwell in 2001

Pictured: Prince Andrew leaves his home in the grounds of Windsor Castle as his friend Ghislaine Maxwell was charged with more offences in the US on Tuesday earlier this week

The time frame of the new allegations has expanded to between 1994 and 'at least' 2004, which covers the period where Epstein was associating with powerful men like Prince Andrew and Bill Clinton.

During this period Prince Andrew became friends with Epstein and allegedly had sex three times with one of his victims, Virginia Roberts, allegations the Duke denies.

Neither Prince Andrew or Mr Clinton is mentioned in the court documents but it significantly raises the prospect of them both being brought up at Maxwell's trial.

Earlier this week, it was revealed that Ghislaine Maxwell claimed that her treatment in prison was so bad it would be 'fit for Hannibal Lecter'.

Jeffrey Epstein's alleged madam claimed that the conditions as she awaits trial would be appropriate for the fictional serial killer in 'The Silence of the Lambs'.

But they are not appropriate for a '59-year old woman who poses no threat to anyone', Maxwell's lawyers claimed.

Ghislaine Maxwell's lawyers have repeatedly and vocally complained about her treatment in the Metropolitan Detention Center in Brooklyn (pictured) where she is being held awaiting trial

They suggested she was the victim of sexism because high-profile male prisoners who had been accused of serious crimes like Bill Cosby and mob boss John Gotti were given bail while she wasn't.

The claim was made in a 31-page document filed in the Second Circuit appeal court in New York by Maxwell's lawyers as they sought to overturn a judge's rejection of her third attempt at bail.

Judge Alison Nathan earlier this month refused Maxwell again and said that she remained a flight risk.

Maxwell's lawyers have repeatedly and vocally complained about her treatment in the Metropolitan Detention Center in Brooklyn, New York, where she is being held until trial, which is due to start in July.

They have said she is losing her hair and losing weight because the prison food is inedible.

According to court filings, the water in the taps is cloudy, Maxwell is kept in isolation and she is woken every 15 minutes to be searched by a flashlight.

The latest claims were made in a letter by David Oscar Markus, one of Maxwell's lawyers, who called her conditions 'nightmarish'.
KUWAIT: The Health Ministry of Kuwaiti reported on Friday 1,233 new COVID-19 cases, bringing the total infections in the country to 2,34,754.

The Health Ministry also announced eight more fatalities, taking the death toll to 1,327, whereas the tally of recoveries climbed by 1,384 to 219,257. Overall, 14,170 Covid-19 patients are receiving treatment, including 241 in the intensive care units.

Tareq Al-Mezrem, Kuwaits government spokesman, said on Thursday that the government has decided to further trim the curfew by one hour from 7 p.m. to 5 a.m. local time, and permit walk inside residential areas from 7 p.m. to 10 p.m., starting from April 8 until April 22.

Besides, the government called on all citizens and residents to continue cooperation and commitment to health requirements and precautionary measures.

UK records another 3,402 Covid cases, 52 deaths: in separate report, Another 3,402 people in Britain have tested positive for Covid-19, bringing the total number of coronavirus cases in the country to 4,353,668, according to official figures released on Friday.

The UK also reported another 52 Covid-related deaths. The total number of coronavirus-related deaths in Britain now stands at 126,816. These figures only include the deaths of people who died within 28 days of their first positive test, according to the news by Xinhua.

Train carrying 490 passengers derails in Taiwan, 51 dead and injuring dozens

Airstrikes in Iraq: Five Islamic State militants killed in Iraq

Abide by the rules: Angela Merkel urges citizen to stay at home during Easter
Bishop Badejo of Nigeria has called upon leaders in Nigeria and all over the world to work for a better world.

Paul Samasumo  Vatican City

In his Good Friday message, Nigerias Catholic Bishop of the Diocese of Oyo, Emmanuel Adetoyese Badejo, said anyone who is in a leadership position, at whatever level, has to make this world better.

Sacrifice for your people

Good Friday calls on leaders in Nigeria and all over the world, be they politicians, religious leaders, traditional, family, business and economic leaders too, to work for a better world as Jesus did. Sacrifice for your people and seek their interest for Jesus laid down his life in total selflessness. He told us why he did this when he said, The first among you must be your servantThe son of man has come to serve, not to be served and to lay down his life as a ransom for many. Jesus is the one leader that the leaders of the world in every way can confidently emulate. Leaders of all categories should eschew selfish interests and greed in order to create a peaceful and harmonious world. It is a desirable thing for all, said the Nigerian prelate.

End hatred, corruption, selfishness and racism

The Bishop, who is also President of the Pan-African Episcopal Committee for Social Communications (CEPACS), pointed to the futility of wars and hatred.

For people of all nationality and religion in the world, Good Friday condemns the current, dog eat dog situation of wars, conflict, violence and bloodshed all over the world.

From the pulpit of the cross, Jesus cries out for an end to hatred, corruption, selfishness, racism, discrimination and wickedness. God is always good. He made a world that is good. Human beings must stop destroying the world and destroying one another. Humanity cannot win a war against itself. We must sit down and realise that we are of the same stock, children of one God and live accordingly. Every life that is snuffed out, every child that is killed is a defeat for humanity. Let us work together for peace, justice and let love return so that we can experience one world and one humanity again," the Bishop said.

Jesus death rebukes our sinfulness

Good Friday is the day on which Christians commemorate the passion and death of Jesus Christ on the cross. Out of obedience and love, Jesus shed his blood as remission for the sins of human beings, Bishop Badejo told Vatican News.

The Bishop explained that to see Jesus hanging on the cross presents the world with a powerful symbol that is essentially his visible rebuke for our sinful and wayward ways.

The cross is also a powerful weapon against evil

Good Friday is a call to holiness, to obey God and do his will. Jesus did Gods will, difficult as it might be and laid down his life. Sin displeases God, and we are all called to repent and mend our ways with God and our fellow men and women. As is often said, the cross is a one-frame visual representation of Gods disgust over sin. We must seek to please God by shunning our sinful ways, said Bishop Badejo.

Bishop Badejo, however, said all is not lost. On Good Friday, Jesus calls on us all never to lose hope. The cross is a powerful weapon against evil if we live by its values, he said.
Zac Efron is exploring some of Australia's most iconic tourist attractions for his new Netflix series, Down to Earth.

And on Saturday, the 33-year-old Hollywood star shared an incredible video of himself jumping into a waterfall.

The hunk took the giant leap of faith while visiting a waterway in the idyllic Blue Mountains of New South Wales, where he has been filming for his show in recent days.

Leap of faith: Zac Efron is exploring some of Australia's iconic tourist attractions for his Netflix series Down to Earth. And on Saturday, he took a leap of faith and jumped into a waterfall while filming in the Blue Mountains

'One way down,' he captioned the impressive boomerang which instantly gained thousands of likes.

Meanwhile, on the official account for the Netflix series, Zac shared photographs of his journey towards a glorious waterfall.

'Got to the bottom of the waterfall, now just need to find a way back up,' a post was captioned.

'Got to the bottom of the waterfall, now just need to find a way back up,' he cheekily captioned a few pictures of himself exploring the scenic area

Tight grip: In another, the actor held tightly onto a safety harness during a rock climbing adventure

In one picture, he is smiling into the camera after making his way to the waterfall.

In another, the actor held tightly onto a safety harness during a rock climbing adventure.

The Blue Mountains are about 100kms west of Sydney, in NSW.

In March, a video emerged of Zac 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'.

'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.

'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'

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

Zac is travelling around Australia with wellness expert Darin Olien, the co-host of Down to Earth.

The docu-series will follow their search for healthy and sustainable ways to live.

He also embraces local food, culture and customs while exploring the land Down Under.
NIAMEY (Reuters) - Chad's government said on Saturday that soldiers accused of at least three rapes in Niger, including that of an 11-year-old girl, have been arrested and will face punishment.

Chad has deployed 1,200 troops in neighbouring Niger as part of an international mission led by France to help combat Islamist militants.

Chad's foreign ministry said the cases of alleged rape and sexual assault were isolated incidents and should not tarnish the reputation of the country's army or the mission in Niger.

"The perpetrators have already been arrested and will suffer the necessary sanctions," it said in a statement.

It did not say how many soldiers had been detained or provide any other details.

On Friday, Niger's human rights commission called for an independent inquiry into the alleged rapes.

The commission's preliminary findings, based on testimonies and medical examinations between March 31 and April 1, said that two other women had been raped as well as the 11-year-old girl.

The women, including one who is pregnant, were raped in the presence of their husbands who were held at gunpoint by the soldiers, according to the commission's report.

"Other rape victims refused to testify due to fear of being stigmatised," the report said, adding that the commission had spoken with five women who were victims of attempted rape, having managed to flee when armed men entered their homes.

The government of Niger was not immediately available to comment on the matter.

France and other allies praised Chad in February after it deployed troops to the tri-border region between Niger, Burkina Faso and Mali to reinforce the 5,100 French soldiers battling militants linked to al Qaeda and the Islamic State.

Besides the alleged rape cases, the Niger commission report said Chadian troops had also been accused of assault and confiscation of private properties in the Tera region in the west of Niger where they are deployed.

(Reporting by Boureima Balima; Additional reporting by Madjiasra Nako in N'Djamena; Writing by Bate Felix; Editing by Christina Fincher and Gareth Jones)
Moncks Corner, SC (29461)

Today

Cloudy early, then thunderstorms developing this afternoon. Storms may contain strong gusty winds. High 81F. Winds light and variable. Chance of rain 100%..

Tonight

Variable clouds with thunderstorms, especially late. Low 69F. Winds light and variable. Chance of rain 40%.
After fed-up voters gave the Manitoba NDP the boot five years ago, and recent polls show the Progressive Conservative government falling out of favour, one might expect a third, established party such as the Liberals to get a bump in the polls.

After fed-up voters gave the Manitoba NDP the boot five years ago, and recent polls show the Progressive Conservative government falling out of favour, one might expect a third, established party such as the Liberals to get a bump in the polls.

Instead, the opposite appears to be happening. Support for Manitoba Liberals has slipped from a high of 18 per cent in June to just 11 per cent in March, a Probe Research poll conducted in March showed. One in three adults said they didn't know enough about Liberal Leader Dougald Lamont  who's in front of the media at every available opportunity  to assess him as leader.

"It is a bit surprising," said Christopher Adams, adjunct professor of political studies at the University of Manitoba.

"Traditionally, between elections, people would park their votes with the Liberals, then closer to election day, decide 'Do I want the NDP or the PCs in government?'" Adams said Thursday. The Liberals usually get a bump in the polls between elections before Manitobans strategically place their vote, he said.

"This time, it's not happening," said Raymond Hebert, professor emeritus of political studies at the Universite de Saint-Boniface. He thinks Manitoba voters are becoming more polarized.

"It seems like instead of parking their vote with the Liberals, as centre-left people often do, they seem to be going straight to the NDP  which is an interesting development in itself," Hebert said.

"Wab Kinew had a rough beginning as (NDP) leader," the veteran political observer said. The NDP was reduced to 14 seats in the 2016 election after a bitter leadership battle divided the party. In 2017, as its new leader, Kinew was left to pick up the pieces. Under his leadership, the party won 18 seats in the 2019 election. Now the party is ahead of the PCs in the polls for the second consecutive quarter.

"This is confirming that people are indicating that quite possibly they want a change  they're not willing to even pretend to go to a third party," Hebert said. "Their mind is already made up."

Lamont disagrees, and dismissed the polls' findings.

"The polls dont capture our active growth," the Liberal leader said Thursday. "We are adding members from both the NDP and PCs across the province, have had successful fundraisers, and are already recruiting candidates and getting applications," he said in an email. The party is expected to file its financial returns with Elections Manitoba by the end of April after receiving a one-month extension.

"Polls capture a feeling, and campaigns make a difference. We are already on the ground building for the next byelection and election," Lamont stated.

"The idea that Manitoba can only have two parties is a myth that the NDP and PCs depend on to deny Manitobans choice," he said. "For more than 30 years, there have always been Manitoba Liberals in the legislature, addressing issues the NDP and PC alike want swept under the rug."

In 1988, Manitoba Liberals won 20 of the legislature's 57 seats - their best showing since 1953. Sharon Carstairs led them to official Opposition status with a minority PC government led by Gary Filmon. The NDP was reduced to third-party status with just 12 seats. In 1990, the Tories returned with a majority government and the NDP, led by Gary Doer, regained official Opposition status. The Liberal party was reduced to seven seats. It now has three.

The tables appear to be turning once more  the NDP is favoured by 42 per cent of voters compared to 33 per cent one year ago, and the PCs have fallen to 36 per cent support from 43 per cent a year ago  but don't expect the Liberals to make a comeback just yet, said Adams.

"People are not happy with Pallister and the PC government, and are making a decision: 'How do I get rid of this party I dislike? I go to the NDP,'" said Adams.

He praised Lamont for being a strong leader, and former Liberal leader and physician MLA Jon Gerrard for raising health-care issues, but said the Liberal caucus  with just three members and no official party status  is not playing a strong role.

"They don't look like a party about to dominate or be a viable choice," Adams said.

Hebert doesn't blame Lamont, either, for the party sagging in the polls. He said the Liberal leader won a byelection in 2018 to become the MLA for St. Boniface  the seat formerly held by NDP premier Greg Selinger.

"Dougald Lamont managed to get St. Boniface voters back to the Liberal fold," said Hebert. The Liberal leader's policies are "quite attractive" and he has solid, thoughtful positions on a wide range of issues, he said.

"One would have thought that would have some impact," he said.

carol.sanders@freepress.mb.ca
Arizona has adopted a new state holiday to honor Navajo Nation members who used their language to pass on coded messages during World War II.

Driving the news: Arizona Gov. Doug Ducey signed legislation on Monday that designates Aug. 14 "Navajo Code Talkers Day."

If Aug. 14 doesn't fall on a Sunday, the day will be observed the following Sunday.

Proponents have been urging the state to adopt a holiday since President Ronald Reagan declared Navajo Code Talkers Day by presidential proclamation on Aug. 14, 1982.

What they're saying: The Navajo Code Talkers are American heroes. They assisted on every major operation involving the U.S. Marines in the Pacific theatre, using their native language to come up with an unbreakable code," Ducey said in a statement.

"Their crucial service during WWII will not be forgotten, and we will continue to honor them every August 14th," said state Sen. Jamescita Peshlakai (D-Ariz.), a Navajo Nation member who sponsored the bill.

Flashback: The U.S. government recruited and enlisted more than 400 Navajo men to serve in standard communications units.
It is said to be the earliest and only known image of the Crucifixion  a depiction of human-like figure with the head of a donkey nailed to a cross.

The anti-Christian 'graffito' was etched into a plaster wall of an imperial training school for ancient Roman slaves between 50AD and 250AD.

Beneath the cross is ancient Greek text that reads, 'Alexamenos worships God,' as a way to mock an individual in the drawing who appears to be dressed like a slave.

Another room in the excavated building was found with the inscription 'Alexamenos is faithful,' which could either be another dig at the individual or someone coming to his aid.

The ancient graffiti was done during a time that Christianity was frowned upon by Romans who practiced paganism, which believed is what led them to power, but it is not confirmed that the image is of Jesus Christ.

It is said to be the earliest and only known image of the Crucifixion  a depiction of human-like figure with the head of a donkey nailed to a cross. The anti-Christian 'graffito' was etched into a plaster wall of an imperial training school for ancient Roman slaves between 50AD and 250AD

Archaeologists discovered the image in 1857 on the wall of a building located on Rome's Palatine Hill, but the anti-Christian graffiti was brought to light by archeologist Ticia Verveer.

At the time, it was said Romans depicted Jesus as a donkey as a way of insulting the faith.

Tertullian, a Christian theologian who lived from 160AD to 225AD, wrote of how both Christians and Jews were ridiculed by Romans for worshiping a donkey.

'In this matter we are (said to be) guilty not merely of forsaking the religion of the community, but of introducing a monstrous superstition; for some among you have dreamed that our god is an ass's head,' the ancient inscription reads.

Beneath the cross is ancient Greek text that reads, 'Alexamenos worships God,' as a way to mock an individual in the drawing who appears to be dressed like a slave

Another crucifixion graffito was discovered by archaeologists excavating a Roman colony in Pozzuoli that was once known as Puteoli. The image was discovered etched in the wall of a Tabernae, a type of shop or stall in ancient Roma, by a team in 1959.

'Suppose that our God, then, be an asinine person, will you at all events deny that you possess the same characteristics with ourselves in that matter?

'Not their heads only, but entire asses, are, to be sure, objects of adoration to you.'

Although some suggest the image is of Jesus nailed to the cross, no evidence has been uncovered to confirm the idea.

Another crucifixion graffito was discovered by archaeologists excavating a Roman colony in Pozzuoli that was once known as Puteoli, Patheos reported

The image was discovered etched in the wall of a Tabernae, a type of shop or stall in ancient Roma, by a team in 1959.

This image provides more detail than the previous, as it bears the name 'Alkimilla' and includes markings on the body that suggests the woman was whipped

A total of eight Tabernae were discovered, but Tabernae 5 was found vandalized with a carving of a woman nailed to a cross.

The cross is 40 cm high, the cross-piece is 26 cm long, and the figure is 35 cm high.

It is believed to have been made during the reign of Trajan or Hadrian some 1,900 years ago.

However, this image provides more detail than the previous, as it bears the name 'Alkimilla' and includes markings on the body that suggests the woman was whipped.

Romans had much disdain for Christians, as they believed it was more of a revolution than a practicing faith and thought failures in the empire were due to their practices.

For example, a fire destroyed much of Rome in 64AD, and, in order to escape blame, the emperor Nero murdered a 'vast multitude' of Christians as scapegoats.

Then in the 3rd century, ancient Rome's economy collapsed, there was political chaos, militaries revolted, and a barbarian invasion nearly destroyed the world power - and Christians were again blamed.

Romans believed it was the Christian's denial of the gods that were thought to protect Rome is what led it to nearly fall.

And to regain that divine protection, emperors introduced the systematic persecution of Christians throughout the Roman empire.
A Capitol Police officer was killed and another seriously injured after a driver rammed his vehicle into a barricade outside the government building. The driver rammed his car into the officers on Friday afternoon before stepping out of the car with a knife and lunging at officers. At least one police officer opened fire and killed the attacker, who has been identified as 25-year-old Noah Green.

The officer who was killed was identified as William Billy Evans, an 18-year veteran of the force. The other officers injuries are believed to be non-life-threatening. It is with a very, very heavy heart that I announce one of our officers has succumbed to his injuries, Yogananda D. Pittman, the acting Capitol Police chief, said. This has been an extremely difficult time for U.S. Capitol Police, after the events of Jan. 6 and now the events that have occurred here today.

Advertisement

Advertisement

Advertisement

Although the motive for the attack is unclear, officials immediately said they didnt believe it was related to terrorism. Greens family has released a statement expressing condolences for the death of the officer and saying that the 25-year-old was not a terrorist by any means. The 25-year-old appeared to have been suffering from depression and mental illness, the family said. Brendan Green, the attackers brother, said his family and friends had been concerned about his mental state for years. Brendan Green told the Washington Post that his brother suffered hallucinations, heart palpitations, and suicidal thoughts. Around two weeks ago, Green asked to move in with his brother, saying he was in a really bad situation and in really bad shape. Green wrote a post on Facebook last month saying that these past few years have been tough, and these past few months have been tougher.

Advertisement

The attack comes at a time when the Capitols perimeter was starting to reopen after the Jan. 6 riot that led to the deaths of five people, including a Capitol Police officer. A perimeter fence that had been set up after the riot had recently been removed and reopened a large portion of the area around the Capitol to cars and pedestrians. While some lawmakers have been pushing to remove the last bit of added protection that still remains, the Friday attack could slow that down. Its an eyesore, it sucks, Democratic Rep. Tim Ryan of Ohio said. Nobody wants that there. But the question is, is the environment safe enough to be able to take it down? In the meantime, maybe that fence can prevent some of these things from happening.
This Eastertide is not yet as joyful as we all hoped it would be even a few weeks ago, and the past year has been joyless indeed.

The lockdown may be easing, but achingly slowly. However, Easter is a time for reflection as well as celebration, so that gives us a little more time to think about the strange period we have been through and what might come next. This is a financial story and an economic story.

The financial story is quite extraordinary. Viewed from anywhere other than London this is a raging bull market.

The new normal? This Eastertide is not yet as joyful as we all hoped it would be even a few weeks ago

On Thursday, the S&P500 index shot through 4,000, yet another all-time high. It is the world's most important stock market index, the 500 largest companies in America.

It took nearly five years to go from 2,000 in September 2014 to reach 3,000 in July 2019, and so less than another two to break through this latest barrier.

In Germany the DAX index, the 30 biggest companies traded in Frankfurt, went through 15,000 on Wednesday for the first time ever and ended at 15,107 on Thursday.

The CAC index in Paris was within a whisker of its all-time high at 6,103, notwithstanding the latest lockdown of the economy.

In the UK the picture is different, with British shares remaining out of fashion. Sooner or later the global fund managers will cotton on to the prospect that the UK economy will be like a coiled spring this summer, but meanwhile there is a massive investment opportunity.

So says Richard Buxton, the vintage fund manager who is head of strategy for Jupiter Asset Management. He thinks this is the best time to buy UK shares for 30 years. I think he is right. The UK apart, the story is one of froth. You see that in those record highs, but until recently even more so in private equity, where every new lossmaking start-up had investors clamouring to get in.

The very concept of a Spac, or Special Purpose Acquisition Company, is symbolic of too much money chasing too few opportunities. If you don't follow this sort of thing, all you need to know is that a Spac is a shell company set up to raise money from the public to buy another company.

It makes nothing and sells nothing. All it does is find other companies that it can merge with and take public. People buying its own shares do not know what their money will be used for.

If that sounds a bit dodgy to you and me, more than $90billion has been raised so far this year. Even Sir Richard Branson has started one, called VG Acquisition Corp.

But in the past few weeks the mood on Wall Street has cooled. The shares of mainstream companies hit new highs, but the IPOX SPAC index has fallen by more than 20 per cent.

A sign of a return to sanity? I don't know.

Here on this side of the Atlantic we have escaped the wild excesses of New York. You could see the bleak reception given to the float of Deliveroo last week as a sign that London is not a good place to launch a high-tech company.

Or you could equally interpret the flop to UK investors being less gullible than American ones, and not believing the hype of a business that depends on gig workers and on the abnormal demand for delivery services in the lockdown. My feeling is that it is more of the second than the first.

Either way, a pause for reflection is needed.

We know from history that at some stage the froth will be blown away, but we don't know how or when. That will be the next chapter in the financial story.

The economic story is much simpler. There will be a huge leap in demand in the second half of this year. That will be universal. The magnitude will vary, with the US leading the pack.

The timing will vary, with the US and UK running six to eight weeks ahead of Europe, thanks to the faster rollout of vaccines.

Much of the emerging world, apart from China and maybe India, will rebound more slowly. But come the autumn, even the laggards will be doing all right.

This is a huge comfort, something to be truly celebrated this Easter. But in celebrating that, we should reflect on something else.

As markets boom and economies open up, we should try to be sensitive to the losses many have suffered in financial and human terms.

And we should try to learn to do better next time.
To date, the Armed Forces of Ukraine participate in the NATO Mission in Kosovo and NATO-led mission Resolute Support Mission in Afghanistan. Ukraine also plans to participate in other NATO missions.

We plan to increase the national contribution to NATO operations and missions. This year, we plan to join NATO Mission Iraq and the NATO Operation Sea Guardian in the Mediterranean and to increase our contributions in the future, Colonel Andriy Pavelko, Head of the Bilateral Military Cooperation Department of the Main Department for Military Cooperation and Verification of the Armed Forces of Ukraine, said at a briefing on April 2, the press service of the General Staff reports.

He also informed that the Armed Forces actively worked to implement NATO standards. Thus, by the end of 2020, a total of 292 NATO regulations had been implemented through drafting 317 national documents. The implemented NATO standards are applied in such areas as military policy, security and strategic planning, operations and hostilities, preparation of countrys territory for defense, intelligence, information and psychological operations, military communications, development, production and adoption of weapon samples, military and special equipment, strategic communications, gender prospects, etc.

The General Staff also noted that an important stage was granting Ukraine the Enhanced Opportunities Partner status in June 2020 which paved the way for further deepening of practical cooperation.

"A NATO EOP country may be recognized in advance as a potential participant in future Alliance operations, providing its representatives with access to crisis consultation, operational planning and information exchange, and may be represented in NATO and operational headquarters in positions that closed to other partner countries," Pavelko explained.

According to him, this status also expands the list of training measures for personnel and units, allows participation in exercises on the subject of Article 5 of the North Atlantic Treaty, provides admission to cybersecurity exercises.

ol
Click the image above to watch the video

It's a perfectly fine afternoon for members of the Tauranga Yacht and Power Boat Club  TYPBC  as they enjoy a historic Sail Past along the Tauranga waterfront as part of celebrating 100 years of the club's sailing.

Setting off from the beach at Sulphur Point, sailors have taken to the water this afternoon in some of the smaller yachts that have masts low enough to go under the Tauranga Harbour Bridge.

The group sail has taken them along to what was once the club building but is now home to Harbourside Restaurant, before returning to Sulphur Point.

Festivities for the clubs centennial events over Easter began with A Sail Down Memory Lane hosted by Gary Smith on Friday night, and continue today with the Centennial Cup Racing for all classes, and the on-water Sail Past. A barbecue and prizegiving will be held this evening for the Centennial Racing.

Tomorrow all classes of yachts will take to the water for a Novelty Racing event, followed by the Centennial Dinner Dance in the evening.

The club was formed 100 years ago when a group of keen sailors and boaties met in a Devonport Rd barber shop.

It was about that time, in 1920, that small motor launches were becoming popular too, so the Tauranga Yacht and Power Boat Club was born.

A century on and club membership now stands at about 400, including some families with multiple generations enjoying a shared love of boating.

As to be expected with any 100-year celebration, TYPBC has had a variety of events planned for the milestone season, including social and sailing events over Easter.

The aim is to involve as many people associated with the club as possible, says Club Commodore Delwyn Keyworth.

Club Commodore Delwyn Keyworth. Photo: Robin Hayes/SunLive.

One of this seasons highlights was the Farmer Autovillage Auckland to Tauranga Centennial Yacht Race held last weekend.

A fleet of modern mono and multihull racing yachts plus classic yachts and classic launches set course to Tauranga over the weekend of March 26-28.

Delwyn says it is an action-packed four days planned over the Easter weekend with social and serious racing, barbecues, lunches, guest speakers, and a formal dinner and ball.

Easter is a good time to come together.

We wanted to encourage people associated with the club as well as past members, to come along and stay in Tauranga for a few days; to catch up with fellow sailors, share the memories and celebrate our clubs history.

These days TYPBC caters for people of all abilities and interests from those who wish to be competitive; to those who are into the cruising social experience.

There is a wide range of the types of boats with divisions for keelers, trailer yachts, multihulls and centre boarders - as well as windsurfers.

The calendar features the Women on Water division which encourages women from all walks of life to experience sailing in both a racing, and non-racing, environment  no experience needed.

Most weekends see the club buzzing with racing, lessons and boating activity.

After a sail on our enviable harbour, it is a great time to socialise and make new friends, says Delwyn.

Getting young people out onto the water is another big focus for the club.

TYPBC runs its own sailing school and holiday programmes for youth, as well as organising the sailing events for the annual AIMS games.

It also shares its building with groups like the Bay of Plenty Sailing Academy Trust, Sailability (sailing for anyone with a disability), Young Mariners (sailing and adventure for girls), and Tauranga Navy Cadets (TS Chatham).

Its like a sailing centre here, says Delwyn.

A raft of top-level competitive sailors have emerged from the clubs ranks over the years. Alumni include Olympians Molly and Sam Meech, Jason Saunders, and winning 2017 Americas Cup helmsman and 2021 Americas Cup skipper and helmsman for Emirates Team New Zealand, Peter Burling  himself an Olympic gold medalist.

The original TYPBC clubhouse was built on The Strand in downtown Tauranga in 1933. That historic building still stands today and is home to Harbourside restaurant.

The original club building. Photo: Supplied.

The club later purchased land at Sulphur Point and built on its current site in the 1980s.

Situated picturesquely on the waters edge todays large and well-appointed club building, with its sun-drenched decks, overlooks Tauranga harbour and Mauao.

Its easy to see why its not only a very special clubhouse, but a popular venue for weddings and conferences too.

I think the original club members of 100 years ago would be very impressed as to how the club has evolved over the years whilst maintaining the original spirit of involvement to support all of those who love the sport of sailing, says Delwyn.

More information about the clubs centennial events can be found on its webpage www.yacht.org.nz or by phoning the office on 07 578 5512.
WASHINGTON  The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention announced the most significant loosening of travel guidelines in months on Friday, saying that fully vaccinated people could travel, a development that appeared out of sync with White House messaging.

CDC recommends that fully vaccinated people can travel at low risk to themselves, the new guidance said. The agency now says that fully vaccinated people do not have to quarantine or take a diagnostic test when traveling domestically. International travelers should take a coronavirus diagnostic test before boarding their return flights to the United States and then another such test within five days of landing in the U.S.

President Biden at the White House on Friday. (Erin Scott/Reuters)

While appearing to condone travel, CDC Director Rochelle Walensky still urged even vaccinated Americans to remain at home as case numbers continue to rise, a message that could be confusing for people weighing visits to family or vacation spots.

Speaking from the White House earlier on Friday afternoon in celebration of both jobs gained and coronavirus vaccinations administered throughout the course of March, President Biden also offered a cautious message. The progress weve worked so hard to achieve can be reversed, he said, speaking of both economic and pandemic-related developments.

Too many Americans are acting as if this fight is over, Biden warned a few minutes later. It is not.

The White House did not respond to a Yahoo News inquiry regarding whether the president agreed with the new CDC guidance. Such seemingly contradictory messages have marked the response to the coronavirus at all levels of government. Much as every elected official has vowed to listen to the science, science and politics rarely walk hand in hand.

The new CDC guidance says people should still wear masks and take other precautions, such as washing hands and maintaining 6 feet of distance when possible.

That guidance updates a previous recommendation against all nonessential travel, which many Americans had not been heeding in recent weeks. The Transportation Security Administration recorded 1.56 million people passing through American airports on Thursday, the second-highest such number since last springs shutdowns drove millions of Americans indoors (the record, 1.57 million daily travelers, came on March 28).

Story continues

CDC Director Rochelle Walensky. (Erin Clark/Pool/Getty Images)

That new guidance comes only days after Walensky said she was regularly stricken by a feeling of impending doom over a potential fourth wave of the pandemic.

There were 77,718 new cases of the coronavirus across the United States on April 1, a significant jump from the 56,679 that were added on March 1. That made the timing of the new guidance somewhat inauspicious from a public health perspective, as Walensky herself seemed to say during Fridays briefing of the White House coronavirus task force. She pointed out that even though vaccinated people could travel, she could not recommend that they actually do so just yet, due to the rising number of cases.

I want to acknowledge today that providing guidance in the midst of a changing pandemic, and its changing science, is complex, Walensky went on to say. On the one hand, we are telling you we are worried about rising cases, to wear a mask and to avoid travel.

At the same time, she pointed out, her agency was giving people the license to travel, in a seeming countermand of her own insistent warnings, which some have criticized as overly dire.

Studies indicate that fully inoculated people are at an extremely low risk of becoming seriously sick with COVID-19, the disease caused by the coronavirus. They are also highly unlikely to act as passive transmitters of the coronavirus to unvaccinated people. (Earlier this week, Walensky ruled out such transmission altogether, but the CDC later qualified her comments with a measure of uncertainty.)

We must balance this guidance with the fact that most Americans are not yet fully vaccinated, which is likely contributing to our rising cases, Walensky explained. And that means we have to continue to reinforce messages about the critical importance of COVID-19 prevention measures.

The new guidance could also prove an enticement to people who have been reluctant about coronavirus vaccination.

Kimberly Dozier receives a COVID-19 vaccine from a nurse in Louisville, Ky. (Jon Cherry/Getty Images)

Only about 20 percent of American adults have been fully vaccinated. The CDC does not recommend travel for people who have received only the first dose of a two-dose vaccine. Only the vaccine produced by Johnson & Johnson requires a single dose.

Biden has promised Americans that they can have a nearly normal Independence Day holiday, provided vaccinations proceed apace and people continue to wear masks. But many people do not appear willing to wait until July, as Walensky appears to have recognized.

The CDCs revision to its travel guidelines comes after a rowdy Florida spring break and a reported rise in hotel bookings. Those developments, and the arrival of warmer weather across the United States, have put both public health officials and elected leaders in a difficult position, forcing them to balance sound science with reality.

____

Read more from Yahoo News:
Abrego: Bethesda Adult Day Health Center program pairs seniors, kids

Bethesda Day Center has reopened after being closed for more than a year due to COVID-19.
Mr. Speaker: USF Alumnus Focuses on Creating Opportunities

By Tom Woolf | USF News

About Chris Sprowls

Age: 37

Hometown: Palm Harbor, Fla.

Education: Earned bachelors degree in political science from USF, 2006; earned law degree from Stetson University College of Law, 2009.

Career: Currently speaker of the Florida House of Representatives; has represented District 65 in northern Pinellas County since 2014.

Attorney with Buchanan Ingersoll & Rooney PC

Served for seven years as assistant state attorney for the states Sixth Judicial Circuit, which covers Pinellas and Pasco counties.

Family: Wife Shannon; two sons, Prescott and Conrad

USF Honor: 2019 Outstanding Young Alumnus

WHETHER THE TOPIC IS USF and higher education, literacy, the workforce or myriad other issues of concern to Floridians, Chris Sprowls is focused on creating opportunities.

First elected to represent District 65 in northern Pinellas County in 2014, the Palm Harbor Republican now leads the Florida House of Representatives as speaker. Sprowls continues to be a strong advocate for USF  his alma mater  and students.

The University of South Florida  and the State of Florida  are fortunate to have Chris Sprowls leadership as speaker of the Florida House of Representatives, USF President Steven Currall says. Hes been an important advocate for USFs policy and budgetary legislative priorities, and he has been an important partner in USFs multi-year process to successfully unify our campuses as One USF.

Jordan Zimmerman 80, Life Member, chair of the USF Board of Trustees, notes, Speaker Sprowls has continuously shown tireless support and unwavering commitment to the advancement of the University of South Florida and all of its campuses while always putting our students first. He has played an integral role in so many of our recent accomplishments and we are so proud to have leaders like him among USFs distinguished alumni.

Sprowls, who earned a bachelors degree in political science in 2006, proposed consolidating USFs three separately accredited campuses in Tampa, St. Petersburg and Sarasota-Manatee in 2018 and shepherded the measure through the legislative process. USF began operating under a single accreditation on July 1, 2020.

Among the USF-related issues he has worked on as a legislator  including his advocacy for state funding of the new USF Health Morsani College of Medicine and Heart Institute in downtown Tampa  Sprowls believes consolidation will have the greatest long-term impact.

Creating the multi-campus system, which was done well over a decade ago, was done for good reasons at the time, he says. By bringing the campuses together, it allows USF to work toward one vision with separate, unique parts. It creates an opportunity for all students to attend an academically rigorous, Preeminent State University where they have a wealth of opportunities to learn. It means a greater number of faculty from throughout the state and the country will flock to USF to teach and do research at a Tier 1 research institution.

It isnt the most glamorous thing when youre talking about a united accreditation. It isnt something people stand up and cheer about. But in the long term, it will be the thing that will truly have the most significant impact on the success of the university.

Raising the prominence of USF in Florida, nationally and internationally is among the keys to growing the Tampa Bay regions economy.

That creates opportunities for businesses to come here because they realize the talent is here, which benefits their recruiting, Sprowls says. USF and the business community play a role in ensuring we have the ability to incubate small businesses and tech start-ups that can blossom and stay here.

He cites Cincinnati as an example of how a community can nurture businesses. The city is home to a number of Fortune 500 companies, including Kroger, Procter & Gamble and Fifth Third Bancorp.

Cincinnati has a large concentration of Fortune 500 companies because thats where they started, Sprowls says. The Tampa Bay region needs to be a place where people come to start their business, not just move their business.

Education at all levels is critical to Sprowls. During his inaugural address as speaker last November, he proposed the New Worlds Reading Initiative. This would be the first statewide program in Florida to deliver free books to elementary school students identified as struggling readers. Legislation that is currently pending calls for an organization to administer the program statewide and contract with a book distribution organization to deliver books to eligible students. Support materials would be provided to parents to help them engage with their children in reading.

Participating school districts would work with local organizations that raise awareness and funds for the book distribution program. The legislation directs the state organization to provide 50 percent of the program cost, with the remaining funds generated at the local level.

The most important sign of a healthy community is a healthy family, Sprowls says. One of the things Ive said in the legislature is that we cant always make sure a child is born into a family that loves them or make sure that they have an easy upbringing. We can make reading a priority. If a child can learn to read, that opens possibilities for their future that they never would have had before.

While Florida has done well compared to other states in terms of students reading at a fourth-grade level  fourth in the nation  Sprowls maintains that the state must do better.

The reality is that if we continue current trends for closing the achievement gap, it would take 230 years before every child is reading at grade level, he says. Eighty-eight percent of third graders who dont read at grade level dont graduate high school.

The legislature recognizes that Florida is at an inflection point, Sprowls says.

If children read at grade level, they are more likely to graduate high school, get a job or pursue higher education, be more prosperous, he adds. All of those come from reading at grade level, and thats something we can impact. I want to ignite a passion for reading in our children as they begin elementary school and that we continue that commitment to reading and literacy throughout K-12 education.

An education of a different kind  that which comes from adversity  is something Sprowls encourages todays USF students to embrace.

Challenges and adversity are your friends, not something to be shied away from, he says. When you talk to most successful people and ask them to describe something they place the greatest value on, that was the best thing they did, chances are theyll tell you about something that was extremely difficult for them to do.

When it comes to the university setting, find people to challenge you intellectually, who think differently, and engage them in a free exchange of ideas. Facing adversity in academic life will help you be successful in life more generally.

Sprowls knows something about adversity. During his senior year of high school, he was diagnosed with Hodgkins lymphoma and went through eight months of chemotherapy.

Having that experience allowed me to recognize a major challenge and the benefits of experiencing it, he says. Lets be honest  most people might not experience cancer, it also could be a terrible tragedy, a difficult upbringing  each of us has something and the question is how we handle it.

Some of the lessons he learned came from people he was around during his treatments.

Since I was so young, I was usually around people who were much older, and they were willing to share their stories, their courageous moments, Sprowls says. That experience allows you to understand that sometimes you can borrow courage from other people. We all have difficult moments and when others are facing adversity, its also important that we allow them to borrow courage from us.

Many valuable lessons come from engaging with others. Yet today, thanks to technology and social media, were engaged all the time and yet not at all, Sprowls says.

If I could go back to my younger self, my time as a student, Id try to be more cognizant of the fact that engaging with people, living in the moment, is a richer experience, he says. I would ask todays young people  do you feel so much better after spending an hour on Facebook? Do you feel more energized about life? If the answer is no, why are we doing it? Id encourage students to avoid having their computers open or their phones on during class. Block off time to be totally engaged.
For some it's too much to watch. Others just can't turn away.

The televised trial of Derek Chauvin, the former white police officer charged in the death of George Floyd, has provoked strong emotions among many black men and women - all tinged with an underlying dread that it could yield yet another devastating disappointment.

For many, it has brought back memories of the disturbing video of Floyd's last moments as he gasped for breath with Chauvin's knee on his neck. The video galvanized protests in cities across the U.S. and the world, as the words 'Black Lives Matter' took hold.

'I had to mute the TV,' said Lisa Harris, 51, of Redford Township, just west of Detroit. 'Hearing Mr. Floyd continue to say he cant breathe and call for his mother - it was a lot. It's been a lot to watch.'

Actor Steven Thompson poses for a picture next to a poster of George Floyd in Los Angeles Friday. Thompson is choosing not to watch the televised trial of Derek Chauvin

Former Minneapolis police officer Derek Chauvin (right) and his attorney listen as Hennepin County Judge Peter Cahill presides over pre-trial motions before opening statements

Steven Thompson remembers closely watching the 2013 trial of George Zimmerman in the shooting death of 17-year-old Trayvon Martin in Florida and feeling blindsided.

Zimmerman, who identifies as Hispanic, was acquitted on all counts in the unarmed black teen's death, including second-degree murder.

'I didn't expect that outcome,' Thompson, 35, said. 'But I'm a lot less ignorant now.'

Thompson is choosing not to watch the trial of Chauvin, the former Minneapolis officer charged with murder and manslaughter, even though he feels there is a strong case against him.

'I definitely have a fear of being let down. And instead of investing my time and energy into it now, knowing how these things go, I'd rather be pleasantly surprised,' the Los Angeles resident said.

Floyd, 46, had been accused of passing a counterfeit $20 bill at a market

Marlene Gillings-Gayle said she had planned not to watch the trial to preserve her peace of mind. But shes found herself watching almost all of it. She's had to force herself to go outside and take walks, or risk watching the trial all day and feeling upset.

The retired high school teacher who lives in New York City describes herself as a political person who likes to stay aware of current events and vocalize her opinions.

'Im trying not to be pissed, because weve been here and done that too many times,' she said, referring to other police officers acquitted in the deaths of unarmed black people.

Shes watching the trial with apprehension, as she ponders what Floyd's killing and the way the trial has unfolded so far says about America and its values.

Chauvin, 45, who was eventually fired from the police force, is accused of killing a handcuffed Floyd last May by pinning his knee on the 46-year-old black mans neck for 9 minutes, 29 seconds, as he lay face down. Floyd had been accused of passing a counterfeit $20 bill at a neighborhood market.

In surveillance video shown at trial, Minneapolis police are seen attempting to take George Floyd into custody

Chauvin, 45, is accused of killing Floyd by pinning his knee on the 46-year-old black man's neck for 9 minutes, 29 seconds, as he lay face-down in handcuffs after being detained for using an alleged counterfeit $20 bill to buy cigarettes

The first week of the trial has included emotional testimonies from several people who witnessed Floyds death: The young woman, a teenager at the time, who filmed Floyds last moments and told the courtroom she stays 'up nights apologizing to George Floyd;' the 61-year-old man who sobbed on the stand, compelling the judge to order a 10-minute recess; the firefighter who begged officers to let her check Floyds pulse as he gasped for air, saying, 'I was desperate to help.'

The grief and trauma of these witnesses has been on full display, filling in details from new perspectives to create a fuller picture of the scene that people around the world watched over cellphone video last May.

For Kyra Walker, it was enough to tune out and shut down Twitter one day.

'I realized I just didnt have it in me to watch all this,' she said.

Floyds death was traumatizing enough for Walker, but seeing conversations about the trial on Twitter this week brought back a flood of emotions she has grappled with over the course of the last year.

Witness Charles McMillian becomes emotional as he answers questions at the trial of former Minneapolis police Officer Derek Chauvin in the Hennepin County Courthouse in Minneapolis

Minneapolis Firefighter Genevieve Hansen wipes her eyes as she testifies at the trial of former Minneapolis police Officer Derek Chauvin

'I had a moment where I just felt broken and I started thinking about Ahmaud Arbery and Breonna Taylor and how in such a short time frame, it was like one black death after the other, without a break,' she said. It has made her feel paranoid at times for her 11-year-old black son anytime he leaves home.

The trial is only furthering the uneasiness many felt when the video of Chauvin pressing his knee to Floyds neck started to circulate online.

'It took me a while to watch it because I know what these videos are about. I know the ending already,' Thompson said.

Leigh Smith, a logistics operations manager who lives in the Detroit suburb of Grosse Pointe Park, said he has tuned in each day of the trial. He calls some of the testimony 'freaking depressing.'

'You catch a murder on camera and youre going to explain away to me that this man died of a heart attack?' Smith said of Floyd. 'All this does is reaffirm the hatred and entrenchment of white supremacy and white domination over communities of color.'

Brenda Hill, 57, of Detroit watched every video during every minute of the trials first two days. Hill, who works for a nonprofit that advocates for low-wage workers, isnt so sure the rest of the country is viewing the trial - or how African Americans continue to be treated - through the same lens.

'We dont have any trust in this criminal justice system,' she said. 'I should be assured that by this time everyone saw what I did. Im disgusted, Im hurt by everything.'

As witnesses and attorneys in the courtroom recount the final moments of Floyds life in detail, the emotional trauma many black Americans have felt over the last several years is resurfacing.

'Our country needs counseling,' Gillings-Gayle said. 'The witnesses have been grieving and suffering for the last 10 months. And weve all been grieving, too.'
A Bethlehem man faces felony charges in an attempted arson Wednesday afternoon, according to city police.

Police responded just after 2 p.m. to a home in the 600 block of Center Street, for the report of a man threatening to set the house on fire, according to a news release on the police departments Facebook page.

Responding officers entered the home and found gasoline poured on the floor near a stove that was on and smoking, police said.

Police said they learned resident Joshua Bartholomew, 32, had broken through a wall connected to an adjoining apartment and warned that he was burning the house down.

No one was injured thanks to the quick actions of the officers and fire department personnel, the release states.

Bartholomew was taken into custody and arraigned Wednesday evening before District Judge Vivian Zumas on felony counts of attempted arson and risking a catastrophe.

He was sent to Northampton County Prison in lieu of $50,000 bail and faces a preliminary hearing tentatively scheduled April 9 before District Judge Roy Manwaring II to determine if there is sufficient evidence to send the case toward trial in county court.

Court records did not immediately list an attorney for Bartholomew.

Our journalism needs your support. Please subscribe today to lehighvalleylive.com.

Kurt Bresswein may be reached at kbresswein@lehighvalleylive.com.
Source: Xinhua| 2021-04-03 21:12:49|Editor: huaxia

Video Player Close

-- From March 30 to April 2, a delegation comprising Vladimir Norov, secretary-general of the Shanghai Cooperation Organization, and more than 30 diplomats from some 21 countries, visited Xinjiang.

-- They talked with locals from various sectors of society, visited local schools and enterprises, and debunked rumors about Xinjiang, a region whose image is frequently distorted by some Western politicians, organizations and media.

-- From 2014 to 2019, the GDP of Xinjiang increased from 919.59 billion yuan to 1.36 trillion yuan, with an average annual growth rate of 7.2 percent. Under the current standards, 3.06 million rural residents in the region have been lifted out of poverty, 3,666 poverty-stricken villages have withdrawn from the poverty list, and all 35 poverty-stricken counties are now off the poverty list.

by Xinhua writers Lu Yifan, Sun Zhe, Ding Lei and Zhong Qun



URUMQI, April 3 (Xinhua) -- Savoring a piece of naan sprinkled with spices and chatting with a naan master at the International Grand Bazaar in Urumqi, Vladimir Norov was amazed at how this bread-like staple food has boosted the development of northwest China's Xinjiang Uygur Autonomous Region.

"The naan has a perfect integration of tradition and modernity," said Norov, secretary-general of the Shanghai Cooperation Organization (SCO).

He said what impressed him most was the industrial chain driven by naan, a daily food for the people in Xinjiang, which is also gaining popularity in other parts of China. The naan making involves agricultural production, processing, logistics, cultural creativity, and the tourism industry, thus providing various positions for job seekers.

Foreign diplomats visit a resident in Nazarbagh Town of Kashgar, northwest China's Xinjiang Uygur Autonomous Region, March 31, 2021. From March 30 to April 2, a delegation comprising Vladimir Norov, secretary-general of the Shanghai Cooperation Organization (SCO), and more than 30 diplomats from some 21 countries visited Xinjiang.



They talked with locals from various sectors of society, visited local schools and enterprises, and debunked rumors about Xinjiang, a region whose image is frequently distorted by some Western politicians, organizations and media. (Xinhua/Ding Lei)

Norov is not the only one impressed by the social and economic development in Xinjiang in recent years.

From March 30 to April 2, a delegation comprising Norov and more than 30 diplomats from some 21 countries visited Xinjiang.

They talked with locals from various sectors of society, visited local schools and enterprises, and debunked rumors about Xinjiang, a region whose image is frequently distorted by some Western politicians, organizations and media.

REFUTING LIES

Mohammad Keshavarz-Zadeh, the Iranian ambassador to China, visited mosques in the regional capital Urumqi and Kashgar. He was amazed by the conditions there.

Responding to rumors fabricated by some Western media that Xinjiang "restricts freedom of religious belief," the ambassador said that, during a visit to the Baida Mosque located in Urumqi, normal Islamic religious activities in mosques took place in line with the Muslim people's will.

"As a Muslim, I prayed in the mosque. I saw people are free to practice their religious activities." He said that the mosques are spacious and bright, the carpets are soft and clean, and there are tables and chairs for the convenience of the elderly and the disabled.

Foreign diplomats visit a rural water supply station in Payzawat County, northwest China's Xinjiang Uygur Autonomous Region, March 31, 2021. From March 30 to April 2, a delegation comprising Vladimir Norov, secretary-general of the Shanghai Cooperation Organization (SCO), and more than 30 diplomats from some 21 countries visited Xinjiang.



They talked with locals from various sectors of society, visited local schools and enterprises, and debunked rumors about Xinjiang, a region whose image is frequently distorted by some Western politicians, organizations and media. (Xinhua/Ding Lei)

The mosques also have facilities like flush toilets, ablution rooms, canteens, and cultural centers, Mohammad Keshavarz-Zadeh said.

He also noticed that the Chinese government's efforts in fighting terrorism are genuine and bearing fruit.

Xinjiang has "completely reversed the past, which was marked by frequent violent terrorist activities. There have been no terrorist incidents across the region over the past more than four years," Shohrat Zakir, chairman of the regional government, told the delegation at a briefing held on Friday in Urumqi.

Mohammad Keshavarz-Zadeh's view was echoed by Mahendra Bahadur Pandey, the Nepalese ambassador to China, during their visit to an exhibition themed around the arduous fight against terrorism and extremism in Xinjiang.

"I appreciate that the Chinese government and people not only substantially control terrorism but they have given new ways of life, including vocational training and education. It means people in Xinjiang are not suppressed, and they have been given opportunities to move forward toward peace and development," said Pandey.

Foreign diplomats visit a textile enterprise in northwest China's Xinjiang Uygur Autonomous Region, April 1, 2021. From March 30 to April 2, a delegation comprising Vladimir Norov, secretary-general of the Shanghai Cooperation Organization (SCO), and more than 30 diplomats from some 21 countries visited Xinjiang.



They talked with locals from various sectors of society, visited local schools and enterprises, and debunked rumors about Xinjiang, a region whose image is frequently distorted by some Western politicians, organizations and media. (Xinhua/Ding Lei)

Some foreign diplomats voiced support and appreciation for policies that helped maintain Xinjiang's stability and development.

Efforts have gone into developing Xinjiang, and many people's livelihoods have significantly improved, noted Ivan Zhelokhovtsev, Charge d'Affaires ad Interim of the Russian Embassy in China.

He said that some Western news reports would not influence their views on Xinjiang-related issues. During his stay in the region, he did not find the issues that the news described.

BETTER LIVELIHOODS

"Upholding a people-centered development policy and taking people's longing for a better life as its goal, Xinjiang has made unprecedented achievements in promoting economic and social development and improving people's livelihoods," said Shohrat Zakir.

Barataji Abdulla, a 33-year-old resident from Nazarbagh Town in Kashgar, was once a taxi driver. He was deeply influenced by extremism, even refusing to provide services for non-Muslim people.

In order to get life back on track, his family members persuaded him to join a local vocational education and training center in May 2018, where he learned laws and vocational skills.

After graduating in May of the following year, he became a pump truck driver with a monthly income of over 6,000 yuan (about 914.6 U.S. dollars) and now lives a stable life.

Sobah Rasheed, minister counsellor of the Embassy of Maldives in China, said he was glad to see that Abdulla got rid of extreme thoughts and became thoughtful and far-sighted.

Foreign diplomats visit a primary school in Awat Township of Kashgar, northwest China's Xinjiang Uygur Autonomous Region, March 31, 2021. From March 30 to April 2, a delegation comprising Vladimir Norov, secretary-general of the Shanghai Cooperation Organization (SCO), and more than 30 diplomats from some 21 countries visited Xinjiang.



They talked with locals from various sectors of society, visited local schools and enterprises, and debunked rumors about Xinjiang, a region whose image is frequently distorted by some Western politicians, organizations and media. (Xinhua/Ding Lei)

In a production workshop of a textile enterprise in Aksu, modern machines are running at full capacity.

Akram Zeynalli, the ambassador of Azerbaijan to China, said that the machines here are highly advanced. He said he did not see anything negative in the working area or the staff living quarters. "I feel very good visiting here."

Sanmugan Subramaniam, minister of the Embassy of Malaysia in China, said that there are many textile enterprises here that provide a large number of positions for local job seekers, which is of great significance for economic development.

"I hope to have more opportunities to visit Xinjiang in the future and feel its progress and development," said Sanmugan Subramaniam.

Foreign diplomats visit the International Grand Bazaar in Urumqi, northwest China's Xinjiang Uygur Autonomous Region, March 30, 2021. From March 30 to April 2, a delegation comprising Vladimir Norov, secretary-general of the Shanghai Cooperation Organization (SCO), and more than 30 diplomats from some 21 countries visited Xinjiang.



They talked with locals from various sectors of society, visited local schools and enterprises, and debunked rumors about Xinjiang, a region whose image is frequently distorted by some Western politicians, organizations and media. (Xinhua/Ding Lei)

From 2014 to 2019, the GDP of Xinjiang increased from 919.59 billion yuan to 1.36 trillion yuan, with an average annual growth rate of 7.2 percent.

Under the current standards, 3.06 million rural residents in the region have been lifted out of poverty, 3,666 poverty-stricken villages have withdrawn from the poverty list, and all 35 poverty-stricken counties are now off the poverty list.

"I am deeply impressed by the rapid development of Xinjiang. People of all ethnic groups live and work in peace and contentment and enjoy equal rights," said Vladimir Norov.

He said that the SCO is committed to maintaining security and stability and promoting the prosperity and development of its member states. Many Xinjiang developments and governance experiences are worth learning from, he added. 

(Video reporters: Ding Lei and Sun Zhe; Video editor: Wang Han)


Members of Congress said they were "horrified" by Friday's car ramming attack at the U.S. Capitol that left two people dead, including Capitol Police officer William Evans and the suspect, and one officer injured.

Why it matters: Some security fencing was removed a week ago after months of heightened security following the Jan 6. attack at the Capitol. National Guard remains at the U.S. Capitol but in smaller numbers. Members of the Guard were seen on Friday deploying toward the Capitol barrier following the incident.

What they're saying:

Senators:

Majority Leader Chuck Schumer (D-N.Y.): " Im heartbroken for the officer killed today defending our Capitol and for his family. Im praying for the officer injured and his family. We're in their debt. We thank the Capitol Police, National Guard, & first responders for all they do to protect the Capitol and those inside."

Im heartbroken for the officer killed today defending our Capitol and for his family. Im praying for the officer injured and his family. We're in their debt. We thank the Capitol Police, National Guard, & first responders for all they do to protect the Capitol and those inside." Minority Leader Mitch McConnell (R-Ky.): " Praying for the United States Capitol Police officers who were attacked at the Capitol. We are still learning whats taken place. Grateful to all the USCP and first responders who are on the scene."

Praying for the United States Capitol Police officers who were attacked at the Capitol. We are still learning whats taken place. Grateful to all the USCP and first responders who are on the scene." Sen. Chuck Grassley (R-Iowa): " Praying for the law enforcement + first responders concerning the incident at the Capitol"

Praying for the law enforcement + first responders concerning the incident at the Capitol" Sen. Ron Johnson (R-Wisc.): " Monitoring the scene near the Senate today as we continue to learn more about what happened. Prayers go out to the officers injured."

Monitoring the scene near the Senate today as we continue to learn more about what happened. Prayers go out to the officers injured." Sen. Joe Manchin (D-W.Va.): "The tragic loss of Officer William Billy Evans is yet another reminder of the sacrifices USCP make every day to keep our nations Capitol and those who work there safe. Gayle and I are praying for his family, friends and colleagues as they mourn this heartbreaking loss."

U.S. Representatives:

House Speaker Nancy Pelosi (D-Calif.): " Today, Americas heart has been broken by the tragic and heroic death of one of our Capitol Police heroes: Officer William Evans. He is a martyr for our democracy."

Today, Americas heart has been broken by the tragic and heroic death of one of our Capitol Police heroes: Officer William Evans. He is a martyr for our democracy." Minority Leader Kevin McCarthy (R-Calif.): " Please join me in prayer for the two Capitol Police officers and their families. They reacted quickly and bravely, as did all the other first responders at the scene.The whole country is pulling for them right now."

Please join me in prayer for the two Capitol Police officers and their families. They reacted quickly and bravely, as did all the other first responders at the scene.The whole country is pulling for them right now." Rep. Tim Ryan (D-Ohio): " Horrified by the news of what has transpired today at the Capitol. I am praying for the @CapitolPolice officers who were injured in the line of duty and am closely monitoring the situation."

Horrified by the news of what has transpired today at the Capitol. I am praying for the @CapitolPolice officers who were injured in the line of duty and am closely monitoring the situation." Rep. Adriano Espaillat (D-N.Y.): "Senior members of my Washington, DC- based team were notified by the media before they received alerts from @CapitolPolice This is a problem. And it needs to be resolved immediately."

"Senior members of my Washington, DC- based team were notified by the media before they received alerts from @CapitolPolice This is a problem. And it needs to be resolved immediately." Rep. Liz Cheney (R-Wyo.): "Please keep these and all our US Capitol Police officers in your prayers."

The big picture: Pelosi on Friday ordered Capitol flags to be flown at half-staff to honor the death of the Capitol Police officer.

The House and Senate were both out of session at the time of the attack.

Editor's note: This is a breaking story. Check back for updates.

Go deeper:
ICE

Dubbed the third revolution in the manufacturers history, the ID.3 compact hatchback isnt available to purchase in the United States. The ID.4 compact crossover, however, is offered in America with unlimited charging at Electrify America DC fast chargers at no additional cost for the first three years.Full of quirks and features, the all-new ID.4 has recently joined the Building an Electric Future exhibit at the Petersen Automotive Museum in a bid to wash away the sins from the Dieselgate era. We are proud to present this exhibit with VW, said the L.A.-based museum's executive director Terry L. Karges, and ignite a conversation about the impact of an electrified future.An electrified future still isnt feasible in the near term, especially not after the power crisis in Texas and the shortcomings of interstate grids. Not even Japan, which is betting everything on hydrogen to meet its 2050 zero-emission goal, doesn't have a proper plan to achieve carbon neutrality.Another problem that Volkswagen and the Petersen Automotive Museum both failed to mention is the seemingly endless choice of charging connector types and speeds. Adding insult to injury, the charging infrastructure leaves much to be desired in North America and the European Union as well.Criticism aside, there is a silver lining to the huge task of transitioning to EVs. As long as the automakers and lawmakers collaborate and tackle every single problem - one at a time - with great attention to detail, switching from internal combustion to electric propulsion will eventually become feasible.Speaking of feasibility, General Motors is the first "traditional" U.S. automaker that has pledged to stop selling internal combustion-engined vehicles by the year 2035. Byvehicles, the biggest of the Big Three in Detroit is referring to everything from an affordable hatchback to full-size pickup trucks.
Source: Xinhua| 2021-04-03 03:32:53|Editor: huaxia

Video Player Close

A medical worker administers the COVID-19 vaccine at a vaccination center in Athens, Greece, on April 2, 2021. Greece will continue to administer AstraZeneca's COVID-19 vaccine despite the decision by some other European Union (EU) countries to suspend its use for certain age groups, Greek officials said on Friday. (Photo by Lefteris Partsalis/Xinhua)

ATHENS, April 2 (Xinhua) -- Greece will continue to administer AstraZeneca's COVID-19 vaccine despite the decision by some other European Union (EU) countries to suspend its use for certain age groups, Greek officials said on Friday.

"We will follow the recommendations of the European Medicines Agency (EMA)," Greek Health Minister Vassilis Kikilias told local MEGA TV.

"We will stay on course as scheduled," Vana Papaevangelou, associate professor of pediatrics and member of the committee of experts advising the Greek Health Ministry on the management of the COVID-19 crisis, told a regular press briefing carried by national broadcaster ERT.

Following reports of blood clots and deaths after use of the AstraZeneca shot, for the second time this spring some European countries have suspended the use of the vaccine for people younger than 60.

Greece administers three vaccines free of charge and on a voluntary basis. To date, more than 1.7 million vaccine doses have been administered in the country. Over 600,000 people have received both doses, according to the latest official figures released on Thursday.

Greek officials said that the country expects to administer around three million vaccine doses by June. Greece counts on the delivery of more doses in the coming weeks and is working to increase the number of vaccination centers.

Two huge vaccination centers designed to welcome thousands of people per day opened this week at the old airport of Athens by the seaside and in the western suburb of Peristeri, one the most populous districts of the Greek capital.

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, 269 candidate vaccines are still being developed worldwide -- 85 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 Friday.

Greece registered 3,080 new coronavirus infections and 72 deaths in the past 24 hours, the National Public Health Organization (EODY) reported on Friday. A total of 270,230 infections and 8,232 deaths have been confirmed since the start of the pandemic in the country 13 months ago. On Friday, 753 patients were on ventilators in hospitals across the country.

Greece has been in a nationwide lockdown since Nov. 7, 2020. Despite the persistently high number of new cases, hospitalizations and fatalities, the country's officials decided to ease some restrictions starting this weekend to give people a breathing space after a very difficult winter, they told Friday's press briefing.

As of Saturday and on weekends only, citizens will be allowed to move between municipalities to exercise and as of Monday retail trade will reopen again under restrictions. Enditem
Visakhapatnam, April 3 : Having achieved it's target of handling 69.84 metric tons (MT) in financial year 2020-21, the Visakhapatnam Port Trust (VPT) is aiming to handle 80 million MT of cargo in the current fiscal.

Addressing a media conference here on Saturday, Chairman K Rammohan Rao said that the VPT maintained 3rd position among major ports for the second year in succession.

The year past also saw an increase of handling iron pellets and finished steel exports from the port to China.

Disclosing future diversification plans, Rao said that Vizag port would soon have a cruise terminal with an outlay of Rs 103 crore, aimed at boosting tourism revenues. The project had hit a roadblock in 2020, following the Covid pandemic and lockdown.

Also on the anvil are the acquisition of a mobile harbour crane and commissioning of two railway projects. In addition, port berths are being developed at a cost of Rs 20 crore. Similarly, an automated signalling system is also being introduced at the port, he said.
NEW YORK, NY / ACCESSWIRE / April 2, 2021 / Pomerantz LLP is investigating claims on behalf of investors of Sierra Wireless, Inc. ("Sierra" or the "Company") (NASDAQ:SWIR). Such investors are advised to contact Robert S. Willoughby at newaction@pomlaw.com or 888-476-6529, ext. 7980.

The investigation concerns whether Sierra 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 23, 2021, Sierra Wireless issued a press release announcing that the Company "discovered it was the subject of a ransomware attack on its internal IT systems on March 20, 2021." The Company stated that "[a]s a result of the ransomware attack, Sierra Wireless halted production at its manufacturing sites" and that its "website and other internal operations have also been disrupted by the attack." Further, the Company stated that "[d]ue to these disruptions, Sierra Wireless is at this time withdrawing the First Quarter 2021 guidance it provided on February 23, 2021."

Following this news, Sierra Wireless's stock price fell $2.07 per share, or 11.95%, to close at $15.25 per share on March 23, 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.

SOURCE: Pomerantz LLP





View source version on accesswire.com:

https://www.accesswire.com/638849/SHAREHOLDER-ALERT-Pomerantz-Law-Firm-Investigates-Claims-On-Behalf-of-Investors-of-Sierra-Wireless-Inc--SWIR








Existing investors also participated in the round including Alto Partners, Snow Leopard Ventures, and Positive Moves. The Company plans to use the funds to pursue neo banking across South Asia, double down on its plan to grow in existing markets, and strengthen the customer platform for local languages.Founded in 2016, StashFin offers an innovative Credit Line Card in partnership with VISA that permits customers to access their credit facility with easy monthly installments and zero annual fees. Customers can order physical and virtual credit line cards that provide credit access across a broad array of digital payment infrastructure including POS machines, mobile wallets, and online payment gateway. Card features include free ATM withdrawals, lifetime free annual fees, free supplementary cards, and Payback rewards.The Company has been backed by a number of heavy-weight investors in financial services including Brett Rochkind (Managing Director at General Atlantic), Renaud Laplanche (Founder and CEO of Upgrade) amongst others.Singapore that has nearly 1,200 fintech startups has become the hub for the fintech industry with a 52% market share in South East Asia. The Monetary Authority of Singapore has been praised for nurturing innovation without sacrificing security, and helping the city state become one of the worlds most advanced financial centers and an attractive hub for fintech start-ups.StashFin taps into the potential USD 1 trillion neobanking market opportunity in South Asia.It has built a neo banking model that focuses on B2C use cases, attracting millions of applicants thus far.StashFinis among the growing global list of neo-banking startups including N26, Chime, NuBank and Revolut that are providing digital banking services in various developed and emerging markets.Despite the economic impact of Covid-19, the Company has not only raised capital but also recovered quickly, seeing massive demand for its products and services. The startup has witnessed growth of 200x over the last few years and is reportedly profitable. With strong unit economics, technology infrastructure and risk management, this capital raise will enable StashFin to cements its position in its key markets. The startup has a headcount of over 200and plans to expand its team across different geographies.Tushar Aggarwal, Founder & CEO of StashFin said, We are sitting on a unique opportunity to enable millions of consumers to get closer to their dreams and improve financial inclusion. South Asia is on the cusp of a financial revolution. Our mission is to use technology to enable frictionless banking and services. We are excited to join hands with our new equity partners to pursue this neobanking mission and grateful for the continued support from our existing investors. During these difficult times, most aspiring consumers can avail the credit line to study further or serve immediate family needs for health and everyday consumption., commented "We believe that technology provides the means to financial inclusion and democratization. Despite the adverse macroeconomic conditions, we continue to partner with Tushar and his team; they are passionate founders, with a strong innovative product built on a robust technology platform that is addressing a huge market opportunity. We have seen explosive growth by StashFin over the last few years.said, A number of fintechs found it difficult to raise capital during these challenging times. StashFin has shown the resilience to innovate and grow without compromising on the bottom line. We see a strong potential in the frictionless, personnel-lite neobanking opportunity and continue to remain invested and highly supportive of the business.said, It is often hard to find a combination of grit, resilience, determination and agility in a startup team. Equally rare is a clear vision and great unit economics. The team has built extremely compelling bank grade infrastructure in a frugal manner. The advanced machine learning and AI models can be scaled across various geographies. We are excited to partner with StashFin on this exciting journey.
A woman was allegedly behind the wheel while more than six times over the legal alcohol limit with two young children in the car.

About 3.15am on Thursday officers stopped the 39-year-old woman's Hyundai Getz and breath tested her on Palomino Road in Emu Plains, western Sydney.

She was then arrested and a second breath test done at Penrith Police Station where she allegedly returned a 0.347 BAC reading.

NSW Police have charged two people with high range drink driving leading into the Easter long weekend in Sydney (file image)

A woman with two young passengers returned a BAC reading of more than six times the legal limit (stock image)

The woman had her driver's license immediately suspended, and she was given notice to appear in court for high-range drink driving.

The woman was bailed to appear before Penrith Local Court on April 23.

According to health authorities a lethal level is about a 0.4 reading of blood alcohol content.

BAC is a good indicator of intoxication with one standard drink usually increasing a person's reading by 0.01.

According to Victoria's Drug and Alcohol Clinical Advisory Service a lethal BAC is 0.4 while anything above 0.3 likely results in loss of awareness of surroundings and unconsciousness.

The woman was pulled over on Palamino Road Emu Plains (pictured)

In a second incident, a gold Mazda 3 was detected travelling at 183km/h on the Hume Highway at Prestons in Sydney's south-west on Friday.

The highway is zoned at 100km/h in that area.

The car was stopped and a the 25-year-old driver was questioned after handing over his international driver's license.

After returning a positive roadside breath test reading, he was transported to Liverpool Police Station where he underwent a secondary breath test in which he allegedly returned a reading of 0.153 BAC.

He was charged with drive recklessly/furiously or speed/manner dangerous, exceed speed limit more than 45 km/h and drive with high range drink driving.

His car registration was cancelled and his license suspended until his court hearing.

He was granted conditional bail to appear at Liverpool Local Court on April 26.
April 03 : Ajay Devgn celebrated his 52 birthday yesterday and he was wished by his family and friends in the industry. The actor was also seen cutting a cake with his fans last night outside his house. But due to widespread CoronaVirus, he could not celebrate it the way he had wished for.

Overwhelmed with the love and response he got on his birthday, he shared a special note for all his fans and wrote,"Had it not been for the Pandemic, I would have celebrated my birthday with my fans and fan club members. Since that couldn't happen, I thank each one of you for your unstinted support and sincere birthday wishes. Love, Ajay."

Had it not been for the Pandemic, I would have celebrated my birthday with my fans & fan club members. Since that couldnt happen, I thank each one of you for your unstinted support and sincere birthday wishes. Love, Ajay  Ajay Devgn (@ajaydevgn) April 2, 2021

The actor was wished by his fellow actors like Akshay Kumar, Salman Khan, Suniel Shetty and many more throughout the day and he personally thanked them on his social media account.

It was a treat day for his fans as well as his look from the upcoming film RRR was released yesterday in the form of a motion poster which has created a stir amongst his fans.

On the work front, 2021 is a big year for the star as he has many releases lined up. He will be seen in Abhishek Dudhaiya's 'Bhuj: The Pride of India' which will be released on Disney+Hotstar. He will make his Tollywood debut with the film 'RRR'. He will also be seen making a cameo in Rohit Shetty's 'Sooryavanshi'.

The actor will also be seen in 'Thank God' and 'Maidaan. He will also be seen in his own directorial venture 'May Day' which features him and Amitabh Bachchan in lead roles.
Three community leaders have been missing for over a week following an attack in Southern Kadunas Zangon Kataf area, a development that came atop a series of violent events that have claimed multiple lives and provoked fears since February.

PREMIUM TIMES findings, based on disclosures by official and community sources, revealed that a Fulani delegation had, on Sunday, March 21, visited the Gora District of Atyap (Kataf) Chiefdom in Zangon Kataf, to pay compensation to secure the release of their cattle, which had destroyed crops  a typically common occurrence in Nigerias outdated open grazing system.

On their return to Zonkwa, also in Zangon Kataf, in a car driven and owned by an Atyap local leader, Ayuba Bungon, they were apparently attacked by armed persons. The car (in which they were travelling) was later found vandalized and empty, said Samuel Aruwan, the commissioner for internal security and home affairs.

The location of the attack was Masat, an ethnic Bajjul area, said John Bala, the chairman of the Atyap Chiefdom Community Peace and Security Partnership Committee (CPSP), which has been working towards peace and common understanding among the Hausa, Fulani, and Atyap communities.

Three persons were separately found within 24 hours of the attack  Mr Bungon and two Fulani men, namely Yusuf Dauda and Gomma Audu. But three Fulani leaders are still missing, said Mr Aruwan. This information was corroborated by Mr Bala.

Troops on search-and-rescue missions later that night (on Sunday, March 21) found the secretary, and handed him over safely to the police, Mr Aruwan said, referring to the secretary to the district head of Gora, Ayuba Bungon, who owns the car that was attacked and found vandalised.

Moreover, two other leaders, who went missing, were reported to have escaped from their captors on Monday (March 22) and were also found by troops conducting search operations. They were identified as Yusuf Dauda and Gomna Audu.

The three Fulani leaders, still missing, are identified as Pate Usman Kurmi, the Wakilin Fulani of Atyap Chiefdom; Muhammadu Anchau, an Ardo from Bauchi State; and Yakubu Muhammadu.

Police spokesperson for Kaduna State, Jalige Mohammed, told PREMIUM TIMES the police had deployed cops from two units of the mobile force to join in the search for the missing persons and stop escalations. He said the police had been engaging with the Atyap and Fulani sides but unfortunately they are not on the same page.

PREMIUM TIMES understands tensions are high in the area and the authorities fear further attacks may erupt.

It is unfortunate that the relative peace we have experienced since last year is now threatened, said Mr Bala. However, we reckon that peace is a process. When you move forward some factors will drag backward but well keep working.

An intelligence source deployed to the area told PREMIUM TIMES, I fear further reprisals, further attacks are imminent.

But police spokesperson, Mr Mohammed, said, we are working to nip further attacks in the bud.

Trouble over ginger

The case of missing persons involving prominent individuals only deepened the renewed violent crisis in Zangon Kataf. Recently, there had been prior incidents of deadly violence that claimed at least seven human lives and scores of cows. All followed several months after some relative peace in an area historically notorious for extreme tit-for-tat violence between the Hausa-Fulani and the Atyap.

On February 28, some assailants attacked Kakwa village under the Gora District, killing five persons and leaving the village almost entirely razed. The five persons killed were identified by community sources as Ishaya Abut, Regina Ishaya, Goodluck Dauda, Joseph Adamu, and Hassan Joseph.

The attack, suspected to have been carried out by the Fulani living in the area, followed the inability of the Fulani to access their ginger farm, which they abandoned when they fled attacks last year.

A Fulani source said the local Fulani believed their Atyap neighbours denied them access to their ginger farm in order to sell the produce and raise funds for weapons.

ADVERTISEMENT

For context, the Fulani (as well as the Hausa) and the Atyap (as well as other non-Hausa/Fulani Southern Kaduna groups) constantly live in mutual suspicions, usually expressed through attacks and reprisal attacks, an August 2015 report of the Martin Agwailed Committee to Stamp out Attacks on Southern Kaduna Communities found.

Elias Gora, an Atyap leader in the Gora District, told PREMIUM TIMES that the Fulani were not denied access to their farm but a rogue, whom we could not identify harvested the farm.

They had not only ginger but also corn farm, Mr Gora said. They were allowed to harvest the corn and they sold the corn in Zangon Kataf market. I was told there was a problem with ginger and they were supposed to harvest it but they wanted to sell the farm to someone, Amos Akau, within the Atyap community. But before the person could pay, we understand someone else had harvested the ginger, though we could not establish who harvested it.

I stepped in to find out who harvested the farm but while that was happening the two Fulani men who actually owned the ginger farm were arrested for having killed a Plateau boy, Danchimo Gyang, by the police. But they were released and then there was an attack of February 28.

Reprisal attack on the Fulani

By the beginning of March there had been an apparent reprisal attack on the Fulani and their cattle at Mabuhu, Zonzon District, also in Zangon Kataf. Two herders were killed, namely Mustapha Hamidu and Yusuf Bako, the Fulani community said.

For several days, they were searching bushes for their missing cattle following the Mabuhu attack.

There is deep anger, said one Fulani source, asking not to be named because he appeared to be issuing threats. Our people are angry. Cows are missing. Cows are killed. We found dead cows everywhere in the bush. Our people may destroy farms when the rains start and the Atyap plant.

But in the past week, several cows were again attacked in the Atyap Chiefdom, the Fulani community said, sharing photographs that depict animal brutality.

We are trying to get control of the situation involving missing people, then this happens, said Ismail Abdallah, a youth leader and assistant secretary of the CPSP, who is known in the Southern Kaduna area for his peace activism.

He sought the interventions of the government and security agencies to assuage people, who have been hurt, as a way of preventing escalations.

Mr Bala, the chairman of CPSP, said the police should do much more than they are doing and be fair to all sides.

The government has directed security agencies to take drastic actions to forestall a reoccurrence of violence, Mr Aruwan said.

Search-and-rescue operations by troops and police are in progress to protect lives and properties, rescue missing citizens, and apprehend perpetrators of violence.
The Fitch Ratings building in London, the U.K. Photo by Shutterstock/Willy Barton.

Fitch Ratings has upgraded Vietnams outlook to positive from stable and retained its credit rating at BB.

The upgrading of the outlook indicates the countrys ability to recover from the pandemic sine Vietnam was one of the few countries in the Asia-Pacific region to achieve positive economic growth last year.

Explaining its revision to positive, Fitch said Vietnam has been successful in bringing the coronavirus outbreak swiftly under control alongside strong policy support and export demand.

Vietnams GDP growth last year was export-fueled, with exports increasing by 6.5 percent, according to the General Statistic Office.

Fitch forecasts growth of 7 percent in 2021 and 2022 in line with the global economic recovery, sustained export growth and a gradual normalization of economic activity.

Vietnams effort to sustain high growth, reduce the GDP per capita gap with Vietnams BB peers while maintaining macroeconomic stability, further improvement in public finances through sustainable fiscal consolidation and debt stabilization are factors that could lead to a outlook rating upgrade in the near future.

In March another credit rating firm, Moody's, had upgraded Vietnam's outlook from negative to positive thanks to improvements in its fiscal strength and the global manufacturing shift to the country.

The Ministry of Finance attributed the upgrades in Vietnams outlook to the efforts to maintain economic stability and providing full and accurate information to credit rating agencies.

According to the U.S. credit rating agency, BB indicates an elevated vulnerability to default risk, particularly in the event of adverse changes in business or economic conditions over time, but there is financial flexibility that supports the servicing of financial commitments.
On Friday afternoon, one US Capitol Police officer was killed and another was seriously injured after a man drove a vehicle into a security barricade outside the Capitol complex, according to acting Capitol police chief Yogananda Pittman.

The officer killed has been identified as William Billy Evans. He had been with the Capitol Police for 18 years and was a member of the First Responders Unit. President Joe Biden said he had been briefed on the situation and said that the second officer injured was fighting for his life.

U.S. Capitol Police officers stand near a car that crashed into a barrier on Capitol Hill in Washington, Friday, April 2, 2021. (AP Photo/J. Scott Applewhite)

The driver is believed to be a 25-year-old man from Indiana, identified by four senior police officials as Noah Green. In a press conference after the attack, Pittman said that after Green crashed his vehicle into the barricade, he ran out of the vehicle with a knife prompting an unidentified police officer to shoot him.

As of this writing no motive has been established for the attack. Pittman said that Green was not previously known to Capitol Police, so theres no indication at this time that theres any nexus to any member of Congress.

The attempted breach of the Capitol happened at around 1 p.m. local time prompting the Capitol complex to be locked down for roughly two hours. The attack prompted the deployment of hundreds of police, military and security personnel as the Capitol complex went into lockdown. Legislative and Capitol staff received an emergency text from Capitol police warning that due to an external security threat, no entry or exit is permitted, stay away from exterior windows, doors. If outside, seek cover.

In a statement to The Hill, the DC National Guard confirmed the deployment of a Quick Reaction Force of National Guard soldiers and airmen who arrived within 45 minutes of the attack, a stark contrast to the hours it took for soldiers to support overrun police forces on January 6.

Congress is currently in a spring recess, so no lawmakers were in the Capitol at the time of the attack.

Acting Chief of the DC Metropolitan Police Department Robert Contee said in a press conference that his department would be leading the investigation, which he said at this time, does not appear to be terrorism related.

According to police, Green had been recently living in Virginia. On his now-deleted Facebook page, NBC News reported that Greens recent status updates indicate he was having a difficult time trying to find work and that the past few years have been, tough while the last few months were, tougher.

I am currently now unemployed after I left my job partly due to afflictions, but ultimately, in search of a spiritual journey, he allegedly wrote on his deleted Facebook page.

Green also appeared to be a follower of the black nationalist Nation of Islam and its head Louis Farrakhan. NBC reported that his page featured, several recent postings from Nation of Islam and Farrakhan. On March 17, Green allegedly posted about the end times and his final post on March 21 was a 150-minute YouTube sermon from Farrakhan titled, The crucifixion of Michael Jackson.

The latest violent incident at the Capitol comes less than three months after a mob of Trump supporters, led by the Proud Boy, Oath Keeper and III Percenter fascist militias, stormed the Capitol in an attempt to overthrow the election and install former President Donald Trump as dictator.

The over-running of the Capitol coupled by the de-facto stand down of police and military forces, which DC National Guard Commander William Walker testified last month were purposefully delayed by high-ranking Department of Defense officials, led to the deployment of over 25,000 Guardsmen and the installation of a seven-foot high non-scalable fencing around the Capitol.

In mid-March, Defense Secretary Lloyd Austin III announced that more than 2,200 National Guard troops would remain stationed in DC through May 23.

Despite the militarized fortification of the Capitol, continued threats of fascistic violence forced the House of Representatives to cancel a March 4 legislative session. The date had been widely circulated on social media by QAnon adherents as the day Trump would seize power and depose the illegitimate Biden.

With Democrats all but abandoning any attempt to identify and charge those within the state who worked with Trump in facilitating the stand-down of security forces, such as former Secretary of the Army Ryan McCarthy and former acting Defense Secretary Christopher Miller, Republicansmany of whom backed the coup attempt by voting to oppose the certification of the electionhave been demanding a drawdown of security around the Capitol.

In a March 8 video posted to Twitter, freshman Colorado Representative Lauren Boebert demanded that Democratic House Speaker Nancy Pelosi tear down the security fencing, which she dubbed Fort Pelosi. The video ended by fading to black to the sounds of gunshots.

Boebert is an adherent to the fascistic QAnon conspiracy theory and has previously attacked Pelosi for not allowing her to carry a gun on the floor of Congress. In January, Boebert, along with Maryland Republican representative Andy Harris were stopped by Capitol police attempting to bring firearms into the chamber.
Charleston, WV (25301)

Today

A mix of clouds and sun. A stray shower or thunderstorm is possible. High 83F. Winds W at 5 to 10 mph..

Tonight

Mostly clear. Low near 60F. Winds light and variable.
The Taiwan Affairs Office of China's State Council on Friday sent condolences over a train derailment in Taiwan that has killed dozens of people.

The mainland is deeply concerned about the rescue progress, spokesperson Ma Xiaoguang said in an earlier statement.

According to local authorities, the train derailed inside a tunnel in east Taiwan on Friday morning, resulting in at least 48 deaths and 118 others hospitalized.

The Association for Relations Across the Taiwan Straits has also sent its condolences to the families of the deceased and expressed sympathies to the injured.

Meanwhile, the All-China Federation of Taiwan Compatriots issued a letter of sympathy saying Taiwan compatriots, who live on the mainland, were saddened to learn about the accident.

"People on both sides of the Taiwan Strait are of the same family. May the deceased persons rest in peace and those who are injured quickly recover," the federation said.
STEPANAKERT, APRIL 3, ARMENPRESS. The Foreign Ministry of Artsakh has expressed serious concern over the latest speech of Azeri leader Ilham Aliyev when the latter continuing fuelling anti-Armenian sentiments.

The statement by President of Azerbaijan Ilham Aliyev at the Summit of the Cooperation Council of Turkic-Speaking States is of serious concern in terms of establishing lasting peace and stability in the region.

The President of Azerbaijan continues to fuel anti-Armenian sentiments not only within Azerbaijan, but also in the societies of Turkic-speaking and Muslim countries. By doing so, the leader of Azerbaijan deliberately attaches ethnic and religious elements to the Azerbaijan-Karabakh conflict, attempting to unite the Turkic and Muslim worlds around the aspirations of Azerbaijan.

Aliyev purposefully transfers the Azerbaijan-Karabakh conflict and Armenophobia to the dimension of Pan-Turkism and Pan-Islamism, thus attaching elements of radicalism to these ideologies.

In this context, the first serious geopolitical claim of the criminal trinity of Azerbaijan, Turkey and international terrorists was the large-scale military aggression unleashed against the Republic of Artsakh on September 27, 2020. This is followed by the expansionist aspirations also for different regions of the Republic of Armenia, in particular, Syunik.

Without adequate steps by the international community, similar actions will surely take place in other regions as well, which are fraught with unpredictable consequences for global peace and stability, the Artsakh foreign ministry said.
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.
Johnson & Johnson is now testing its COVID-19 vaccine in children and teenagers between ages 12 and 17.

U.S. regulators have authorized the firm's one-dose shot for adults 18 and older.

The trial expansion will first test J&J's shot in teens aged 16 to 17. If the vaccine appears to be safe and prompt an immune response in this age group, the trial will be 'stepped down' to kids ages 12 to 15.

Moderna and Pfizer - the makers of the other two Covid vaccines authorized in the U.S. - have each already begun their trials in adolescents.

Vaccine trials for children are not unprecedented, but some critics claim that because coronavirus rarely infects children, and they almost never die of COVID-19, vaccinating kids would not be for their benefit, but for the benefit of at-risk adults.

Johnson & Johnson has begun testing its Covid vaccine in children ages 12 to 17. Pictured: Brittany Siguenza, five, watches as her mother gets a coronavirus shot at a clinic for teachers and school staff in Massachusetts (file)

The trial has begun enrolling adolescents in the UK and Spain.

It will soon start enrolling kids and teens between 12 and 17 in the U.S., Canada and Netherlands.

Next, the trial will be expanded to include adolescents in Brazil and Argentina.

Teens will be enrolled in an expansion of an existing trial for adults between 18 and 55 as well as seniors aged 65 and older.

The ongoing trial is testing a series of potential doses and dosing regimens.

Currently, only the one-dose regimen of J&J's shot is authorized in the U.S.

The vaccine was about 66 percent effective at preventing symptomatic infection in the late-stage trial that became the basis for the Food and Drug Administration's (FDA) authorization for the shot.

J&J is continuing trials of the one-dose regimen and comparing them to a two-dose regimen, with shots given one, two or three months apart.

Safety and efficacy for each of these regimens - single dose, and two doses given with the various gaps - will now be tested in adolescents, too, beginning with 16- to 17-year-olds, with younger children to follow.

Similar trials for Moderna's and Pfizer's shot in teens and children are already underway. Each has already expanded enrollment to include even six-month-old babies.

Children and babies receive vaccines routinely.

Babies receive their fist dose of hepatitis B vaccine at birth in the U.S. and the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) lists six vaccines that babies should receive by the time they are six months old.

Dr Anthony Fauci has said that vaccinating children could play an important role in ending the pandemic, even though he and other health officials say teachers and students don't need vaccines to safely return to school.

But COVID-19 is different from diseases like measles that kids get vaccinated against.

Children are vulnerable to measles and polio, and the diseases can be deadly to them.

But Covid is fatal mostly to elderly people, while rarely striking children.

Fewer than three million children under 18 have been infected, according to the CDC, and just 0.01 percent of those have been killed by the virus. And they have have not so far proven to spread the virus extensively in schools.

Some experts say children should not be the focus of vaccine trials, considering the low risks that the virus poses to them.

So far, children don't appear to be significant 'vectors' of the disease, but the more kids are in contact with their peers and teachers, the more potential there will be for viral spread among them.

Some debate has arisen among pediatricians and medical ethicists about how important it is to vaccinate kids against COVID-19 and whether it is being done for the right reasons.

'Vaccines for polio, diphtheria and meningitis were all geared to eliminate the most dangerous diseases in children,' Dr Michael Hefferon, an assistant professor in the pediatrics department at Queen's University in Ontario, told the Chicago Tribune.

'We now have almost the opposite,' he said of COVID-19.

'It's a disease of adults, and the older you get the more sinister it is. Therefore children are less relevant.'

So far, 2.57 million children 17 or younger have had COVID-19 in the US, according to Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) data.

Kids aged four and younger account for just two percent of overall case in America, while children aged five to 17 account for fewer than 10 percent of infections.

According to the CDC, 294 children have died of COVID-19, accounting for less than 0.2 percent of fatalities.

Other experts argue that because children do get sick, transmit and die from coronavirus, it remains important to vaccinate them.
Guillaume de Seynes belongs to the 6th generation of the Hermes family  he is a cousin of Axel Dumas, CEO of the family-owned group. He oversees the groups production activities, including the craft workshops and manufactures, and the companys watchmaking arm Hermes Horloger. After being appointed General Manager of La Montre Hermes SA in 1999, Guillaume de Seynes moved to Switzerland and began the process of integrating the watchmaking trades and professions, so as to eventually make the branch completely autonomous. He became President of La Montre Hermes SA in 2005.



In that capacity, Guillaume de Seynes opened negotiations with Vaucher Manufacture Fleurier, which led to Hermes taking a 25% stake in the business in 2006. This was followed by the purchase and subsequent integration of Nateber SA, a dial manufacturer based in La Chaux-de-Fonds. In parallel, the group bought Joseph Erard SA, a watch case specialist. Together, these entities now form a single consolidated manufacture known as Les Ateliers dHermes Horloger.

Guillaume de Seynes  Hermes

Guillaume de Seynes is an avid student of history, and his love for beautiful objects and fine craftsmanship have been a guiding thread throughout his career. When he joined Hermes, a company founded by his ancestors in 1837, he was able to combine two passions: that of a storied brand with the design of exquisite products that embody the innovative spirit and timelessness of the company. As well as being President of La Montre Hermes, John Lobb shoes and the Saint-Louis glassworks, he is also general manager of Hermes International, Manufacturing and Equity Investments. His role is to manage the entire manufacturing branch of Hermes, which at the end of 2019 represented some 5200 artisans.



A fierce advocate for the values of the luxury industries, Guillaume de Seynes is also President of the Comite Colbert, an institution founded in 1954 to promote the French luxury industry. In fact, he was unanimously elected by the committee  a first in its history. A graduate of Paris II Pantheon Assas, IEP Paris and ESSEC, Guillaume de Seynes is also a Chevalier de la Legion dHonneur.

*On the occasion of GMT Magazine and WorldTempus' 20th anniversary, we have embarked on the ambitious project of summarising the last 20 years in watchmaking in The Millennium Watch Book, a big, beautifully laid out coffee table book. This article is an extract. The Millennium Watch Book is available on www.the-watch-book.com, in French and English, with a 10% discount if you use the following code: WT2021.

Order now


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.
Tom Kenyon calls on Australia to cut ties with China

A former state trade minister who was once one of Beijing's biggest supporters Down Under is now calling on Australia to sever economic ties with China.

Tom Kenyon backed the 'mute and intimidating' Chinese consulate in suburban Adelaide just a half-hour drive from one of Australia's most important naval bases years earlier.

But now he fears the authoritarian regime is ramping up its military might across the Asia Pacific as it grows increasingly belligerent during the coronavirus pandemic.

The ex-minister who served under the South Australian Weatherill Labor Government said there was no point pretending the relationship between the two once-friendly nations can be repaired - or that there is any value in salvaging it.

Kenyon told the Weekend Australian that Chinese President Xi Jinping is steering his country off the path of pragmatic economic policy and becoming more akin to Mao Zedong.

The brutal dictator's disastrous Cultural Revolution launched in the 1950s resulted in the deaths of tens of millions of Chinese citizens who starved in a famine.

A former state trade minister who was once one of Beijing's biggest supporters Down Under is now calling on the federal government to sever ties with the Chinese Communist Party. Pictured: President Xi Jinping

Mao Zedong's (pictured) disastrous Cultural Revolution launched in the 1950s resulted in the deaths of tens of millions of Chinese citizens who starved in a famine

Australia's relationship with its biggest trading partner began to drastically deteriorate in April last year when Prime Minister Scott Morrison called for an independent international inquiry into the origins of coronavirus, which first appeared in Wuhan at the end of 2019.

The plea for transparency in the aftermath of the global outbreak infuriated Beijing who retaliated by imposing arbitrary bans and tariffs on billions of dollars worth of Australian goods including barley, wine, cotton, seafood, beef, copper, and coal.

When Mr Kenyon took the ministerial portfolio in the 2010s, it was the final days of Hu Jintao's presidency.

At that time Australia and the rest of the world were actively engaging with China in the hope the opaque totalitarian state would begin to liberalise.

'That all changed within a few months when current and now-permanent President Xi Jinping took over, as well as continuing his role heading the Chinese Communist Party,' he said.

'Since that time, the CCP has become more aggressive, more hostile and more likely to interfere in events in foreign countries.

'President Xi seems to be a genuine communist more in the mould of Mao Ze Dong than Jiang Zemin. This does not augur well for us.'

South Australian Liberal senator Alex Antic told Senate estimates the consulate had caused angst among local residents

A staff member at the new Chinese consulate closes the gate on a TV crew from A Current Affair

Mr Kenyon said South Australia did all they could to engage with Beijing in a bid to grow the state's economy by utilising China's vast consumer market.

Part of the cooperative strategy involved giving the green light to the highly controversial Chinese Consulate set up in a quiet Adelaide suburb.

The massive 5600sqm compound was built in Joslin and has been described by locals as a 'fortress' due to its three-metre-high walls and array of CCTV cameras.

The 'mute and intimidating' facility has also raised eyebrows within Australian security agencies because of it's excessive size, staffing levels and proximity to an Australian naval base.

Just half an hour away lies the Osborne Naval Shipyard where billions of dollars in critical defence infrastructure is being built.

This includes the construction of nine anti-submarine hunter-class frigates, and 12 attack-class submarines set to be completed in 2023.

Hundreds of furious protesters have arrived at the controversial opening of a Chinese consulate in a quiet Adelaide suburb

Among the large crowd at the protest were members of South Australia's Uighur community, along with Taiwanese, Tibetans, Nepalese and Vietnamese residents

But counter-intelligence agencies aren't the only ones dismayed by China's new digs.

Last week hundreds of furious protesters descended on the Chinese consulate during its official opening.

Among the large crowd at the protest were members of South Australia's Uighur community, along with Taiwanese, Tibetans, Nepalese and Vietnamese nationals who say the consulate will be used to spy on those who criticise the Communist Party.

But with tensions between China and Australia continuing to soar, Mr Kenyon said it's important to remember it's not Chinese people who are the problem.

'The CCP is the problem because it is an organisation that is hostile and alien to Western freedoms and values,' he said.

A protester demonstrates outside the Chinese Consulate in Adelaide
Myanmars wireless broadband internet services were shut down yesterday by order of the military, local providers said, as protesters continued to defy the threat of lethal violence to oppose the juntas takeover.

A directive from the Ministry of Transport and Communications instructed that all wireless broadband data services be temporarily suspended until further notice, according to a statement posted online by local provider Ooredoo.

After weeks of overnight cutoffs of internet access, the military on Friday shut all links apart from those using fiberoptic cable, which was working at drastically reduced speeds. Access to mobile networks and all wireless  the less costly options used by most people in the developing country  was blocked.

The Norwegian telecoms company Telenor, one of the biggest carriers in Myanmar, confirmed it could no longer offer wireless services.

The government has shut down all but a handful of military-controlled media outlets.

Some banned outlets have continued to publish via social media. Facebook announced it was providing a safety feature to enable users in Myanmar to beef up security settings locking their profiles to prevent access by non-friends.

Also yesterday, a South Korean bank said it temporarily closed its branch in Yangon and was considering bringing its South Korean employees back home after security forces fatally shot one of its Myanmar employees.

Noh Ji-young, a spokesperson for Shinhan Bank, said the woman was shot in the head while commuting home from work on Wednesday and was pronounced dead yesterday.

South Koreas Foreign Ministry said the woman was shot while security forces inspected the company car she was using. The ministry has issued a warning to South Korean nationals in Myanmar to act with caution when they are inspected by security forces.

Meanwhile, German-based Giesecke+Devrient (G+D), which supplies raw materials for making Myanmars banknotes, said it was suspending all deliveries to the state-owned security printer, Security Print Works. This is a reaction to the ongoing violent clashes between the military and the civilian population, the company said.

With its economy contracting under pressure from mass disruptions in reaction to the coup and from the pandemic, Myanmars military leaders are expected to order an increase in the money supply by the central bank. It was unclear how much of an impact the German companys move would have.

The US-based Human Rights Watch issued a report saying that Myanmars military has forcibly disappeared hundreds of people, including politicians, election officials, journalists and activists, and refused to confirm their location or allow access to lawyers or family members in violation of international law.

Concerned governments should demand the release of everyone disappeared and impose targeted economic sanctions against junta leaders to finally hold this abusive military to account, said Brad Adams, Human Rights Watchs Asia director.

The crisis in the Southeast Asian nation has escalated in the past week, both in the number of protesters killed and with military airstrikes against the guerrilla forces of the Karen ethnic minority in their homeland along the

border with Thailand.
WASHINGTON  The Biden administration apprehended more than 170,000 migrants at the southwest border in March, the most in any month for at least 15 years and up nearly 70 percent from February, as thousands of children remained backed up in detention facilities and border agents released an increasing number of migrant families into the United States, government documents obtained by The New York Times show.

More than 18,700 unaccompanied children and teenagers were taken into custody last month after crossing the border, including at port entries, nearly double the roughly 9,450 minors detained in February and more than four times the 4,635 unaccompanied minors who crossed in March of last year, the documents show.

The sharp increases underscored the political and logistical challenges to the administration of managing the flow of people coming from Central America, including the need to more quickly move unaccompanied children and teenagers into emergency shelters at military sites and conventions centers throughout the United States. Many of the children are seeking to join parents, relatives or other people they know who are already in the country.

But the increasing number of family members traveling together is creating another issue for the administration. For much of the winter, even as the United States took in the unaccompanied minors, administration officials invoked an emergency rule put in place by the Trump administration during the pandemic to turn away most migrant families and single adults crossing the border.
Andy Street was in a cheerful mood this week after launching his campaign to be re-elected Conservative mayor of the West Midlands Combined Authority.

For the first time in months, he was able to report the number of people dying with Covid in the West Midlands is down to single figures, with one death reported on Thursday  a great relief in a region that has endured the third biggest Covid death toll in England.

It's a bitter tragedy for all affected but also for Street personally  his mother died of the disease recently after contracting Covid while in hospital.

On the campaign trail: Andy Street won last time by just 3,766 votes but it was a thrilling result for a Conservative in a Labour heartland

Improving health outcomes for the region's 2.9million population is a top priority, and a report spearheaded by the mayor, councils and public health officials is being put into action.

The new 'Health of a Region 2020' report has come up with a 50-point plan to reduce inequalities and therefore deprivation; health equals wealth.

Inevitably, the region also suffered one of the biggest shocks to GDP in the UK with 93,000 new claimants seeking benefits. Yet Street is confident the West Midlands can recover quickly.

Before the first lockdown, the local economy grew at 25 per cent over five years, the fastest anywhere outside London.

The brain drain was also being reversed, with net positive migration into the district. Over that time, Street brought in over 3.3billion of investment, persuading the Government, local authorities and the private sector to work on his four priorities: improving transport, housing, skills and rough sleeping. The number of rough sleepers on the streets is down from 377 two years ago to 44.

The role of mayor is to be a convenor, he says, someone who bashes heads together and acts like a chief executive.

This has relevance beyond the West Midlands. Elected mayors can be pivotal in boosting local economies. Ben Houchen, the Conservative mayor of Tees Valley, has shown similar drive, doing deals to bring the local airport into public ownership, restarting the steel industry and attracting green investment.

Conservative mayors have small majorities in four out of the seven metro mayor races, so the forthcoming elections are going to be tight. Street won last time by just 3,766 votes but it was a thrilling result for a Conservative in a Labour heartland.

Why should the locals give him a bigger majority? Street says he was 'levelling up' before it became fashionable.

Mayors like Street and Houchen can challenge traditional mistrust of Conservatives through their focus on improving their local area and giving people reasons to stay. Auguries are good: Steven Knight, the Peaky Blinders creator, is building his new Mercian film studios at Digbeth while the BBC is moving more staff to Birmingham. They join HSBC, Deutsche Bank and other big hitters.

That's why opening up old rail lines, improving metro and tram links and freezing bus fares to allow easier commutes and shopping trips have been so critical to the region's expansion. The number of homes being built has doubled. Diggers are at work on the old Longbridge plant site to create more homes and commercial activities.

Post-Covid, there will be greater emphasis on training and skills, especially for those in the life science, digital and green industries: Wolverhampton College is training mechanics for electric vehicles.

It's fair to say Street been a highly successful and popular mayor  I've been out on the streets of Walsall with him and he was greeted like a rock star.

Elected mayors are showing what energetic and committed local leaders can achieve. They will be pivotal in the economic fightback from Covid.
Hungarian Artist Creates Clockwork Spiders From Pocket Watch Parts for Metal Menagerie

An artist has created a menagerie of mechanical creatures which are both incredibly curious and creepy at the same time.

The amazing handiwork of Peter Szucsy, 46, from Budapest, includes his mechanical spider crafted from the gears and guts of a pocket watch.

The Hungarian artists King series is a curious amalgamation of spiders, insects, and crustaceans, machinery, and robotics, drawing inspiration from the Victorian-era industrial revolution.

A mechanical steampunk spider created by Hungarian artist Peter Szucsy, 46 (Caters News)

Among his mechanical assortment are ornate crabswith pocket watch casing exoskeletons and metal clawsand an intricate fly with tiny wings set like jewels.

Its a labor of love for the former production art director and lead artist, who traded his 25-year-long career at a desk to create these sculptures three years earlier.

Three years ago working with metal was quite new for me, Id been working at a computer for over two decades, Peter said.

Peter Szucsy creates machine-inspired insects, spiders, and crustaceans from pocket watch parts. (Caters News)

Detail of a steampunk spider (Caters News)

I was safer when I worked at a computer, but in the real world the tools are quite dangerous[my] hands are covered in wounds, burns and callouses, but I dont mind, I really enjoy the handmade creation, I dont plan to return to my computer.

His range of creatures is likely to grow, with Peter eyeing opportunities to create renderings of mantises, mosquitos, and dragonflies.

Each creation takes around a week to craft, but with his efforts to improve his process, this may change.

A steampunk crab (Caters News)

A fly sculpted from repurposed machine parts (Caters News)

I am always looking for new parts, new solutions, techniques, materials and making experimental work just to see my limits, he said.

My experimental work has led me to create my best artworks.

Incredibly, the impetus for his creations starts the moment he locates materialspurchased from flea marketsand gets them in his hands.

Tracking down all the pieces needed to craft his intricate sculptures can take as long as two months.

Another mechanical spider inspired by the Victorian-era industrial revolution (Caters News)

Yet another steampunk spider (Caters News)

He has accumulated plenty of spare parts in the process. When asked how many watches he has collected, Peter guessed around 300, adding that it was still not enough.

However, the artist has a few simple rules when it comes to repurposing for his art. I never use rare watches, or watch parts with high value, he said.

I use unrepairable watch movements only. I collect the watch parts also, so I definitely want to rescue the rare items. I have dozens of rare pocket [watches] and movements in my watch collection.

Another crab sculpted from pocket watch parts (Caters News)

A detailed photo of one of Peter Szucsys spiders (Caters News)

A detailed shot of a steampunk spider (Caters News)

A mechanical crab (Caters News)

Epoch Times staff contributed to this report.

Share your stories with us at emg.inspired@epochtimes.com, and continue to get your daily dose of inspiration by signing up for the Epoch Inspired newsletter at TheEpochTimes.com/newsletter
SUMMERVILLE  A momentous birthday was just celebrated on a wooded, 47-acre compound  though the people who run it aren't sure of the exact date of birth for Gibby, their oldest white-handed gibbon.

At the International Primate Protection League, 31 gibbons have been collected from labs, zoos and private owners who didn't understand the challenges of caring for a pet that can swing between trees at 35 mph. These arboreal apes have had a home here since the early 1980s when founder Shirley McGreal started the sanctuary on just three acres.

Gibby, the oldest resident of IPPL, celebrated his 62nd birthday on March 13, a day his keepers picked for him. That makes him the oldest known gibbon in the United States. Globally, only the Hamerton Zoo Park in England claims to care for a gibbon who's a few months older.

The IPPL is one of two preserves in the United States dedicated specifically to gibbons, and it is largely closed to the public, intended as a restful home for the endangered animals. McGreal said she was moved to protect the apes while she lived in Thailand in 1973, when she saw boxes of infant primates being shipped to unknown locations overseas. The nonprofit League also helps support primate sanctuaries around the globe and advocates for better conditions for the animals in labs.

Fuzzy, long-limbed gibbons have dark, inquisitive faces and live in hard-to-track pairs in the wild tropical forests of Southeast Asia. They are highly territorial, with telltale whooping calls. They eschew the large family units of chimpanzees or gorillas, and conservationists guess their wild lifespans reach as along as 35 years.

In captivity, they usually live to between 40 and 50 years.

Gibby is a somewhat small and relatively relaxed dean of IPPL's cadre of gibbons, with dusty-colored orange hair that has lightened since his younger days as a research animal at two New York universities. He lives mostly in a large outdoor enclosure by himself (his partner, Tong, died last year). He is spry enough to swing confidently from ropes and platforms, but shows his age when occasionally shuffling unevenly on the ground.

On a recent visit to IPPL, he peered intently at a visiting Post and Courier reporter and photographer, but avoided the attention-grabbing antics of a neighbor who swung continuously in her cage. Gibby was content to watch and then skitter up to the "runway" tunnel high above his enclosure, closely observing the first two people to visit the site, other than staff, during the coronavirus pandemic.

McGreal believes Gibby was captured as a baby from the wild and sold as a research animal to Hofstra University on Long Island around 1960 when he was probably about a year old.

From Hofstra, he was sent to Stony Brook University in the 1970s, about 30 miles away. It was there that Marianne Crisci later took care of him while she worked as a lab technician and research primate caretaker from 1988 to 1996.

Crisci formed a special attachment to Gibby, who was used in experiments for the anatomy department. He was anesthetized, had electrodes and thin wires inserted into his muscles, and then was compelled to swing and move around for locomotion tests.

Crisci spent her free time trying to make sure the gibbon was entertained. She brought him candy Dots, his favorite food.

"I used to go into there and spend a lot of time with Gibby, and go in there and give him something to do," she said. "He was a good boy, very sweet."

The only exception, however, was with men  who Gibby would consistently try to harass. One time, he was so perturbed by a male graduate student that he came up to Crisci and bit her on the shoulder after the student left the room, which she called a case of "misplaced aggression." Occasionally, he would escape his enclosure and Crisci would yell "the Gibster's loose!" to warn the men on the floor to close their office doors.

It's unclear what made Gibby aggressive toward men, but he still has the same aversion today. He has warmed somewhat to his current male animal keepers, IPPL animal caregiver Stacy Lambert said, but likes to tug on their hair or shirts when they're close enough.

"He's like 'I got you!' and then he runs away, so proud of himself," Lambert said.

In 2003, Stony Brook retired Gibby from research and sent him to Primarily Primates, a sanctuary in Texas. The stay there lasted only four years; in 2007, complaints of overcrowding and poor conditions prompted the Texas attorney general to appoint a temporary manager for Primarily Primates, which sent 12 gibbons, including Gibby, to IPPL in Summerville.

According to federal court documents, Primarily Primates tried to sue for Gibby's return, but ultimately they were unsuccessful. He's remained at IPPL for the past 14 years.

For Crisci, who got into lab work because she wanted to make sure animals were being properly treated, the placement is an ideal one. She's travelled to Summerville from her home in New York a few times and said Gibby has recognized her during her visits, holding her hand and again accepting some of his favorite gumdrops.

"He managed to go through hard times," Crisci said. "He's been around the block, and now I think he's a happy gibbon."
(CNN)  A 15-year-old is under arrest in Tacoma, Washington, for an apparent attack on an Asian couple seen in a cell phone video that was circulated on social media. The Tacoma Police Department said the suspect is charged with second-degree assault.

The video of the attack shows a person wearing a red top running up to a man and a woman on the street, then swings at the man as the woman cries out while another individual looks on. In another clip, the male victim is being cursed at and seems to be pushed or struck, though it is unclear in the video whether it is the same attacker or another person as part of a group.

The attack happened on November 19, 2020, Tacoma Police Public Information Officer Wendy Haddow told CNN. A complaint was filed at the time, she said, but police did not connect it to the video until family members of the victims recognized their relatives in the footage.

"The family saw it on the news," Haddow said. She declined to comment on whether the person who shot the video was one of the attackers, citing the continuing investigation.

The victims did not know the attackers, according to Tacoma Police.

"They had never seen them before, never dealt with them before," said Haddow. She told CNN it will be up to the Pierce County Prosecutor's Office to decide whether to prosecute the case as a hate crime.

A Korean man who identified himself as one of the victims interviewed with CNN affiliate KIRO on Wednesday. He said he forgives the attackers but wants to ensure that violence against Asian people is properly investigated.

"I want him to be better. I want him to know this was bad," the man said in Korean, according to a translation by KIRO.

Anti-Asian attacks have increased dramatically nationwide during the Covid-19 pandemic. In New York City, 28 arrests were made for hate crimes targeting Asians in 2020, up from three in 2019 and two in 2018, the New York Police Department reported.

This story was first published on CNN.com, "A juvenile has been arrested following a videotaped attack against an Asian couple in Tacoma, Washington."
The Red & Black sat down with Chana Refson who, with her husband Rabbi Michoel, runs the Chabad House at the University of Georgia, which is often considered a home away from home for many Jewish students in Athens.
Muslim women in Switzerland fear they could be verbally or physically assaulted after the country narrowly voted in favour of banning the burqa or niqab in public places.

The ban, which will make it illegal for people to completely cover their faces, passed by 51 to 49 per cent in a public referendum on 7 March. It must now be drawn up into a bill by MPs within two years.

I felt at a loss once more about the stupidity of such a vote, like the ban on minarets, Rifaat Lenzin, a Muslim woman who wears a hijab to the mosque, tells The Independent, referring to a Swiss vote on banning minarets in 2009. She says she worries the result signifies that the majority of Swiss people are against either Islam or Muslims, or both.
In an afternoon press conference held Thursday, Ohio Governor Mike DeWine announced that medical providers will soon receive delivery of COVID-19 vaccine in order to administer the vaccine to university students in Ohio. Students will be eligible to receive these designated supplies on a voluntary basis.

University of Cincinnati students are encouraged to make use of this on-campus opportunity to obtain the one-dose Johnson & Johnson, starting on April 10. The one-dose provides simple, one-time administration  no follow-up second dose weeks later. This is especially convenient for those students who are planning to leave the area and/or wont be on campus after spring term comes to a close.

Due to national supply limitations, UC's on-campus vaccination clinic will be one of the few sources of single-dose vaccine in southwest Ohio, and we anticipate ultimately having enough vaccine to vaccinate all students wishing to do so before the end of the semester.

Vaccination clinics will begin Saturday, April 10.
The Detroit Tigers are 2-0 for the first time since 2016, and they can thank a host of newcomers who helped them beat the Cleveland Indians 5-2 on Saturday afternoon at Comerica Park.

Julio Teheran allowed just one run in five innings in his first start with the Tigers, while lefty Derek Holland pitched an inning of scoreless relief. Catcher Wilson Ramos and right fielder Nomar Mazara both recorded their first hit with the Tigers.

Even old Tigers made it a debut day: Michael Fulmer pitched a scoreless inning of relief in the first bullpen appearance of his career. Jonathan Schoop made his first career start at first base and looked like a seasoned pro.

The Tigers (2-0) started the 2016 season with three straight wins. It was the last season they seriously contended for a playoff spot. Few expect the same in 2021, but the first two games have been encouraging nonetheless.

Teheran gave up a bomb to longtime Tigers nemesis Eddie Rosario to lead off the second inning, but the rest of the Indians hard contact stayed in the park (including two rocket-shot double play grounders).

Holland pitched a scoreless sixth, while Fulmer chipped in with a 1-2-3 seventh, getting two weak pop-outs and a strikeout.

Indians starter Zach Plesac, who walked just six of 206 batters he faced last season, issued an uncharacteristic four-pitch walk to Jeimer Candelario in the first inning. Candelario scored on Willi Castros triple to the left-center gap. The Indians brought the infield in to try to keep another run off the board. But Castro, running on contact, didnt even draw a throw on Miguel Cabreras groundout to short.

Willi Castro is picking up where he left off. #DetroitRoots pic.twitter.com/z9kgAWKq6o  Detroit Tigers (@tigers) April 3, 2021

The Tigers didnt score again until the seventh, when Mazara hit the third of three singles, a blooper to center that drove home Jeimer Candelario. The Tigers ended up scoring three in the seventh off Indians reliever Nick Wittgren to build a 5-1 lead.

Schoop, playing the first regular season game of his career at first base, looked surehanded defensively. After Teheran gave up back-to-back singles to open the third inning, Schoop started a 3-6-3 double play on a grounder that was smoked at a 106 mph exit velocity. Teheran escaped the inning without damage.

Up next: The Tigers and Indians wrap up a three-game series on Sunday at 1:10 p.m. at Comerica Park. Tigers lefty Tarik Skubal will face Indians right-hander Aaron Civale.

The Tigers have already clinched their first series win against the Indians at Comerica Park since 2018.
With the Oakland Coliseum mass vaccination site scheduled to close just days before California opens eligibility to everyone 16 years and older, state and county officials are begging for more time and doses. But federal authorities said Friday theyre sticking with plans to abandon the site in a little over a week.

The Federal Emergency Management Agency, which is co-running the site with Californias Office of Emergency Services, said the eight-week program meant to target hard-hit communities would end April 11 as intended. The agency said it will be unable to continue giving the Coliseum site, along with a second mass vaccination site at California State University Los Angeles, its vaccine allocations from the federal government.

The closure is appropriate because the state should be getting a huge boost in vaccine supply soon, according to a FEMA spokesman. But local officials say they cant count on that increase.

The spokesman discussed the agencys decision Friday on condition it be attributed without his name.

State and federal officials opened the Oakland and Los Angeles sites in mid-February and said they would be operational for eight weeks. But as the closure date approaches, vaccine demand is increasing, local officials say, and its expected to explode April 15 when the state opens immunizations to anyone who wants them.

On Friday, the Alameda County Board of Supervisors and Colleen Chawla, director of Alameda Countys Health Care Services Agency, sent separate letters to FEMA Acting Administrator Robert Fenton requesting that state and federal authorities keep the site running for another four weeks while the county makes plans to take it over. They also asked that the site keep receiving its federal allocation of 40,000-plus weekly doses.

The planned April 11 closure comes at a time when every adult in our county will be eligible for vaccine, Chawla said in her letter to FEMA. Losing the Coliseums additional vaccine at a time of expanded eligibility will not only increase pressure on our smaller county-administered vaccination sites but will also cause confusion and erode the trust and momentum we have built with community partners.

Earlier in the week, Cal OES Director Mark Ghilarducci sent a letter to Fenton asking that the federal government continue supplying both sites with their weekly doses if local authorities ended up taking them over.

Without an ongoing allocation of dedicated federal vaccine to these sites, Cal OES is concerned that the positive momentum that has been gained to date, and more importantly, the community trust that has been established over the past seven and a half weeks ... will be diminished or potentially lost all together if services are disrupted, Ghilarducci said in his letter.

Alameda County officials said Friday afternoon that they look forward to hearing from FEMA.

Chawla said county officials had been in informal conversations with state and federal authorities about keeping both sites operational for up to six months. She said she was surprised when she learned two weeks ago that FEMA intended to stick with the April 11 shutdown.

Since then, she said the county has been scrambling to see whether it can feasibly take over the site. Nearly 15% of all vaccinations administered to Alameda County residents have been at the Coliseum, Chawla said.

It quickly became clear that the county would need more time and resources to take over the massive operation. One problem is vaccine supply: The Coliseum site alone administers 42,000 shots a week. The county receives only 30,000 doses a week.

Gov. Gavin Newsom announced Thursday that federal and local authorities had worked out a deal to keep the Cal State Los Angeles site open. By April 12, the city of Los Angeles will begin operating the mass vaccination site, Newsom said.

But lets put it in perspective. ... The two FEMA sites combined are less than 4% of our entire delivery system, Newsom said. So its not profound in terms of its impact. But it is an impact nonetheless and we try to get every dose we possibly can.

If local governments take over the operation, FEMA will leave all locally hired employees in place, including those staffing six mobile clinics, according to the agency. FEMA also committed to continuing to cover all costs to operate each location through Oct. 30.

Meghan Bobrowsky is a San Francisco Chronicle staff writer. Email: meghan.bobrowsky@sfchronicle.com Twitter: @MeghanBobrowsky
Advertisement

More than 400 supertankers which had been stuck on the Suez Canal have finally been cleared more than a week after the Ever Given ship created a backlog which cost the economy billions.

Traffic on the canal, a conduit for over 10 percent of world trade, began moving again on Monday evening after the 200,000-tonne MV Ever Given was refloated with the help of international salvage experts.

Today, Egypt's Suez Canal Authority said that the shipping traffic jam caused by the giant container vessel getting stuck on the crucial waterway for almost a week had finally been cleared.

'All the ships waiting in the waterway since the grounding of the... (MV) Ever Given have completed passage,' SCA chief Osama Rabie said in a statement by the canal authority.

The wedging of the Japanese-owned, Taiwanese-operated ship had created tailbacks to the north and south totalling over 420 vessels, transporting billions of dollars-worth of cargo.

The guided-missile cruiser USS Monterey (CG 61), left, and the guided-missile destroyer USS Thomas Hudner (DDG 116) sail behind the aircraft carrier USS Dwight D. Eisenhower (CVN 69) during a Suez Canal transit, in this picture taken April 2, 2021

The blocking of the Suez Canal created a backlog of over 420 ships

Left: NASA's Landsat 8 satellite captured images of some of the vessels stuck on March 27, as hundreds of ships were left idling around the Suez Canal as engineers worked to dislodge a grounded vessel. Right: A map showing the location of the Ever Given when it became stuck, and other dots representing ships the became stuck on the Suez canal as a result

Rabie has acknowledged that the blockage, which began when the ship veered off course in a sandstorm, left Egypt's international shipping and wider reputation on the line.

Egyptian authorities have presented the freeing of the mega-ship as a vindication of the country's engineering and salvage capabilities.

'Ninety-nine percent' of personnel who worked to refloat the giant vessel were Egyptian, according to Rabie.

Egyptian President Abdel Fattah al-Sisi has pledged investment to ensure no repeat of the episode, and the SCA has called for new tugboats and dredgers are needed.

Maritime data company Lloyd's List said the blockage had held up an estimated $9.6 billion worth of cargo each day between Asia and Europe.

The canal is economically vital to Egypt, which lost between $12 (8.7) and $15 (10.6) million in revenues for each day the waterway was closed, according to the canal authority.

Nearly 19,000 ships navigated the canal in 2020, working out an average of just over 50 per day, it says.

But the president and port authority have ruled out any further widening of the southern stretch of the canal where the boat became diagonally stuck.

Sisi oversaw an expansion of a northern section, which included widening an existing stretch and introducing a 35 kilometre parallel waterway, to much fanfare in 2014-15.

But that was achieved at a cost of over $8 billion, without significantly increasing revenues from the canal.

The Suez Canal earned Egypt just over $5.7 billion in 2019/20, little changed from the year before, and similar to the $5.3 billion in revenues earned back in 2014.

'Economically... (further expansion) would not be useful,' Sisi declared this week.

The costly blockage is likely to result in litigation, according to analysts, with the ship's Japanese owners, Taiwanese operators and Egypt itself all under the microscope.

The wedging of the Japanese-owned, Taiwanese-operated ship had created tailbacks to the north and south totalling over 420 ships, with billions of dollars-worth of cargo. Pictured: A satellite image from Planet Labs Inc, of the cargo ship MV Ever Given stuck in the Suez Canal, as tug boats worked to free it

Partially afloat: The Ever Given was straightened early on Monday before it was eventually freed and resumed its progress

Back on course: The Ever Given was floating in the Suez Canal again and being towed by a fleet of tugboats on Monday as the shipping saga which has brought billions of dollars' worth in trade to a standstill neared its end

Earlier this week, trapped container ships were seen still snaking their way through the newly unblocked Suez Canal as the week-long crisis on the waterway neared its end.

Vessels anchored for nearly a week sailed up the narrow passageway on Tuesday morning where the 220,000-ton Ever Given had been wedged since March 23.

Easing tailbacks to the north and south, 113 ships were due to navigate the unblocked section of canal by 8am local time on March 30, Suez Canal Authority chief Osama Rabie told reporters last week.

He praised the speed of the salvage operation on the MV Ever Given as 'record-breaking', claiming it would have taken three months anywhere else in the world.

Canal services provider Leth Agencies said the 1,300ft Ever Given had been 'safely escorted to Great Bitter Lake' by the authority, which said it was now 'anchored' ahead of an investigation and out of the path of other ships.

The bow of the Ever Given was finally dislodged from the channel's bank on March 29 and towed up the waterway after tugboats had straightened the vessel in an early-morning operation and dredgers had vacuumed away large chunks of sand.

 Slide me  One of the world's most important shipping lanes-the Suez Canal-is reopening this week. But as satellite imagery showed, the traffic jammed up around the canal's two ends was substantial and was expected to take a long time to disperse

Egyptian boys celebrate across from the Ever Given after it was fully dislodged from the banks of the Suez Canal on Monday

The ship had earlier been moved from its diagonal position across the waterway in the first stage of the salvage operation

'The relief is palpable that we won't see a long-term closure of what is an important trade route,' said market analyst Michael Hewson at CMC Markets UK.

But Guy Platten, the secretary-general of the International Chamber of Shipping, told BBC Radio 4 that legal issues arising from the blockage could last for months as people try to recover the cost of delayed or expired goods.

'There is no doubt about it, the disruption will carry on. Everything's sort of out of kilter really,' he said, adding that 'some cargoes will have almost certainly perished as a result of this'.

'There's lots of litigation coming down the road as we try and rebalance it all and people try and recover the monies they've lost,' he said.

Fears have also been raised of criminal probes into the ship's 25-man Indian crew, with one expert telling Indian media that investigators would listen to recordings of mariners' conversations in the lead-up to the blockage.

The ship's Japanese owner said last week that it would be part of the investigation but refused to discuss possible causes of the accident, including the vessel's alleged high speed.

A ship sails through the Suez Canal as the shipping lane re-opened following the week-long saga that disrupted global trade

The US-flagged Maersk Denver was also navigating the canal piled high with containers Tuesday as traffic resumed a week after the Ever Given blockage which caused a traffic jam of more than 400 vessels on the busy waterway

The Liberian-flagged container ship YM Fountain was among those to sail up the narrow section of the Suez Canal on Tuesday which had previously been blocked by the Ever Given in a damaging six-day stoppage

Why is the Suez Canal so important? The Suez canal, which is around 120 miles long links the Persian Gulf and the Mediterranean and is the shortest shipping route between the Atlantic and the Indian Oceans. Before the canal, shipping from Europe either had to go overland or risk going around the Cape of Good Hope and the South Atlantic. In April 1859, construction of the canal officially begins, much of the work financed by France. It was opened for navigation on November 17, 1869 for vessels from all countries, although the British government later wanted to have an armed force in the area to protect shipping interests having picked up a 44 per cent stake in the canal in 1875. The Suez Canal links the Red Sea and the Mediterranean providing a short cut from the Indian Ocean to the Atlantic From then, while nominally owned by Egypt, the canal was run by Britain and France until its until its nationalisation in 1956 . The nationalisation by Nasser saw Britain and France launched an abortive and humiliating bid to recapture the vital waterway. The canal was shut briefly following the attempted invasion, before in 1967 the canal was shut for eight years following the Six Day war with Israel. Due to the instability in the region, the canal remained closed until 1975 - its longest ever closure, as the waterway had been mined and some vessels had been sunk in the main channel. In 2015 a new section of the canal opened, allowing vessels to traverse the waterway in both directions at the same time. Future plans will see the two-lane system extended across the entire network- doubling current capacity of the canal. The largest cargo vessels pay more than 180,000 in tolls to traverse the canal. On average about 40-50 cargo vessels use the canal on a daily basis in a trip that takes around 11 hours, as speed along the waterway is limited to about 9kts to prevent the banks of the canal getting washed away. Along the canal there are emergency mooring slots so vessels can pull over if they are suffering a mechanical issue. When the canal first opened, the channel was approximately 26 feet deep and 72 feet wide at the bottom. The surface was between 200 and 300 feet wide to allow ships to pass. By the 1960s, dredging of the canal increased the depth to 40 feet and widened the waterway to allow larger vessels. Now, the minimum depth of the canal is 66feet, though this is been increased to 72 feet - allowing even larger vessels. Advertisement

Photos and tracking sites showed the Panama-flagged Ever Given being pulled up the waterway last Monday afternoon, opening the door for billions of dollars' worth of goods to resume their progress through the canal.

Salvage teams were blaring their foghorns in celebration as they pulled the Ever Given towards the Great Bitter Lake, a wide stretch of water where Egyptian authorities say the ship will undergo technical inspections.

Egypt's president Abdel Fatteh al-Sisi had earlier declared that 'Egyptians have succeeded in ending the crisis' despite the operation's 'massive technical complexity.'

But it was unclear how long it would take to deal with the backlog, with the world's largest container firm, Denmark's Maersk, warning that 'it could take six days or more for the complete queue to pass'.

In the hours before the ship was dislodged, the tailbacks had reached 425 vessels carrying everything from crude oil to cattle.

Dozens more were taking the alternative route around the Cape of Good Hope at Africa's southern tip - adding some two weeks and thousands of miles to journeys and threatening delivery delays.

Maritime data company Lloyd's List said the blockage had held up an estimated $9.6billion worth of cargo each day between Asia and Europe.

The rescue team had made a major breakthrough early on Monday by dislodging the ship's stern and straightening its position, taking advantage of a high tide brought on by a 'supermoon' .

The bow remained wedged in the canal bank for several more hours after the stern was freed, but the tugboats finally wrenched it out after the high tide returned later on Monday - allowing the ship to float again.

The fully laden vessel was hauled over the canal bank at around 3pm and the head of Egypt's Suez Canal Authority announced shortly afterwards that shipping traffic had resumed in the waterway.

'She's free,' an official involved in the salvage operation said.

The ship was due to head to Rotterdam after transiting the canal on its way from Asia, but it was unclear whether it would continue to the Dutch port after its inspection or head elsewhere for repairs.

The Ever Given's managers, Bernhard Schulte Shipmanagement (BSM), said there had been no reports of damage to the cargo.

Peter Berdowski, the head of a Dutch salvage firm hired to extract the Ever Given, celebrated the successful operation by saying: 'We pulled it off!'

'I am excited to announce that our team of experts, working in close collaboration with the Suez Canal Authority, successfully refloated the Ever Given, thereby making free passage through the Suez Canal possible again,' he said.

The Dutch firm said the operation carried out under 'the watchful eye of the world' had required 13 tug boats and the dredging of approximately 30,000 cubic metres of sand.

Evergreen Line, which is leasing the Ever Given, confirmed the ship had been successfully refloated and said it would be inspected for seaworthiness.

Egyptian authorities have said they can accelerate convoys through the canal once the Ever Given is out of the way, with canal chief Admiral Osama Rabie vowing that 'we will not waste one second'.

He said it could take from two-and-a-half to three days to clear the backlog, while another Egyptian source said more than 100 ships would be able to enter the channel per day.

But other estimates say it could take up to 10 days to clear the traffic jam, and Maersk said the knock-on disruptions to global shipping could take weeks or even months to unravel.

The tailback of ships carrying everything from crude oil to cattle had reached 425 by the end of the drama with vessels waiting in a queue at the two ends of the canal, in the Mediterranean and Red Seas.

Egyptian canal authorities said more than 100 ships were due to navigate the unblocked section of canal by 8am on Tuesday, carrying billions of dollars' worth of goods out of a traffic jam

The Suez Canal Authority has said they plan on seeking $1 billion (722 million) in compensation after the Ever Given ran aground and stopped all operations for nearly a week

The container ship 'Ever Given' enters Great Bitter Lake after it was refloated, unblocking the Suez Canal on March 29, 2021 in Suez, Egypt

Egypt is expecting more than $1 billion (722 million) in compensation after the cargo ship blocked the Suez Canal, a top canal official said earlier this week.

Suez Canal Authority (SCA) CEO Ossama Rabei also warned the ship and its some $3.5 billion (2.5 billion) worth of cargo will not be allowed leave Egypt if the issue of damages goes to court.

But he explained that if an investigation went smoothly and the compensation amount was agreed on, then the ship could travel on without problems.

On Thursday, the ship's technical managers, Bernhard Schulte Shipmanagement, said in an email to The Associated Press that the ship's crew was cooperating with authorities in their investigation into what led to the vessel running aground.

They said that Suez Canal Authority investigators have been given access to the Voyage Data Recorder, also known as a vessel's black box.

The news was announced by Rabei in a phone interview with government-run broadcaster Sada Elbalad on March 31.

He said the Canal Authority would demand the $1 billion (722 million) sum in compensation for the six-day delay.

'It's the country's right,' Rabei said, without specifying who would be responsible for paying the compensation.

It is expected either Japanese company Shoei Kisen Kaisha, who own the Panama-flagged Ever Given, or the Taiwanese firm Evergreen Marine Corp, who had charted the ship, will be liable for the compensation.

But Evergreen Marine Corp have said the accident was not their responsibility and doubt they will be sought for compensation.

Rabei said that in the past, canal authorities and the ship's owners have had a good relationship.

Two Egyptian canal pilots were aboard when the ship got stuck.

Such an arrangement is customary to guide vessels through the narrow waterway, but the ship's captain retains ultimate authority, according to experts.

The compensation sum includes the costs of the salvage operation, transit fees that were lost and the costs associated with stopping all traffic in the canal

The Ever Given is now about halfway in a holding lake called Bitter Lake as the SCA investigates. All of the ship's crew are reportedly cooperating and have offered all of the logs or information that has been asked of them

The ship was trapped for six days before authorities finally managed to set it free in an oepration involving tug boats and diggers

The Suez Canal is one of the busiest shipping lanes in the world as it creates the shortest distance for vessels to cross from the Indian Oceans into the Atlantic taking roughly 16 hours

The other options would be to sail around South Africa's Cape of Good Hope, a voyage that could take around 24 days to complete, or to use the Arctic shipping root, which would add 35 days to the trip

The Suez Canal is one of the busiest shipping lanes in the world as it creates the shortest distance for vessels to cross from the Indian Oceans into the Atlantic taking roughly 16 hours.

The other options would be to sail around South Africa's Cape of Good Hope, a voyage that could take around 24 days to complete, or to use the Arctic shipping root, which would add 35 days to the trip.

The Ever Given had become jammed diagonally across a southern section of the canal in high winds early last Tuesday, halting traffic on the shortest shipping route between Europe and Asia.

The bow of the Ever Given was finally dislodged from the channel's bank on Monday and towed up the waterway after tugboats had straightened the vessel in an early-morning operation and dredgers had vacuumed away large chunks of sand.

At least 400 vessels are waiting to transit the canal, including dozens of container ships, bulk carriers, oil tankers and liquefied natural gas (LNG) or liquefied petroleum gas (LPG) vessels by the time the Ever Given was freed on Monday.

The Canal reopened for shipping traffic in both directions of Monday evening after the waterway was checked for damage caused by the Ever Given.

But the unprecedented shutdown, which raised fears of extended delays, goods shortages and rising costs for consumers, added to strain on the shipping industry, already under pressure from the coronavirus pandemic.
The drowning of an 11-year-old boy at a low head dam in the Codorus Creek on property owned by the Army Corp of Engineers has prompted the agency to start placing warning signs at other dams.

The agency on Thursday erected four large warning signs at the dam where Payton Gonzalez was fatally injured March 25 in Jackson Township. The dam is located where Hershey Road meets the creek. There were no such signs warning of the dangers of the dam when Payton walked to the creek along the Trolley Trail and abandoned railroad tracks with a friend to swim.

That dam is among three on Codorus Creek within the boundaries of the Army Corp of Engineers flood mitigation project. The dam where Payton drowned was not part of the project and serves no known current purpose.

One of the other dams already had warning signs and the Corp plans to install signs at the third dam, owned by the city of York.

There are additional low-head dams in our Southern New York levee system project that will be signed next week, said Sarah Lazo, agency spokeswoman for the Baltimore region.

It remains unclear who built the dam where Payton died or why. The Corp hasnt claimed ownership of the dam although the concrete structure sits on its private property.

When asked why signs werent already at the dam, Lazo said the site is located about 9 miles from the Indian Rock Dam, is not an operational part of that project, and is not listed within the National Inventory of Dams.

It is unlikely that it is a well-known site among our team. The Indian Rock Dam project does not have a recreation mission tied to it.

Lazo previously said the agency would consider the option of removing the dam.

As far as dam removal, placing additional safety signage at this site, specifically prohibiting swimming, was a priority (and this has been completed). We will consider other short and long-term safety measures in coordination with our state and local partners. We are still reviewing/researching information related to ownership.

Lazo said the agency is evaluating existing safety measures in place at all of our dams to determine where and how we can improve safety measures.

Low head dams are small, but deceptively dangerous, because the water flowing over the dam creates a powerful backwash. Such dams are known as drowning machines because they create highly aerated, circulating currents that trap even the strongest swimmers wearing a life jacket underwater against the face of the dam.

Payton is now among the dozens of people in Pennsylvania who have died at low head dams, including at least 30 deaths at Harrisburgs Dock Street Dam.

19 Payton Gonzalez

Below are the dams that the Army Corp of Engineers Baltimore District owns and operates primarily for flood risk management:

Pennsylvania

Alvin R. Bush Dam

Aylesworth Lake

Cowanesque Lake

Curwensville Lake

Foster J. Sayers Dam

Raystown Lake

Stillwater Lake

Tioga - Hammond Lakes

Indian Rock Dam/Codorus Creek

New York

Almond Lake

East Sidney Lake

Whitney Point Lake

Arkport Dam

Maryland and West Virginia

Jennings Randolph Lake

READ MORE:

Harrisburgs drowning machine dam has killed at least 29 people. Their stories

Harrisburg dam claimed another victim in the 1980s, bringing death toll to 30
Mexico City:

A strong 6.2 magnitude earthquake shook central Mexico on Saturday, days after a powerful quake that killed nearly 300 people, Mexican and US seismological monitors said.

The quake struck at 12:53 GMT with an epicenter 19.3 kilometers southeast of the city of Matias Romero, in the state of Oaxaca, the US Geological Survey reported. Mexican quake monitors gave the same figure.

Read more: North Korea earthquake a 'suspected explosion', says China

In Mexico City work crews temporarily halted rescue operations, while the country's Civil Protection service said there were no reports that the new quake -- an apparent aftershock of Tuesday's powerful 7.1 tremor -- had affected the capital.

For all the Latest World News, Download News Nation Android and iOS Mobile Apps.
OECD PISA report on student growth mindset to be released April 8

Washington, April 2, 2021--The Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development (OECD) will release a new PISA report on student growth mindset on Thursday, April 8 at 5:00 a.m. ET, followed by a press conference held in collaboration with the American Educational Research Association (AERA) and the Yidan Prize Foundation at 10:30 a.m. ET.

The new report "Sky's the limit: Growth mindset, students, and schools in PISA" provides analyses on student growth mindset, a concept much discussed in the current field of psychology. Growth mindset is the belief that someone's ability and intelligence can be developed over time. PISA collected international comparable data on "growth mindset" from nearly 80 countries/economies for the first time in 2018. The report sheds lights on how educators, policy makers and researchers can further support the potential of students around the world.

Edward Ma (Yidan Prize Foundation), Carol Dweck (Stanford University), and Andreas Schleicher (OECD) will open the press conference to discuss the findings, which will be followed by Q&A with reporters, moderated by Tony Pals (AERA) on April 8, 10:30 - 11:30 a.m. ET. This event is organized as a part of the 2021 AERA Virtual Annual Meeting.

###

This event is open to media and will be broadcast live. Here is a link for press registration and a link for public viewing. Contact communications@aera.net for any questions regarding registration.

To request a copy of the report under embargo, journalists should email Miguel.gorman@oecd.org.

Copies will be sent on Wednesday, April 7. More information on PISA is available at http://www. oecd. org/ pisa

About AERA

The American Educational Research Association (AERA) is the largest national interdisciplinary research association devoted to the scientific study of education and learning. Founded in 1916, AERA advances knowledge about education, encourages scholarly inquiry related to education, and promotes the use of research to improve education and serve the public good. Find AERA on Facebook, Twitter, and Instagram.

About OECD

The Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development (OECD) is an international organisation that works to build better policies for better lives. Our goal is to shape policies that foster prosperity, equality, opportunity and well-being for all. We draw on almost 60 years of experience and insights to better prepare the world of tomorrow.

This story has been published on: 2021-04-03. To contact the author, please use the contact details within the article.
Xenu and the thetans Founded by US science fiction writer L. Ron Hubbard in the 1950s, Scientology has its own elaborate belief system and a long and important history with Australia which has set precedents that have shaped its practices here and elsewhere. L. Ron Hubbard, founder of Scientology, using an e-meter to determine whether tomatoes suffer pain. Credit:Hulton Archive It was one of a number of new religious movements to emerge in the past 100 years but it has proved the single most unpopular and controversial, according to a 2019 paper by the University of Notre Dames Dr Bernard Doherty and the University of Nevadas James Richardson. Perhaps the four most salient aspects of this have been its ongoing conflicts with mental health professionals and anti-psychiatric beliefs; its sometimes aggressive and litigious approach to critics; its disputed status as a bona fide religion; and concerns about its internal discipline of its members, they write.

From the outside, some of its beliefs can appear unusual, including the religions foundation story involving Xenu, an intergalactic warlord, which is only revealed to members when they become operating thetan level three  after they have already spent many years and tens of thousands of dollars on courses. Loading Xenu, according to the once-secret writings of Hubbard, brought billions of people to Earth 75 million years ago and killed them with hydrogen bombs near volcanoes. This created body thetans which still cling to humans today. Removing them is a kind of cleansing, an important part of advanced Scientology. In a society such as ours, people are largely free to believe what they like. But one difference between Scientology and mainstream religions is that the revealed truths, such as the story of Xenu, come at a huge financial cost. When Scientology emerged in the 1950s, it quickly gained a following in Australia, in particular in Melbourne, where its emphasis on personal development struck a chord with some in the post-war years. Its first course in Australia was run in Kew in 1954.

Charlatanism and religion Investigative journalist Steve Cannanes book, Fair Game: the incredible untold story of Scientology in Australia, noted the emphasis on money from the start, with 10 per cent of income from Melbourne in the late 1950s going straight into the bank account of a Hubbard organisation. Hubbard knew Australia after having served here during World War II. He had once described it as the country perhaps with the greatest and brightest future on the face of the Earth today. The only story here is the unprecedented growth of the Church of Scientology in Australasia and around the world. Church of Scientology International spokeswoman Karin Pouw But within a few years, his religion was under pressure. Campaigning by the Truth newspaper in Victoria and the medical establishment led to the lengthy Anderson inquiry in the mid-1960s. Its eventual report was scathing.

Scientology is evil; its techniques evil, its practices a serious threat to the community medically, morally and socially; and its adherents sadly deluded and often mentally ill, the report found. Mike Rinder, a former senior executive in Scientology. Credit:SBS The fallout was huge. Scientology was banned in Victoria  the first place in the world  and later in South Australia and Western Australia. Within a few decades, however, Australia swung entirely the other way. While it was still facing intense legal battles in the US over its legal status  infamously, Scientology operatives had infiltrated the Internal Revenue Service and other US institutions  in 1983, the Australian High Court granted it vast legal protections and tax-free status as a religion. The High Court found that charlatanism is a necessary price of religious freedom and that a lack of sincerity or integrity from a religious leader was not incompatible with the religious character of the beliefs, practices. Courts in Britain and New Zealand have cited that decision, while a decade later the IRS gave up after years of legal battles and granted Scientology tax-free status.

Unfortunately, the High Court set a very bad precedent, says Mike Rinder, an Australian who rose to become one of Scientologys top executives and an official spokesman. If there had been lawyers on the government side that really understood Scientology and how it operates and what its policies are, they would have been able to make far better arguments. Rinder, who is now a prominent critic, grew up in a Scientology family and says accumulating money has always been central to its operation, from Hubbards time and now under his successor, David Miscavige. According to the documentary Going Clear, Hubbards ex-wife, Sara, claimed he had said many times during their marriage the only way to make any real money was to start a religion. Scientology dismissed the documentary maker as a propagandist and Hubbards ex-wife as a gold digger who later backed away from the statements.

Tax-free status Until now, Scientologys finances have been largely shrouded in secrecy. In the US, its tax-free status allows the church to not report its wealth. A partial picture emerged about a decade ago in tax filings of a few of its many entities which showed Scientology in the US had wealth of at least $US1.5 billion ($2 billion). The overall figure is guesswork. Former senator Nick Xenophon used parliamentary privilege to detail allegations of abuse against Scientology. Credit:4BC Its the same almost everywhere in the world. When former Australian senator Nick Xenophon in 2009 used parliamentary privilege to detail horrific stories told by ex-Scientologists  including that of Paul Schofield  he called it a criminal organisation and wanted a Senate inquiry into it. That bid failed when the major parties refused to back it. However, it led to a separate broader Senate committee that recommended the establishment of a charities commission.

That became the Australian Charities and Not-for-profits Commission, created in 2012. It is one of the only bodies in the world to require Scientology to report financial data. It is this financial data  covering a dozen Scientology-related corporate entities both here and in Britain  which has allowed the best look anywhere at its profitability and wealth. The results show net profits from the Church of Scientology Australia, its main corporate entity, of $65.4 million from 2013 to 2019. Its assets nearly tripled to $172.4 million, while in Britain it grew at a similar rate. Church of Scientology International spokeswoman Karin Pouw says it is in the midst of an explosive expansion in Australia, ongoing since 2007 but would not say whether she accepted the census data that it has a small and declining number of followers.

The only story here is the unprecedented growth of the Church of Scientology in Australasia and around the world, says Pouw, who described most of the questions sent from The Age and the The Sydney Morning Herald as absurd. But while the ACNC has allowed far greater transparency, the charity laws here are weaker than in Britain in one key respect. The Church of Scientologys headquarters in Chatswood. Charities, including religions, in Australia have to pass a public benefit test but the presumption is that religion is for the public benefit. To lose that status, a case would have to be made to the ACNC commissioner. Thats a weaker regime than in Britain, which has no presumption about public benefit for religion. Scientology has not passed the British public benefit test. Melbourne Law School professor Ann OConnell this week questioned if religions that did not provide charitable services should as a matter of policy be eligible for tax concessions.

Despite its claims of growth, when I visited Scientologys Ascot Vale church on a recent weekday morning, I was the only visitor in a brightly lit information room that included tributes to Hubbard and touch-screen videos on their approach to getting off drugs and the like. Ascot Vale was opened only a decade ago by former planning minister Justin Madden and then lord mayor Robert Doyle. A few years later, the Ideal Advanced Organisation centre for the Asia Pacific was opened in Sydney at a cost of more than $50 million. These property openings, says a long-term researcher on Scientology, journalist Tony Ortega, are part of a corporate strategy that has evolved over time as the church got smaller. After 1990, it really started to shrink, he says. There was less and less emphasis on auditing [a session where a minister questions an adherent] and growing membership [as it struggled to find new followers] and more and more emphasis towards real estate, in appearing to expand, not by memberships but through buildings.

Rampant capitalism When Paul Schofield started in Scientology in 1979, he said he was lucky to earn $2 a week working for the organisation. Over the years, he was paid a modest wage but when he left nearly 30 years later, he barely had any money. He had never owned a decent car. But he lost much more than a lifetime of earnings. Hed lost one daughter after she ingested potassium chloride, which was used in Scientologys purification programs. Another daughter, at 14 months old, died after falling down the stairs of a Scientology building in Sydney while under the care of others.
Passengers wait at Noi Bai Airport in Hanoi to board a flight to Japan's Tokyo, September 19, 2020. Photo by VnExpress/Giang Huy.

For the first time, Vietnam has overtaken South Korea to become the second largest expat community in Japan.

A recent surge in the number of Vietnamese students and technical interns going to Japan has resulted in the changing expat demographics, according to public broadcaster NHK.

The number of Vietnamese residents living in Japan reached 448,053 last year, up 10 percent from the previous year and an increase of more than 10 times over the past 10 years, according to data from the Japan's Immigration Services Agency.

In recent years, the growing presence of Japanese companies in Vietnam has sparked greater increased interest among younger Vietnamese to study and/or undertake technical training programs in Japan in the hope of landing a well-paid job.

China topped the expat list with 778,112 and South Korea was third with 426,908 people.

There were about 2.89 million foreign nationals in Japan at the end of last year, down by about 46,000 over the previous year. Vietnamese expats accounted for more than 15 percent of total foreign nationals in the country.

Meanwhile, 15,875 foreign nationals were ordered to leave Japan for overstaying their visas and other reasons last year. Nearly 70 percent of them, or about 11,000 people, were working illegally, mainly in the agriculture and construction sectors, the NHK reported.

Starting this month, Vietnam Airlines and Vietjet have been allowed to resume commercial flights connecting Hanoi and HCMC to Japan's Tokyo.
A number of people were killed after a three-storey house in Bangkok collapsed after a fire (AP)

At least three people have been killed after a three-storey house collapsed in Bangkok following a fire.

An unknown number of people are still trapped under the rubble, local police said.

Two of the fatalities were volunteer rescue workers who were helping to put out the fire, with the third confirmed victim being one of the residents, according to officials.

A few other people including rescue workers were trapped under the building after it collapsed, and efforts were under way to reach them.

Bangkok governor Asawin Kwanmuang told media: I believe that there might be people who are trapped inside who are alive.

Expand Close The structure could be at risk of further collapses (AP) / Facebook

Twitter

Email

Whatsapp The structure could be at risk of further collapses (AP)

He said rescue efforts are proceeding cautiously due to fears that there could be another collapse.

One person was already rescued, Mr Asawin said, and workers were trying to get to one other person.

A volunteer rescue worker told local news broadcaster Thai PBS that he was spraying water onto the buildings balcony when he sensed that something was wrong.

Officials from the disaster prevention department soon ordered everyone to leave the house.

Somchai Bowornlarp added: Some left but others who were inside holding the hose couldnt leave because they had to wait for the water to be turned off first.

At that moment, the building collapsed in front of me. I was lucky I did not get hurt.

Video footage captured the moment the building came crashing down, as a number of rescue workers were standing outside.

Earlier footage showed flames raging throughout all three floors as a man sprayed the buildings exterior with a single hose.
New Delhi, April 3 : Are you aware that any single app on your smartphone can see every other app that you have installed on your device, thus accessing sensitive information like dating preferences, banking information, political affiliation and password management etc? Google has announced to change this system on its Play Store from May 5.

In an update, Google has said that app developers will have to provide a solid reason for why the tech giant should let them access other apps on users' smartphones, reports arstechnica.

Currently, Android 11 apps that request the "Query_All_Packages" permission can see the full list of apps you have stored on your device.

Google has now updated its Developer Programme Policy, restricting which apps are allowed to use the permission.

"Apps that have a core purpose to launch, search, or interoperate with other apps on the device may obtain scope-appropriate visibility to other installed apps on the device," Google said.

There's an exception for financial apps like banking apps and P2P wallets, which the page says "may obtain broad visibility into installed apps solely for security-based purposes." If your app meets the policy requirements for acceptable use of the "Query_All_Packages" permission, you will be required to declare this and any other high risk permissions using the declaration form in Play Console.

"Apps that fail to meet policy requirements or do not submit a Declaration Form may be removed from Google Play. Important: If you change how your app uses these restricted permissions, you must revise your declaration with updated and accurate information," Google warned.

"Deceptive and non-declared uses of these permissions may result in a suspension of your app and/or termination of your developer account".

For apps that have to interact with other apps, Google wants developers to use app-discovery APIs instead of just pulling the entire app list.

The 'Query_All_Packages' permission was added in Android 11, so it only applies to apps targeting Android 11's API level, which is "API Level 30." The Play Store's restrictions also apply to apps targeting API level 30 and up, which means not many apps will be counted to date for such restrictions.
Metro Manila (CNN Philippines, April 4)  Manila City Mayor Francisco "Isko Moreno" Domagoso received his first shot of the COVID-19 vaccine made by Chinese manufacturer Sinovac on Sunday.

The Manila Public Information Office on Sunday posted a photo of him getting his first dose at the Osmena High School in Tondo. The vaccine was administered by Manila Vice Mayor Honey Lacuna, who is a doctor.

Moreno also posted a photo of him on his Facebook account after finishing his inoculation.

"Bakunado na po ako! (I'm already vaccinated!) #VaccineNationIsTheSolution," Moreno's post read.

I made a commitment to the people of Manila that I would get the Sinovac vaccine. A lot of Filipinos have doubts about Sinovac, so as a matter of commitment, I got vaccinated with it, Moreno said in a separate statement.

Manila PIO earlier said President Rodrigo Duterte already approved a recommendation from the Inter-Agency Task Force to allow mayors and governors of high-risk areas to get vaccinated.

National Task Force Against COVID-19 Deputy Chief Vince Dizon told CNN Philippines on Sunday that the proposal includes those in the Greater Manila area or the "NCR Plus," Cordillera Administrative Region, and Central Luzon to address the COVID-19 surge. CNN Philippines is still waiting for the official document from the Inter-Agency Task Force for the Management of Emerging Infectious Diseases on this matter

.

Metro Manila Development Authority Chairman Benhur Abalos also bared that the mayors cannot choose which vaccine brand to take given the current available supply. But senior citizens must get their first dose from British-Swedish drugmaker AstraZeneca. The rest will have the CoronaVac vaccine from China's Sinovac for now.

Presidential Spokesperson Harry Roque is expected to provide more details on the issue in his briefing on Monday.

Currently, only healthcare workers, senior citizens, and persons with comorbidities are allowed to get the limited doses available, following the order of priority groups set by the government.

Earlier, Duterte called out a few mayors who jumped the line in vaccination. That time, only healthcare workers were permitted to get the shots, but this was before the government reimposed the strictest lockdown in Metro Manila, Bulacan, Laguna, Cavite, and Rizal due to a record-breaking surge in infections.
ADVERTISEMENT

Mavin Records head honcho, Don Jazzy, has for the first time ever opened up about his love life on his official Instagram handle.

Don Jazzy, whose real name is Micheal Akereh, has revealed that he was married to UK-based model and writer, Michelle Jackson, almost 18 years ago.

The marriage, he said, was however shortlived as they parted ways two years after.

The 38-year-old star producers revelation comes on the heels of a tell-all interview he granted Ebuka Obi-Uchendu on his show- BlackBox series.

During the interview, with Ebuka, he spoke about his new home, rumours that he was broke, growing up in Ajegunle and also revealed that dancehall star, Daddy Showkey, is his relative.

Regrets

Revealing why the marriage didnt work out, he said it was because he made music priority instead of his family.

I loved love and I loved marriage. Michelle is soooo beautiful inside and outside with such a soft heart. But then me being so young and full of dreams I went and f**ked it up cos I was giving all my time to my Music. Music became priority instead of my family.

We got divorced when I was 22 and it hurt. I am still very much in love with my music and I wouldnt want to marry another and f**k it up again. So Im taking my time, he wrote on his the Instagram post.

As one of Nigerias most eligible bachelors, Don Jazzy has never been one to divulge any information about his love life.

He has never been romantically linked with any lady in recent times. He was once rumored as having dated Erica of BBNaija fame and Tonto Dikeh. These claims were never substantiated.

Justifying why he was revealing details of his love life, he said, he felt bad skipping this huge part of my life out of the interview with Ebuka.

During an interview two months ago, Don Jazzy claimed that he does not have the capability to be monogamous.

He said, I dont believe Im strong enough to be with just one person. Yes, I think people will run away from me for being truthful.

I cannot be dating you and tell you that you are the only one am dating.
D.R. Dusty Bahlman may be reached by mail, in care of The Berkshire Eagle, 75 S. Church St., Pittsfield, MA 01201, or by phone at 413-441-4278 or email at notesandfootnotes39@gmail.com.
Godfather star James Caan looked typically suave in a blue suit jacket as he uses a walker to get to his car after grabbing dinner with friends in California, on Friday.

The veteran actor, 81, appeared to be in good spirits as he left Craig's in West Hollywood, which is a popular eatery among the stars of tinsel town.

He matched his outerwear with a purple and blue checked shirt and dressed down the look with a pair of jeans.

Stepping out: James Caan, 81, looked typically suave in a blue suit jacket as he uses a walker to get to his car after grabbing dinner with friends in West Hollywood on Friday

Sporting some black trainers for comfort, the star was helped to his vehicle as he left the eatery.

The Bronx native is best known for his role as Santino 'Sonny' Corleone in The Godfather as well as starring in Misery, Elf and Mickey Blue Eyes.

In February last year, at insiders revealed to MailOnline that James had undergone a back operation, and had to spend time in a wheelchair after surgery.

Leaving: The veteran actor appeared to be in good spirits as he left Craig's in West Hollywood, California, and matched his outerwear with a purple and blue checked shirt

Last year, James revealed that an Elf sequel 'will never happen' because of tension between star Will Ferrell and director Jon Favreau.

The star, who played the father of Ferrell's character Buddy Hobbs in the 2003 festive classic, explained that he and the cast were both excited and prepared to make a sequel, but it never came to be due to friction between Favreau and Ferrell, 53.

'We were gonna do it and I thought, "Oh my god, I finally got a franchise movie, I could make some money, let my kids do what the hell they want to do,"' he told Cleveland's 92.3 The Fan's Bull & Fox.

He continued, 'The director and Will didn't get along very well. So, Will wanted to do it, he didn't want the director, and he had it in his contract, it was one of those things.'

Reportedly the contracts were structured in a way that mandated both the director and actor to be on board for the project in order for a sequel to be made.

Bad blood:James revealed the reason a sequel to Elf will never happen is because Will Ferrell, 53, and director Jon Favreau, 53, do not get along; from left, Amy Sedaris, Caan and Ferrell

James has a checkered relationship history, and has been married four times.

James' first marriage to Dee Jay Mathis ended in 1966 after five years, and they share daughter Tara, 55.

Ten years later he tied the knot with Sheila Marie Ryan, but they divorced the following year in 1976, the same year they welcomed son Scott, 43.

In 1990, James married Ingrid Hajek, they welcomed son Alexander, 28, the following year and divorced in 1994.

James' fourth marriage occurred in 1995, when he tied the knot to Linda Stokes. The couple had sons James, 24, and Jacob, 21, before divorcing in 2009, citing irreconcilable differences.

One to watch: James' most famous role was Sonny Corleone in the Godfather franchise, which earned him an Oscar nomination (pictured with Marlon Brando, Al Pacino and John Cazale)

His most famous role was Sonny Corleone in the Godfather franchise, which earned him nominations for an Oscar and Golden Globe.

James suffered a health scare in 2015 when he was rushed to hospital suffering with chest pain.

But the Hollywood vet was not having a heart attack; rather he was suffering from a chest infection.

The star has not slowed down with his work in recent years, last starring in 2019 crime drama, Out of Blue.
During his last election rally here ahead of the April 6 Assembly elections in Kerala, Prime Minister Narendra Modi on Friday slammed the traditional rival political fronts in the state and appealed to the voters to give an opportunity to the BJP-led NDA this time.

The 140-member Kerala Assembly will go to the polls on April 6, while the results will be declared on May 2.

The BJP had managed to open its account in the southern state for the first time in the previous Assembly polls held in 2016, when it managed to win a single seat.

Earlier in the day, Modi was in Konni near the famed Sabarimala temple, where he took on both the ruling Left and the Congress-led opposition in Kerala, saying that people have had enough with both the outfits, while the BJP is putting forward a development agenda for the state.

In Thiruvananthapuram, Modi went a step further and said that the people of Kerala have given several chances to both the fronts -- the LDF and the UDF.

"Next year will mark the 75th year of India's Independence, and the next 25 years will be crucial for all of us. Please bless the BJP-led NDA so that we can build a dream Kerala that all of you want," said Modi.

"The Left and the UDF are twins of misgovernance and corruption. In West Bengal, after each election they get closer. So the logical step for them is a merger and they can name the new party 'CCP' (Comrade Communist Party)," said Modi.

He then lashed out at the Congress and termed it as a shameless party.

"They sacrifice our hard working professionals on the altar of politics. In the fight between the Congress (I) and the Congress (A) (the two major factions of the party in Kerala), Nambi Narayanan's (ISRO scientist) career was destroyed (in the ISRO spy scandal case). But it's not like that for us. After Metroman Sreedharan joined the BJP, he has been an inspiration to many professionals in the country who have joined the BJP," said Modi.

Taking on the ruling Left in in Kerala, Modi said that under the present regime, there is a total 'hartal' on governance.

"They have failed to present any forward looking plan. They do not even use the resources provided by the Centre and all the sectors are lagging behind," Modi said.

Earlier in Konni, the Prime Minister said that like what happened in the country during the Emergency under Jayaprakash Narayan, a similar situation is now being seen in Kerala.

"People have started to speak against the misgovernance and tyranny and a message is being sent out to those in power. Kerala is now seeing a large number of respected professionals coming to the BJP, just like Metroman Sreedharan, and this time it's going to be the BJP-led NDA," Modi said.

After his arrival in Konni, the Prime Minister was greeted by a large gathering of BJP supporters.

Slamming the traditional rival fronts, Modi said that over the years, these fronts have committed seven sins.

"The sins include false pride and arrogance and they feel they can never be defeated and hence they behave with arrogance. The second sin is both are greedy and we have seen solar, dollar, gold, land and bar scams, and over the years both these fronts have looted the state," Modi said.

"I fail to understand which government will use lathis against the devotees and this shows their anger towards their own people. The rival fronts are jealous of each other and they suffer from competitive corruption. Each of them try to beat the other in corruption, and all they want is to make money. They have lust for power and for that they will join hands with the communal and criminal forces," Modi added.

"The next sin is, both promote dynastic politics. Everybody knows what a Left leader's son is doing, but I am not naming as all know who it is. Then there is laziness in work, but when it comes to making money, there are no issues and as a result, the governance is paralysed in Kerala," Modi said.

The Prime Minister said the BJP-led NDA government has always been considerate to Kerala and in the latest Union Budget, an extensive highway plan worth Rs 65,000 crore for 1100 km of road, besides Phase 2 of Kochi Metro and a fishing harbour at Kochi, has been announced.

Modi also said that the BJP-led NDA has worked for a FAST development programme for Kerala and to implement that, all should vote for the BJP this time.
As if schoolchildren and teachers do not have enough to worry about after the pandemic-driven year of disruption, unpredictability and stress, our state has withheld federal funds provided to Texas school districts for recovery and restoration.

The Northside Independent School District board of trustees is demanding the entirety of these funds flow to districts across Texas so the immense task of funding in-depth plans for our childrens recovery continues in the best ways possible.

Congress swiftly acknowledged the pandemics strain on public schools as they quickly pivoted to virtual classrooms last year to keep students and teachers safe, healthy and learning. The CARES Act offered funding called Elementary and Secondary School Emergency Relief, or ESSER, to assist districts facing a deluge of new costs, such as protective personal equipment, sanitizing solutions, educator resources and training, technological devices and internet access so students could learn, teachers could instruct from home and schools could provide curbside meals for hungry students.

Our staff and trustees were elated to hear that $1.3 billion in stimulus aid was reserved for school districts.

Unfortunately, we still havent seen a dime of discretionary funding. Instead, the state decided to use those federal dollars to fulfill its own obligations to fund public education. It sent stimulus funds to schools but withheld the same amount of state funding, leaving districts to fend for themselves. This is an accounting ploy called supplanting.

In December, the second round of federal aid for school districts was announced. At that time, $5.5 billion in ESSER funding was approved. Like the CARES Act, the federal governments intent was for these dollars to serve as supplemental funding and go directly to school districts to help manage costs associated with the pandemic.

The news of this relief package was timely as school districts were closing out the first semester of the 2020-21 school year while facing a harsh reality  students loss of learning opportunities and access to classrooms, along with their social, emotional and mental health needs, were massive.

The new year came with a renewed sense of urgency, determination, optimism, and planning for mitigating, recovering and expanding learning  and offering wellness opportunities  as the new budget season occurred. Plans include intensive remediation and high-dosage tutoring for select students that extend beyond the school day and year.

Editorial: Anxious Texas schools beg for funding

Supporting students with smaller group instruction, additional resources and more time means more teachers and repurposed classroom models. Already, the summer programs slated for Northside ISD cost three times as much as they did last summer because three times as many students need support.

Districts also recognize that the demand for increased mental, social and emotional health, and wrap-around services for students, families and educators will require more educator training, quality resources and trained personnel. Furthermore, ensuring updated and supportive technological tools and increased broadband access for all students continues to be a priority, along with bringing back students who have seemingly disappeared.

Sadly, the much-needed federal relief  about $264 million  directed to our students still has not materialized. As April begins, this funding for NISD students and teachers remains inaccessible.

The state has dragged its feet. The 87th Texas Legislature is more than halfway through its session, and its leaders have been cryptic about their intentions to deliver federal dollars promised to school districts.

The silver lining is public schools have a history of going above and beyond to ensure that exemplary teaching and learning occur despite being underfunded and regularly criticized. Even during an emergency like the pandemic, our educators and trustees remain committed to ensuring our children have every opportunity for a brilliant future.

The federal government thinks so, too. That is why lawmakers approved a third round of ESSER funding in the American Rescue Plan Act. The NISD board firmly believes Texas should not continue to use ESSER dollars to alleviate its responsibility to public education. It has a legal and moral obligation to send federal aid to schools now.

Our students and teachers need and deserve more from all of us  and with the ESSER funding, a solid foundation for a robust recovery can be actualized.

Carol Harle is president of the Northside ISD board of trustees, which supports this op-ed. She has a Ph.D in curricular studies from the University of Texas.
Vice President on Friday condoled the death of Police Officer William Evans, saying that he "made the ultimate sacrifice protecting the Capitol and those who work there on behalf of the American people."

Evans died while another police officer was hospitalised after a car crashed into a security barrier at the complex after which the driver lunged towards the officers with a knife, police said. The officers opened fire and the suspect was shot dead.

"Officer Evans, his family, and all those who knew him are in our hearts and prayers. We mourn with them during this difficult time," the US vice president said in the statement.

"Doug and I are grateful for the Capitol Police, the National Guard Immediate Response Force, and everyone else who responded swiftly to today's attack," Harris, who served in the Senate for four years, said.

"And we continue to be proud of the courageous men and women who defend the Capitol, especially during a challenging period when they have faced two violent and deadly attacks," she said.

Harris also said, "In an inexplicable act of violence, a brave Police Officer, William Evans, was killed in the line of duty while another officer fights for his life. Officer Evans made the ultimate sacrifice to protect the Capitol. Our hearts go out to his family and loved ones."

Earlier on Friday, the White House flag was lowered to half-staff following the death of the the 18-year US Capitol Police veteran.

US President Joe Biden reacted to the incident saying he and first lady Jill Biden were heartbroken.

"Jill and I were heartbroken to learn of the violent attack at a security checkpoint on the US Capitol grounds, which killed Officer William Evans of the US Capitol Police, and left a fellow officer fighting for his life," Biden said.

"We send our heartfelt condolences to Officer Evans' family, and everyone grieving his loss. We know what a difficult time this has been for the Capitol, everyone who works there, and those who protect it," the President said.

The US Capitol went into lockdown on Friday (local time) after the incident at the North Barricade vehicle access point along Constitution Avenue outside the iconic building.

Federal and Law enforcement sources told CNN that the suspect in the attack was 25-year-old Noah Green from Indiana.

"It is with profound sadness that I share the news of the passing of Officer William 'Billy' Evans this afternoon from injuries he sustained following an attack at the North Barricade by a lone assailant," Acting Police Chief Yogananda Pittman of the US Capitol Police (USCP) said.

"Just after 1 pm, a man in a blue sedan rammed his vehicle into the North Barricade at the US Capitol, striking 2 USCP officers. The Department immediately locked down the Capitol Campus," according to a statement by the US Capital Police.

"The man exited the vehicle with a knife and ran toward our officers. At least one officer drew their weapon and shot the suspect. One USCP officer was transported by a USCP cruiser to the hospital. The second USCP officer was transported by DC Fire and EMS. The suspect was also transported by DC Fire and EMS to the hospital where he succumbed to his injuries around 1:30 pm," the police said.

The incident follows recent ramping down of some additional protective measures that were put into place after the January 6 insurrection at the Capitol Hill complex.

(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.)
Bollywood insiders say the Hindi film industry works on relationships and talent. As for the former, nobody knows that better than veteran producer Anand Pandit. He is a friend and confidante to many within the fraternity and outside. On Ajay Devgn's birthday the producer praised the actor for what he calls is the 'method in the madness'.

Anand Pandit who has co-produced the forthcoming corporate drama, The Big Bull, with actor, producer Ajay Devgn sent special wishes which gave a peak into the camaraderie the two share.

Pandit said, I have worked with many filmmakers, actors and directors and Ajay is one of the most hands-on producers I have had the pleasure of synergising with. He knows the technicalities of cinema, scripting and is extremely particular about maintaining the economy of resources. He doesnt waste words, time or money and leads by example.

Pandit is eager to see how their joint production The Big Bull will be received on April 8 when it streams worldwide on streaming platform Disney+Hotstar.

The veteran producer adds, For both Ajay and me, this film has been a very fulfilling journey and now it is up to the audience to give us their feedback. I have loved collaborating with Ajay and hopefully we will work together again soon.

The Big Bull is a Kookie Gulati directorial and stars Abhishek Bachchan, Ileana D'Cruz and Lekha Prajapati.
New Delhi:

The concerns over safety of children in schools rose to new levels after the brutal murder of 7-year-old student inside Ryan International School in Gurugram. Now, a Delhi Public School student attempted suicide in Kanpurs Kalyanpur branch on Sunday.

As per reports, the DPS Kalyanpur student attempted suicide allegedly after being troubled by teachers. The student is hospitalised in a critical condition.

The student alleged in the suicide note that he was troubled by teachers and school principal.

Incidents related to schools have significantly gone up since the Ryan International school murder case.

In a separate incident in Uttar Pradesh, two students of Maa Durgaji Senior Secondary Vidyalaya went missing for more than 28 hours in Jaunpur.

As per reports, the Principal of school had beaten them and asked them to go home from school at 12 PM. But, the students failed to reach their homes.

For all the Latest India News, Download News Nation Android and iOS Mobile Apps.




KEY TAKEAWAYS

Supreme Court of India on Friday has reserved orders in a plea seeking interim directions in order to restrain the Government from deporting those detained in Jammu back to Myanmar.

Deporting the Rohingyas will be a clear violation article 33(1) of United Nations Convention on Refugees, which lays down the principle of non-refoulement. However, India is not a party to the convention.

An intervention application has been filed by UN special rapporteur, which the court has refused to hear presently.

India does not yet have any legislation concerning refugees.

INTRODUCTION

Recently, the Supreme Court of India has been approached with an application seeking the release of Rohingyas detained in Jammu and to stop the government from deporting them. The original petition seeking to secure and protect the rights of Rohingyas was filed in 2017 by the same petitioner Mohammad Salimullah is still pending before the court.

Rohingyas, an ethnic group chiefly comprising of muslims who have migrated to Myanmar during the colonial era and after independence they were declared to be illegal migrants. Decades later, a new citizenship bill was passed in 1982 which also did not recognize them as citizens. Thus, Myanmar government has never recognized them citizens. In seventies, Myanmar has forced Rohingyas to flee from the country.

After an incident in 2012 when a Buddhist woman in Rakhine province of Myanmar, which was majorly populated by Rohingyas, was raped and brutally murdered, resulting into riots as retaliation for the same. This has rendered rohingyas stateless and now they are the largest group of people who do not have citizenship and are deprived of the rights that a country grants to its citizens.

In response to such violence, several rohingyas have formed militant organisation the Arakan Rohingya Salvation Army(ARSA) or the Harkat-al-yaqin and Rohingya Solidarity Army which has claimed to fight for a democratic Muslim state for Rohingyas. In 2017, 30 police posts and one army base in Myanmar were attacked of which the ARSA has expressly taken responsibility. This has added to the difficulties faced by the Rohingyas in Myanmar and they are facing continuous violent persecution at the hands of Myanmar

Government, military and Buddhist nationals of the country.

THE INDIAN SCENARIO- CASE AT HAND

In 2017, the Union Minister of State for Home Affairs Kiren Rijiju has referred to Rohingyas as illegal immigrants in the Parliament. He further added anybody who is an illegal migrant will be deported.

Against this attempt to deport rohingyas, a petition was filed before the court in Mohammad Salimullah v. Union of India which is yet to be heard. Apart from this, another application was filed before the Supreme Court seeking release of rohingyas detained in Jammu and to restrain the government from deporting them.

The petition was filed after a news report on 7th March 2021 stated that Jammu & Kashmir administration is setting up holding centres in Kathua and has placed 150 Rohingyas in it under Foreigners Act.

In the petition it has been submitted that deporting rohingyas back to Myanmar would be in violation of article 33(1) of UN Convention on Refugees which has laid down the principle of non-refoulement. As per this article "No Contracting State shall expel or return ("refouler") a refugee in any manner whatsoever to the frontiers of territories where his life or freedom would be threatened on account of his race, religion, nationality, membership of a particular social group or political opinion.

It has been argued that The deportation would not only violate their Article 21 right and all international norms but would almost be like sending them back to torture or death.

India however, is not a party to this convention. Apart from this article 33(2) of the convention states that "The benefit of the present provision [i.e. Article 33(1) referred to above] may not however be claimed by a refugee whom there are reasonable grounds for regarding as a danger to the security of the country in which he is, or who, having been convicted by a final judgement of a particularly serious crime, constitutes a danger to the community of that country."

The government has previously on the matter explained that a large number of Rohingya migrants represent a threat on the national security.

Sr. Adv. Prashant Bhushan in response to the proposition that the government of Myanmar should be consulted on the citizenship issue, have argued that the government of Myanmar has been recognized to be illegal by various international authorities, and thus, it should not be trusted.

Solicitor General Harish Salve submitted that Municipal Courts does not have the power to recognize another sovereign state as illegal. He further submitted "treaties which the Govt of India has not signed for good reasons, to get them enforced through court, will be elbowing the govt".

The Supreme Court has reserved the orders on the concerned matter.

A LARGER PICTURE

It is indeed true that Rohingyas have been facing brutalities at the hands of their own government and military for ages. Hundreds of thousands of people have become stateless. No place to call their own. Children are being murdered for no reasons. The Rohingya people have been deprived of their dignity and human rights. The fight that initially for citizenship rights have now revealed its ugliest side and more than citizenship, it has taken a face of religious violence.

At present, around 11 lakh rohingyas have taken refuge in Bangladesh and hundreds of thousands of them have crossed borders and are living in India. Although, on humanitarian grounds, the neighbouring countries should help out these refugees, but on the other hand, it is also a fact that such huge amount of displaced people from Myanmar are creating a socio-economic burden on the countries. Bangladesh has already made it clear that it does not have enough resources to cater the needs of so many rohingya refugees.

On the other hand, India is already an overpopulated country. There is a limit to which it can accommodate people from other countries. India already has several hundred thousands of refugees from Tibet, Bangladesh, Sri Lanka, Afghanistan, Pakistan and 40,000 rohingyas. Keeping that in mind, India need not be lectured on humanitarian values that a state should showcase.

Many people are also of the view that this deportation is a stance of the Government not because of the possible security threats, but against the Muslim community as it has only targeted a particular religion in the Citizenship Amendment Bill.

Apart from it, the region of Jammu & Kashmir is very vulnerable and has been subjected to terrorist attacks and that the terrorist organisations has always attempted to astray the youth in the region. It has to be considered that since they are huge in number, radicalised Rohingya youth can be an easy prey for the terrorist organisations and use them against the country to cause violence and nuisance.

Already, many organisations that have been formed to provide a democratic Muslim state for Rohingyas which are receiving assistance from terrorist organisation. These circumstances in long are probably a serious threat in a country which is already facing many communal issues.

Apart from that, there are many Rohingyas who are by fraudulent means getting themselves issued identity cards such as aadhar which is meant only for citizens. If such activities are continued for a longer period of time it would lead to naturalisation. Also, since many organisations have been formed to provide for a separate Muslim state for rohingyas, it might lead to unfavourable circumstances for the country.

CONCLUSION

Despite the probable threats that India might face if Rohingyas are allowed to settle up in the country, it would indeed be inhuman to deport them to Myanmar when there are high chances that they are going to slaughtered. Since India does not yet have any legislation regarding refugees, the government should not take any step under the pressure of the International Organisations. Rather, a solution should be reached out that might in long term help control the situation.

The Supreme Courts say in the deportation matter is much awaited.

Click here to download the original copy of the judgement


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.
India saw the highest number of coronavirus cases in six months in the last 24 hours. The country recorded 89,129 new coronavirus cases and 714 deaths in the past day, as mentioned by the Union Health Ministry. There have been as many as 44,202 discharges in the same period.

India currently has 6,58,909 active cases, taking the cumulative case tally to over 1.23 crore. As many as 1.15 crore people overall have recovered from coronavirus in the country, while the COVID-19 death toll has reached 1,64,110.

The Indian Council of Medical Research stated that 24,69,59,192 samples have been tested so far, including 10 lakh samples that were tested on Friday.

While cases are on the rise, the vaccination drive is also undergoing in full force. More than 7.3 crore vaccine doses have been administered in the country so far, out of which 31 lakh doses were administered in the last 24 hours. India started the third phase of the vaccination drive on April 1. Everyone above the age of 45 years is now eligible for the vaccine.

Meanwhile, several states have tightened restrictions as cases continue to surge. Karnataka became the latest state to impose new restrictions such as capping capacity at cinema halls, pubs, bars, restaurants at 50 per cent, disallowing in-person classes for students from Class 6-9, and closing gyms and swimming pools.

Maharashtra that has the highest number of coronavirus cases in the country is now staring at a possible lockdown. CM Uddhav Thackeray said that strict restriction, and even a lockdown, could be imposed if the situation persists.

Delhi CM Arvind Kejriwal said that while it might be the second wave for the country, Delhi is witnessing the fourth wave. "For the rest of the country, one may call it the second wave. But for Delhi, this is the fourth wave. We are heading towards the fourth peak. This wave is witnessing exponential increase in cases and spreading very fast. It is concerning but there is nothing to panic because this wave is also less severe in terms of number of deaths and cases that require hospitalisation, admission to ICU, etc," he said at a news briefing.

Also read: Delhi seeing '4th wave' of coronavirus, no lockdown plans yet, says Kejriwal

Also read: India races past US in daily COVID-19 cases
AeroSearcher, the premier search engine for aircraft for sale, aviation jobs, and aviation parts and products, has now added aviation photos to its content. The site has also been redesigned to simplify and consolidate data. It not only provides all the data in one place, but it summarizes information into trends.

If someone is looking for an aircraft to purchase, for a new job, for a part or a product, or for a photo, AeroSearcher is the place to start, says Jeff Miller Co-Owner. Say youre shopping for a particular type of aircraft. Not only does AeroSearcher index listings from multiple sources, it gathers data to show you the average price, where most of the aircraft are located, and average number of days on the market. You dont just get information, you get intelligence.

The latest addition to the site, aviation photography, is for aviation enthusiasts, journalists or anyone interested in aircraft photos. Users can search aircraft make, model, location, and more  virtually any keyword will work. Users who wish to obtain additional image details are directed back to the original source by clicking on the photo.

We have between eight and nine million images in the feed. Someone can search for a photo of a Gulfstream G650 departing Madrid at sunset, says Miller. If its out there, well have it.

AeroSearcher gathers data either by direct feed from partners or via aggregation; it scans the internet to provide data to AeroSearchers four streams: planes, products, positions and pictures. Feed partners are assured their data is included in the AeroSearcher search index (i.e., aircraft classifieds providers, job boards, parts and products suppliers, and photo sites). There also are distribution partners who have the AeroSearcher widget embedded in their website. This enables visitors to utilize the search functionality of AeroSearcher without leaving the host site. To become an AeroSearcher feed or widget partner contact ashleys@aerosearcher.com

People use AeroSearcher because it has all the power of the internet in one site. Instead of browsing multiple sites and manually having to compare items, AeroSearcher consolidates results from many sites in one place. The advanced search features help users narrow their choices by allowing them to compare and filter data, which saves them time and keeps them coming back. Users can create free accounts to receive aircraft listing and job notifications as well.

About AeroSearcher

AeroSearcher is the most powerful aviation search engine in the world. Serving the general and business aviation marketplaces, it is the best place for aviators to begin their search for aircraft for sale, aviation jobs, parts and products, and millions of aviation photos. There is no single place on the web where users can search and find whatever aviation-related item they are looking for faster.

AeroSearchers advanced features allow users to view the entire marketplace from one centralized source. Users can make decisions based on all available data without having to browse multiple sites. Features like free push notifications keep the aviation community abreast of updates to their searches, alerting them to changes in the market or new job opportunities.

To learn more, please visit: https://aerosearcher.com/

Media Contact:

Ashley Skinner

ashleys@aerosearcher.com
 Flash

Chinese State Councilor and Foreign Minister Wang Yi held talks with his Philippine counterpart Teodoro Locsin on Friday in Nanping City, Fujian Province.

Wang said China is willing to continue to promote vaccine cooperation with the Philippines, calling on both sides to solidly advance the high-quality Belt and Road cooperation and endeavor to complete key projects on schedule.

"China is willing to work with the Philippines to further enhance the level of trade liberalization and facilitation, and explore cooperation in emerging areas such as cross-border e-commerce," Wang said.

He also expressed China's willingness to work with ASEAN countries, including the Philippines, to promote the early implementation of the Regional Comprehensive Economic Partnership (RCEP) agreement, to fully and effectively implement the Declaration on the Conduct of Parties in the South China Sea, to accelerate consultations on the Code of Conduct in the South China Sea, so as to maintain stability in the region.

Locsin said his country is committed to further developing bilateral relations, and thanked China for its strong support to the Philippines in fighting the epidemic, particularly the aid and provision of vaccines.

China's provision of vaccines is not to carry out "vaccine diplomacy," but to demonstrate its responsibility, Locsin said, adding without China's support, it will be difficult for the region and the world to recover from the epidemic.

He congratulated China on being elected as a member of the United Nations Human Rights Council from 2021 to 2023, and looked forward to strengthening coordination and cooperation with China within the framework of the Human Rights Council.
Phoebe Burgess got in the Easter spirit with her family on Saturday.

The budding influencer, 31, headed to the Sydney Royal Easter Show with her children Poppy, four, and Billy, two.

She was also accompanied by her parents including parents Sarah and Mitch Hooke, and her sister, Harriet.

Sweet: Phoebe Burgess got in the Easter spirit with her family on Saturday. The budding influencer, 31, headed to the Sydney Royal Easter Show with her children Poppy, four, and Billy, two. Pictured with daughter Phoebe

In a series of photos taken on the day, Phoebe documented the family outing, posing in a Akubra hat as she cuddled up to daughter Poppy.

Further photos show her father Mitch, also in a hat and pink shirt, posing with Phoebe and pushing Billy in a pram.

The family gathered in the stands to watch the live show, with grandmother Sarah beaming as she held Billy on her lap, while Phoebe had Poppy.

Family: She was also accompanied by her parents including parents father Mitch Hooke, who was wearing a pink shirt. Pictured with her father, son Billy and daughter Poppy

Mum's here too! The family gathered in the stands to watch the live show, with grandmother Sarah beaming as she held Billy on her lap, while Phoebe had Poppy

Sweet! Phoebe's sister Harriet (far right) dressed in pink like her father, carried Poppy on her hip as she showed the children the petting zoo, with nan Sarah joining in

'Billy almost died of pure amazement watching the monster trucks' Phoebe explained in one of her captions.

Little Billy and Poppy spend some time playing with the farm animals, playing happily among some cows.

Harriet, dressed in pink like her father, carried Poppy on her hip as she showed the children the petting zoo.

Sweet: Little Billy and Poppy spend some time playing with the farm animals

They love it! Billy was playing happily among some cows

Petty zoo: The family wore Akubra hats for their Easter outing, including little Poppy

Phoebe looked as fashionable as ever in her Akubra hat, worn with a light blue shirt with rolled-up sleeves.

She added a pair of blue jeans and leather boots, and carried a caramel toned tote bag.

The former WAG captioned one set of photos: We braved a Saturday at the Easter Show'.
House Financial Services Committee members Tom Emmer, R-Minn., and Ed Perlmutter, D-Colo., Thursday introduced NAFCU-sought legislation that would improve existing language in the Federal Credit Union (FCU) Act related to expulsion in order to protect credit unions, members, and employees.

NAFCU applauds Representatives Tom Emmer and Ed Perlmutter for introducing legislation that will help protect credit unions and their members from abusive, fraudulent, and criminal activity, said NAFCU President and CEO Dan Berger. Ensuring credit unions have the ability to address illegal activity or threatening behavior at their institutions is paramount so they can continue to safely and soundly serve their members and local communities. NAFCU strongly supports this bipartisan bill, and we will continue to advocate for Congress to pass these important reforms.

Emmer and Perlmutter introduced similar legislation last year, and similar legislation was also introduced in the Senate.

As proposed, the legislation would allow credit unions to adopt an expulsion policy to expel members who engage in abusive or illegal behavior, while allowing for an appeal process that would provide due process for the accused member. Currently, federal credit unions are required to hold a special vote and obtain two-thirds approval from all members in order to expel a member.
Source: Xinhua| 2021-04-03 21:09:24|Editor: huaxia

Video Player Close

People walk past an NHS (National Health Service) COVID-19 Vaccination Center in London, Britain, on March 31, 2021. (Xinhua/Han Yan)

Seven people have died from unusual blood clots after getting the AstraZeneca vaccine in Britain, the BBC reported on Saturday, quoting the country's medicines regulator.

LONDON, April 3 (Xinhua) -- Britain's Medicines and Healthcare products Regulatory Agency (MHRA) has received 30 reports of blood clots out of a total of 18.1 million doses of AstraZeneca COVID-19 vaccine given by March 24 and its review into these reports is ongoing, according to the latest information from the MHRA.

These blood clot cases include 22 reports of cerebral venous sinus thrombosis (CVST) and eight reports of other thrombosis events with low platelets, the MHRA said in an analysis report updated on Thursday.

Seven people have died from unusual blood clots after getting the AstraZeneca vaccine in Britain, the BBC reported on Saturday, quoting the country's medicines regulator.

British Prime Minister Boris Johnson is given the Oxford-AstraZeneca COVID-19 vaccine at St Thomas' Hospital in London, Britain, March 19, 2021. (Andrew Parsons/No 10 Downing Street/Handout via Xinhua)

On the basis of this ongoing review, the benefits of the vaccines against COVID-19 continue to outweigh any risks and people should continue to get their vaccine when invited to do so, the MHRA said.

More than 31.3 million people in Britain have been given the first jab of the coronavirus vaccine, according to the latest official figures.

To bring life back to normal, countries such as Britain, China, Russia, the United States as well as the European Union have been racing against time to roll out coronavirus vaccines. 
It's a mighty long way from the Ballymakenny Road to Christchurch, New Zealand (about 18,868km to be exact) and it's a world away too in how locals are tackling the COVID-19 crisis.

Shauna Synnott has spent the past number of years in New Zealand and admits she has been pretty lucky over there during the pandemic.

'The second a case was confirmed we went straight into Level 4. The entire country was really good at just following instructions from the government and they did an amazing job of communicating daily with the country.

'I worked as a bar manager at the time and luckily over here you must serve food with alcohol so we could operate as a food takeaway for the four weeks we had restrictions. We have a great local community that supported us really well and the government provided payment for all businesses who had lost money due to covid.

'I think what we did differently to Ireland is we fully locked down straight away and most importantly stopped all flights coming in and those who did were put into managed isolation. The government in NZ was so good at communicating and doing things logically that the people trusted them more.'

Christchurch has a population of almost 400,000 and is the country's second largest city.

For Shauna, it's a great place to live and work.

'The advantages to Ireland are definitely better job opportunities, the weather is good and the people are super friendly and welcoming. It's definitely a place I would recommend people live in, the population is very spread out all over the north and south so there aren't too many people in once place. It's just like Ireland but the weather is better and the jobs more rewarding.'

It's a country with a high cost of living, but wages are better too.

'Although you do earn a bit more, it's not cheap to rent here or buy a house and by the looks of things it seems like this issue will grow as the economy is affected by the lack of tourists and the pandemic,' she added.
Political pundits and independent fact-checkers are pushing back on some of President Joe Bidens claims about a newly passed Georgia law that will reform the states election laws and procedures.

Gov. Brian Kemp, R-Ga., signed into law the Election Integrity Act of 2021 last week, much to the chagrin of Democratic politicians in his state and around the country. The measure comes shortly after the 2020 presidential election, where allegations of fraud caused many to doubt the legitimacy of the results.

Following the passage of the bill, Biden described the measure as an atrocity, alleging that the bill has a provision saying that you cant provide water for people standing in line while theyre waiting to vote. According to Biden, You dont need anything else to know that this is nothing but punitive and designed to keep people from voting.

As Fox News senior political analyst Brit Hume explained during an appearance on Tucker Carlson Tonight Tuesday, the bill permits poll workers and others to distribute water as they so choose. He clarified that what they cant do is walk up on the street and say here, have a little water, and by the way, the water bottle says Vote for Joe, referring to such an act as an example of electioneering.

Source:The Christian Post
Smart services help Chinese citizens live more comfortable life

09:57, April 03, 2021 By Jin Bo, Ju Yunpeng ( People's Daily

A smart robot patrolling a residential complex in Jinan, capital of east Chinas Shandong province, attracts the attention of citizens, July 21, 2020. The smart patrol robot can identify hazardous conditions and illegal activities like noise, fire hazard, and illegal parking and send messages to the police of the local community. (Photo by Hao Xincheng/Peoples Daily Online)

Since last year, it has become the norm that people are asked to show a digital health QR code that demonstrates their health condition before entering shopping malls and office areas. However, the requirement posed quite a challenge to senior citizens who dont really know how to use smartphones.

In an effort to solve the problem, Caoyangxincun residential community in Putuo district of Shanghai took the lead in piloting an integrated detection system developed through efforts initiated by Chinas Ministry of Public Security (MPS).

The integrated detection system can realize interconnection between a persons ID card information and health code information, and display on screen the persons health status whenever his/her ID card is put on a certain area of the detection device of the system.

Since it was put into use in public spaces much frequented by senior citizens, such as community affairs service center, cultural activity center and canteens of the community, the integrated system has won unanimous praise from residents.

In Yuzhong district, southwest Chinas Chongqing municipality, smart services have made some residents to solve their everyday problems simpler and easier.

Huang Jie, a resident who has lived in a residential complex in Baixiangjie subdistrict, Yuzhong district, since last August, once used a dedicated mobile phone app designed for owners of the houses in the residential complex to report on a broken switch in his home. Just 10 minutes after he reported the situation, a technician came to his home to repair the switch.

Its so convenient. I didnt expect the problem could be solved so fast, Huang said.

The app Huang used is in fact the mobile service platform adopted by the residential complex he lives in. It allows residents to seek help with problems in everyday life, like making requests for repair and inquiries about relevant affairs.

Besides, designated members of the management team of buildings in the residential complex can check the schedules for and progress in various cases, and collect information about the results of cases and residents evaluation of the services they received and other information through the platform, in a bid to ensure that residents problems are solved timely.

In addition to the mobile service platform, the residential complex has also introduced security monitoring devices to prevent high-rise littering. These devices have effectively reduced the occurrence of high-rise littering and other uncivil activities and made the living environment of residents safer.

More residential communities in Yuzhong district have introduced such smart facilities. In many communities, each residential building has an access control system, which allows house owners to talk to visitors to confirm their identity before opening doors for them.

Yuzhong district has witnessed residents benefit from many more intelligent devices. For instance, people who live alone can press a button to turn on their video intercom and ask help from the central control office; and the central control office of residential complexes can spot unextinguished cigarette end in time through smart management system and immediately send people to deal with it.

This year, we will urge enterprises to make more efforts to improve and install smart devices in communities, such as preventing high-rise littering and optimize the design of owner service platforms, so that residents can feel more carefree and comfortable, said Zhao Chuan, secretary of the Communist Party of China (CPC) committee in Baixiangjie subdistrict.

Thanks to smart management systems, Changning district of Shanghai have made many residential communities safer.

By making earnest efforts to promote the construction of smart security facilities, Changning district had increased the detection rate of theft cases to 99.5 percent by the end of last November.

All burglary, pickpocketing, and car theft cases had been solved and the burglary rate in 99.3 percent of the residential complexes in Changning district dropped to zero.

The public security sub-bureau of Changning district has comprehensively strengthened the construction of intelligent security facilities. By installing smart public security prevention and sensing devices on road surfaces and residential buildings, the public security sub-bureau collect, upload, and analyze data via cloud platform in real time, thus realizing real-time control over and prompt response to public security situation of its jurisdiction.

So far, all the 860 residential complexes in Changning district have been fully covered by smart security facilities, and all the data collected by these facilities are uploaded on to cloud platforms.

Moreover, the construction of Changning districts smart public security prevention and control system has improved and upgraded the capacity of criminal investigation department for combating and solving crimes.

With the help of devices driven by modern technologies such as big data and artificial intelligence, the police can detect and solve theft cases quickly and even immediately after they happen.

Enable Ginger Cannot connect to Ginger Check your internet connection

or reload the browser Disable in this text field Edit Edit in Ginger Edit in Ginger

(Web editor: Kou Jie, Bianji)
KYODO NEWS - Apr 3, 2021 - 22:01 | All, Japan, Coronavirus

Most of Japan's prefectures are seeing a rise in the number of novel coronavirus infections, health ministry data showed Saturday, with Osaka Prefecture logging a single-day record of 666 cases, further fueling concerns over a sharp resurgence.

Of Japan's 47 prefectures, 42 have reported an increase in virus cases compared with the previous week, putting a strain on the country's medical system amid a rise in occupancy rates in hospital beds for COVID-19 patients, according to the Ministry of Health, Labor and Welfare.

The tally comes after the central government designated Osaka, Hyogo and Miyagi prefectures for stronger anti-virus measures effective from the coming Monday for one month. Steps include introducing fines for eateries that ignore mandates to shorten operating hours.

Osaka reported over 600 daily cases for the third consecutive day, with Saturday's tally exceeding the previous record of 654 on Jan. 8 during the third wave of the pandemic.

The western Japan prefecture's daily infections exceeded Tokyo's 446 cases reported Saturday. The Japanese capital saw a decrease in virus cases following a state of emergency in January through the beginning of March but is similarly experiencing a rebound.

The prefectures where the volume of weekly infection cases per 100,000 people by Thursday had reached Stage 4, the worst level on the government's four-point scale, include Miyagi and Osaka. Tokyo and Hyogo are among the areas at Stage 3, according to the health ministry.

Despite Osaka city's request to the public to limit dining to a maximum of four people, it found that nine employees of its division on elderly care facilities held a farewell party at a "yakiniku" grilled meat restaurant on the evening of March 26. Two of the attendees later tested positive for COVID-19.

On the same day, a different group of city employees also dined out together. The city said Saturday that of the five who went to an "izakaya" Japanese-style pub, three have tested positive for the virus.
Tom Doherty Associates, home to SFF publisher Tor Books and other genre imprints, is releasing its first print titles under the Nightfire name in September. Tor has always published horror, says Fritz Foy, president and publisher at TDA, citing long-established writers including Ramsey Campbell, Brian Lumley, and Chelsea Quinn Yarbro. Today, he says, theres an incredibly diverse group of authors and artists creating new ways to share stories, and the dedicated horror imprint is a way to answer the call of a vocal and enthusiastic audience.

In 2019, Nightfire released the audio-only horror anthology Come Join Us by the Fire, with 35 stories by Carmen Maria Machado, Paul Tremblay, Alyssa Wong, and others; a second installment followed in 2020. This fall brings Nightfires first round of print releases: trade paper reissues, including 2016s Certain Dark Things by Silvia Moreno-Garcia, and several new books.

Heres a look at the first original titles in Nightfires debut line, plus three forthcoming releases from authors whose earlier works received starred reviews from PW.

The Final Girl Support Group Grady Hendrix. Berkley, July Hendrixs most recent release, The Southern Book Clubs Guide to Slaying Vampires, is a powerful, eclectic novel, per PWs starred review, that pays homage to the literary vampire canon and stands singularly within it. In his new book, the author plays with the trope of the final girl, or last woman standing in a slasher flick. Lynnette Tarkington attends weekly therapy sessions with other massacre survivors to address their lasting trauma; when one of the group members goes missing, Lynnette fears the worst.



more

The Last House on Needless Street Catriona Ward. Nightfire, Oct. Ted, who suffers from suspicious gaps in his memory, lives with his teenage daughter, Lauren, who is no longer permitted outside after a mysterious incident, and their cat, Olivia, who reads the Bible and is a keen observer of human nature. A new neighbor moves in next door, believing Ted is responsible for her little sisters disappearance years earlier. PWs starred review of Wards debut, 2017s The Girl from Rawblood, said the author perfectly balances sensory richness with the chills of the uncanny.



more

My Heart Is a Chainsaw Stephen Graham Jones. Saga, Sept. In what PWs starred review called an audacious extravaganza, 17-year-old Jade Daniels, who is of Blackfoot descent, draws on her deep knowledge of horror films to investigate a series of deaths in her gentrifying town. Jones expertly mixes the frightening and the funny, the review said, in this no-holds-barred homage to classic horror tropes written under the heady influence of splatter films. The authors previous novels include 2020s PW-starred The Only Good Indians.



more

Slewfoot Brom. Nightfire, Sept. In 1666, Abitha arrives in colonial Connecticut, betrothed to a stranger. Her new husband dies under shadowy circumstances soon after theyre wed, making her an outcast in her Puritan community. She turns to Slewfoot, a spirit (or possibly a demon), for help, setting off a battle between Puritan and pagan. Author-illustrator Brom intersperses his tale with two dozen dark, fantastical paintings.



more

Sorrowland Rivers Solomon. MCD, May This outstanding third novel earned Solomon their third PW starred review, and praise for a breathtaking range of reference that will enable any reader, from horror geek to Derridean academic, to engage with this thrilling tale. Vern, pregnant at 15, flees her religious compound for the woods, but a mysterious fiend and Verns strange bodily metamorphoses force her to leave her hiding place in search of answers.



more

Return to the main feature.
Dozens killed after train derails in Taiwan

Dozens killed after train derails in Taiwan
The WTA 2021 officially opened its voting portal at www.worldtravelawards.com from March 30, 2021, remaining open until August 16.

Readers around the world can vote for awards at both regional and continental level, and select the best candidates for the global competition.

This year, Vietnam tourism is honoured to be nominated for many categories, especially Asias Leading Destination 2021, Asias Leading Heritage Destination 2021, Asias Leading Nature Destination 2021, Asias Leading Sustainable Tourism Destination 2021, Asias Leading City Break Destination 2021, Asia's Leading Festival & Event Destination 2021 and Asia's Leading National Park 2021.

Vietnam has two candidate representatives in the category of Asias Leading Culture City Destination 2021, including Hoi An and Hue.

The attention and votes of a large number of people, tourists and communities will help Vietnamese tourism win precious awards, contributing to promoting its image as a safe and beautiful country to international friends.

The annual WTA was launched in 1993 to acknowledge the outstanding achievements of the travel and tourism sectors.
Armie Hammer has withdrawn from the Broadway production of The Minutes.

The announcement was made today amid an investigation of Hammer by the Los Angeles Police Department concerning sexual assault allegations.

"I have loved every single second of working on The Minutes with the family I made from Steppenwolf," Hammer said in a statement. "But right now I need to focus on myself and my health for the sake of my family. Consequently, I will not be returning to Broadway with the production."

The Minutes, written by Tracy Letts, had played 19 previews before it was forced to shut down due to the Covid crisis. The Steppenwolf production is still planning to return to Broadway on March 15, 2022 (exactly two years to the day of the originally scheduled opening), after having vacated the Cort Theatre to make way for the venue's renovations. A new theater for the production has yet to be announced.

As of now, the whole creative team remains intact. It is expected that the rest of the Broadway company  Ian Barford, Blair Brown, Cliff Chamberlain, K. Todd Freeman Tracy Letts, Danny McCarthy, Jessie Mueller, Sally Murphy, Austin Pendleton, and Jeff Still  will return. Anna D. Shapiro directs.

The Minutes premiered at Steppenwolf Theatre Company in 2017. The play is set during a small town's city council meeting, when hypocrisy, greed, and ambition bubble to the surface as a newcomer starts to ask the wrong questions.
The Easter Show is back! So, we in Sydney are celebrating like it is 2019  with some signs of normality. Have we won against COVID? It is too soon to declare victory. But for Christians like me, we declare victory every Easter. In the Bibles words, Death has been swallowed up in victory  Thanks be to God! He gives us the victory through our Lord Jesus Christ.

To set it in context, the Easter narrative is the culmination of Gods rescue plan for Planet Earth. Jesus, the perfect son of God, enters our imperfect world to repair our broken relationship with God.

The Easter narrative is the culmination of Gods rescue plan for Planet Earth. Credit:GordonImages

I admit that the victory that Christ won at Easter is an unlikely one. It reminds me of the conquest the soldiers of Athens won against the might of the Persian army. In 490 BC, Persia had conquered most of the known world, and they turned their attention to Greece, and in particular to the little nation-state of Athens. The Persians arrived by ship on the east coast of Greece, and set up camp at the plain of Marathon. The Athenian army marched out to meet them, and although the Persians outnumbered them three to one, they won the battle decisively.

The Athenian general sent his fastest runner, a man named Pheidippides, to take the good news back to the city of Athens. Pheidippides ran the entire distance from Marathon to Athens, more than 40 kilometres. This story was the inspiration for the modern marathon.
Investment trust BlackRock World Mining is a commodities fund with a twist that currently appeals to many income investors.

The 1billion stock market listed fund not only performs well when commodity prices are booming, but through adept management it also delivers an attractive quarterly income  presently equivalent to 3.6 per cent a year.

It's an enticing mix that has attracted a small army of investors to the trust's shares  and they have not been disappointed. Over the past year, it has delivered an outstanding overall return of 122 per cent, yet manager Evy Hambro is confident there is more to come.

'We are in a good place right now,' he says. He believes there could well be a 'few more years of positive total returns' ahead before commodity prices turn south again.

Hambro's view is that demand for many commodities  the likes of lithium, iron, copper and nickel  will soar on the back of a recovering world economy with one eye very much on green issues.

With the supply of many of these metals limited and a chronic underinvestment in new mines, Hambro says commodity prices are likely to remain high, resulting in bigger profits for mining companies.

Some of these profits will feed through to investors such as World Mining by way of dividends which in turn will be passed on to the trust's shareholders.

'It's a simple but compelling investment story,' he says, 'although it will be volatile along the way.'

Despite the three-figure returns made by the trust in the past 12 months, Hambro says the companies he invests in  mining giants such as Vale, BHP, Anglo American and Rio Tinto  are not overpriced. 'The sector is trading at low valuation levels,' he says. 'It seems like a sweet spot.'

So sweet, in fact, that the trust has 150million of borrowings at an annual cost of just over one per cent  money that it is employing to increase its equity exposure.

The trust's income comes from four main sources  company dividends, income from bonds issued by mining companies, trading of options and royalties (a share of the revenue from specific mines run by the likes of Brazilian mining group Vale and Australian-based OZ Minerals).

Last year, the fund paid out slightly less income (20.3p a share) than in 2019 (22p), a result of a reduction in one-off special dividends paid by mining companies as they adopted a cautious approach in the wake of the pandemic. But the income prospects for this year look promising.

Already in 2021, Rio Tinto, a top five holding, has declared the payment of a special dividend, taking its total dividend payments for 2020 to a level more than 21 per cent higher than in 2019.

Australian iron ore producer BHP, another key holding, has just paid an interim dividend 55 per cent higher than the equivalent payment last year.

Unlike most other income-friendly investment trusts, World Mining prefers to pay out most of the income it receives from its investments, rather than put some aside in reserves for when times are tough. Hambro says feedback from shareholders indicates that they prefer this approach  even if it results in a more volatile dividend.

The trust's ongoing charge is just over one per cent and the stock market identification code is 0577485.

A recent note from investment trust analysts at Numis described the fund as 'a good way to gain diversified exposure to the mining sector, which can be highly volatile on a stocks-pecific basis'.
The Academy of Canadian Cinema and Television has announced their 2021 Canadian Screen Award nominations, which celebrate Canadian productions in roughly 140 categories across cinema, television, and digital media.

Theres no category for animated features, but the film section offers awards for animated short and visual effects. In the shorts category, three are productions by the National Film Board of Canada (NFB): 4 North A by Jordan Canning and Howie Shia, The Great Malaise by Catherine Lepage, and I, Barnabe by Jean-Francois Levesque. The Fourfold by Alisi Telengut and student film Hot Flash by Thea Hollatz round out the list.

Hotel Transylvania: The Series and Corner Gas Animated lead the television nominees with five apiece. Corner Gas Animated also led last year with six nominations, winning three. TVOKids Paw Patrol follows with four nominations, same as last year where it proceeded to win all four.
An Irish-fronted blank cheque company that raised almost $400m (340m) in January via a New York flotation has told investors that it is continuing to hunt for an acquisition.

North Atlantic Acquisition Corporation (NAAC), a special purpose acquisition company (SPAC), issued its first annual report this week outlining its approach to completing an "initial business combination" with an existing operating company.

NAAC said it was looking for a company in Europe or North America with an enterprise value of $1bn-$2bn in the consumers, industrials or telecoms industries.

The company has a particular interest in e-commerce and the impact of Covid-19 on consumers' online shopping habits.

"We believe the rapid evolution of the digital economy and accompanying digital infrastructure creates dislocation and has critical implications for consumer preferences and supply chains of related companies," the company filing said. "Our management teams experience and skillset in our core industries aligns well to capitalize on opportunities that will emerge from the current digital disruption."

The company has just shy of $380m in funds raised from shareholders from its January IPO, along with capacity to raise another $100m from a share placement. The annual report indicates that NAAC is prepared to finance any acquisition by adding debt instruments to its capital mix.

NAAC, founded by Gary Quin and Patrick Doran, has until January 2023 to complete an acquisition before the funds it raised are redistributed to shareholders.

Mr Quin, the CEO, is a telecoms veteran who was involved in some of the most significant transactions in Irish corporate history, including the examinership of Eir in 2012, the sale of Aer Lingus to IAG, the State recapitalisations of Irish banks during the financial crisis and the IPOs of Hibernia Reit, IRES Reit, Cairn Homes and Glenveagh Properties.

SPACs are shell companies that raise funds from investors with the intention of acquiring an unlisted business without that business having to go through the process of an initial public offering itself.
Police were attacked in a fifth night of disorder in Derry

A number of police officers have been injured and a care home has been damaged after another night of disorder in areas of Londonderry.

The PSNI said 12 officers sustained head, leg and foot wounds after they came under attack in Tullyally and Nelson Drive from a large group of young people throwing masonry, bottles, petrol bombs and fireworks.

A care home was also damaged in the fifth consecutive night of disorder in the area.

Chief Superintendent Darrin Jones, Area Commander, Derry City and Strabane said police were called to the area after reports of youths gathering.

He condemned damage to a care home in the Nelson Drive area, which he said caused "untold fear and distress" to the residents.

"A care home should be a place of sanctuary for some of the most vulnerable people in our society. I would speak directly to those who were rioting last night, how would you feel if your grandmother or grandfather was in this care home and subjected to this violence?"

Chief Superintendent Jones added: "This has been the fifth night of disorder (...) this is totally unacceptable. It is vital that we all send out a message to those responsible that such behaviour will not be tolerated.

"The people of Londonderry deserve to feel safe within their own homes and be able to walk the streets without fear."

He appealed to those with any influence to ensure young people do not get "caught up in criminality".

"My job is to keep people safe and I will continue to work alongside local representatives, partner agencies and members of the community to address any issues. I would appeal to everyone in the area to help diffuse any local tensions and prevent any further incidents," he said.
Jennifer Valdes had a feeling someone was watching her while she was at a birthday dinner in October 2013 at Cafe Martorano, a restaurant in Oakland Park, Fla.

I glanced over and caught a stranger gazing in my direction, Ms. Valdes said. I asked my friend Lauren to verify since it was very dark. She confirmed. Just as we were wrapping up, a server placed a shot and a business card in front of me on the table and said, This is from my manager.

Brian Skogen, the restaurant manager then, had noticed Ms. Valdes the second she entered the place.

When Jen caught my eye, I began plotting how I could get her number, he said. I sent a server over with my card and a drink. But after a while, I could stand it no longer and went over and introduced myself.

After exchanging pleasantries, Ms. Valdes, 35, gave Mr. Skogen, 39, her business card. Two days later he called and asked Ms. Valdes out on a date for the following Tuesday. They met for cocktails, then shared a bottle of wine and sushi rolls at Katsuya South Beach at the South Beach Hotel. Neither wanted the evening to end, so they headed to Hyde Beach for after-dinner drinks.
Chennai, April 3 : In a virulent attack on the opposition in Tamil Nadu, BJP President J.P. Nadda said on Saturday that DMK stands for 'dynasty, money and katta panchayat (kangaroo court)'.

Nadda also said that forcing an atheist like DMK President M.K. Stalin to hold a 'Vel', the weapon of Lord Murugan, was BJP's victory.

Addressing election rallies in Modakurichi and Karaikudi in Tamil Nadu's Erode district, Nadda also launched a scathing attack on DMK's ally, the Congress, saying that the two parties are involved in 2G, 3G and 4G corruptions.

On the other hand, Nadda praised Prime Minister Narendra Modi for taking Tamil -- the oldest language with proper grammar -- to the global stage like in the United Nations, besides bringing various development projects to the southern state.

Attacking the DMK-Congress combine, Nadda said, "2G means two generations of Maran family corruption. 3G means three generations of Gandhi (Congress) family corruption and 4G means four generations of Stalin (DMK President M.K. Stalin) family corruption." Pointing out that Stalin never condemned the Karuppar Koottam that denigrated Lord Murugan's prayer song 'Kanda Shasti Kavacham', Nadda said the DMK leader was forced to hold a Vel in his hands due to the BJP.

It is a victory for the BJP as an atheist like Stalin held the Vel, Nadda said.

The BJP has alleged that DMK and its allies were behind the Karuppar Koottam incident.

According to Nadda, the DMK and the Congress are against regional aspirations and citied the ban on Jallikattu - Tamil Nadu's traditional bull taming sport - to substantiate his claim.

Nadda said it was the Congress government at the Centre that had banned Jallikattu, while the DMK was silent on the matter.

But it was Narendra Modi who understood the regional sentiments and allowed the resumption of Jallikattu, Nadda said.

The BJP President also said that the Central government has good representation from Tamil Nadu, citing the presence of Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman and External Affairs Minister S. Jaishankar, both of whom are from the southern state.

Nadda also said that the Central government has sanctioned several major projects like the Defence Corridor and others for Tamil Nadu.

Big leaders of DMK have spoken against women and Dalits and they have to be taught a lesson, he said.

Nadda also appealed to the voters to vote for the candidates of AIADMK, BJP and PMK to avoid the emergence of 'katta' panchayat, long power cuts and 'goonda raj'.

For a third time, the DMK-Congress combine will be rejected by the people in the Tamil Nadu Assembly polls slated for April 6, he said.

Nadda said while the NDA alliance here is trying to mainstream Tamil Nadu, the dynastic parties are trying to woo the voters in their own ways.

The Congress has joined hands with the communal parties in different states, but it says BJP is a communal party, Nadda said.

Adding further, Nadda said the opposition has gone bankrupt ideologically. In West Bengal, the Congress is aligned with the Communist party, but in Kerala they are opposed to each other.

Citing the shooting of fishermen by the Lankan navy during the UPA government led by the Congress, Nadda said the shootings stopped when Modi became the Prime Minister in 2014.

Later travelling to Kanyakumari, Nadda canvassed for votes for BJP's Lok Sabha bypoll candidate Pon Radhakrishnan on an open vehicle.
In December 2019, then 19-month-old Maiya Bates fell and fractured her leg. That injury was a mixed blessing.

Advertisement Advertise With Us

In December 2019, then 19-month-old Maiya Bates fell and fractured her leg. That injury was a mixed blessing.

Taking a toddler to the emergency room is not a task most parents dream of having to do, but it resulted in Brandon parents Sierra and Jeremy finding out that their daughters blood counts were off and needed to be monitored.

"Throughout January, we kinda noticed her symptoms," Sierra told the Sun earlier this week by phone. "She started to be fatigued, shed get a lot of bruises and at the end of the month her fracture had healed and she started walking again."

Though the bone had healed, Maiya continued to get fevers so the parents took her back to the emergency room where she was diagnosed with an ear infection and croup, an infection of the bodys upper airway.

At the same time, her blood work was redone and it revealed that it wasnt an ear infection or croup.

It was leukemia. To be precise, it was b-cell acute lymphoblastic leukemia, which the Canadian Cancer Societys website states is the most common type of leukemia found in young children.

The family was then sent to Childrens Hospital in Winnipeg, where the diagnosis was confirmed.

"It was pretty devastating," said Sierra. "It sounds a little strange, but I had kind of already accepted the fact because I had looked into her symptoms and I was growing increasingly concerned ... when I heard the words I was still devastated, but I was a little bit relieved to have a diagnosis and have a plan of how to help her to start to feel better."

Maiya had to stay in hospital for 12 days and once released, then had to stay in the area for a further 68 days so she could get chemotherapy at CancerCare Winnipeg.

Being away from home for so long isnt easy, especially as Maiyas treatment coincided with the arrival of COVID-19 in Manitoba when the province recorded its first case of the virus on March 12, 2020.

"We were kind of at a loss of what to do until the social worker referred us to the Ronald McDonald House," said Sierra.

Located just two blocks away from Childrens Hospital, the facility gives families that have travelled more than 50 kilometres from home a place to stay when their child under 18 years old is receiving treatment at the hospital.

The current facility only has space for 14 families, but ground broke on March 16 for a new building that will provide more than four times the space and be able to house 40 families.

While the Bates were at the facility, staff helped the family celebrate Maiyas second birthday by getting her presents and throwing her a small party.

After Maiya was discharged from the hospital, Sierra stayed with her at Ronald McDonald House in Winnipeg while Jeremy returned to work.

Maiya Bates is back to doing the things she loves  solving puzzles, playing dress-up, playing with her dolls and playing outside. (Tim Smith/The Brandon Sun)

"Then Manitoba went into lockdown because of the coronavirus," she said. "He wouldnt be able to go back and forth anymore, so he made the decision to stay with us at the Ronald McDonald House for the remainder of the stay there."

Despite the pandemic, Sierra doesnt think COVID added too much stress to her familys situation since they were already taking health and safety precautions to protect Maiyas weakened immune system.

"It was really hard to watch," Sierra said about seeing her daughter go through chemo. "I know I had said I was relieved to have an answer and a plan, but the chemo was an altogether different kind of sickness.

"The cancer taking over her body, causing her to be sick was kinda different than knowing that the chemo is trying to help her but still making her sick. Surprisingly, she did handle it very well. She didnt have too many severe side effects. She did have a blood clot, so we did have to have her on blood thinners for six months."

The good news is that Maiya took her treatment well and is back to regular life as an almost three-year old, except for monthly visits for treatment and tests in Winnipeg. Every three months, they have to stay overnight and the family continues to stay at Ronald McDonald House during those trips.

"It still feels like a home away from home and we only go once every three months," said Sierra. "I look forward to seeing all of them, even though everything has changed. We were really, really lucky that we got to experience three weeks of the true Ronald McDonald House mission and what they stand for before the lockdown started."

Last month, Ronald McDonald House Charities CEO Wendy Galagan told the Sun that its been difficult fundraising for the organizations new location over the last year, but theyve been able to continue their mission during the pandemic.

"We have implemented cleaning and sanitizing protocols, we have physical distancing and daily health checks and screening, all sorts of health and safety protocols to ensure that our mission is able to continue delivering essential needs and services to those facing childhood illness or injury," said Galagan. "The reason that its been great is because weve been able to say were not going to let this pandemic stop us, we need to move forward with our capital campaign.

"One family turned away is too many and in 2019 we turned away 205 families. We know that we had to persevere and push forward and we are so thankful that the province is rallying behind our efforts."

In an effort to help flatten the curve, Ronald McDonald House initially reduced its operating capacity to 35 per cent before slowly raising it back up as the situation improved and restrictions were eased.

Fewer families were turned away last year, but non-urgent and elective surgeries were paused and there were fewer children receiving treatment.

However, the organization was also forced to pause its family room program, a 3,500 square foot space at Childrens Hospital that provides a place for families to rest and relax during treatment.

Construction on the new facility is now underway. Galagan said the total cost of it, including professional and legal fees is $19.8 million.

As for Maiya, these days she enjoys solving puzzles, playing dress-up, playing with her dolls and playing outside.

"She loves going for walks," Sierra said. "I cant wait to tell her one day all the stuff shes gone through and how she did it all with a smile on her face. Shes amazing."

 cslark@brandonsun.com

 Twitter: @ColinSlark
A day before the end of campaigning for the third phase of assembly polls, the BJP on Saturday took a dig on Congress leader Rahul Gandhi's absence from hectic campaigning and said success doesn't come easily.

The saffron party pointed out that on the one hand Prime Minister Narendra Modi, Union Home Minister Amit Shah, BJP Chief J.P. Nadda are campaigning hard across the poll bound states, the former Congress president is busy talking to academicians.

On Saturday, West Bengal BJP co-incharge Amit Malviya tweeted, "At a time when the Prime Minister, National President, Home Minister and other senior leaders of the BJP are campaigning across poll bound states, is busy doing video calls with professors in the US and making puerile statements. After losing, he will crib about lack of democracy and blame the people."

Around midnight, BJP National General Secretary (Organisation) B.L. Santhosh tweeted, "Today Prime Minister (PM) Narendra Modi is in Tamil Nadu and Kerala, National President (NP) J.P. Nadda in Assam, Home Minister (HM) Amit Shah in West Bengal. Tomorrow PM in West Bengal, NP in Tamil Nadu, HM in Tamil Nadu and Kerala. Success doesn't come easily."

BJP National General Secretary and Tamil Nadu in-charge, C.T. Ravi said, "on one hand, an 88-year old Metro Man E. Sreedharan is working towards building a New India under PM Modi, but a 50 years young forever PM aspirant is busy damaging the India's image across the Globe. Let this sink in."

on Saturday, Prime Minister Modi will be addressing three public meetings, one in Assam and two in West Bengal. Shah is holding two roadshows, one each in Tamil Nadu and Kerala. He is also addressing three public meetings, one in Tamil Nadu and two in Kerala. BJP chief Nadda is addressing two public meetings and one roadshow in Tamil Nadu.

--IANS

ssb/skp/

(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.)
Gladstone mayor Matt Burnett has a message for the federal government about the 1700 kilometre, $15 billion Inland Rail project, which is struggling for traction and community understanding in Queensland.

At present, the planned route for the much-discussed Port of Melbourne to Port of Brisbane freight rail link ends at the already-congested Acacia Ridge freight terminal.

Gladstone says its port offers more flexibility and extra freight capacity than the Port of Brisbane. Credit:Gladstone Ports Corporation

Without a viable way to get to the Port of Brisbane, container truck traffic around Acacia Ridge and the Port of Brisbane will triple.

The residents of Acacia Ridge do not want it, Cr Burnett says. Our point is, Brisbane doesnt want it, but Gladstone does.
In April 2008, environmentalist Paul Hawken described for me the rise of small nonprofits dedicated to sustaining the planet and social justice.

That essential movement began, Hawken said, when people looked around to see an insult to their property, their river, their forest, their future, their children or their dignity.

When they search for a public agency to deal with the problem, Hawken said, they too often discover government is little help: Its either bought off or it doesnt have the skills.

Those words have followed me through the years. And they were the background music this week when I finally connected with Frank Moscow, the founding father of Adopt One Block.

When Moscow, a former high-tech exec with The Brentwood Group, moved into downtown Portland in 2016, he was both frustrated and insulted by the trashing of the city.

The garbage problem has gone nuclear during the pandemic, especially around the citys homeless camps.

As Shane Dixon Kavanaugh of The Oregonian/OregonLive has reported, local government is overmatched. The sanitation system is hopelessly fragmented. And while Metro is in desperate need of reinforcements, it announced last month it would no longer use Multnomah County inmates for trash collection.

Given everything happening around Black Lives Matter and the equity conversation at Metro, this was a time to pivot, says Marissa Madrigal, Metros chief operating officer. The agency decided money was better spent, and the community better served, by job-training programs that stabilized life for the inmates upon their release.

Curiously, the Multnomah County sheriffs office has reached the same conclusion. When Corrections Services Chief Deputy Chad Gaidos arrived 27 years ago, the county had 2,500 inmates at five facilities. It now incarcerates just over a thousand at two facilities.

Because the population that is eligible for the work crews is the first population we release, Gaidos says, the program is no longer sustainable. Whats more, the community has a different perspective on justice issues: Public safety looks like people having jobs. It may not look like jail.

But when Portland streets and city parks and freeway shoulders still look like an abandoned scrapyard  ?

Enter Frank Moscow.

Two motions are involved in cleaning up the city: getting it clean and keeping it clean, Moscow says. Hes convinced the annual spring-cleaning events are self-defeating: We go away, and a month later the place looks like hell again. That is demoralizing. It is soul-crunching for the people who busted their butts to go back and say, Why did I do this?

There has to be a repetitive motion for keeping a place clean. That led me to Adopt One Block. It enables people to care for the block they love the most, with cleaning materials we supply. That means no meet-up. No driving to volunteer. No organization to join. No fundraising. We supply the tools and the support.

Adopt One Block launched six months ago. More than 2,200 city blocks have been adopted. Once you enlist at adoptoneblock.org, Moscow delivers the grabber tool, the heavy plastic bags, the red bucket for used needles, and the work gloves, all for free. The initial clean-up may take several hours, the subsequent sweeps far less time.

Just another local clean-up crew

This is a grass-roots, ground-up effort, where people are saying, I care about my block and my neighborhood. I have been empowered to succeed. I can see the difference, Moscow says. They take great pride in what theyre doing. Theyre getting accolades. They want to do more.

And guess what they do next? They take on a second block. We call it going rogue.

Susan Nunnery and Downer Johnson adopted the Southwest Portland block between 1st Avenue and Naito Parkway, and Lincoln and Sheridan Streets. Its a challenging area, Nunnery says. They estimate theyve collected more than one thousand used needles. They periodically must work around the homeless tents on Sheridan.

But theyve never felt unsafe, theyre impressed with Moscow, and they love the local business that gives them access to its dumpster. Its an important project for us, Nunnery says. Theres a lot to be discouraged about, but if you dont step up and do something, youre never going to make a difference.

Ive heard rumors the city has finally gotten that message. Moscow is appalled by the exceptional failure of leadership on the trash issue from elected officials. Hes received almost no help in dealing with orphan blocks, government property on which no one lives or, more accurately, pays a mortgage:

Ive put forward a plan to clean up those orphan blocks, but I need government help. I cant have volunteers trespassing on ODOT land without ODOT permission. We need unfettered access with the appropriate release forms. There is the will, the manpower and the money to clean those areas up, not just once, but permanently.

In the meantime, Moscow keeps at it, working to restore this citys dignity, block by block. Hes shooting for 10,000 adoptions. Hes knows hes far from the only guy who feels about Portland the way Doc Moonlight Graham feels about his hometown in Field of Dreams:

I was born here. I live here. Ill die here. With no regrets.

-- Steve Duin

stephen.b.duin@gmail.com
Were he still alive today, Nirvana frontman Kurt Cobain would be 52 years old. Every February 20th, on the day of his birthday, fans wonder what songs he would write if he hadn't died of suicide nearly 30 years ago. While we'll never know the answer to that question, an AI is attempting to fill the gap.

A mental health organization called Over the Bridge used Google's Magenta AI and a generic neural network to examine more than two dozen songs by Nirvana to create a 'new' track from the band. "Drowned in the Sun" opens with reverb-soaked plucking before turning into an assault of distorted power chords. "I don't care/I feel as one, drowned in the sun," Nirvana tribute band frontman Eric Hogan sings in the chorus. In execution, it sounds not all that dissimilar from "You Know You're Right," one of the last songs Nirvana recorded before Cobain's death in 1994.

Other than the voice of Hogan, everything you hear in the song was generated by the two AI programs Over the Bridge used. The organization first fed Magenta songs as MIDI files so that the software could learn the specific notes and harmonies that made the band's tunes so iconic. Humorously, Cobain's loose and aggressive guitar playing style gave Magenta some trouble, with the AI mostly outputting a wall of distortion instead of something akin to his signature melodies. "It was a lot of trial and error," Over the Bridge board member Sean O'Connor told Rolling Stone. Once they had some musical and lyrical samples, the creative team picked the best bits to record. Most of the instrumentation you hear are MIDI tracks with different effects layered on top.

One thing neither AI gave direction on is how exactly Cobain would have sung the song. Outside of cadence and tone, Hogan had to interpret how the grunge star, who famously suffered from crippling stomach pain, would have channeled his anguish into the lyrics.

Over the Bridge isn't the first group to use AI to emulate a dead artist. But the intent here is different from similar past projects. "Drowned in the Sun" is part of the organization's Lost Tapes of the 27 Club initiative. They set out to record AI-generated songs by musicians who died at the age of 27 to raise awareness about mental health resources musicians, and people more generally, can turn to when they feel they need help. The Toronto-based non-profit has a Facebook page where it offers support. It also offers online sessions and workshops.

If you're experiencing thoughts of suicide or self-harm, you can reach the National Suicide Prevention Hotline at 1-800-273-8255 or over an online chat.
Top author Marian Keyes was among the many people frantically searching for Easter eggs this weekend following a surge in sales.

Meanwhile a top chocolatier said demand has hugely increased due to the pandemic as more people who cannot meet loved ones send them as gifts.

Many stores have been sold out of chocolate eggs all week.

The demand, say retailers, has been fuelled by special offers, increased consumer demand generally and a desire to treat loved ones during Covid restrictions.

Among those left chocolate egg-less was author Marian Keyes, who sparked a Twitter debate when she wrote about buying some eggs for her nieces and nephews.

As a shopkeeper I'm telling you good luck with that. There's feck all left, replied one tweeter, while another added: The shelves are bare, get out quick!

BREAKING NEWS!!!! There is not an Easter Egg to be had in ALL of Irtlandt!!! she later tweeted. You were all correct and I was DELUDED. The closest I got was chocolate koalas (hah?!) in marks & spencers. Phwat, pray tell, is Easter-y about koalas?!

Retailers have reported a massive surge in demand for chocolate eggs and other treats during the pandemic. A spokesperson for Lidl said there had been a 99 per cent rise in sales across its entire range of eggs compared to this time last year.

A representative for Tesco said there had been a faster sell-through due to people buying them in the run-up to Easter as well as for Easter itself.

Read More

High-end chocolatiers are also experiencing a surge in demand. Benoit Lorge of Lorge Chocolatiers in Co Kerry said sales had greatly increased compared to previous years.

He was one of many who had sold out by this weekend - and noticed demand was continuing well into next week. It has been very busy this year for us. The fact that people cant gather means they are giving each other more gifts. We are seeing more corporate gifts also.

People who couldnt get them in time for Easter have still ordered them for next week for when theyre allowed to meet their parents (when restrictions ease). It has been very busy online and for delivery.

Online it was a similar story, with no Easter eggs available on retail sites including Tesco and Supervalu by Saturday lunchtime.
New Delhi :

It is not in the interest of Indian Muslims to give refuge to Rohingya immigrants and the government should not pay heed to the "vote hungry" politicians of the country, said the Shiv Sena on Saturday.

Questioning the patriotism of those who are rooting to grant refuge to Rohingyas, the Sena said, "Having sympathy for these people for votes is the height of anti-nationalism. Already, Pakistanis and Bangladeshis are living here in large numbers.

"If Rohingyas also get added now due to these vote-hungry politicians, it will not be long before what happenedin Myanmar happens here as well. And in the process, Indian Muslims will be crushed," the Sena said in an editorial in its mouthpiece 'Saamana'.

It should be noted that large number of Rohingyas have faced exodus at the hands of Myanmarese army which has resulted a high influx into Bangladesh and India. "At present, around 40,000 Rohingyas are living in the country.

The Centre has told the Supreme Court that Rohingya Muslims have entered India illegally and are a threat to the nation's security. "The Centre also believes some of them have links with Pakistan's (spy agency) ISI," the Sena organ said.

Also Read: Rohingya crisis: Aung Suu Kyi welcomes international scrutiny

"If somebody wants these people to stay and prosper here, do they have any patriotism in their blood? It is because of some selfish Muslim clerics that a common Muslim man is always under suspicion," the Marathi daily added.

Two days ago, Union Home Minister Rajnath Singh said the Rohingyas are illegal immigrants and not refugees who have applied for asylum in India.

Also read : Rajnath Singh: Mistake to consider Rohingyas as refugees

The Centre told Parliament on August 9 that more than 14,000 Rohingyas, registered with the UNHCR, are at present staying in India. However, aid agencies estimate there are about 40,000 Rohingya Muslims in the country.

(With PTI inputs)

For all the Latest India News, Download News Nation Android and iOS Mobile Apps.
Tens of thousands of Universal Credit (UC) recipients had their benefits slashed by almost 2m in the space of just one month earlier this year, new figures show.

Each claimant lost around 60, officials said.

UC is a welfare benefit similar to Personal Independence Payment (PIP) and is calculated on a monthly basis. It is a payment for those aged 18 and over, but under state pension age, who are on a low income or out of work.

The payment includes support for the cost of housing, children and childcare, and financial support for people with disabilities, carers and people too ill to work.

At the end of each household's individual assessment period a statement of award is generated.

There were 121,083 such statements generated during January this year and 33,684 of these had deductions applied - more than a quarter of all claims.

Communities Minister Deirdre Hargey, responding to an Assembly question (AQ), said the average reduction to claims was 56.72. This means a total of around 1.9m was cut from claims in January.

People Before Profit MLA Gerry Carroll called for action on reforming the benefits system.

"The fact that over a quarter of Universal Credit claimants faced reductions from their awards during one month, in the middle of a pandemic, clearly shows the system is not fit for purpose and not doing what we were told it would do," he said.

"Universal Credit was sold as a better system to get benefits to people but this figure clearly shows that claimants are punished by this cruel system.

"At a time when financial pressure is increasing on people, we need to see an end to the sanctions-addicted system and instead work out ways to permanently uplift benefits and urgently move away from a meagre benefit system to something much fairer and reflective of the needs of people who need access to benefits."

SDLP MLA Mark H Durkan added: "These figures are worrying and certainly require further scrutiny.

"We need a further breakdown of why these deductions are being made but, on the face of it, this confirms that poverty creates debt and debt compounds poverty."

A Department for Communities spokesperson said: "The deductions referred to in the answer to this AQ include deductions for benefit debt or overpayments, including where there have been previous overpayments of tax credits or housing benefit; fraud repayments, repayable loans and third party deductions.

"The total amount of these deductions applied in January 2020 was 1.91m. The total amount of Universal Credit paid out in NI in January 2020 was 67.8m. These deductions therefore represent 2.8% of that total amount."

Recently it emerged the number of people with jobs who also needed to claim UC doubled to almost 40,000 in the first five months of the first Covid lockdown here.

Claims data analysis revealed almost one in three claimants were in receipt of UC because they were not earning enough from their jobs.

According to experts, since the beginning of the pandemic many UC claims were made by furloughed workers, those in low-paid jobs, and those on zero-hours contracts drawing the benefit to top up their incomes.
The expiration of the Trump era ban means that foreign workers outside the U.S. can now apply for a visa to enter the country. Indian American immigration attorney Kalpana Peddibhotla told India-West there would be backlogs for visa appointments and processing. Above: File photo of Indian technology workers in New Delhi. (Sajjad Hussain/AFP via Getty Images)
Sinn Fein Councillor Pearse McGeough has said the time has come for action over the Bank of Ireland's decision to close 103 branches in Ireland including the one in Dunleer.

He was speaking after he hosted an online public meeting with Imelda Munster TD.

Cllr McGeough said "the meeting was well attended and included Independent Cllr Hugh Conlon, members of the business community and the Community Sector as well as other customers of the bank. The debate was lively and everyone had their say and we have a plan to forge ahead to oppose the closure."

At the meeting, Cllr McGeough pointed out that although Sinn Fein was holding a series of these meetings across the island, this was NOT a party political issue and indeed in other counties concerned Fianna Fail Cllrs and independents had attended the meetings.

According to Cllr McGeough, "we were unable to do anything when Ulster Bank made the decision to pull out all their branches but it's different with Bank of Ireland as they were bailed out to the tune of 4.7 billion and the Minister for Finance, on behalf of the Irish people holds a 14% shareholding in the Bank so that is the leverage we have and we need to focus on that leverage."

He also pointed out that "Instead of having 103 small campaigns we must consolidate our efforts into a bigger campaign. There is no guarantee that we can save all 103 branches but perhaps we can save some. Pearse Doherty TD is leading the campaign but is depending on local people to get behind it. Louth will not be found wanting."

When asked about how people can help, Cllr McGeough said "there were a number of good ideas that came from the public meeting and the time has come to forge ahead with them.

* Email the Minister of finance to get a moratorium on the decision until the end of 2022

* Sign the uplift petition - (consolidation of signatures rather than individual petitions throughout the country)

* Send emails to your TDs

* Send emails to Dunleer branch telling them how valuable the branch is to the area

* Banks rely on customer loyalty and traditionally people remain with the same bank regardless of what happens - tell Bank of Ireland, If you leave Dunleer, we are leaving you!

* A moratorium on the decision until the end of 2022 will allow us to get through this Pandemic and give us time to make a case for Dunleer branch to remain open.

Bank fail to answer any requests

Bank of Ireland officials have failed to engage with locally elected representatives who are striving to establish clarity on the proposed closure of the branch in Dunleer.

At the March meeting of the Ardee area council, all six local councillors spoke out against the proposed closure of the Bank of Ireland service in Dunleer, vowing to write to Minister Paschal Donohoe to intervene and also sought to meet with regional management at the bank.

And while the minister responded, engagement with the bank has proved fruitless.

'On behalf of the six councillors, I have followed that matter up with a number of calls and emails to BOI management and unfortunately to date, these requests have not received a response, one way or another. I'm obviously disappointed that we have not been able to get a meeting with Bank of Ireland regional management on this issue. Our request has effectively landed on deaf ears. At our meeting on Thursday, we will discuss our potential next steps,' Cathaoirleach John Sheridan said.

'We're all very concerned about this matter and have worked together on the issue. The branch and ATM are very valuable in Dunleer and we want to see them retained.

'We did receive a response from the Minister for Finance. This response was probably to be expected and I know it has been raised in the Dail and Seanad and received a similar response.'

He said the Minister for Finance 'has no role in the commercial decisions made by any bank' in the State. This includes banks in which the State has a shareholding.

'Decisions in this regard, including the management of branch networks, are the sole responsibility of the board and management of the banks which must be run on an independent and commercial basis,' the minister confirmed.

The Bank of Ireland provided the Minister with a briefing in which they said the decision to close branches was in response to changing customer behaviour with a significant acceleration in digital banking.

'The branches closing are predominately self-service locations which do not offer a counter service. To preserve local access to physical banking for those who want it, the bank has agreed a new partnership with An Post which will allow personal and business customers use their local post office for a range of banking services - including to withdraw cash and make cash and cheque lodgements - at no additional cost,' they said.
Professor Linda Bauld of Edinburgh University said there is no evidence that the uptake of AstraZeneca jab is slowing in the UK

There is no evidence that the uptake of AstraZeneca jab is slowing in the UK despite European countries pausing their rollout of the company's vaccine, a public health expert has claimed.

Professor Linda Bauld of Edinburgh University said all studies indicated the jab was safe and effective, while the fact different countries were reviewing their position was a sign that the system was working.

Germany has suspended use of the AstraZeneca vaccine for people aged under 60 due to fears of a link with rare blood clots.

On Friday, the Dutch government also said it would temporarily halt AstraZeneca jabs for people under 60, after it received five reports of blood clots with low blood plate counts following vaccinations.

It comes as the MHRA insisted there is no evidence of a link between the AstraZeneca jab and blood clots.

Seven people in Britain have died of a blood clot on the brain after having an AstraZeneca coronavirus vaccines out of 18.1million doses, the regulator revealed.

Speaking to the BBC's Good Morning Scotland radio programme, Professor Bauld said reports of blood clots were 'very rare' and a direct link to the vaccine was very unlikely.

Professor Bauld said: 'These kinds of pauses and reviews are a sign that the system is working.

'Because when you see either deaths or unlikely adverse events that you wouldn't anticipate or you didn't see in the trials it's reasonable for regulators to look at this.

'The MHRA is still consistently saying there's no cause for concern and that is absolutely the message to people.'

She added: 'It doesn't look from the behavioural response, the surveys I've seen, that it's affecting uptake in the UK and that's really important.'

Professor Bauld said she had recently received her blue letter inviting her for vaccination and she was 'really looking forward' to it.

Germany has suspended use of the AstraZeneca vaccine for people aged under 60 due to fears of a link with rare blood clots

It comes as the MHRA revealed just seven people in Britain died of a blood clot on the brain after having an AstraZeneca coronavirus vaccines out of 18.1million doses.

It has also emerged that young people are up to 35 times more likely to die of Covid than to develop the type of brain blood clot that European officials fear could be caused by AstraZeneca's jab, figures suggest.

German medics have seen one case of CVST  a type of rare brain blood clot that can cause strokes  in every 90,000 people to receive the vaccine, and say that is higher than expected. It is equal to a rate of 0.0012 per cent.

The UK's MHRA regulator last night announced it has seen 30 cases and similar clots after 18.1million doses - around one in every 600,000 people (0.00017 per cent).

For comparison, Cambridge University academics tracking the Covid outbreak say the risk of dying of Covid for 25 to 44-year-olds is 0.04 per cent  around 33 times higher than even Germany's incidence of CVST.

CVST, or cerebral venous sinus thrombosis, is a blockage in a vein that carries blood away from the brain and it can lead to strokes or bleeding inside the skull.

And even under-25s, who have a vanishingly small risk of being killed by coronavirus, may be four times more likely to die than to develop the condition after getting the AstraZeneca vaccine.

The UK's health watchdog said on Thursday night it hadn't seen CVST cases in people who got the Pfizer jab but there was still no proof the AstraZeneca vaccine is raising the risk.

This may be because different groups of people are getting different vaccines.

Germany this week went against the European regulator's advice and banned the AstraZeneca jab for under-60s because it fears a link to the condition.

Scientists say the balance of risk is 'very straightforward' and clearly in favour of vaccination because of the 'extreme rarity' of CVST cases.

The risk of dying from Covid-19 is significantly higher than the rate of CSVT blood clots, which haven't even been definitively linked to the vaccines (Based on fatality estimates from Cambridge University and CSVT occurrences in Germany)

Officials in Frankfurt recorded 31 cases of the condition among 2.7million people to have been given the AstraZeneca jab and have been alarmed by the number.

But this is a rate of just 0.0012 per cent. By comparison, experts estimate the risk of dying of Covid for 25 to 44-year-olds is 0.04 per cent  33 times higher.

For 15 to 24-year-olds the Covid death risk is 0.005 per cent, making it four times more likely.

Forty under-20s have died in England, out of 86,351 in total, along with 598 20 to 40-year-olds.

And the main benefit of giving the vaccine to younger people is that it protects elderly members of society, whose risk of death is much higher, and therefore allows ministers to loosen lockdown rules.



Professor Adam Finn, a University of Bristol researcher and government adviser on vaccines, said: 'The extreme rarity of these events in the context of the many millions of vaccine doses that have been administered means that the risk-benefit decision facing people who are invited to receive Covid vaccines is very straight forward: receiving the vaccine is by far the safest choice in terms of minimising individual risk of serious illness or death.'

Comparing the rates of CVST to coronavirus death is tricky for a number of reasons, including that it's so rare data aren't clear, and that more people will get a jab than catch coronavirus.

Regulators also don't break down the CVST cases by age, although they are thought to be more common among young adult women.

A TIMELINE OF THE ASTRAZENECA BLOOD CLOT SAGA March 7: Austria suspended the use of one batch of the vaccine after a woman, 49, who had been given it died of a 'severe coagulation disorder' and a 35-year-old developed a blood clot in her lung. March 11: Authorities in Denmark, Norway and Iceland suspended all use of the vaccine following a 60-year-old woman in Denmark died of a blood clot after the reports emerged in Austria. Danish health minister Magnus Heunicke said: 'It is currently not possible to conclude whether there is a link.' March 11: European Medicines Agency's safety committee began an investigation into the cases. It confirms 30 cases of 'thromboembolic events'  clots  were reported after five million vaccines in the EEA. March 12: Thailand suspended the use of the vaccine off the back of European worries. Bulgaria also stops using it. March 12: The European Medicines Agency, Britain's Medicines and Healthcare products Regulatory Agency, Health Canada, the World Health Organization and AstraZeneca itself, all spoke out to defend the vaccine and say there is no proof it's linked to blood clots. March 13: The Netherlands, Italy and Ireland temporarily stopped using the vaccine as fears about the cases in Austria and Denmark snowballed. March 14: Germany and France suspended the vaccine. March 15: Spain, Portugal and Slovenia suspended use of the jab. March 15: Professor Andrew Pollard, the Oxford expert who ran the clinical trials of the jab, insisted safety data are 'reassuring' and said 'clearly those blood clots still happen' as often as they would in unvaccinated people. March 16: World Health Organization officials met to discuss the issue. European Medicines Agency is still investigating. March 17: Scientists accuse governments of banning the jab on political grouns. AstraZeneca's vaccine has been a flashpoint in the past. March 18: European Medicines Agency holds a press conference on its investigation and rules that the vaccine is 'safe and effective'. It said there wasn't enough evidence to rule out a link to blood clots, but also not enough to prove one. On balance, it would be safer for countries to keep using the vaccine to stop Covid. The investigation would continue. March 18: Germany, France and Italy resume use of the jab after the EMA's conclusion. March 19: Finland suspends the jab after finding blood clot cases in its own population. March 19: Bulgaria, Cyprus, Ireland, Latvia, Lithuania, Netherlands and Spain all confirm they will start using the jab again. Scandinavian countries did not follow suit and kept the ban in place. March 22: A study is published that found public trust in the AstraZeneca vaccine collapsed in Europe at the time of the blood clot saga. A YouGov survey found more than half of people in Germany, France, Italy and Spain believed the jab was unsafe. March 30: Germany bans the vaccine for people under the age of 60 after officials said they had found 31 cases of CSVT after 2.7million vaccinations. April 2: UK regulators announce a total of 30 blood clots, 22 in the brain, have now been discovered in Britons vaccinated with the AZ jab. Advertisement

And the fatality rates for coronavirus, estimated by Cambridge University experts only include people who get the virus.

This means the average person's actual risk of dying from coronavirus is significantly lower than the estimate because not everyone catches it  although if nobody took the vaccine, the likelihood of them catching it one day is far higher.

Most recent calculations by the Cambridge team suggest the risk of dying of Covid is lowest for toddlers and babies, at 0.00039 per cent, around one in 256,000.

It's highest for over-75s, at 6.9 per cent, or one in 14. And overall, the risk is around 0.3 per cent, meaning that across the whole population around three in every thousand infected people die.

Another complication is that there is no proof the coronavirus vaccine causes CSVT, meaning the cases that happen may have occurred anyway.

If this is the case, the risk caused by the vaccine is effectively zero and the jab is infinitely safer than being unvaccinated.

But even if a link is established, it will be difficult to know how many cases are triggered by the jab in people who would not otherwise have developed CVST.

And CVST is more often survived than it is fatal. Medics say if it's spotted in time  before it blocks the vein  it can be simple to treat with blood thinners.

Johns Hopkins University in Baltimore, US, estimates that one in every 200,000 people of all ages develop CVST each year.

The European Medicines Agency said on Wednesday, echoing data from Germany, that the risk appears to be one in 100,000 in under-60s who have had the AstraZeneca vaccine.

But much of the data comes from Germany's AstraZeneca vaccine patients, who are mostly young female adults, and young female adults are statistically more likely to get CSVT even when there is no vaccine around.

EMA director Emer Cooke said cases in women usually outnumber those in men by 10 to one.

The contraceptive pill and smoking may be risk factors for this  scientists are investigating the links.

So without the large pool of men, elderly people and children to dilute the pool with their low CVST risks, the rate appears unnaturally high in the vaccinated group.

In the wake of EU scare stories over the AstraZeneca jab, which came amid a row over supplies, the MHRA last month said there had only been five cases of CVST among 11million administered doses.

In Thursday's update, which takes into account all adverse reactions recorded up until March 24, it put the count at 22.

The watchdog also revealed it had eight reports of other serious clotting events associated with low blood platelets.

The MHRA said: 'Our rigorous review into the UK reports of a rare and specific type of blood clot is ongoing.

'On the basis of this ongoing review, the benefits of the vaccines against Covid continue to outweigh any risks and you should continue to get your vaccine when invited to do so.'

The tenuous links between the vaccine and CVST are still mired in confusion because experts in Germany and other countries where the jab has been halted claim the condition is most common in women.

But all five of the original cases in the UK were among men.

The MHRA did not offer any more details about the new 25 cases. It is unclear how many died.

Earlier this week, Germany announced it would stop giving AstraZeneca's jab to under-60s because of the link to CVST.

It said the country had seen 31 cases out of 2.7million people given the jab. This suggests 0.0011 per cent of people who were vaccinated later developed the clot  around one in 90,000 people.

However, other major European countries have also restricted the jab to certain age groups, even though they have seen significantly fewer CVST cases despite vaccinating more people.

If the same rate of CVST in Germany had appeared in the UK, almost 200 people would have been diagnosed with it already because six times as many jabs have been used.

The European regulator the EMA also revealed this week twice as many women had received AstraZeneca's jab in Europe as men, before adding that the people normally most at risk of CVST are females aged 35 to 45.

Until recently, Germany had banned the AZ jab for over-60s due to initial fears about blood clots.

At least 10 countries in Europe, joined by Germany last night, have put some kind of restriction on the use of AstraZeneca's jab, mostly opting to give it only to over-60s because the CSVT cases seem to be happening in younger adults

It raises the possibility that the rates of CVST among vaccinated people Germany can be explained by more women who are susceptible to the condition being targeted by German rollout.

AstraZeneca insists there is no proof the jab causes blood clots and that rates are not higher than expected overall.

Experts have said it would be unusual that the vaccine could make one ultra-specific type of blood clot more likely but not blood clots in general.

Spain, France and Italy have recorded, at most, one CVST case per million patients despite using the jab on similar age groups to Germany.

But scientists and regulators insist there's still no evidence the vaccine is causing blood clots or any other severe side effects and that the risk of Covid is greater.

It was also revealed yesterday that Australia is investigating whether AstraZeneca's Covid jab is linked to blood clots.

Local media reported a 44-year-old man was admitted to a Melbourne hospital with possible clotting days after receiving the vaccine.

Health chiefs said more details would come to light in the coming days and that there was no proof the jab was to blame.

Although there isn't any evidence that the blood clots are developing because of vaccinations, some academics have a theory that it is the immune reaction making it happen.

Research teams in Germany and Norway claim the blood clotting issue may be caused by the jab, in very rare cases, making the body attack its own platelets.

Platelets are tiny chunks of cells inside blood that the body uses to build clots to stop bleeding when someone is injured. But they can also make unwanted clots.

This chart shows how Britain is still racing ahead of the EU in vaccinating its population against Covid-19, more than three months after the continent started its jab programme

Where Britain's vaccine doses are made: AstraZeneca doses (yellow) are mainly produced domestically while Pfizer's are imported from Europe. Moderna's will start to be shipped from n Switzerland, which is not an EU member and so not under the EU's jurisdiction, as well as in Spain

Experts from Oslo and Greifswald University believe the jab could cause the body to produce antibodies  normally used to fight off viruses  which mistake platelets in the blood for foreign invaders and attack them.

WHAT IS CVST? Cerebral venous sinus thrombosis (CVST) is an extremely rare type of blood clot in the brain. It occurs when the vein that drains blood from the brain is blocked by a blood clot, resulting in potentially deadly bleeding on the brain. Symptoms can quickly deteriorate from a headache, blurred vision and faintness to complete loss of control over movement and seizures. John Hopkins University estimates it affects five in a million people in the US every year, which would suggest 330 patients in Britain suffer from the condition annually. According to the university, it can affect patients with low blood pressure, cancer, vascular diseases and those prone to blood clotting. Head injuries can also trigger the condition. Britain's regulator said CVST is so rare they aren't even sure how common it is in the general population. Advertisement

To compensate, the body then overproduces platelets to replace those that are being attacked, causing the blood to thicken and raising the risk of clotting.

They admitted they 'don't know why this is happening'.

But the researchers say the phenomenon is similar to one that can occur in heparin-induced thrombocytopenia (HIT), when sufferers take a drug called heparin.

Experts say the condition has not been proven to be caused by the jab and may simply be showing up just because millions of people are being vaccinated and reporting their health conditions.

They added that, if spotted early, it could be diagnosed with a simple blood test and quickly treated with blood-thinners.

It comes after it was revealed last night that UK taxpayers pumped 21million into fitting out a Dutch vaccine factory to make AstraZeneca jabs before the EU threatened to ban their export from the continent.

Health Secretary Matt Hancock approved the multi-million pound investment in the Halix factory in Leiden with the guarantee that doses would be sent to the UK.

Initially, it was hoped that Brussels and London could split the jabs produced.

But a senior EU official has threatened to block all AstraZeneca supplies from entering Britain until the drugmaker ups its deliveries to the bloc - putting the factory at the centre of the row.

Thierry Breton - the EU's internal market commissioner - said 'zero' AstraZeneca jabs made on the continent would be shipped across the Channel until the company fulfilled its commitments to Europe.

He said 'there is nothing to negotiate' between the EU and the UK.
MAHE, Seychelles, April 03, 2021 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) -- The Octopus Network Team recently announced the completion of a seed-funding round for building out the base level infrastructure of Octopus Network. The $3 million dollars fundraise includes capital from deep-crypto venture firms including:



D1 Ventures

SevenX Ventures

Puzzle Ventures

PNYX Capital

Electric Capital

Ascensive Assets

Original Capital

ZMT Capital

Bixin

OKEx Block Dream Fund

Spark Digital

ChainX

Stafi

NGC Ventures

Prior to this seed round, Octopus had received a $1 million dollar strategic investment from the NEAR Foundation. In context this fundraise is a strong vote of confidence in both the future of appchains, as well as NEAR Protocol.

The Early Days of Appchains on NEAR: Octopus in Context

An Appchain is a decentralized Web3.0 application in the form of an independent blockchain. Octopus Network provides appchains with flexible on-demand shared security, out-of-the-box cross-chain interoperability, and infrastructure services including blockchain explorers, API endpoint, indexers, etc. In short, Octopus Network allows for projects to quickly and efficiently customize and launch their own blockchain, without needing to source all of the features required to maintain that blockchain.

By reducing the capital expenditure for publishing and launching an Appchain by two orders of magnitude - from millions of dollars to tens of thousands dollars - Octopus Network is preparing to unleash a new wave of innovation in Web3.0 applications.

On Octopus Network the next generation of Web 3.0 applications can develop in a cost-effective, scalable, and secure manner. The $3 million dollar seed round fundraise for Octopus is the first step of an inevitable software revolution . To stay up to date with Octopus Network and the many different appchains preparing to deploy on Octopus, follow the team on Discord and Twitter !

Social links

Twitter: https://twitter.com/oct_network

Medium: https://medium.com/oct-network

Media contact

Contact Name: Aaron Ting

Address: 306 Victoria House, Victoria, Mahe, Seychelles

Contact No: 86-13911567940

E-mail: aaron@oct.network - hi@oct.network

Website: https://oct.network/

A photo accompanying this announcement is available at https://www.globenewswire.com/NewsRoom/AttachmentNg/fd4dcc32-4d80-4778-a8fd-9779179c5815
ISLAMABAD: The Foreign Ministry in Islamabad announced that Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov is scheduled to visit Pakistan from April 6 to 7.

Ministry spokesperson Zahid Hafeez Chaudhri said the broad agenda of discussions will include bilateral relationship with particular focus on economic cooperation between the two countries, reports by Xinhua.

Addressing a briefing on Friday, Zahid Chaudhri also said, The two sides will also share their respective perspectives on regional and international issues of mutual interest," Earlier, Russian Foreign Ministry spokesperson Maria Zakharova said in Moscow that Lavrov will hold talks with his Pakistani counterpart Shah Mahmood Qureshi.

"There are plans to conduct a detailed discussion on the current status of bilateral relations and their development prospects, including opportunities for further strengthening trade, economic and counter-terrorism cooperation," Zakharova said

She added the two foreign ministers will conduct an in-depth exchange of views on matters concerning the regional and international agenda and will focus on Afghan issues and cooperation at multilateral venues.

US Representatives meet in Vienna next week on Iranian nuclear deal convene in Vienna

Japan, US, South Korea discuss Korean Peninsula issue

Egypt weighs UAE mediation initiative to discuss Nile dam crisis
India is considered as a successful federation in resolving most of its ethno-regional and linguistic problems in favour of a relatively durable political order and stability through territorial as well as non-territorial recognition of identity. On the basis of a distinction between what has been termed diversity claims and equality claims, it is argued that Indias democratic success has remained a very poor match to its federal success. Democracy here has been pressed into the service of a kind of federalism that has privileged diversity claims over equality claims. Although Indias experiment with state creation within federalism remains ongoing, with Telangana being the latest one carved out of Andhra Pradesh in 2014, given the shifts in priorities since the onset of Indias reforms in 1991, political incentives for demanding more states do not appear to be as attractive as before. While equality claims played second fiddle to diversity claims, the scope of the former has become further restricted today.

Indian federalism is much credited for resolving most of its ethno-regional and ethno-linguistic conflicts in conditions of democracy, which has served to ensure a relatively enduring political order and stability in the country over the last seven decades. The most distinctive method of doing so has been the territorial reorganisation since the early 1950s (Bhattacharyya 2019a: 8199). This territorial reorganisation entailed the political recognition of ethnic identities mostly through statehood. The latest addition to the process is the creation of Telangana out of Andhra Pradesh as the 29th (now 28th)1 state of India in June 2014. In cases involving indigenous people in North East India, statehood and sub-statehood within the state have worked to manage conflicts among and between the indigenous people on the one hand and other ethnic groups on the other.

In both the cases, democracy in the sense of selecting the representatives as well as the mobilisation of the ethnic groups to demonstrate popular support for statehood and sub-statehood has added legitimacy to the process. It is beyond doubt that Indias is a success story in ensuring self-rule, to a significant extent, at many layers of federation. However, the same cannot be said to be true in the shared-rule part of federalism, whether at the national or the subnational levels, and better democratic delivery. There is today a global consensus that a federation is a compound polity that combines appropriately shared rule (national purposes) and self-rule (regional purposes) (Watts 2008).
Myanmar anti-riot police officers are transported in a truck to prevent an anti-military coup protest, in Mandalay, Myanmar, April 3, 2021. At least 535 people have been killed by the military since the coup, according to the Assistance Association for Political Prisoners (AAPP), while more than 2,500 people have been detained. EPA-Yonhap



The foreign ministry raised its travel alert for Myanmar and decided to form a team dedicated to protecting South Korean citizens in the Southeast Asian country, officials said Saturday.



The decision came amid the bloody crackdown by Myanmar's military junta on anti-coup protesters that has reportedly resulted in hundreds of deaths.



The ministry raised the travel alert level to the second highest one in a four-tier system, which recommends citizens withdraw from the country.




New Jersey on Saturday reported another 3,525 cases of the coronavirus and an additional 24 deaths as the state continues to cope with a third wave of the pandemic and as outdoor gathering limits and seating capacity at large venues increased, with hospitalizations increasing slightly.

The latest number of COVID-19 hospitalizations statewide was just above 2,300, after dropping below 2,000 last month.

Gov. Phil Murphy announced the update on social media as officials have urged residents to keep wearing masks and practice social distancing as variants spread throughout the state and vaccinations continue.

The lates update comes a day ahead of the Easter holiday, with officials asking residents to be extra cautious and to keep gatherings small and within a social bubble.

Despite the recent upticks, the state increased its outdoor gathering limit to 200 people as of 6 a.m. Friday. The indoor gathering limit will remain 25 people. In addition, venues that can seat 2,500 people are now permitted to increase indoor seating capacity to 20%, up from 10%, and outdoor capacity to 30%, up from 15%.

New Jersey health facilities and vaccine centers have now administered more than 4.5 million doses of the COVID-19 vaccine since the states first shot was given Dec. 15. That includes about 2.94 million people with at least one dose and 1.74 million people considered fully vaccinated, according to state data.

The states goal is to vaccinate 70% of its eligible adults  about 4.7 million people  by the end of May. More than 25% of the states 6.9 million adult residents have been fully vaccinated so far.

New Jersey has the nations second-highest rate of new coronavirus cases the last seven days, after Michigan, according to the federal Centers for Disease Control.

The number of coronavirus patients across the states hospitals was at 2,307 as of Friday night. After dropping below 2,000 late last month, hospitalizations have slowly crept up the last few weeks.

The states rate of transmission was 1.08 for the third 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 9.04% on Tuesday, the day with the latest data, on 57,661 tests.

In all, New Jersey has now reported 811,726 coronavirus cases out of more than 12.2 million PCR tests in the nearly 13 months since the state reported its first case on March 4, 2020. There have also been 111,670 positive antigen tests, including 908 reported Saturday. 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 9.2 million people has reported 24,632 residents have died from complications related to COVID-19  22,064 confirmed deaths and 2,568 fatalities considered probable.

Officials said this week that younger people are at the center of the new wave as older residents are more likely to be vaccinated. The state has recently seen a 31% increase in people ages 20 to 29 being hospitalized and a 48% increase in those 40 to 49.

According to new prediction models the state released Wednesday, New Jersey would peak at 5,405 cases and 2,669 people hospitalized with COVID-19 on April 18 in a moderate scenario. The state would peak at 8,162 cases and 3,644 people hospitalized on May 18 under a high scenario.

Officials said hospitalizations likely wont reach the levels they did during the first wave last spring (when more than 8,300 patients were hospitalized at the peak), and the state now has adequate supplies to battle the pandemic. But daily deaths are expected to increase and the state could experience a very slow recovery over the summer, state Health Commissioner Judith Persichilli said.

The trajectory could change, officials said, if people continue wearing masks and practicing social distancing, and if vaccinations increase.

Officials say vaccine demand continues to outpace supply from the federal government, causing a backlog of people trying to get appointments, though the state is expecting doses to increase over the next month. The state will a boost next week, with 551,320 doses set to arrive, Persichilli said Wednesday.

The state on Wednesday also unveiled a new online tool  found at covid19.nj.gov/finder  to help residents more easily find vaccine appointments.

CORONAVIRUS RESOURCES: Live map tracker | Newsletter | Homepage

HOSPITALIZATIONS

There were 2,307 patients hospitalized with confirmed or suspected COVID-19 cases across New Jerseys 71 hospitals as of Friday night  12 more than the previous night.

That included 432 in critical or intensive care (8 more than the night before), with 224 on ventilators (six fewer).

There were also 304 COVID-19 patients discharged Friday.

By comparison, hospitalizations peaked at more than 8,300 patients during the first wave of the pandemic in April and more than 3,800 during the second wave in December.

SCHOOL CASES

New Jersey has reported 221 in-school coronavirus outbreaks, which have resulted in 1,002 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 last week announced most New Jersey schools can move classroom desks three feet apart, instead of six feet, under new social distancing guidelines.

The governor also said the states schools will return to full in-person classes for the next school year and districts will not be allowed to offer virtual learning, even for parents who want that option due to ongoing COVID-19 concerns. But Murphy clarified Tuesday that students and teachers who have health issues that could put them at greater risk of a serious coronavirus case will have a virtual option.

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 (22.9%), 18-29 (19.8%), 65-79 (10.4%), 5-17 (9.3%), 80 and older (4.6%) and 0-4 (1.9%).

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 (46.3%), followed by those 65-79 (33.5%), 50-64 (15.8%), 30-49 (4%), 18-29 (0.4%), 5-17 (0%) and 0-4 (0%).

At least 7,989 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 225 facilities, resulting in 3,676 active cases among residents and 4,366 among staffers. Those numbers have been slowing as vaccinations continue at the facilities.

GLOBAL NUMBERS

As of Saturday morning, there have been more than 130.4 million positive COVID-19 tests across the world, according to a running tally by Johns Hopkins University. More than 2.84 million people have died from coronavirus-related complications.

The U.S. has reported the most cases, at more than 30.61 million, and the most deaths, at more than 554,100.

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.
(Newser)  Jordan ordered scores of arrests Saturday to counter what it called "a threat to the countrys stability" and palace officials described as a broad conspiracy. The former crown prince, Hamzah bin Hussein, was ordered to not leave his home while reports of an attempt to overthrow King Abdullah IIthe prince's half-brotherare being investigated. Palace officials said at least one other member of the royal family, plus tribal leaders and security officials, were involved in the plot, the Washington Post reports. Nearly 20 arrests were made, and an intelligence official said more would follow. A State Department spokesman said the US is in touch with officials in Jordan. "King Abdullah is a key partner of the United States," Ned Price said, "and he has our full support."

story continues below

Jordan said the prince was not under house arrest, but military officials went to his house as the arrests were beginning, with armed officers, and told him not "to go out" or post on social media. His lawyer gave the BBC a video in which Prince Hamzah said he was not involved in any plot against the king. His visitors didn't accuse him of criticizing leaders but said he'd been in meetings in which others were critical of the government and the king, per the BBC. "I am not the person responsible for the breakdown in governance, the corruption and for the incompetence," he said in the video, adding, "It has reached a point where no one is able to speak or express opinion on anything without being bullied, arrested, harassed and threatened." (Read more Jordan stories.)
Rioting erupts in the Sandyrow area of south Belfast on April 2, 2021. Photo by: Kevin Scott for Belfast Telegraph

Rioting erupts in the Sandyrow area of south Belfast on April 2, 2021. Photo by: Kevin Scott for Belfast Telegraph

Rioting erupts in the Sandyrow area of south Belfast on April 2, 2021. Photo by: Kevin Scott for Belfast Telegraph

The Northern Ireland Secretary has appealed for calm following rioting in a loyalist area of Belfast.

Brandon Lewis described the unrest as "completely unacceptable".

Eight police officers were injured on Friday evening after being targeted in Sandy Row by a crowd of mostly young people throwing bottles, bricks and fireworks.

Mr Lewis said: "Violence is never the answer. There is no place for it in society.

"It is unwanted, unwarranted and I fully support the PSNI appeal for calm."

He added that his thoughts were with the eight officers injured.

The trouble came after four successive nights of disturbances in the unionist Waterside area of Derry.

The disorder has flared amid ongoing tensions within loyalism across Northern Ireland.

Loyalists and unionists are angry about post-Brexit trading arrangements which they claim have created barriers between Northern Ireland and the rest of the UK.

Tensions ramped up further this week following a controversial decision not to prosecute 24 Sinn Fein politicians for attending a large-scale republican funeral during Covid-19 restrictions.

All the main unionist parties have demanded the resignation of PSNI chief constable Simon Byrne, claiming he has lost the confidence of their community.

The violent scenes erupted at Belfasts Shaftesbury Square as crowds of loyalist youths clashed with police.

Petrol bomb and bricks were thrown at police lines with a crowd of around 200 people involved in the disturbances which followed a protest advertised on social media earlier in the day.

In scenes reminiscent to the 2012 flag protests, loyalists gathered in a number of locations on Friday to hold mini demonstrations.

Protests were advertised on Facebook to be held at a carpark in Ballymena where several hundred people showed up.

Expand Close Rioting erupts in the Sandyrow area of south Belfast on April 2, 2021. Photo by: Kevin Scott for Belfast Telegraph / Facebook

Twitter

Email

Whatsapp Rioting erupts in the Sandyrow area of south Belfast on April 2, 2021. Photo by: Kevin Scott for Belfast Telegraph

Police closed the road to traffic and observed the crowd.

A PSNI spokesperson said: Police have closed the Larne Road and Crebilly Road in Ballymena due to an ongoing incident.

Motorists were advised to seek a different route.

This is in no-one's best interests - not the officers dealing with it and not the mostly young people risking their futures by engaging in it.



It's incumbent on leaders to behave responsibly and dial down the inflammatory rhetoric over recent days.



Words have consequences. https://t.co/HueRap9JIg  Naomi Long MLA (@naomi_long) April 2, 2021

The largest crowd was reported at the corner of Sandy Row and Shaftsbury Square in Belfast.

Police were forced to close off Shaftsbury Square and the Donegall Road to facilitate the protest, that soon turned violent.

Earlier in the day there were fears that a protest planned for a volatile North Belfast interface would end in violence.

North Queen Street, which links the nationalist New Lodge to the loyalist Tigers Bay is a notorious flashpoint.

Sad to see disorder in Sandy Row. Usual suspects with no vision whip up tension for electoral gain, which they never use to improve life for those they pretend to represent. History repeats, people lose hope, kids get criminal records, communities pull apart. Thereas a better way  Claire Hanna (@ClaireHanna) April 2, 2021

Despite being advertised by a loyalist Facebook page there was no protest at the interface, however, police patrols were increased in the area.

Crowds of young people did clash at the Lanark Way interface in West Belfast with stones and bottles being thrown as local community workers tried to defuse the situation.

Profoundly disappointed and saddened by the scenes taking place in Belfast this evening.



And for what reason?



Some politicians in Northern Ireland should hang their head in shame for leading us to this.  Councillor Peter McReynolds (@cllr_petermcrey) April 2, 2021

Loyalist sources say the protests were not organised by any one group and appeared to be driven by social media.

However, some expressed concerns that they were being promoted mainly by those who had previously been accused of orchestrating unrest in loyalist communities.

Earlier in the evening police said they were closely watching the evolving situation.

Expand Close Rioting erupts in the Sandyrow area of south Belfast on April 2, 2021. Photo by: Kevin Scott for Belfast Telegraph / Facebook

Twitter

Email

Whatsapp Rioting erupts in the Sandyrow area of south Belfast on April 2, 2021. Photo by: Kevin Scott for Belfast Telegraph

"Were aware of a social media post referring to a planned event, and we are monitoring the situation.

Clearly we are still in a pandemic and the need not to jeopardise the progress made to date, remains important to all of us. We would therefore ask for people to act responsibly and within the current restrictions.

Ulster Unionist Party MLA Doug Beattie said: Any mass gathering is not a good idea will negate the health message and will cost lives."

The sporadic calls for protest came after several nights of violence in the Waterside area of Derry.

Police were pelted with petrol bombs and masonry during disturbances in the area on Thursday night when a large group of youths gathered in the Rossdowney Road/Lincoln Court.

During the disorder a digger parked in the area was also set alight.

When police and the fire service responded they came under sustained attack.

Anti-PSNI graffiti has appeared in the area in recent days following the PPS decision not to prosecute any Sinn Fein representatives over their attendance at the funeral of IRA man and senior party figure Bobby Storey.

Reacting on Friday evening, Sinn Fein MP Paul Maskey condemned the scenes in Belfast.

This evening we have unfortunately seen running skirmishes between young people and the PSNI in the Sandy Row area following a protest that was organised by loyalists against the protocol," he said.

It is always sad to see young people being used by sinister elements to advance their regressive agenda.

It is also deeply concerning to see these types of incidents at the height of the COVID pandemic and as we are beginning to make good progress.

The DUP and political unionism are failing unionist working class communities through their dangerous and irresponsible rhetoric which has is continuing to lead to heightened tensions.

This is a time for calm heads and responsible leadership.

I appeal to the DUP and political unionism to show leadership, to end their dangerous rhetoric and to ensure there is an urgent de-escalation of tensions."
But I am intensely proud of my Jewishness. To be too publicly proud of it nowadays, at least in my secular Jewish crowd, risks seeming parochial or chauvinistic, but privately I celebrate it in my own ways. And Im protective of it, too. Extraordinary American tolerance has insulated me from any serious anti-Semitism, but I sometimes regret the luxury that tolerance has in turn conferred: to slight, hide or flee a bit too eagerly from their past. Seeing those books in that place touched something in me. I couldnt just put them back.

I halfheartedly tried imagining some extenuating circumstances that landed them there. Perhaps they were thrown out accidentally in a spring cleaning. Or maybe the person whod placed them there actually knew of the burial to which sacred texts are entitled and figured the landfill to which theyd soon be consigned fit the ritualistic requirements. But I doubt it. Whatever one thinks of being Jewish, the experience is sufficiently powerful that one doesnt just stray idly from it: One has to push it away. And to me, thats most likely what had happened here: Someone had just chucked the things, without so much as a second thought.

What could account for such disrespect, even contempt, not just for ones ancestors, but for the tradition itself? Was there no one in the family with enough reverence for our past to cherish them, at least for another generation? And if not, why not find them a good home elsewhere? Or donate them to the state Jewish Historical Society, which might have welcomed two volumes with such a distinguished provenance? The family had directed that all memorial contributions in the mans name be made to the local Jewish Federation. Why not there?

But more than indignation, I felt sadness. Sure, there are lots of people committed to keeping American Jewry going. But there are many, many others for whom it has become utterly irrelevant, for whom centuries of tradition, so wonderfully embodied around Seder tables this past week, are coming to an abrupt end. There are lots of ways to measure the end of a particular Jewish line; tossing prayer books in the trash is surely one, and among the more emphatic.

Its self-serving, of course, but my notion of what constitutes a good Jew is broad. One can be one not only by following the rituals but also by honoring Jewish precepts and values, by trying to heal the world (the notion of tikkun olam) or by enriching it through teaching, creating, inspiring. Hannah Arendt, Ruth Bader Ginsburg, Philip Roth, Andrew Goodman and Mickey Schwerner  to me, all were good Jews, whether or not they ever found their way to a synagogue.

I actually flirted with the idea of returning the books. There must have been some mistake, I might have said: You couldnt have meant to dispose of such heirlooms in this fashion. But I didnt. In the penumbra around the First Amendment surely lies a constitutional right to throw out whatever one wants. Meanwhile, a dear friend said shed gladly take the books for her daughter, Aviva, whose bat mitzvah prayer book shed just realized, much to her horror, shed managed to misplace. Aviva was going off to college and had hoped to bring her prayer book with her; maybe shed take these forsaken volumes and give them new life.

Before that happened, Id hoped to memorialize them in some fashion and kept them on my desk, awaiting inspiration. But for all my self-righteousness, I proved a poor custodian. Not long ago, while I was out of town, the radiator alongside them blew; for a couple of days, in a scene with almost biblical overtones, theyd been engulfed in steam. Acts of God, it turns out, can damage the word of God: Overnight, some of those pristine pages turned into parchment. Despite the dehumidifiers, the first few crystals of mildew blossomed on the cover of one of them.

After all this, perhaps theyd have been better off left where I found them, but I had to go be a buttinsky. Im hoping Aviva will still take, and cherish, them, despite their imperfections. But if not, its now on me to give them a more fitting burial.

David Margolick, a former reporter for The Times, is the author of several books, including, most recently, The Promise and the Dream: The Untold Story of Martin Luther King, Jr. and Robert F. Kennedy. He is at work on a book about Dr. Jonas Salk for the Jewish Lives series published by Yale University Press.

The Times is committed to publishing a diversity of letters to the editor. Wed like to hear what you think about this or any of our articles. Here are some tips. And heres our email: letters@nytimes.com.

Follow The New York Times Opinion section on Facebook, Twitter (@NYTopinion) and Instagram.
ADVERTISEMENT

Police operatives in Kaduna have rescued 15 kidnap victims in Chikun Local Government Area of the state, according to the Kaduna State Commissioner for Internal Security and Home Affairs, Samuel Aruwan.

In a statement issued on Saturday, in Kaduna, Mr Aruwan said the police command confirmed the rescue in an operational feedback to the Kaduna state government.

The rescue operations were successfully carried out in different locations in Chikun LGA, he said.

Mr Aruwan explained that in the first operational feedback, three kidnapped women were rescued at Rijiya Uku general area.

According to the report, the three women were kidnapped on Nov. 18, 2020 when armed bandits attacked a village in a neighbouring state.

Since then, the bandits have been moving the hostages around to evade security forces, eventually crossing into Chikun LGA, he said.

He added that following a tip-off on April 1, after the hostages had been sighted, police personnel mobilised to the area and engaged the bandits, forcing them to abandon their captives.

In another operation, the police rescued 12 persons who had been similarly abducted, following an attack by armed bandits along the Kaduna-Birnin Gwari road.

Mr Aruwan disclosed that the operatives on a routine patrol, found the 12 persons in a Buruku forest and eventually rescued them while the criminals escaped.

Meanwhile, Governor Nasir El-Rufai has commended the Kaduna police command for a job well done.

(NAN)
When the state expands eligibility, it doesnt necessarily come with more supply, Pedroza said at the mass clinic held at The CIA at Copia on March 30. Were happy to see more community members made eligible, but that has to come with the inventory necessary to meet those objectives, and thats what hasnt happened yet.

The countys supply of vaccines has gradually increased since December, when doses were first made available to front-line health care workers in California, according to Upton. But the process has not been linear; the county underwent shortages in late winter that forced it to prioritize second doses over getting shots in new arms and delay some second doses.

It was very unstable in the beginning, and we still are not being notified (of how much vaccine well receive) until five or fewer days ahead of time, which makes it extremely difficult to plan clinics, especially a mass clinic, Upton said.
Seventeen-year-old Peta was introduced to e-cigarettes by her older brother over summer and now vapes most days.

Most of my friends vape, said Peta, who declined to use her last name. People my age feel as though it wont affect them because its not tobacco.

Vaping is becoming more common among young people, Health Department figures show. Credit:Getty

Its become an issue at my school that the younger year levels are hanging out in the bathrooms vaping together.

Peta, a year 12 student from Melbournes south, says vaping gives her the same rush as a cigarette but with no foul aftertaste.
WABASH VALLEY (WTHI) - As the weather gets warmer, you may be heading outside for spring projects.

Before you do, you need to make sure you take safety precautions. That includes contacting 8-1-1 before you do any digging.

The service will work with utility companies to mark underground wiring lanes.

Under state law, you should call two business days before you do any digging.
Investment in cyber security reached US$53 billion in 2020, an increase of 10% year-on-year, the technology analyst firm Canalys says.

However, business continuity and workforce productivity took precedence over security during the COVID-19 outbreak, the company said, adding that spending on cloud infrastructure services grew by 33% to US$142 billion, a rise of US$45 billion over 2019.

Expenditure on cloud software services went up by more than 20% in 2020, with Zoom's revenue growing 300%, with both Microsoft Office 365 and Salesforce reporting double-digit growth.

Canalys said its estimates showed notebook PC shipments also had a record year, growing 17%, and forecast to grow further in 2021. Logitechs webcam business also achieved record sales, increasing 138% on a trailing four-quarter basis.

Sales growth of home Wi-Fi routers exceeded 40%, as remote workers looked to improve their connectivity, while home printers and ink sold out.

Cyber security must be front and center of digital plans, otherwise there will be a mass extinction of organisations, which will threaten the post-COVID-19 economic recovery, said Canalys chief analyst Matthew Ball.

A lapse in focus on cyber security is already having major repercussions, resulting in the escalation of the current data breach crisis and acceleration of ransomware attacks.

Canalys said the data breaches had reached crisis point in 2020, with more records compromised in just 12 months than in the previous 15 years combined.

"Ransomware attacks surged with tragic consequences, as hospitals were specifically targeted," the company said.

"Several high-profile organisations went out of business in 2020 and surviving organisations had to implement business continuity measures quickly in response to the COVID-19 pandemic or face ruin.

"This was often at the expense of cyber security and bypassed longstanding corporate policies, leaving many exposed to exploitation by highly organised and sophisticated threat actors, as well as other more opportunistic attackers."
The President of the Apostolic Church Ghana, Apostle Dr. Aaron Ami-Narh has asked christians to still look at the better side of life amidst the restrictions and hardships brought by the Covid-19 pandemic.



According to him, in these uncertain times, we run to the God for refuge, because He alone can save us from our fears and restore our losses.



In a statement to mark this year's easter festivities, he explained victory is not one that occurs in the absence of trouble but that which is confirmed even in the midst of trouble.



The psalmist affirms in the 46th Psalm when he intimated;



God is our refuge and strength, A very present help in trouble.Therefore we will not fear, Even though the earth be removed, And though the mountains be carried into the midst of the sea; Though its waters roar and be troubled, Though the mountains shake with its swelling. There is a river whose streams shall make glad the city of God, The holy place of the tabernacle of the Most High. God is in the midst of her, she shall not be moved; God shall help her, just at the break of dawn(Psalm 46:1-5, NKJV)





Read Full Statement



EASTER 2021 MESSAGE

OUR 2ND COVID EASTER



Message from Apostle Dr. Aaron Ami-Narh



(President, The Apostolic Church  Ghana)



This is our second Easter in this COVID-19 era. In the midst of these restrictions and hardships, we can still look at the better side of life and declareYet in all these things we are more than conquerors through Him who loved us(Romans 8:37NKJV).



Our victory is not one that occurs in the absence of trouble but that which is confirmed even in the midst of trouble. The psalmist affirms in the 46th Psalm when he intimated;







God is our refuge and strength,



A very present help in trouble.



Therefore we will not fear,



Even though the earth be removed,



And though the mountains be carried into the midst of the sea;



Though its waters roar and be troubled,



Though the mountains shake with its swelling.



There is a river whose streams shall make glad the city of God,



The holy place of the tabernacle of the Most High.



God is in the midst of her, she shall not be moved;



God shall help her, just at the break of dawn(Psalm 46:1-5, NKJV)



In these uncertain times, we run to the God of all certainties for refuge, for He alone can save us from our fears and restore our losses.



Let us choose not to allow the significance of this season to be lost on us. The pandemic has stolen a lot of things from us, so we must ensure it does not rob us of the benefits of Easter also. Let us remind ourselves that the most significant thing that ever happened in this life, occurred on a cross. It was the savage crucifixion of a sinless man by sinful people, who had no idea that He was dying in their place. Easter is the period where we remember this great sacrifice of love and appropriate its blessings.



JESUS DID IT FOR YOU



It is true that Jesus died for the whole world, but, one thing we forget is that Jesus died particularly for you, because there is no respect of persons with Him. He does not discriminate, so He died equally for you as He did for everyone else. Though you were not born then, He knew you before you were born, and died for your liberty and prosperity. He died for you out of love and His love for you is everlasting.The LORD has appeared of old to me, saying: Yes, I have loved you with an everlasting love; Therefore, with lovingkindness I have drawn you. (Jeremiah 31:3 NKJV)



He died for us out of love and He is still loving us through the circumstances of this life. No one in this life should ever feel unloved for the Love of Jesus engulfs His creation. No love can ever go beyond the love of Jesus forgreater love has no one than this, than to lay down ones life for his friends.(John 15:13 NKJV)



It is this love that we must receive into our lives and also give to others. We live in a broken world and many people feel broken and wounded. Let us extend the love of Christ to all for it is the Balm of Gilead that will heal the wounds of frustration that faces this generation.



MAKE IT SAFE



Since the COVID-19 pandemic is still with us, we have to be strategic in how we celebrate this Easter. We should not let our guard down for the virus is not a respecter of festivities. Let us continue to observe the protocols to ensure an incident-free Easter season. Let us make it a time of love and life and not one of death and damage.



I seize this opportunity to pray for our Nation-Ghana, that God will save us from our wounds and heal our land.I ask for Heavenly wisdom and protection for the leaders of this Nation.And I wish all citizens and residents of this great Nation a Happy, Safe and Prosperous Easter season.









Source: Isaac Kwame Owusu/Peacefmonline.com/[email protected]









Disclaimer : Opinions expressed here are those of the writers and do not reflect those of Peacefmonline.com. Peacefmonline.com accepts no responsibility legal or otherwise for their accuracy of content. Please report any inappropriate content to us, and we will evaluate it as a matter of priority.

Featured Video
Senators Ask Big Firms to Reveal Details on Foreign, Domestic Buyers of User Data

A bipartisan group of senators is questioning eight major U.S. corporations about the transmission of American user data to foreign bidders, usually used for digital advertising.

We write to seek information about your companys sharing of Americans personal data in order to understand how that information may be obtained and exploited by foreign governments to the detriment of our national security, the letter (pdf), sent on April 1 by Sen. Ron Wyden (D-Ore.), reads.

The senators seek information specifically about the real-time bidding process, which refers to the milliseconds before ads are shown to people on their electronic devices when hundreds of companies participate in an auction for their advertisement to be displayed.

Few Americans realize that some auction participants are siphoning off and storing bidstream data to compile exhaustive dossiers about them. In turn, these dossiers are being openly sold to anyone with a credit card, including to hedge funds, political campaigns, and even to governments, the letter states.

The other senators who signed the letter are Bill Cassidy (R-La.), Kirsten Gillibrand (D-N.Y.), Mark Warner (D-Va.), Sherrod Brown (D-Ohio), and Elizabeth Warren (D-Mass.).

Over the past year, multiple reports have indicated that a number of federal agencies have purchased personal data derived from mobile apps and other online services, in ways that potentially merit closer scrutiny. But the United States is not the only government with the means and interest in acquiring Americans personal data. This information would be a goldmine for foreign intelligence services that could exploit it to inform and supercharge hacking, blackmail, and influence campaigns, the letter reads.

The eight companies being addressed are AT&T, Google, Twitter, Verizon, Index Exchange, Magnite, OpenX, and PubMatic.

They then request certain specific information about the auction participants, foreign and domestic.

The four questions read:

Please identify the specific data elements about users, their devices, the websites they are accessing, and apps they are using that you provide to auction participants. Please identify each company, foreign or domestic, to whom your firm has provided bidstream data in the past three years that is not contractually prohibited from sharing, selling, or using the data for any purpose unrelated to bidding on and delivering an ad. If your firm has contractual restrictions in place prohibiting the sharing, sale, or secondary use of bidstream data, please detail all efforts to audit compliance with these contractual restrictions and the results of those audits. Please identify each foreign-headquartered or foreign-majority-owned company to whom your firm has provided bidstream data from users in the United States and their devices in the past three years.

The senators want the questions answered by May 4.
The last time Tiina Jauhiainen saw her close friend Princess Latifa of Dubai, she was being dragged away kicking and screaming by armed commandos from a boat off the Indian coast.

Latifa and Tiina had mounted a daring escape from the gulf state in February 2018 after the princess had her freedom heavily restricted by her father Sheikh Mohammed bin Rashid Al Maktoum, the ruler of Dubai, part of the United Arab Emirates (UAE).

The princess had previously tried to escape in 2002, and has said that she was imprisoned for more than three years as a result.

Speaking from her home in London this week, Jauhiainen told Review how the pair of friends had almost got away in 2018. They drove to Oman, travelling out to a yacht by dinghy and jet ski, and then crossed the Indian Ocean.

I got to know Latifa, because I was teaching her martial arts, Jauhiainen says. We started planning the escape in 2017. I didnt feel sad about leaving Dubai, because she was going as well. She is a very kind person who puts others before herself and she is always supportive.

Both women saw the escape bid as an adventure. But as they neared the end of the long ocean crossing, special forces from India and the UAE boarded the boat.

Latifa was grabbed, tranquillised, bundled away and flown to Dubai, where she has apparently been held captive ever since by her father.

The plight of Latifa and other women in his family has shone an unflattering light on Sheikh Mohammed, the stern billionaire who remains a powerful figure in Irish horse racing and one of Irelands biggest landowners.

Between the sheikh and his brother Hamdan Al Maktoum, who died last week aged 75, the family holdings amount to more than 6,000 acres spread across Kildare, Meath and Tipperary.

With his Irish base at Kildangan stud in Co Kildare, the man known as Sheikh Mo by his friends owns 4,500 acres, while Hamdan had a 1,500-acre holding.

Figures from the Department of Agriculture and other sources show that the Dubai ruler has claimed just over 1m in EU farm subsidies from his Irish land holdings over the past six years.

This would be small change to a man with six wives and up to 30 children whose family fortune has been estimated at just under 1bn. Perhaps the farm subsidies could be used to fuel his private 747 jet or his 162-metre yacht.

The large subsidies to the sheikh prompted Joe Healy, the then president of the Irish Farmers Association, to remark in 2019: I doubt the sheikh has much experience on the combine or with the calving jack.

Nobody in the close-knit world of Irish horse racing would ever show such disrespect. But perhaps it is time for the horsey set to pay closer attention to their patron.

Kenneth Roth, executive director of Human Rights Watch, has described Princess Latifas detention in solitary confinement as a form of torture.

But in Irish racing circles, the sheikh is treated with extreme deference.

As one racing figure put it: Its all Your Highness this, and Your Highness that when hes around. He is surrounded by sycophants.

Last year, one of the most damning verdicts on Sheikh Mohammed was delivered by the High Court in London in a family law case involving his ex-wife Princess Haya, who fled from Dubai with her daughter Al Jalila (12) and son Zayed (8) in 2019.

After hearing extensive witness statements about his familys plight, the court found Sheikh Mohammed to have been responsible for the abduction and forced return of two of his adult daughters, Latifa (now 35) and her sister Shamsa (39). The judge found Latifas allegations of serious physical abuse amounting to torture to be credible.

Princess Shamsa fled the familys British estate in Surrey in 2000 but was abducted in Cambridgeshire by agents of the sheikh and forcibly returned to Dubai, where she allegedly remains in captivity.

Expand Close Princess Haya with her horse at the RDS where she competed / Facebook

Twitter

Email

Whatsapp Princess Haya with her horse at the RDS where she competed

The judge ruled that the sheikh acted in a manner aimed at intimidating and frightening his then wife Princess Haya.

Adding another stain on his reputation was a secret video of Latifa, apparently filmed in captivity in Dubai and released by Tiina Jauhiainen and other friends in February.

In the video filmed in a villa in the middle of Dubai, the princess says: Im a hostage, Im not free I am enslaved, imprisoned in this jail, my life is not in my hands I have been by myself in solitary confinement with no trial and no charge.

The British Horseracing Authority expressed concern about the footage but no senior figure in Irish horse racing has stood up to deliver even the mildest rebuke to the sheikh.

He remains an honorary member of the Irish Turf Club, the organisation that regulated Irish racing until recently. The body has been largely subsumed into the Irish Horseracing Regulatory Board in recent years, but continues as a private club. So far, there have been no moves to expel the sheikh.

It has not gone unnoticed that while trainer Gordon Elliott was banned from racing for a year by the Irish Horseracing Regulatory Board after posing for a photo on a dead horse, nobody has even commented publicly on the Latifa scandal in Irish horse-racing circles.

Expand Close Latifa's friend Tiina Jauhiainen, who has been campaigning for the release of the princess / Facebook

Twitter

Email

Whatsapp Latifa's friend Tiina Jauhiainen, who has been campaigning for the release of the princess

Jauhiainen says it is now time for people in Irish racing to take a stand. Its very worrying how he seems to be so powerful in Europe, she tells Review. Its almost as if people are scared to express their opinions or take some action.

She called for Sheikh Mohammed to be banned from Irish racing after the evidence about him that emerged from last years British High Court finding and the recently publicised videos of Princess Latifa.

Owners of thoroughbred racehorses in Ireland are regulated by Horse Racing Ireland, which receives 67m in annual funding from the taxpayer.

While the quango unreservedly condemned the notorious photo of Elliott on the horse, it declined to comment this week on the controversy surrounding Sheikh Mohammed. There was also silence from the Turf Club.

Expand Close Mary Robinson became embroiled in Latifas case when she was pictured with the princess in December 2018 / Facebook

Twitter

Email

Whatsapp Mary Robinson became embroiled in Latifas case when she was pictured with the princess in December 2018

Jauhiainen said she hoped to enlist the support of former president Mary Robinson in demanding action from Irish racing authorities.

Robinson became embroiled in Latifas case after she flew to Dubai in December 2018 at the request of her friend, Princess Haya, for a lunch at which Latifa was present.

Nine days later, the UAEs foreign ministry published photographs of Robinson with Latifa, which it said was proof that the princess was safe and well. The former president was in effect used as cover by an authoritarian regime holding a young woman captive.

Robinson said earlier this year she was tricked, and that she was surprised when photographs of the lunch went public.

Jauhiainen says she was upset to see the pictures at the time, but she has recently been in touch with the former president.

She is a well-connected person and can use all her contacts so I am hoping that she is going to help us, she says.

She says she hoped the former president would back a ban on the sheikh from racing.

Robinson stopped short of supporting a ban on Sheikh Mohammed from the sport this week. However, a spokeswoman said that she had been in contact with Jauhiainen and the Free Latifa campaign.

The spokeswoman added: Both the campaign and herself are working on parallel tracks towards the shared aim of ensuring safety and securing freedom for Sheikha Latifa in the near future. She is committed to doing all that she can to further Latifas interests and is taking what she considers to be the best steps.

Sheikh Mohammeds Kildangan Stud has been described as a cross between the Blackrock Clinic and a luxury health farm, such is the opulence in which his horses are born and reared. He bought the estate, with its Victorian Jacobean-style mansion, in 1986 from Roderic More OFerrall, a descendant of the Gaelic chieftain Rory Og OMore.

The Dubai ruler used to be a more frequent visitor to Ireland. He would normally fly to Dublin on his jet for these trips, traversing the country in a helicopter and dropping into the Curragh for big events such as the Irish Derby and the 2,000 Guineas.

Expand Close Sheikh Mohammed's brother Hamdan bin Rashid Al Maktoum is believed to have chipped in 5m towards the redevelopment of the Curragh / Facebook

Twitter

Email

Whatsapp Sheikh Mohammed's brother Hamdan bin Rashid Al Maktoum is believed to have chipped in 5m towards the redevelopment of the Curragh

While he is seen as a forbidding and somewhat taciturn figure, his brother Hamdan was considered more affable. The sheikhs were considered one of the first ports of call for those connected with racing seeking charitable donations.

After one of his horses won the Irish Derby in 1995, Mohammed gave 350,000 to the Kildare St Vincent De Paul Society and there have been similar six-figure donations over the years.

The largesse won him plaudits, but close observers have noticed that in recent months opinion has quietly turned against him.

One racing figure said: Nobody is going to say it publicly, but I detect a huge change in attitude in the last couple of months. The Princess Latifa case has resonated with people.

People arent going to speak out because so many people in racing depend on him for their livelihoods, from trainers to vets to jockeys to staff working in the yard.

Irish racings dependence on the potentates patronage was shown in the recent revamp of the Curragh, the headquarters of Irish flat racing. Sheikh Mohammed chipped in 5m towards the redevelopment, and Hamdan is believed to have donated the same amount.

But the account of the fractious break-up with Princess Haya, outlined in the British court reports, has tarnished his image.

Haya moved in horsey circles in Ireland for a time in the mid-90s, training at stables of the renowned showjumper Paul Darragh in Co Meath. The daughter of King Hussein of Jordan was seen as likeable and charming by those who met her. Although she had set up the meeting with Robinson by the spring of 2019 she said she had become concerned about her situation and the plight of Latifa and Shamsa.

She had also begun an adulterous affair with her British bodyguard. She was reported to have suffered a campaign of intimidation by Sheikh Mohammeds agents. The British High court heard that a gun was twice placed on her pillow with the safety catch off.

A helicopter landed outside her house and the pilot said he was there to take her to a remote desert prison.

Princess Haya fled Dubai, along with her two children, telling friends she was in fear of her life.

Apart from horses, one of Sheikh Mohammeds passions is poetry, and this enthusiasm is indulged with reams of doggerel verses, published on official websites and in books.

As the drama of the marriage split played out, he posted a poem on Instagram that seemed to be directed at Haya, You Live and Die: You traitor, you betrayed the most precious trust, you exposed your games and nature, he wrote. You no longer have a place within me, go to who has kept you occupied I do not care whether you live or die.

Before the relationship ended, Sheikh Mohammed and Haya shared their enthusiasm for horses.

Long before they married, Haya jumped in competition at the 1996 RDS Dublin Horse Show, and her 27 faults did not dampen the enthusiasm of the crowd.

Two years later, Sheikh Mohammed came to Ireland to participate in the equestrian sport of endurance riding, where competitors ride long distance.

He won a contest riding through the Wicklow Hills around the village of Donard and donated 98,000 towards the construction of a local community hall.

Expand Close Sheikh Mohammed bin Rashid Al Maktoum won an endurance contest riding through the Wicklow Hills in the late 1990s / Facebook

Twitter

Email

Whatsapp Sheikh Mohammed bin Rashid Al Maktoum won an endurance contest riding through the Wicklow Hills in the late 1990s

But his career as an endurance rider has not escaped controversy. In 2009, he was banned from competing in endurance races for six months when a tribunal found his horse Tahhan had tested positive for a hypertension drug and the steroid stanozolol.

Doping was also a problem at one of his racing stables. One of his racing trainers, Mahmood al-Zarooni, was at the centre of one of the biggest doping scandals in history in Britain when he administered anabolic steroids to 22 horses and received an eight-year ban from racing.

The British Horseracing Authority, in a report on the affair, said the trainer had acted autonomously and was the sole person responsible.

The Dubai government did not respond to requests for comment on the case of Latifa and Shamsa this week. In the past, the Dubai royal court has said that Latifa was alive, safe and in the loving care of her family.

The story of the missing princesses is just one dark aspect of life beneath the glitz and glamour of Dubai. Human Rights Watch has highlighted the track record of the UAE authorities with enforced disappearances, arbitrary detention, torture and the ill-treatment of political dissidents.

Human rights campaigners are also highly critical of laws and practices that deem men the legal guardians of women and allow families to deprive women of their liberty.

As she builds a new life in London, Tiina Jauhiainen will not give up the campaign to secure her friends release of her friend.

After her capture on board the yacht as her escape with Latifa was foiled, she was herself interrogated by the Emirati authorities.

She says she was told that she could not contact her embassy and her family.

They told me they could do anything they wanted with me  there were threats about getting the death penalty or a life sentence.

In the three years after she was released and left Dubai, the Finnish martial arts instructor has spent most of her time trying to secure her friends release.

It remains to be seen if anyone in Irish horse racing will stand up and support her in putting pressure on Sheikh Mohammed to free Latifa.
Wang Huning attends the opening session of CCPs rubber stamp legislative conference at the Great Hall of the People in Beijing on Mar. 5, 2019. (Wang Zhao/AFP via Getty Images)

The Man Behind Chinas Raging Nationalist Campaigns Against the US

Commentary

Though it may not be clear to many Westerners, the Chinese Communist Party (CCP) is collapsing. The Chinese are quite certain that the Chinese regimes fall is imminent, as more than 375 million Chinese have already quit the CCP and its affiliated organizations.

On the verge of a crisis, the CCP has again raised the banner of nationalism in order to save itself. This is a tactic it has regularly used over the past century when it has been cornered and had no other choice.

The latest nationalist campaign started with the CCPs diplomatic system, after U.S. Secretary of State Antony Blinken said on March 18 that the United States had deep concerns with actions by China, including Xinjiang, Hong Kong, Taiwan, cyber attacks on the United States, and economic coercion toward our allies.

In the midst of this diplomatic dilemma, the Central Committee of the Communist Youth League (CYL) joined in to initiate a heated boycott of foreign goods, with the CCPs official mouthpieces invoking nationalist sentiment along the way.

The situation shows that Politburo Standing Committee member and state adviser Wang Huningwho controls the CYL and the CCPs Publicity Department, but has no position in foreign affairsis directing the diplomatic system from behind the scenes.

Staged Confrontation in Alaska

At the two-day U.S.China meeting in Alaska on March 18 and 19, the two sides, led by Blinken and Chinese foreign policy official Yang Jiechi, exchanged fire at the beginning of their talks, bringing their conflict under the international spotlight.

Yang spoke for 17 minutes without giving time for translation in between. The most surprising remark he made was that the United States does not have the qualification to say that it wants to speak to China from a position of strength and that the U.S. side was not even qualified to say such things even 20 years or 30 years ago, because the Chinese people dont buy it.

As many people have said, Yangs words were for the Chinese to hear, in order to intensify a new wave of anti-U.S. sentiment among domestic Little Pinks (a pejorative term to describe youths indoctrinated by the Chinese regime). Yangs performance was also for CCP head Xi Jinping.

After Yang and the CCPs foreign minister, Wang Yi, dramatically opened the talks with guns blazing, the CCPs official media quickly amplified their message and declared the talks a diplomatic win for the regime. A bilingual post on the Weibo account of CCP mouthpiece Peoples Daily Weibo quoted Yangs remarks in Chinese, accompanied by a warning in English: Stop interfering in Chinas internal affairs. The video of Yangs speech went viral on Chinas internet and was met with an outpouring of fanfare from the Little Pinks.

Both Yang and Wang were acting for Xi. Just like fighting the CCP virus epidemic, foreign affairs are on Xis list of issues requiring his personal leadership and personal deployment, with Xi not daring to leave it to others. The CCPs foreign ministry appears to have nothing to do with Chinese Prime Minister Li Keqiang, who is supposed to assist Xi in the area of foreign diplomacy. Who is behind Xi, then? Its Wang Huning, the so-called state adviser.

Wang is in charge of an array of areas, including the CCPs party building work, ideology, and propaganda. He is also a member of various committees, including the Central Comprehensively Deepening Reforms Commission, Central Financial and Economic Affairs Commission, and Central Cyberspace Affairs Commission.

Most notably, Wang was the only member of the Politburo Standing Committee who accompanied Xi to meet with diplomatic envoys of foreign countries on July 17, 2019, as secretary of the Partys Secretariat.

This is notable because typically more officials would have attended, and Wang doesnt hold any position in the foreign affairs area. Hes also not a member of the Foreign Affairs Commission under the CCP. While Xi is the director of the commission, Prime Minister Li is the deputy director and Wang Qishan is a member of the commission.

Wang is believed to have replaced Li in assisting Xi to direct diplomacy. That is to say, the CCPs diplomatic system has become a territory of Wangs meddling.

In addition, the CCPs propaganda itself is under Wangs control, and it is not difficult to judge that Wang is manipulating it behind the scenes.

Boycott Sparked by Controversial Xinjiang

The controversy surrounding Xinjiang cotton, which is a product of forced labor, became the spark for a boycott of foreign goods, after several foreign companies including H&M publicly stated last year that they would stop sourcing their cotton from Xinjiang due to human rights concerns in the region.

After the European Union (EU) and many Western countries sanctioned CCP officials over human rights issues in Xinjiang on March 22, the CCPs Ministry of Foreign Affairs announced retaliatory sanctions against 10 European officials and four entities, intensifying the conflict between the Chinese regime and the international community, and creating a weird undercurrent in Chinas political situation.

On March 24, the CYL raked up the past on its Weibo account, uploading H&Ms statement from last year about its boycott of Xinjiangs sweatshop cotton, asking H&M to stop yuejipengci in English.

It explained in another post that yuejipengci in Chinese means going beyond ones capacity to fake an incident for money. This is also a follow-up to the statement made by Yang Jiechi during the U.S.China talks in Alaska, which represents a rogue diplomatic phrase: Chinese people dont buy this.

Following the CYLs opening strike, almost all of the Chinese regimes official media, including CCTV and Peoples Daily, launched an all-out attack on H&M at about the same time. The storm spread rapidly to more than a dozen international brands, such as Nike and Adidas.

At her March 25 regular press conference, CCP Foreign Ministry spokeswoman Hua Chunying showed a photo of American slaves from more than 100 years ago and compared it to a recent color photo taken in Xinjiang, arguing that the United States also used black slaves to grow cotton. However, the so-called black slaves picking cotton photo she showed to foreign journalists was exposed by Newsweek to be a postcard from the archives of the Library of Congress titled Sharecropper Sam Williams With Family Members and Laborers in Cotton field.

Why did a statement released a year ago from H&M become compromising material to be used now by the CCPs official media? Why did it suddenly ignite a national movement in China against foreign brands? Why did the CCPs organizations, including its domestic propaganda system and its foreign ministry spokesperson, join the fray? Obviously, just like the performance of senior Chinese diplomats in Alaska, it was a coordinated effort.

The CYL is a so-called mass organization of the CCP, a channel for the CCP to connect with the Chinese people, especially young people, and Wang is the superintendent of the CYL, with ideology and propaganda also under his direct supervision. Yet Wang also manipulates the Chinese regimes diplomacy from behind the scenes. Therefore, while this nationalist drama may appear to be under Xi Jinpings command, as Xi is supposed to be the so-called super authority in China, Wang is the true director.

Wang Designs Xis Leftward Turn

In recent years, Xi has made frequent moves toward the left, showing a tendency to emulate Mao Zedong in various fields. Early on, he asked senior CCP officials to study Maos writings in order to deal with trade negotiations with the United States. Many of Xis speeches were copied from Mao.

Xi claims that time and momentum are on our side. In his domestic policies, he boasts about the so-called miracle of poverty eradication (though much of the Chinese population remains in poverty), and he puts forward the so-called 2035 Vision Plan (a nationalist plan with the aim of overtaking the United States). In his foreign policies, he regards the world trend as the East is rising and the West is falling, and the United States as his No. 1 enemy. These are all signs indicating the rise of nationalism across the board.

Xis leftward turn is due to the fact that he has been deeply influenced not only by the CCPs highly deceptive propaganda, but also by Wang, who has easy access to him.

Wang, known as the state adviser for three dynasties (he has served two previous CCP general secretaries Jiang Zemin and Hu Jintao and the current general secretary Xi), first helped Jiang Zemin package the so-called Jiang Zemin Theory, and later was an important promoter of Hu Jintaos theory Scientific Outlook on Development. He is also the author of Xis Chinese Dream and the so-called Xis Thought that was added to the CCPs party constitution at the 19th National Congress, the Partys rubber-stamp legislative conference.

After the 19th congress, a series of internal speeches by Xi revealing his ideological orientation was published in the party media, and many of the speeches were designed by Wang. It is said that even when Xi attends international conferences, Wang prepares some small notes for him.

See How Wangs Nationalist Farce Ends

Despite Xis intention to rely on it, Wangs proud nationalist work has received backlash from time to time.

For example, the rise of nationalism in the previous two yearswhich is really aimed at glorifying the CCP, as represented by the documentary Amazing Chinawas shattered by the sudden trade conflict between the United States and China. In addition, it revealed the reality that China has long relied on the West for its core technologies. At the time, a group of CCP officials spoke out through pro-Beijing Hong Kong media, implicitly criticizing Wangs propaganda system for bringing harm to the country.

Last year, just after the outbreak of the CCP virus from the central Chinese city of Wuhan, the Publicity Department under Wangs control released a propaganda book, A Battle Against Epidemic: China Combats the Novel Coronavirus in 2020, touting Xis major country leaders love for the people. The book, initially slated to be published in five languages including English, was pulled off shelves less than a week after its release in February due to negative feedback. Beijing resident Xue Fumin wrote that Wang, as a member of the CCPs Standing Committee in charge of propaganda, should be held politically accountable for his lack of care for the people.

Although Wang has been repeatedly protected by Xi, the CCPs propaganda system has become a subject of ridicule for Chinese citizens, and for the international community.

Yangs remark China doesnt buy it has been ridiculed by Chinese netizens, making similar sentences out of the template. For example, China doesnt buy the American way, but only Maos cultural revolution way; China doesnt buy the American way, but only the way that caused 30 million peoples death in the three-year famine.

The current Boxer Rebellion-style boycott of foreign goods has now begun to take a turn for the worse. Videos can be found on Weibo of people burning Nike sneakers and cutting H&M clothes to vent their anger, and at least one shopping mall has removed H&Ms outdoor billboards.

Amid all this chaos, a Little Pink in Zhengzhou was taken away by police at a protest site for boycotting H&M. Then certain CCP media began to call for vigilance against bad guys who acted too aggressively in the boycott campaign.

An article titled Bad People Are Mixed In With the Masses Who Boycott H&M, published on March 26 by Nanfang Daily, a mouthpiece of the CCPs Guangdong provincial committee, asked its readers to be wary of some irrational actions and attempts to muddy the water with the intention of high-level sophisticated irony.

Is it the Little Pinks or the CCPs mouthpiece being ironic? Of course, it is the CCPs own mouthpiece, because they were the ones who started the push for a boycott.

Some netizens said that people shouldnt blindly follow trends, as this results in following the CCP.

In fact, its not difficult to imagine, given that the so-called anti-Japanese patriotic demonstrations that occurred 10 years ago in China were eventually stabilized to serve the CCPs own ends. The CCP fanned the flames of nationalism then, too, against Japan and Japanese companies.

The CCP claims that it wants people to be patriotic, but in reality, it doesnt allow it. Loving the country makes the Partys rule unstable. It actually wants people to blindly love the CCP. In a country where there are no human rights, no freedom of thought, and no freedom of speech, and where even citizens are afraid to appeal to the government, there is only a nationalist drama manipulated by those in power, so when the time is ripe, we can expect the curtain to close on the regime.

Yue Shan is a freelance writer who used to work for CCPs government organizations and listed Chinese real estate companies in his early years. He is familiar with the inner workings of the CCPs system and its political and business relations and is dedicated to analyzing Chinese politics and current trends. He has been a long-time contributor to several Chinese media outlets based in the U.S. and Taiwan.

Views expressed in this article are the opinions of the author and do not necessarily reflect the views of The Epoch Times.
Greater Accra Regional Minister, Henry Quartey says he will not entertain abusive use of sirens in the Capital City.



The hooting of sirens by drivers, particularly Members of Parliament, Ministers, government and public officials, clergymen among others have become rampant in the city.



This situation is very worrying and residents in the city have been looking for solutions.



It appears the residents are finally going to have answer to their call.



The Regional Minister has pledged to deal drastically with those who blow sirens in the city.



He revealed on Peace FM's 'Kokrokoo' that he is going to make directives to address this problem.



He warned that no one, whether a government official, Member of Parliament or dignitary, will be exempt from the directives.



Noting that he has the backing of the President, the Minister stated emphatically that there will be no preferential treatment to any person who abuses a siren.



My colleagues will not be happy with me but, boy, I'm going to do it because once I have the backing from the President; it's good, he told Kwami Sefa Kayi on Peace FM's ''Kokrokoo''.

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
Winmalee students to speak to astronauts

Australia's Blue Mountains Gazette reports Winmalee Public will become ground control later this month when eight students talk to an astronaut on the International Space Station.

Back in July 2019, the school's science teacher, Alison Broderick, applied to NASA to be part of the exciting ARISS program - Amateur Radio on the International Space Station.

ARISS enables students around the world to speak live to an astronaut on board the station as it orbits Earth, thanks to amateur radio enthusiasts who work with NASA to facilitate the contacts

Finally, late last year, Mrs Broderick got the good news: We have lift-off.

Within a few weeks (NASA has yet to confirm the exact date), the students of Winmalee Public will speak to astronauts via a radio telebridge unit in the school hall as the space station orbits 430 kilometres above the earth travelling at 27,000km/h.

The link between Earth and space will be supported by Shane Lynd, a moderator for ARISS, who lives in Mackay, Queensland.

The students entered the "Ask an Astronaut a Question" competition, and eight lucky winners were selected to speak directly to one of the crew on board.

Read the full Blue Mountains Gazette article

https://www.bluemountainsgazette.com.au/story/7193292/winmalee-ground-control/
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).
Mumbai, April 3 : Buckle up, as a host of Bollywood actresses will be seen taking on action avatars on the big screen! In fact, many of them are training to perform their stunts in upcoming films.

While Disha Patani will engage in high-voltage action in the Salman Khan-starrer "Radhe", Katrina Kaif is undergoing stunt training for her film "Tiger 3". Deepika Padukone will perform a few big stunts in "Fighter" and "Pathan", and Kangana Ranaut has promised never-before action in "Dhaakad" and "Tejas".

A few weeks back, Kangana shared a bruised picture on Instagram from the sets of "Dhakaad" and wrote: "10th night shift non stop action, 14 hours shift night rolled in to morning but our chief @RazyGhai be like tum mujhe khoon do main tumhe aazadi dunga..Well I am all yours ..... bring it on #Dhaakad." Action director Allan Amin says that training is essential for all artistes who want to do stunt sequences on their own.

"All of them have to go through training at least for a few weeks so that it looks real. Also, we have all the safety measures on the sets to keep them safe from mishaps," he says.

Girish Johar, producer and film trade expert, says that while this is a good trend, it requires the producers to be extra careful.

"It all depends on what kind of stunts and what kind of action sequences are there in the film. Having said that, when an actor wants to do these stunts, for the producer, it goes to entail that they have to be sure that the actor doesn't get hurt and proper precautions of safety have to be taken care of on the set. Certain proactive measures need to be taken. So this does entail a higher budget," he says.

"Having said that, when actors do their own stunts, it helps the audience get the vibe of the actor while watching the film as close to reality as possible," he adds.

Here's a look at the actresses who will engage in action sequences in upcoming films:

Disha Patani in "Radhe"

Fitness enthusiast Disha shared a video of jaw-dropping stunts that she performs in the Salman Khan-starrer action drama "Radhe" a few weeks back, on Instagram. In the video, she is seen doing backflips, cartwheels, flips and swinging.

Deepika Padukone in "Fighter" and "Pathan"

Deepika shares screen space with Hrithik Roshan for the first time in Siddharth Anand's upcoming film "Fighter", and the filmmaker has planned lots of scintillating action sequences for both stars. The actress will also be taking part in elaborate action sequences in "Pathan", which stars Shah Rukh Khan.

Kangana Ranaut in "Dhaakad" and "Tejas"

Kangana has been posting action stills from the set of "Dhaakad" for a while now, and her fans surely are excited. She also plays the role of an Air Force Fighter Pilot in "Tejas" and put up a video of her climbing a rope wall for the film on Instagram.

Katrina Kaif in "Tiger 3"

As per reports, Katrina is training with a South Korean crew to master stunts for the latest film in the blockbuster "Tiger" franchise starring Salman Khan. She is learning kickboxing and combat skills from experts.

-- Syndicated from IANS
Gardai have seized 160,000 in cash and arrested a man following an operation last night in Athlone.

The man was arrested following a stop and search operation in the area of Auburn Villas.

At approximately 9.30pm, Gardai from the towns crime and drugs units stopped a car.

A garda spokesman said a search of the vehicle was carried out under Section 23 of the Misuse of Drugs Act.

During this search 160,000 was found concealed in the car.

Expand Close Some of the money recovered by the Gardai. Photo: Gardai / Facebook

Twitter

Email

Whatsapp Some of the money recovered by the Gardai. Photo: Gardai

The spokesman said: "A 21-year-old man who was the sole occupant of the car was arrested at the scene and detained under Section 4 of the Criminal Justice Act 1984. "

The man has since been released without charge and a file will be prepared for the Director of Public Prosecutions. Investigations are ongoing.

Read More
Source: Xinhua| 2021-04-03 00:35:36|Editor: huaxia

Video Player Close

NEW DELHI, April 2 (Xinhua) -- India's total exports touched 34 billion U.S. dollars in March, up over 58 percent from the same month last year, according to the latest data released by the ministry of commerce and industry.

Exports during the financial year 2020-21 (April 2020-March 2021) were 290.18 billion U.S. dollars, compared to 313.36 billion U.S. dollars the previous financial year, recording a negative growth of 7.4 percent, according to the data.

Federation of Indian Export Organizations (FIEO) President Sharad Kumar Saraf said the whopping double-digit growth of almost 58.5 percent in March showed not only an impressive sign of further revival for the sector, but for the overall economy as well.

"This has been mainly on account of 28 out of 30 major product groups of exports showing either a very impressive high positive growth starting with triple digit and almost all ending with a very high double-digit growth defying all the odds during these difficult times," said Saraf.

India's total imports in March 2021 were 48.12 billion U.S. dollars, compared to 31.47 billion U.S. dollars in March 2020, thus registering an increase of 52.89 percent.

India remained a net importer in March 2021 with a trade deficit of 14.11 billion U.S. dollars, compared to a trade deficit of 9.98 billion U.S. dollars in March 2020, the ministry's data showed. Enditem
LONDON  Thousands of people protested Saturday in several cities across England and Wales against a sweeping crime and policing bill, with some in London clashing with the police in scenes that may further fuel a raging national debate over law enforcement tactics in Britain.

In London, protesters peacefully marched from Hyde Park in central London to Parliament Square, but the gathering gave way to scuffles with officers in the evening, and 26 demonstrators were detained, the police said. Ten officers also suffered light injuries, the Metropolitan Police said in a statement on Saturday night, adding that the number of arrests would likely increase.

Protesters also marched in Liverpool, Birmingham, Bristol and many other cities on Saturday, the latest events in what have become known as Kill the Bill demonstrations. Critics of the bill say it would hinder the right to protest and constitute an attack on democracy.
For Subscribers Mom shares story of son's suicide, shines light on teen mental health

After Aiden Alexander's suicide, his family wants to break the stigma associated with suicide so more youths can be helped.
By Shilpa Jamkhandikar

MUMBAI (Reuters) - India's biggest cities braced for stricter lockdowns and other COVID-19 curbs on Saturday as infections hit a six-month high, as a month-long surge continued in the country third-worst hit by the pandemic.

India's richest state, Maharashtra, accounted for more than half of the 89,129 new cases reported by the national health ministry in the last 24 hours, with a record 47,827 infections.

The state's chief minister warned citizens of a lockdown if cases continued to rise at their current rate, saying medical infrastructure would be inadequate in a couple of weeks.

In the southern state of Karnataka, home to India's tech capital Bengaluru, authorities ordered gyms to be closed, barred functions at religious places and told cinema halls, bars, pubs and restaurants to limit the number of people allowed in.

India's capital, New Delhi recorded more than 3,500 cases, its highest this year, but its chief minister ruled out another lockdown for now.

Daily coronavirus cases have surged from around 15,000 in early March to 88,000 or so at the start of April.

The south Asian nation recorded 89,129 new infections and 714 deaths, the ministry said. That was the biggest daily rise since Sept. 20 and the most deaths since Oct. 21, according to a Reuters tally.

India follows only the United States and Brazil in infections, with more than 12 million recorded since the start of the outbreak.

The government has intensified its vaccination drive in recent weeks, but the shots have been slow to reach Indias 1.3 billion people.

Prime Minister Narendra Modi has faced criticism for exporting vaccines produced in India when most Indians are yet to get them.

(Global vaccination tracker: https://graphics.reuters.com/world-coronavirus-tracker-and-maps/vaccination-rollout-and-access)

(Interactive graphic tracking global spread of coronavirus: https://graphics.reuters.com/world-coronavirus-tracker-and-maps)

(Reporting by Shilpa Jamkhandikar; Editing by Clarence Fernandez and William Mallard)
It was an interesting day in the world of technology today. On one hand, Apple brought 30 new games to Arcade. On the other hand, Facebook added new visual prompts to encourage Covid-19 vaccine takeup.

So, here's what happened in tech today:

Twitter confirms Spaces is coming to Web

Twitter is working on a desktop web version for Spaces. Twitter Spaces is available on Android and iOS but with select users being able to host a Space. Twitter is currently testing how Spaces will look on the desktop web app.

Facebook launches new profile frames, sticker to encourage Covid-19 vaccine

Facebook has launched new features to encourage Covid-19 vaccination. On Facebook, it has launched Covid-19 vaccine profile frames, and a new sticker on Instagram. Facebook said it partnered with the US Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) and Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) to launch the new profile frames.

HMD Global to launch new Nokia phones on April 8

HMD Global is scheduled to have an event on April 8 and multiple new Nokia smartphones are expected to be launched. It is being expected that the Nokia G-series and the Nokia X-series smartphones at the event.

Sony to launch new smartphones on April 14

Sony today announced that it will be hosting a special event on April 14 wherein it will be showcasing its next-generation Xperia smartphones. The news comes as a courtesy of the companys Twitter handle where the company made the announcement regarding its upcoming event.

Apple Arcade adds 30 new games

Apple has beefed up its Apple Arcade arsenal with 30 new games and two fresh new categories. The two new categories on the Arcade are Timeless Classics and App Store Greats. You can check out the entire list here.
Kilkenny farmers considering an application to the Organic Farming Scheme have until April 30 to do so, following the reopening of the scheme earlier this month with an additional budget of 4 million for 2021.



This additional funding was confirmed by Minister of State at the Department of Agriculture, Food and the Marine, Senator Pippa Hackett when she confirmed the continuation of the scheme last month.

1,460 farmers participated in the last scheme, and it is envisaged that approximately 500 more may be successful in their application this Spring.



Philip OConnor, Head of Farm Supports at Ifac said: Applications for the scheme must be made online through the Departments online system at agfood.ie. I would encourage every farmer to inform themselves of the opportunities that the Organic Farming Scheme offers and give it full consideration.



Payments of up to 220 per hectare are available for farms undergoing conversion to full organic status, a process that takes two years, or 170 per hectare for farms that have obtained that status.

Higher payment rates are available for organic horticulture and tillage farmers.

The minimum farm area allocated is three hectares for dairy, dry stock and tillage, or one hectare for horticulture, with rates of payment decreasing for horticulture farms over six hectares, tillage farms over 20 hectares and all farms over 60 hectares.



All applications must be processed through agfood.ie, and to be eligible, farmers must submit an annual Basic Payment Scheme application and must be registered with one of the two Organic Control Bodies that certify land-based organic operators; The Irish Organic Association and Organic Trust CLG.
I've been keeping an eye on Senate Bill 7, which would largely restrict mail-in voting, eliminate drive-thru and overnight voting, and limit voting hours, all in the name of preventing voter fraud.

And as the bill passed in the Senate on April 1, Texans have turned to corporations to weigh in.

AFTER THE FREEZE: Winter storm death toll nearly double official count, Houston Chronicle reports

Julian Castro, former mayor of San Antonio and Obama Administration Secretary of Housing and Urban Development, directly called on Southwest and American Airlines to chime in after Delta Airlines' CEO came out against a similar bill in Georgia. Both Southwest and American Airlines are based in Texas.

American Airlines did come out against SB 7 and other bills like it, and Southwest Airlines offered general support of voting rights without mentioning specific legislation in a vague statement.

But politicians cheering on corporations to save our voting rights from their colleagues feels more dystopian than usual, especially since it came the same week we saw a widespread discussion on whether a certain CEO cares if his employees get bathroom breaks and aren't forced to urinate in water bottles on the job.

Our own lawmakers know that money will always talk much, much louder, far from a new revelation. But embracing that sentiment so openly, that the fate of voter access across the state lies in the hands of some CEOs choosing to speak up, is nerve-wracking.

American Airlines will always be fine. They'll make their profits from me and a bunch of other Texans whether or not the company had chosen to say anything at all and whether or not SB 7 gets passed.

If corporate unpopularity is what kills SB 7, it means our voting rights are tied a bit too close to what Michael Dell feels is better for the state where he lives and works. Sure, it's good for us now if it means Harris County voting centers would be able to host the number of machines they need. But what if he and everyone else didn't want to say anything?

BUILD THE IKE DIKE?: Biden sure seems to be thinking about the Ike Dike in his $2 trillion infrastructure plan

SB 7 is headed to the House of Representatives. Perhaps it'll die if lawmakers feel the bill is worse for business. Perhaps it won't, and Texas Republicans will prove they aren't in the pocket of the state's largest corporations while also ignoring their constituents.

Either way, it won't feel like a win.
Encore Theatre had just finished their first year in residency at An Tain Arts Centre when the COVID-19 pandemic struck, forcing arts venues around the world to close their doors to live audiences.

The group had brought their acclaimed production of 'Courage' on tour in 2019 and were looking forward to another busy year in 2020, with plans to stage 'Our Town' by Thornton Wilder. As usual they were going to bring their unique twist to the play, swapping Dundalk for small town Americana of the original. Unable to bring the production to a physical stage, they began working on a radio adaptation, which director Sandy Sneddon says will be recorded in the near future.

Last year's lockdown saw them locked out of the theatre for seven months until, as an part of RehabCare's educational programme for adults with intellectural disabilities, they returned to An Tain in October and began making plans for a new production based on life and times of Aesop.

This, as Sandy notes, allowed them to use masks, a regular feature of Greek theatre, and social distancing. Unable to attend real drama workshops, they tracked down one from the National Theatre in London on-line and began exploring how Greek actors used masks and movement to tell a story before the third lockdown after Christmas.

Now, some of the group have returned to An Tain while others remain at home until the threat of COVID lifts with the rollout of vaccines.

All of them, says Sandy, are busy preparing for the new production, whether at home or in the theatre.

'A the moment we have around nine of our actors coming and hopefully when the vaccines are rolled out, we'll have everyone back in.'

'They are delighted to be able to connect with their friends, to have social interaction and to practice drama which has been part of their lives for nearly twenty years.'

'Basically we are working on our own version of a Greek tragedy. We are learning all about the different skills used in Greek theatre, which includes wearing masks.'

They are writing their own play based on the life of Aesop, still remembered centuries later for his fables.

The production, which they hope to stage on the stage of An Tain Arts Centre in October, sees them working with artist Orlaith Cullinane, whose depictions of animals will help to bring Aesops tales of wolves, ravens, bats and birds to life.

Orlaith will also help create masks for the members of the Chorus - an essential part of Greek theatre - to wear as they bring the stories of Aesop to life.

Mindful of Aesop's warning 'Do not count your chikens before they are hatched', Sandy says that if they can't stage the play before a life audience, they will use it to make a film to be streamed or produced as a DVD so that people can see what they are creating.
The half-brother of Jordans King Abdullah said he has been placed under house arrest and accused the countrys leadership of corruption and incompetence.

In a videotaped statement leaked to the BBC, Prince Hamzah said he was visited early on Saturday by the countrys military chief and told I was not allowed to go out, to communicate with people or to meet with them.

He said his security detail was removed, and his phone and Internet service had been cut. He said he was speaking over satellite Internet, but expected that service to be cut as well. The BBC says it received the statement from Hamzahs lawyer.

In the statement, Hamzah said he had been informed he was being punished for taking in part in meetings in which the king had been criticised, though he himself was not accused of being a direct critic.

He said he told the army chief: I am not the person responsible for the breakdown in governance, for the corruption and for the incompetence that has been prevalent in our governing structure for the last 15 to 20 years and has been getting worse by the year. I am not responsible for the lack of faith that people have in their institutions. They are responsible.

The countrys top general had earlier denied that Hamzah  a former crown prince stripped of the title in 2004  was arrested or under house arrest, even as authorities announced the arrests of former senior officials close to the ruling monarchy.

Hamzah was asked to stop some movements and activities that are being used to target Jordans security and stability, said Gen Yousef Huneiti, the army chief of staff.

He said an investigation was ongoing and its results would be made public in a transparent and clear form.

No one is above the law and Jordans security and stability are above all, he told the official Petra news agency.

Petra had earlier reported that two senior officials who formerly worked for the palace, along with other suspects, had been arrested for security reasons, without providing further details.

The Petra report said Sharif Hassan bin Zaid, a member of the royal family, and Bassem Ibrahim Awadallah, a former head of the royal court, were detained.
Court documents show the amount of firearms, ammunition, and explosives a group of six men, plotting to kidnap Gov. Gretchen Whitmer, had on-hand at their respective properties.

In early October 2020, Adam Fox, Barry Croft, Ty Garbin, Kaleb Franks, Daniel Harris and Brandon Caserta were arrested following an FBI investigation alleging the men evolved a plan to kidnap Whitmer.

Eighteen pages of court documents filed in the U.S. District Court Western District of Michigan on March 30 show the type and amount of weaponry seized from 11 different properties, spread between three different states.

On the weekend of Sept. 12-13, 2020, the six men  along with an undercover agent  met at Garbins property in Luther, located in Lake County.

At the property, the men created and tested homemade explosives as well as conducted tactical exercises, an FBI affidavit states. They also surveilled Whitmers vacation home, which is roughly an hour from Garbins property. The anti-government extremists were upset over coronavirus restrictions Whitmer had imposed in Michigan.

Of the 18 pages filed in court this week, 17 of them detail seizures from each property.

Authorities seized hundreds of rounds of live ammunition and loaded handguns from Garbins property in Luther  a town with a population of about 300 located about 35 miles northwest of Big Rapids.

Garbin, who pleaded guilty to conspiring to commit kidnapping in January, said he hosted training at his property near Luther, constructing a "shoot house" to resemble Whitmer's vacation home in Antrim County and "assaulting it with firearms," the Associated Press reported.

A number of rifles, shotguns and pistols were also seized from a separate piece of property owned by Garbin in Hartland.

FBI agents seized thousands of rounds of ammunition, dozens of different kinds of firearms, and explosives from the other five codefendants prosperities.

Those properties include: Hudsonville, Wyoming, Hartland, Waterford, Canton, Ypsilanti, and Plymouth, all located in Michigan, as well as Swedesboro, New Jersey, and Bear, Delaware.

Garbin's sentencing is scheduled for July 8. As part of a plea bargain, he agreed to testify against his co-defendants in exchange for no additional charges being filed against him by prosecutors.

A trial is scheduled to begin for the other five codefendants this October. If convicted, the codefendants faces life in federal prison.

The Associated Press contributed to this report.
PLYMOUTH, Iowa  A Cerro Gordo County woman is accused of stealing thousands of dollars worth of tools.

Mariah Leigh Jurgena, 27 of Plymouth, has been charged with 1st degree theft.

Law enforcement says a construction trailer and tools were stolen in Clear Lake on February 2 and seven of the stolen tools were found during a search of Jurgenas home on March 22. Court documents say the rest of the tools that have not been found are worth over $30,000.

Jurgena was arrested Friday and booked into the Cerro Gordo County Jail on $10,000 bond.
New Braunfels, TX (78130)

Today

Cloudy this morning with showers during the afternoon. High 77F. Winds NE at 5 to 10 mph. Chance of rain 50%..

Tonight

Considerable cloudiness with occasional rain showers. Low 66F. Winds NE at 5 to 10 mph. Chance of rain 50%.
A restaurant owner in Italy who was mistakenly put on the US sanction blacklist under the Donald Trump administration had described the last couple of months as a nightmare. As per The Guardian, Alessandro Bazzoni, a resident of Verona, had tough penalties imposed on his flagship pizzeria AMG S.A.S. Di Alessandro Bazzoni & C, in the last days of Trumps Presidency. While it is not the first time that American officials had sanctioned the wrong party, it turned out to be grave for Bazzoni, whose business was already marred by the COVD-19 pandemic.

Donald Trump, during his time in the Oval Office, has imposed a tough embargo and sanctions to coerce Venezuelan President Nicolas Maduro to step down. As a part of its crackdown in 2019, Trumps government imposed hard-hitting sanctions on Venezuelas state oil company, Petroleos de Venezuela (PDVSA). Taking it a step ahead, Trump, on his last day in office sanctioned a network of oil firms and individuals tied to PDVSA which mistakenly included Bazzoni.

Another Gaffe

Additionally, the US Treasury Department also blacklisted SeriGraphicLab, a graphic design company owned by another man with the same name- Alessandro Bazzoni. Although when contacted by The Guardian, the Sardinia based entrepreneur confirmed that his business was highly hit, he refrained from revealing further details.

Speaking to Italian daily Corriere della Sera later, the restaurant owner said that he solved the problem himself, by entering my data on a special digital platform of the US government. Additionally, he also confirmed that he had also managed to get a US visa until 2023. In an updated list on the US treasurys website dated 31 March, both Italian companies were deleted from the blacklist.

Meanwhile, Facebook has stricken its tone against the Venezuelan President. Earlier this week, Facebook froze the page of Venezuela's President Nicolas Maduro for 30 days after the latter allegedly spread misinformation about the coronavirus vaccine. Reacting to the development, the Venezuelan government on Sunday accused Facebook Inc of "digital totalitarianism."

The social media giant has also reportedly taken down a video in which Maduro was seen promoting Carvativir that is a Venezuelan-made remedy for Covid-19, but still lacks evidence that can prove the drug can cure the infected. In clarification over freezing Maduro's page, Facebook cited the guidelines from the World Health Organisation that clearly states "there is currently no medication that can cure the virus."

Image Credits: AP/Unsplash
STATEN ISLAND, N.Y.  Some of his drug customers were undercover cops, and that has spelled big trouble for a Great Kills man, authorities allege.

John Tufaro, 52, of the 300 block of Nelson Avenue, was busted on Monday outside his home on a slew of narcotics charges, said police.

According to a criminal complaint, the defendant sold heroin on multiple occasions to undercover officers at various spots in his community.

The deals went down between mid-September and early January, the complaint said.

Tufaro was charged with felony counts of third-degree criminal sale of a controlled substance, as well as third- and fifth-degree criminal possession of a controlled substance.

Hes also charged with multiple misdemeanor counts of drug possession.

The defendant was arraigned Tuesday in Criminal Court and released under supervision, online state court records show.

He potentially faces up to nine years in prison if convicted at trial of the top felony charges.

His next court date is April 21.

Tufaros lawyer did not immediately return an email on Friday seeking comment on the case.
(Natural News) The media works for the Democrat. We say that a lot but its so in the open, so blatant, and so shameless that sometimes you forget all about it and its worth a stark reminder. Which this video definitely is.

(Article by Fred T republished from TheRightScoop.com)

Sean Spicer retweeted the mashup from Newsbusters today, calling it amazing.

It shows how the legacy media is parroting the lies of left on election reform says Spicer. Which it 100% does.

Amazing mashup of clips from @CBSNews @CNN @msnbc by @newsbusters showing how the legacy media is parroting the lies of left on election reform efforts https://t.co/BekZ0oAiHj  Sean Spicer (@seanspicer) April 1, 2021

Watch the media smear, spin, and outright lie about election security laws that the majority of Americans agree with as "Jim Crow voter suppression." pic.twitter.com/zhhJYwB9Vw  NewsBusters (@newsbusters) April 1, 2021

Rolling back voter rights is just utterly ridiculous and is outright false. And there are not now and wont be any consequences.

I mean they straight up lied about what Georgias law does and only had to put a small correction on their piece of activist trash, not changing the character or tone in any way even though the core point was COMPLETELY FALSE.

Read more at: TheRightScoop.com and MediaFactWatch.com.
STATEN ISLAND, N.Y.  Heres a look at the top criminal-justice-related headlines across the borough this week:

130 pounds of weed, $110K in cash seized after a car stop on Staten Island Expressway, state police say

New York State Police allegedly confiscated 130 pounds of marijuana and $110,000 in cash in connection with a car stop on the Staten Island Expressway on March 29, 2021. K-9 Liam assisted in the search. (Courtesy of New York State Police)

New York State Police allegedly confiscated a huge stash of weed and cash in connection with a car stop on the Staten Island Expressway.

With the assistance of New York State Police K-9 Liam, a trooper found about 130 pounds of marijuana and about $110,000 in cash inside a 2018 Honda Pilot, according to a statement from the state police.

The alleged driver, Min Liu, 35, of Philadelphia, was arrested Monday at about 5 p.m.

Click here for more story details

NYPD: 18-year-old shot inside Staten Island apartment building

An 18-year-old man was shot inside 160 Park Hill Avenue on Friday, April 2, 2021. (Staten Island Advance/Irene Spezzamonte)

An 18-year-old man was shot in the abdomen Friday afternoon inside an apartment building in Clifton, police said.

Police responded to a call for a shooting inside the Park Hill Apartments at 160 Park Hill Ave. at 2:36 p.m., an NYPD spokesman said. Upon arrival, officers found the man with a gunshot wound to his abdomen, the spokesman said.

The man was transported to Staten Island University Hospital in Ocean Breeze and is expected to survive, according to the spokesman.

Click here for more story details

D.A.: Man had AK-47, ammo, crack cocaine, weed, and $28K stashed in Graniteville home

Authorities allege that a parole officer discovered a stockpile of guns, ammunition, drugs, and cash inside a home in Graniteville. (Courtesy of Google Maps)

Authorities allege that a parole officer discovered a stockpile of guns, ammunition, drugs and cash inside a home in Graniteville.

Patrick Sims, 41, was arrested after a parole officer found $28,000 in currency and a cache of illegal items in the suspects bedroom inside his home on Fieldstone Road on the night of March 8, according to the criminal complaint.

Authorities said they recovered an AK-47 assault weapon with three high-capacity magazines, including one clip loaded with 27 bullets. A Ruger P-90 semi-automatic pistol with a defaced serial number also was seized, according to the criminal complaint.

Additional ammunition confiscated included 25 12-gauge shotgun shells, a .40-caliber high-capacity magazine loaded with seven bullets and a .45-caliber high-capacity clip containing seven rounds, according to the criminal complaint.

The criminal complaint alleges that authorities uncovered an eighth of an ounce of crack-cocaine, two jars filled with marijuana, and a scale containing crack-cocaine residue.

Sims was convicted of assault in the first degree in Supreme Court in Manhattan in June 2005, according to the criminal complaint.

Click here for more story details

Bulls Head man pleads to sex charge involving a young girl

A Bulls Head man will spend some time behind bars after admitting to a sex crime involving an underage girl.

James Rignola, 36, subjected the victim to sexual contact on two or more occasions between 2015 and 2017, alleged an indictment.

The girl was under age 13, the indictment said.

Rignola was arrested on Aug. 22, 2019, following an investigation.

The defendant was charged with two counts of course of sexual conduct against a child and one count of child endangerment.

Rignola pleaded guilty on Wednesday in state Supreme Court, St. George, to attempted first-degree sexual conduct against a child to resolve the case.

In exchange, he will be sentenced on May 25 to 42 months in prison and 10 years post-release supervision.

Click here for more story details

He threw a brick at a cop car, pulled a knife on officers, say police

The defendant is accused of throwing a brick at a police cruiser on Park Hill Avenue. (Google image)

A Clifton man made two very big mistakes on Saturday involving police, authorities allege, and it could cost him big time.

First, Federico Sepulveda threw a brick at a police cruiser in his community, said a criminal complaint.

Then, he pulled a knife as cops tried to arrest him, the complaint said.

Click here for more story details

18-year-old charged in the shooting is sentenced

An 18-year-old Port Richmond resident accused of shooting and wounding another person in his community last summer has been sentenced to a year in jail.

Supreme Johnson was indicted on attempted assault, weapon and firearm charges stemming from the July 3 incident.

A criminal complaint said the events unfolded at around 3 a.m. on Park Avenue near Ann Street.

The location is a few blocks from the defendants home.

Click here for more story details

Additional details revealed in Sunnyside raid police say netted NYPD license plate, shotgun, $$, drugs

Police said they recovered a "large quantity" of packaged heroin, along with a sawed-off shotgun, $30,000 in cash and other items. The NYPD posted a photo of the haul on Twitter. (NYPD photo)

Not only do police say they found a sawed-off shotgun, drugs and ammunition during a raid of a Sunnyside mans home on Friday, in addition, they allegedly discovered something else of interest in Edwin Vasquezs residence: An NYPD license plate.

And plenty of cash: Over $30,000, alleges a criminal complaint.

Those additional details have been revealed in a criminal complaint filed against Vasquez, 52, after his arrest.

Vasquez was busted at around 1:15 p.m. inside his home on the 1100 block of Victory Boulevard.

Officers executing a search warrant recovered a loaded, black Mossberg 12-gauge sawed-off pump-action shotgun and nine shells, the complaint said.

Click here for more story details

S.I. man accused of fatally striking a child in stroller takes plea in unrelated gun case

- Kier Boneparte, left, is arraigned at Bronx Criminal Court. (Courtesy of Go Nakamura for the New York Daily News)Go Nakamura/ New York Daily News

A New Brighton man who is facing criminally negligent homicide charges for allegedly fatally striking a child in a stroller in the Bronx 18 months ago, has earned himself a jail sentence on Staten Island in an unrelated case.

Kier Boneparte, 23, has pleaded guilty to a gun charge stemming from an arrest in his community two days before Thanksgiving.

Boneparte was busted on Nov. 24 at about 10:10 a.m. on the 100 block of York Avenue, said a criminal complaint.

He lives down the street.

Cops approached the defendant because he was acting disorderly by impeding traffic by walking in the street, an NYPD spokeswoman previously told the Advance/SILive.com.

Click here for more story details

EMS worker who stole COVID patients credit card cops plea

An EMS worker who stole a coronavirus patients credit card in an ambulance and used it more than two dozen times to buy things for himself, has pleaded guilty to grand larceny, prosecutors say.

Firuz Barotov swiped a Discover credit card while transporting a 63-year-old patient from Staten Island University Hospital to an undisclosed location in the borough last April 4, said a criminal complaint.

Afterward, between April 6 and April 20, the Pleasant Plains resident used the card 26 times to buy things from various establishments around Staten Island, the complaint said.

Barotov, then 19, made purchases at bagel shops, convenience stores, pharmacies, gas stations and a restaurant, said the complaint. He sometimes bought things within minutes of each other at the same establishment.

The defendant was arrested on May 21.

Yes, I was in the back of the ambulance, I took the card, the complaint quotes Barotov as telling police. I picked up the guys bag. I picked up the wallet and took one card. I swiped it, then I swiped it again, then I swiped it again. Then I threw it away. No one else had it. It was just me.

Click here for more story details
Nigeria lost one of its popular rights activists and public affairs analysts, Yinka Odumakin, to complications from COVID-19 on Saturday.

According to the wife of the deceased, Joe-Okei Odumakin, the late Afenifere spokesperson died at the intensive care unit of LASUTH where he was being managed for respiratory issues due to complications from COVID-19.

I appreciate the outpouring of grief and sympathy from home and abroad as I mourn my irreplaceable soulmate. I urge us all to remain steadfast in the cause of the masses to which he dedicated his life.

Many Nigerians including President Muhammadu Buhari commiserated with his family and Afenifere.

Mr Buhari in a statement by his Special Adviser on Media and Publicity, Femi Adesina, described the deceased as a man of conviction.

Others also said he would be missed as a true Yoruba son, a committed fellow, and the voice of the people, especially the downtrodden.

PREMIUM TIMES in this report looks at things to remember about Yinka Odumakin and his personality.

Activist

Mr Odumakin was a core activist who started his activism at the University of Ife (now Obafemi Awolowo University) as a member of the Democratic Socialist Movement (DSM) and was also a former Public Relations Officer of the universitys Students Union.

He was one of Nigerias leading democratic activists, an intellectual, and political strategist with an unwavering commitment to freedom, equity, rule of law, and justice.

He met his wife in detention

Mr Odumakin met his wife during military junta of the late General Sani Abacha.

Speaking on how they met in an interview with Punch, he said: We met at a detention facility in Alagbon where she was transferred from Ilorin, Kwara State, after her detention over some pro-democracy campaigns.

I had read the name in the newspapers before then but I thought the person was a man. Two persons and I were picked alongside Chief Gani Fawehinmi at a rally in Lagos and taken to the same facility. When we saw her there, chief stopped and greeted her and asked if I knew her. I said no. He then introduced us and I told him that I thought she was a man. That was our first contact and we thereafter became comrades and later friends. The rest as they say is history.

They both called themselves comrade till he died.

June 12 hero

Despite various humiliations faced during the military days, Mr Odumakin did not shift grounds and was a key member during the formation of the National Democratic Coalition (NADECO).

He supported MKO Abiola before and after his death. Speaking in an interview with Nigerian Tribune in 2018, he said June 12, 1993, was a day a genuine attempt was made to remake Nigeria.

We accept the recognition of June 12 as Democracy Day. But the reality today is that recognising June 12 does not make the late Chief Abiola a president and so all we are talking about now is symbolism. Therefore, we should go to what was the core of June 12. June 12, 1993 was the day Nigerians from all walks of life came together, setting aside primordial sentiments, to elect Abiola as their president for a united country.

It was a day when Abiola, with a Muslim/Muslim ticket, won with a majority vote in a Christian area. It was a day when Alhaji Bashir Tofa, a Muslim from Kano was defeated by Abiola in Kano. That was a day a genuine attempt was made to remake Nigeria.

Disagreement with Tinubu

Although they were together during the days of NADECO, things later fell apart between Mr Odumakin and Bola Tinubu, the former Lagos State governor and leader of the All Progressives Congress.

ADVERTISEMENT

He once accused Mr Tinubu of working for the late Mr Abacha and that he was not a democrat like he was.

You were with NADECO and also in bed with Abacha through whom you forged a friendship with the Chagourys who are your business partners till date. he wrote in an open letter to Mr Tinubu in 2019.

He alleged that former governor of Lagos, Akinwumi Ambode, spent his life running errand for Tinubu but still got humiliated.

Mr Odumakin, till he died, was never a fan of Mr Tinubu proposed 2023 ambition. He even said Mr Tinubu lied over his age.

From Buharis spokesperson to critic

Late Odumakin was the spokesman to Mr Buhari in 2011 when he ran for President on the platform of Congress for Progressive Change, now defunct.

But he later became a critic of his government when he came into power in 2015, calling out the president on how he has been handling challenges especially the herder-farmer crisis, corruption, insecurity among others.

We had thought that if he comes to power, things would improve. But in the last three and a half years, not one thing has been done to improve our electoral process. In fact, things have gotten worse, he said about Mr Buhari in 2018.

Advocate of restructuring

He was one of the advocates of national restructuring and he believed till the point of death that restructuring is the answer to Nigerias challenges.

Mr Odumakin said those against restructuring are those benefitting from the failed arrangement in the country which favours few against the majority.

The way forward is clear, at 59, there are two options for Nigeria, to reset and go back to default which is restructuring. Lets go back to what our founding-fathers agreed. When we do this, there is a chance for Nigeria to survive but if we continue the way we are going, that would be disintegration, he said in an interview in 2019.

Amotekun a waste of time and resources

Mr Odumakin never supported the creation of Operation Amotekun, a regional security network that was launched in 2020 by South-west governors.

He saw it as a waste of time and resources.

You are in bondage; in a cage, and instead of looking for your freedom, you are looking for something else. Which ekun (lion) are you looking for? You are in a cage, and instead of you looking for freedom, you are looking for a shortcut in Amotekun. Which ekun does a rat want to know?

Until we fight for federalism to get our autonomy so that we can be in charge of our security, and our governors can be the chief security officers of their states, Operation Amotekun will simply be a waste of time, he responded when asked about his view on the initiative.

To be his friend, you must be enemy of his enemies

Following his disagreement with Mr Tinubu, he never referred to anyone who praised the national leader of the ruling party as a friend.

He attacked a Nigerian pastor, Tunde Bakare, recently for praising Mr Tinubu.

He wrote in his column for the Nigerian Tribune column that It is the very height of the abuse of the rostrum for a pastor to say to us no matter how God-forsaken the country has become that if somebody is accused of being a thief, the rest of us should go and become thieves as well.

He accused the preacher, who was once Mr Buharis presidential running mate, of placing the worship of man momentarily over the worship of God.

Yoruba man first, then a Nigerian

Mr Odumakin preferred being a Yoruba man to being a Nigerian. He defended the actions and inaction of Sunday Igboho, a notorious warlord, who recently evicted some herdsmen from the South-west.

The police recently attempted to arrest Mr Igboho and in reaction to that, Mr Odumakin said The Police and security agents waylaid Sunday Igboho on his way to Lagos for a meeting. It was more of a skirmish and it was out of it.

It was the overzealousness of security agencies who cannot go after Sheikh Gumi or bandits but (are) harassing somebody who has not broken the law that we know.
Do you swear or affirm under penalty of perjury that the testimony youre about to give is the truth, and nothing but the truth? I do. Have a seat. Please, thank you. And so when were looking, Im going to have you identify this individual here  George Floyd. And thats Mr. Floyd, who you had the conversation with? Correct. All right. And then this individual right in here, whos that? Thats me. All right. Can you describe for the jurors, you know, generally what his demeanor was like  what was his condition like? So when I asked him if he played baseball, he went on to respond to that. But it kind of took him a little long to get to what he was trying to say. So it would appear that he was high. So you just had some signs that you thought he was under the influence of something? Yes. All right. But were you able to carry on at least some conversation with him? Yes. And did you eventually sell him something? Yes. That was what? The cigarettes. Now, freeze it here  Im sorry, I said I was going to let it run, but we saw you holding something up. Can you describe  and again, for the record, this is 7:45:10  describe for the jurors what you were doing there. I was holding up the $20 bill that I just received. And is that something you always do or something about this? No, when I saw the bill, I noticed that it had a blue pigment to it, kind of how a $100 bill would have. And I found that odd. So I assumed that it was fake. I know this is difficult, can you just explain sort of what youre feeling in this moment? I cant, I feel helpless. I dont have a mama either, but I understand him. Lets see your hands. Stay in the car, let me see your other hand. Im sorry, Im sorry. Let me see your other hand. Please, please. Both hands. Put your [expletive] hands up right now. Let me see your other hand. Whatd I do, though? Put your hand up there. Put your [expletive] hand up there. Jesus Christ, keep your [expletive] hands on the wheel. Hands on the wheel. Step out and face away. Please dont shoot me. Please dont shoot me, man. Step out and face away. Can you not shoot me, man? Im not shooting  step out and face away. OK, OK, OK, please. You cant win. You cant win. Im not trying to win. Go get in the car. Dont do me like that, man. OK, can I talk to you, please? [arguing]
WASHINGTON (UrduPoint News / Sputnik - 03rd April, 2021) Two individuals have died in the attack on the US Capitol, including the suspect and a police officer who was injured in the incident, acting US Capitol Police Chief Yogananda Pittman said on Friday.

"The suspect rammed his car into two of our officers and then hit the north barricade barrier. At such time the suspect exited the vehicle with a knife in hand," Pittman said during a press conference. "Our officers then engaged that suspect. He did not respond to verbal commands. The suspect did start lunging toward US Capitol Police officers at which time US Capitol Police officers fired upon the suspect.

At this time the suspect has been pronounced deceased."

Pittman added that one of the two police officers rammed by the vehicle died from the sustained injuries.

Washington Metropolitan Police Chief Robert Contee said during the press conference that the attack does not appear to be terrorism-related, but the investigation is ongoing and investigators will continue to see if there are any links to terrorism.

Contee added that there appears to be no ongoing threat directed at the US Capitol following the attack.
SOFIA -- The center-right ruling party of Prime Minister Boyko Borisov is projected to win Bulgaria's parliamentary elections with about 25 percent of the vote.

The Alpha Research polling firm put the opposition Bulgarian Socialist Party in second place with 17.6 percent of the vote. The protest There Is Such A People party, headed by television personality Slavi Trifonov, placed third with 15.2 percent.

Two other parties -- the mostly ethnic Turkish-backed Movement for Rights and Freedoms (DPS) and the nationalist Bulgarian National Movement (VMRO) -- were also projected to win seats in the 240-seat parliament.

With his Citizens for European Development of Bulgaria (GERB) party's support down from the 33.5 percent it won in elections in 2017, Borisov will now face the difficult task of forming a coalition to secure another four-year mandate.

WATCH: Special crews with ballot boxes visited the homes of quarantined voters. Polling stations in Sofia also adopted strengthened hygiene measures amid the soaring COVID-19 outbreak.

The 61-year-old Borisov has dominated Bulgarian politics since GERB won the 2009 elections.

But the party's support base has eroded in recent years amid allegations of widespread corruption within the GERB-led government and Borisov's handling of the coronavirus pandemic.

Emilia Zankina, a Bulgaria expert and dean of Temple University's Rome campus, told RFE/RL that Borisov would likely form a "floating majority" among an "ideologically incongruent" cast of parties, leading to constant bargaining on every issue.



"Forming a stable government will be almost possible," Zankina said. "I don't see this government lasting too long."

Bulgaria is ranked last among European Union countries on Transparency International's Corruption Perceptions Index, and has one of the highest coronavirus death rates in the EU.



Members of GERB have been involved in a series of recent corruption scandals, sparking the country's largest anti-government demonstrations in years.



Tens of thousands of demonstrators took to the streets across the country last summer to protest corruption and the alleged use of the judiciary to target GERB's political rivals.

With reporting by Reuters, dpa, and AP
For the past few weeks, San Francisco Bay has been packed with huge cargo ships. There were 15 of them anchored south of the Bay Bridge at midweek. There is so much ship traffic that there is not enough room inside the bay for them all to anchor safely. Nine more big ships were waiting in the Pacific, steaming up and down 20 to 30 miles offshore between Santa Cruz and Half Moon Bay.

Its part of the West Coast maritime traffic jam, the biggest in years.

Its very unusual, said Capt. Lynn Korwatch, executive director of the Marine Exchange, which monitors shipping in the bay and its ports.

Its unprecedented, said James Hill, the Marine Exchanges operations director.

Its crazy, crazy, said Capt. John Carlier, president of the San Francisco Bar Pilots Association, whose members navigate ships in and out of the bay.

But the traffic jam is more than a maritime mess. The crowd of ships on San Francisco Bay is part of the increasingly complex world of global trade.

It involves everything, said Donald Maier, dean of the California Maritime Academys School of Maritime Transportation, Logistics and Management. Ninety percent of all we use comes by sea.

I use the simple Number 2 pencil as an example for my beginning students, he said. The graphite comes from China, the wood comes from the United States, the metal band around the top comes from Mexico, and its assembled in Asia and then shipped by sea to the United States, which is the biggest market. Sea transportation is the key, he said, because it makes the product affordable.

And when you think of the parts of a simple pencil, think of the complexities of building an aircraft or the parts of an automobile, he said.

This is where the West Coast maritime traffic jam comes in. It began at the turn of the year, when the Asian market emerged from the COVID lockdown. Factories reopened in Asia, and at the same time the American market took a big jump. Imports increased by 26% in midwinter, according to figures supplied by the Port of Oakland.

Suddenly, West Coast ports were booming. Most trade with Asia comes through the ports of Long Beach and Los Angeles. The two together are the busiest in the United States with nearly three times as much container ship traffic as New York/New Jersey, the countrys second busiest. But the Southern California ports couldnt handle all the business. There was a labor shortage. One reason for that was not enough dock workers were vaccinated. There was also a fuel problem at Long Beach. Ships started backing up. At one point, close to 40 big container ships loaded with cargo were anchored in San Pedro Bay, waiting for a berth.

So managers diverted the ships to Oakland, the main container ship terminal in San Francisco Bay and the nations fourth largest port. But Oakland was installing a new set of container cranes, and only three berths were available for the big ships that showed up. And there was a COVID-caused labor shortage here, too.

It was like airplanes stacking up in a winter storm, Maier said. A domino effect.

But these were big, slow ships, loaded with millions of dollars in cargo aboard from electronics to running shoes.

Its a perfect storm in shipping now, said Capt. John Konrad, who runs gCaptain, a maritime industry news service.

Shipowners counted on a quick turnaround at West Coast ports. Typically, sources say, a container ship calling at Oakland would spend 18 hours in and out of the Golden Gate. Now it takes days. Carlier says he heard of one ship that had to anchor for two weeks waiting for a berth. And time is money.

An example of the problem is the voyage of the container ship CMA CGM T.Jefferson. The ship is 1,200 feet long, only 112 feet shorter than the Ever Given, the ship that ran aground and blocked the Suez Canal in March. The Ever Given was described in the media as colossal, a giant, a behemoth, descriptions that might also apply to the T.Jefferson.

The T.Jefferson, which is four times the size of the famous ocean liner Titanic and is as large as a modern aircraft carrier, is named for an American president, operated by a French firm and flies the flag of Malta. It sailed from a Chinese port on Feb. 14 for Los Angeles, where it normally would have spent a day unloading cargo. According to public data, it spent nearly seven days in the Los Angeles area, then sailed on a 17-hour voyage to the Golden Gate. It dropped anchor before dawn Thursday not far from Oracle Park in the central part of the bay.

How long the ship will remain at anchor depends on a number of factors, Very large ships like the T.Jefferson are examples of the new breed of larger and larger cargo ships and need special attention. Their movement depends on tides, the availability of a berth and shoreside labor. Normally, a big ship like the T.Jefferson would sail up the Oakland Estuary straight from sea and not have to spend time at anchor. It would be accompanied by tugs and navigated under control of one or more pilots. The 1,200-foot-long ship would be turned 180 degrees in a basin a ways up the estuary. The turning basin has a diameter of just under 1,500 feet, so turning a 1,200-foot ship there is a delicate maneuver.

The port congestion has caused other problems, Carlier said. On occasion, he said, ships sailing outside waiting to get into the bay have run low on fuel. So they have to come in and refuel, and if there is no room for them in the bay, they have to go back out again and wait. Thats whats really crazy.

How long will the jam last?

I dont have a crystal ball, Carlier said. I dont know.

Carl Noltes columns run on Sunday. Email: cnolte@sfchronicle.com Twitter: @Carlnoltesf
Late Friday evening, the Bargaining Committee (BC) for the United Auto Worker (UAW)-affiliated Graduate Workers of Columbia (GWC) announced that it had agreed to a pause in the strike at Columbia University behind the backs of graduate students.

The BC agreed to this pause in exchange for contract mediation from a neutral third party. The call for third party arbitration is a hallmark of a UAW sellout. After over two years of struggle for a contract with significant pay raises and health and child care, the GWC-UAW is sending graduate workers back to work on Monday without a contract and without a single demand having been met.

Columbia graduate students on the picket line (WSWS media)

The decision of the BC is in clear and direct violation of the will of the 3,000 rank-and-file members.

In Thursdays contract bargaining session, Columbia Universitys lead lawyer, Bernie Plum, repeated the line that significant changes need to be made to the GWCs demands if they want a deal. Plum then offered to bring in a federal or private mediator in exchange for a pause in the strike, while stating that concessions by Columbia are not likely to happen before a mediator is brought in.

Two GWC meetings following this proposal revealed immense hostility from the rank-and-file to accepting this rotten deal. Many strikers noted the proposal from CU to move to mediation came just as the strike was nearing the grading season in which graduate workers would wield enormous power by withholding grades.

In other words, the UAW in collaboration with CU is moving to pause the strike precisely when it would have the deepest impact.

Graduate workers demanded that the BC commit to not responding to Columbia without first consulting the unit. According to multiple sources, a vote at yesterdays GWC general meeting showed that only 6.2 percent of striking graduate workers supported the universitys proposal.

Twitter post by a Columbia striker opposing the PAUSE

Despite the overwhelming opposition, a late night GWC email, sent at 10:10 p.m. on Friday, announced that the BC voted seven-to-three in favor of pausing the strike.

The rank-and-file members are infuriated at the decision. Many have indicated to the WSWS that they are determined to keep fighting.

There is a growing mood of hostility towards the BC, which, at every turn, has attempted to push through concessions behind the backs of the rank-and-file. At the end of the second week of the strike, an attempt by the BC to put forward a concessionary contract proposal was thwarted only because of fierce opposition from members who sounded the alarm and organized a petition.

The move to pause the strike and introduce third party mediation into the struggle is in preparation for a complete sellout by the UAW of the strike.

Everything now depends on graduate workers organizing to broaden the strike and mobilize the broadest support in the working class.

Form an independent strike committee! The strike cannot be left in the hands of the UAW and its operatives in the bargaining committee.

The UAW is not a workers organization. It is an arm of corporate management and a labor police force, controlled by wealthy executives who subsist on the exploitation of the workers they claim to represent.

Despite its whopping $790 million strike fund, the UAW has isolated the striking graduate students and granted the workers a measly $275 a week in strike pay while Columbia University is withholding all pay to starve the graduate workers into submission. Moreover, the UAW has made clear, as it does in every strike, that it has no intention of mobilizing the industrial workers behind the students, or even other UAW members on their own campus or neighboring campuses.

Over the past several years, as graduate student workers became unionized, struggles were systematically sold out, one after another. The subordination of the 2019 graduate student strike at the University of California Santa Cruz to the UAW resulted not only in a sellout deal but also the victimization and firing of several strikers.

Graduate workers need their own organizations of struggle, controlled by the rank and file. The IYSSE calls on workers to form a strike committee, completely independent of the UAW and both political parties of the ruling class.

Expand the strike into the working class! While the development of an independent strike committee would mark a major step forward, it is not enough to advance the struggle of CU workers.

The strike must be immediately expanded. Firstly, it must link up with graduate workers struggle at New York University (NYU), who are part of the same amalgamated UAW Local 2110! Another strike is being voted upon this upcoming week at Illinois State University.

More importantly, it must be expanded into the working class. Graduate students should organize delegations to be dispatched to workplaces and factories in New York and beyond to explain your struggle to autoworkers, teachers, transit workers, hospital workers, retail workers and other sections of the working class.

The struggle of CU graduate workers is the same struggle as workers everywhere who are all fighting against COVID-19 austerity, that is, the implementation of ferocious austerity measures against the working class to pay back the trillions of dollars that the Democrats and Republicans handed over to corporate America and Wall Street at the start of the pandemic.

The fact that the CU strike has been met with a virtual media blackout is a stark indication that the ruling class sees immense potential for this strike to spark a much broader struggle.

The struggle at Columbia University can only succeed if graduate students recognize this potential as well and consciously fight to develop their struggle into a broader industrial and political mobilization of the entire working class. Contact the IYSSE today to discuss these demands. We will provide all possible assistance to those determined to fight the union shutdown of the strike.
A Marxist group was last night accused of cynically exploiting the Union Flag and uniform row at a London secondary school.

Pupils from Pimlico Academy stormed out of lessons last week to demonstrate against a racist uniform policy, which bans hairstyles that block the view of others.

In September they tore down a Union Flag and set it on fire, claiming it was unnecessarily antagonistic.

Two schoolgirls holding an SWP poster posed for a photograph, later posted on the revolutionary groups Twitter page

The Mail on Sunday can reveal that the school rebellion was actively supported by the Socialist Workers Party (SWP), which was involved in the illegal Kill the Bill protests in Bristol last month.

Dozens of Pimlico pupils carried SWP placards and the main school sign was plastered with Join the Socialists stickers during the protest.

Two schoolgirls holding an SWP poster posed for a photograph, later posted on the revolutionary groups Twitter page.

The following day headteacher Daniel Smith caved in to the protesters, agreeing to remove another Union Flag pending a review. His capitulation was hailed by the Hackney branch of the SWP as: Victory!!!!

Bob Blackman, Tory MP for Harrow East, yesterday condemned the SWP for exploiting impressionable young people.

He said: The SWPs seemingly endless aim is to destroy the British state It will take any opportunity to exploit demonstrations and stir up trouble.

Dozens of Pimlico pupils carried SWP placards and the main school sign was plastered with Join the Socialists stickers during the protest

The Fascist Britain First organisation also tried to use the mutiny to further its own agenda.

Its leader Paul Golding pulled up outside the school in a van emblazoned with the groups logo and attempted to interview passers-by.

Mr Blackman added: Thats one of the serious problems with this, Right-wing nutcases as well as Left-wing nutcases all getting involved in the centre of a school, which should be for learning and developing young people, not a focal point for demonstrations and counter demonstrations. That doesnt help the young people at all.

In a letter to parents on July 16 last year, Mr Smith introduced himself and told parents he intended to make changes to ensure the school was characterised by the highest expectations of conduct and achievement for all.

The following day headteacher Daniel Smith caved in to the protesters, agreeing to remove another Union Flag pending a review. His capitulation was hailed by the Hackney branch of the SWP as: Victory!!!!

One such change was to the uniform policy.

The row resulted largely from one sentence: Styles that hide the face or may block the view of others in class are not permitted.

This has now been amended. Mr Smith said there will be a review of the Union Flag after Easter. Until that review is concluded, the Union Flag will not be flown, he said.

On the morning of the protest, members of the National Education Union at the school held a vote of no-confidence in Mr Smith.

Eighty-five members of staff passed a motion of no confidence in the head and are now threatening a strike.

Former head of Ofsted Sir Michael Wilshaw said yesterday that Mr Smith was wrong to cave in.

Sir Michael told BBC Radio 4s Today: I support head teachers who enforce and implement a rigorous uniform policy, but you have to apply it in a common sense sort of way.
Masks: Let them keep working for us
Members of the Government's racial disparities commission last night hit back at the 'irresponsible and dangerous' criticism being levelled at them by politicians and public figures.

The authors of a controversial report into racism in Britain said they welcomed 'robust debate'.

But in a joint statement released last night, they raised concerns about abuse they have received in recent days, including from those in Westminster.

They highlighted a tweet from Labour MP Clive Lewis showing a picture of the Ku Klux Klan with the caption: 'Move along. Nothing to see here. #RaceReport.'

The authors (pictured, chair Dr Tony Sewell) of a controversial report into racism in Britain said they welcomed 'robust debate'

They highlighted a tweet from Labour MP Clive Lewis showing a picture of the Ku Klux Klan with the caption: 'Move along. Nothing to see here. #RaceReport'

Cambridge don's 'Goebbels' jibe A Cambridge University professor has sparked outrage by comparing the chairman of the Government's race commission to Joseph Goebbels. Dr Priyamvada Gopal initially questioned whether Dr Tony Sewell even had a doctorate. Dr Priyamvada Gopal initially questioned whether Dr Tony Sewell even had a doctorate After finding out that he possesses one from the University of Nottingham, she made the comparison to Adolf Hitler's minister of propaganda. Dr Gopal, a professor of post-colonial studies, wrote on Twitter: 'Okay, established. It is, in fact, Dr Sewell. Fair enough. Even Dr Goebbels had a research PhD. (University of Heidelberg, 1921).' The tweet drew widespread criticism. Former ITV News presenter Alastair Stewart said: 'This is obscene and devalues anything and everything you have to say.' Cambridge University distanced itself from Dr Gopal's 'gratuitous comment' but defended her right to express her views. Advertisement

The statement said: 'The deeply personal attacks on many of us by politicians and other public figures are irresponsible and dangerous.

'For example, one MP presented commissioners as members of the KKK. Robust debate we welcome.

'But to depict us as racism deniers, slavery apologists or worse is unacceptable.'

Critics called the study by the Commission on Race and Ethnic Disparities a 'whitewash' after it found no conclusive evidence of institutional racism in Britain.

The report, published on Wednesday, said factors such as geography, family influence, socio-economic background, culture and religion were found to have more impact on life chances than racism.

Baroness Lawrence, whose son Stephen was murdered by white thugs in 1993, said it had 'given racists the green light'.

But last night the commission insisted: 'We have never said that racism does not exist in society or in institutions. We say the contrary: Racism is real and we must do more to tackle it.'

They added: 'The facts and analysis we presented challenge a number of strongly held beliefs about the nature and extent of racism in Britain today.

'Sadly, however, in some cases fair and robust disagreement with the Commission's work has tipped into misrepresentation.

'This misrepresentation risks undermining the purpose of the report  understanding and addressing the causes of inequality in the UK  and any of the positive work that results from it.'

Dr Tony Sewell, the chairman of the commission, has faced particular criticism about his foreword, with some accusing him of 'glorifying' the slave trade.

The education consultant and ex-charity boss called on schools to use history lessons to 'tell the multiple, nuanced stories of the contributions made by different groups that have made this country the one it is today'.

He said there was a new story to be told about the 'slave period' that was not all about 'profit and suffering'.

In the statement last night, the commission said there had been a 'wilful misrepresentation by some people' of its view 'on the history of slavery'.

'The idea that the Commission would downplay the atrocities of slavery is as absurd as it is offensive to every one of us,' they added.
Burma KNU Calls for Intl Arms Embargo as Myanmar Regime Targets Civilians in Airstrike

Ethnic Karen people prepare to cross the Salween River to Thailand following the Myanmar militarys airstrikes in Papun. / Salween Peace Park / Facebook

Myanmars oldest ethnic armed organization, the Karen National Union (KNU), has condemned repeated airstrikes by the Myanmar military that have forced thousands of Karen civilians to flee their homes, and urged the international community to impose an arms embargo on military regime.

More than 12,000 ethnic Karen people fled their homes after the military regime carried out airstrikes on villages in Karen States Papun District and Bago Regions Nyaunglebin District between March 27-31.

The KNU said it strongly condemned the militarys air raids targeting civilians.

The inhumane killings of civilians and destruction of schools, homes and villages were in blatant violation of domestic and international law, it said.

Military coup leaders are pushing the country into a full-blown civil war with the potential to destroy the countrys stability, unity and independence, the KNU said.

Fourteen civilians including ethnic Karen villagers died and at least 12 others were injured in the military airstrikes in Papun and Nyaunglebin. The air raids followed the seizure by the KNUs military wing, the Karen National Liberation Army (KNLA), of a hilltop outpost previously held by the regimes Light Infantry Division 349 in Thi Mu Hta on March 27.

The KNU earlier rejected an invitation to attend the Myanmar militarys Armed Forces Day celebration on March 27, saying the group would meet with coup leader Senior General Min Aung Hlaing only after his troops stop killing civilians and his regime frees all those detained following the coup, including Myanmar State Counselor Daw Aung San Suu Kyi and President U Win Myint. Tensions have risen between the Myanmar military and the KNUs Brigade 5, Brigade 1 and Brigade 3 in Papun District, Nyaunglebin District and Thaton District.

We call on the international community to ban the sale of weapons of mass destruction, artillery, fighter jets and any advanced technology used for the propagation of war to the military, which is committing acts of violence against unarmed civilians, the KNU said.

It also urged all ethnic peoples and the international community to take strong action and impose effective sanctions against the regime, saying the junta is destroying civilized society.

Since the coup, human rights groups have been demanding the UN Security Council (UNSC) urgently impose a global arms embargo on Myanmar. As of Saturday morning, at least 550 civilians had been killed by the military during its security forces crackdowns on peaceful anti-coup protesters across the country.

On Friday, the UNSC issued a statement condemning the military for the use of violence against anti-government protesters in Myanmar, following a closed-door meeting. The meeting was called in an attempt to impose sanctions on the military regime to stop the bloodshed in Myanmar.

However, China again ruled out sanctions or other coercive measures against the regime at the UNSC meeting. At Chinas insistence, the UN also softened the language of the statement, removing words such as killing and deplore to describe the use of violence against peaceful protesters.

You may also like these stories:

Myanmar Villagers Take Up Homemade Weapons Against Regimes Security Forces

Myanmar Junta Killed At Least 43 Children Since Coup: Charity

China Get Out of Myanmar Say Pro-Democracy Supporters
Source: Xinhua| 2021-04-03 18:09:33|Editor: huaxia

Video Player Close

-- Looking ahead, Lam promised intensified efforts to improve education, media, and the training and management of civil servants. "With these work being done, people will have more confidence in 'one country, two systems,' no matter they are local residents, people from the mainland or foreigners."

-- "We will certainly do more to reach out to the people, understand their concerns and respond directly and positively," Lam said. She highlighted land reclamation as the major solution to the undersupply of land and the housing shortage in Hong Kong.

-- Regarding the so-called foreign sanctions, Lam said she "will not be intimidated." She said three words and phrases would perfectly describe the external interference in Hong Kong affairs over the past years: "double standards," "hypocrisy," and "lies."

HONG KONG, April 3 (Xinhua) -- With legislative changes on improving Hong Kong's electoral system adopted by China's top legislature, Carrie Lam, chief executive of the Hong Kong Special Administrative Region (HKSAR), expects a more peaceful and prosperous Hong Kong under "one country, two systems."

She also expects stronger confidence among people at home and abroad in the prospects of the global financial hub.

During her first exclusive interview after the amendments at the state level, Lam explained to Xinhua her work agenda ranging from local electoral legislation to tackling deep-seated social problems.





FOR A BETTER HONG KONG

The National People's Congress (NPC) Standing Committee on Tuesday adopted the amended Annex I and Annex II to the Basic Law of the HKSAR, which concerns the method for the selection of the HKSAR chief executive and the method for the formation of the HKSAR Legislative Council (LegCo) and its voting procedures, respectively.

"It marks an important step forward in improving the electoral system of Hong Kong," Lam told Xinhua.

As Hong Kong has embarked on the relevant local legislation, Lam and the HKSAR government will have a busy schedule in the next 12 months, including revising local laws and holding elections of the Election Committee, the LegCo and the HKSAR chief executive.

Lam met with LegCo President Andrew Leung to discuss the work ahead on Tuesday, shortly after the passage of the amended annexes to the Basic Law at the session of the NPC Standing Committee.

Chief Executive of China's Hong Kong Special Administrative Region (HKSAR) Carrie Lam attends an exclusive interview with Xinhua at her office in Hong Kong, south China, April 1, 2021. (Xinhua/Wang Shen)

The LegCo had been plunged into chaos and could hardly perform its constitutional functions in its first three years since 2016. The legislature has now resumed normal operation after the exit of LegCo members engaged in repeated filibusters and legislative violence.

But it does not mean the LegCo will become an echo chamber. "They (lawmakers) can criticize us and oppose what we put forward," Lam said, adding that the "one country, two systems" principle and national security must be respected and protected.

With the improved electoral system, she believed more capable and responsible talents, who might have been frustrated by the political disorder in the past, will present themselves in the future.

Looking ahead, Lam promised intensified efforts to improve education, media, and the training and management of civil servants. "With these work being done, people will have more confidence in 'one country, two systems,' no matter they are local residents, people from the mainland or foreigners."





"PUTTING PEOPLE FIRST"

With the improved electoral system, Lam believed it is high time for the global financial hub to refocus on the economy, raise people's living standards, and tackle entrenched social problems.

The HKSAR government will place more emphasis on "putting people first" and more earnestly tend to grassroots issues, Lam said. "We will certainly do more to reach out to the people, understand their concerns and respond directly and positively."

Chief Executive of China's Hong Kong Special Administrative Region (HKSAR) Carrie Lam visits a transitional housing project of the Lok Sin Tong Benevolent Society Kowloon in Hong Kong, south China, Aug. 9, 2019. (Xinhua)

The chief executive stressed in particular the shortage of housing.

The government has made providing affordable housing to Hong Kong people a top policy priority, Lam said. "Housing is not just a commodity but a pillar to social stability... (making) people have a sense of belonging to a place."

An array of favorable policies have been carried out for residents from different walks of life, and the share of new land used for public housing has been significantly increased to 70 percent.

Lam highlighted land reclamation as the major solution to the undersupply of land.

The chief executive proposed a land reclamation project to build a large artificial island in 2018 but waited for one year and a half for the LegCo to approve the funding on related studies. "How many 'year and a halfs' does Hong Kong have to waste? If it takes 18 months for the LegCo to pass a study and seven months to elect a (committee) chair, I would be very pessimistic about Hong Kong's development."

But Lam sees hopes now. "In the future, we will definitely make more efforts in land development," she said.

Another task high on Lam's work agenda is the vaccination campaign against COVID-19.

"Getting the vaccine is the most important and effective means (to control the epidemic). While there is a lack of vaccine doses elsewhere, Hong Kong is very lucky to have a sufficient and stable supply thanks to the central authorities' support," Lam said.

As the vaccination ratio was still comparatively low, she promised more efforts to encourage the public to receive the jabs and pointed out that a 70-percent ratio will lead to a herd immunity and facilitate the resumption of cross-border travel.

A man receives a dose of China's COVID-19 vaccine in south China's Hong Kong, Feb. 23, 2021. (Xinhua/Li Gang)





"NOT INTIMIDATED BY SANCTIONS"

"Having been a chief executive for almost four years, especially in the past two years, I have first-hand experience of how overseas governments and politicians have exploited Hong Kong to achieve their agenda," Lam said.

She said the free and diverse society of Hong Kong without a national security law in place gave anti-China forces the room to step in, including appointing their agents to go into Hong Kong's political structure, disrupting the Hong Kong-mainland relationship and using Hong Kong to attack the People's Republic of China.

Lam said three words and phrases would perfectly describe the external interference in Hong Kong affairs over the past years: "double standards," "hypocrisy," and "lies."

National security legislation is a common practice globally, but the law being adopted in China's Hong Kong was smeared and slandered, she said.

"Every country requires public servants to be patriotic. But when we ask our civil servants to take an oath ... swearing allegiance to the HKSAR and upholding the Basic Law, they said that we are stifling freedom of speech," Lam said.

Some overseas governments and media alleged police brutality in Hong Kong despite the violent situation the police faced, but when the police were attacked in their countries, they, on the contrary, said the violence is "disgusting," Lam said.

"There are a lot of examples where they are just displaying double standards in a very blatant way without shame," she said.

Aerial photo taken on March 6, 2021 shows citizens displaying China's national flag and the flag of the Hong Kong Special Administrative Region in support of implementing the principle of "patriots administering Hong Kong" at Tamar Park in Hong Kong, south China. (Xinhua/Li Gang)

Referring to the hypocrisy of some foreign politicians, Lam pointed out that "they said they want to stand with Hong Kong people. Did they ever ask Hong Kong people what we want? We want peace and stability."

When innocent people were attacked and even set on fire during the social unrest for different political views, "did they (foreign politicians) say anything about these Hong Kong people? No," Lam said.

Lam believed the biggest lie by some Western countries is that China has breached the Sino-British Joint Declaration. "If you ask them which article in the declaration (China has violated), they are silent. They can't quote which article."

While Hong Kong has resumed peace and stability since the national security legislation, the United States has repeatedly imposed so-called sanctions against Lam and many other officials working to bring Hong Kong back to life.

Regarding such sanctions, Lam said she was fearless. "We will not be intimidated. We will continue to do what is right to defend the country and to defend the HKSAR."

(Video reporters: Zhang Yichi, Lin Ning, Qiu Bo, Leung Ka-chun; Video editor: Luo Hui)
By Katherine Gypson

WASHINGTON - One U.S Capitol Police officer died and another was injured Friday when a driver slammed a car into a barricade outside the U.S. Capitol.

According to the U.S. Capitol Police, the suspect exited a car with a weapon and lunged at officers.

"U.S. Capitol Police officers fired upon him. At this time, the suspect has been pronounced dead," Acting U.S. Capitol Police Chief Yogananda Pittman told reporters.

Police identified the officer who died as William "Billy" Evans. He was a member of the first responders unit and an 18-year veteran of the U.S. Capitol Police.

The incident happened at a vehicle checkpoint on Constitution Avenue, on the Senate side of the U.S. Capitol Complex.

"This time it does not appear to be an ongoing threat," Robert Contee, the acting chief of the Washington Metropolitan Police Department, told reporters Friday. "Obviously, we're in the very early stages of our investigation, we need to obviously understand the motivation behind this senseless act."

The Washington Metropolitan Police Department, along with assistance from the FBIs Washington Field Office, will take over the investigation into Friday's attack.

The U.S. Capitol has been surrounded by a security fencing perimeter since the January 6 riot of pro-Trump supporters who attempted to prevent the counting of electoral college votes for President Joe Biden. The outer ring of fencing was taken down just this week, although an inner ring of fencing remains around the U.S. Capitol building.

U.S. Capitol Police officers stand near a car that crashed into a barricade on Capitol Hill in Washington, April 2, 2021.

There are just less than 2,200 U.S. National Guard troops providing additional security at the U.S. Capitol Complex since that riot, which left one U.S. Capitol Police officer dead and many others injured.

The Congress is in recess and most lawmakers are away.

In a tweet Friday, Senate Minority Leader Mitch McConnell said, Praying for the United States Capitol Police officers who were attacked at the Capitol. We are still learning whats taken place. Grateful to all the USCP and first responders who are on the scene.

VOA's Jeff Seldin contributed to this report.
WABASH VALLEY (WTHI) - The CDC has released new guidance on traveling. It comes at a time when many people are looking to travel for spring break and preparing for summer trips.

The new guidance says Americans who are fully vaccinated can start traveling safely within the United States. This will not require a COVID-19 test nor quarantining before or after traveling. However, international travel will require you to follow the rules of your destination. International travelers should get a COVID-19 test before and after coming back to the United States. Additionally, the CDC recommends that everyone continues to wear masks while on trains, planes, and buses, regardless of vaccination status.

News 10 spoke with the Edgar County Health Department in Paris, Illinois today. They said it's important to keep in mind precautions everyone can take.

"We can't stress enough that we are advocating for the vaccine," Monica Dunn, assistant administrator at the Edgar County Health Department, said. "We need to continue to put the word in front of people that you need to wash your hands. You need to wear your mask. You need to make sure you are physically distanced from other people that are not within your party."

This new travel guidance comes at a time when COVID-19 cases are beginning to rise. An analysis by Reuters found COVID-19 cases in the United States are up 9% just in the last week. They say 33 out of 50 states reported an increase including both Indiana and Illinois. Many experts believe the rise in cases is due to more restrictions being loosened and variants of the virus spreading faster.

If residents want to travel during this time, local health officials are encouraging you to take extra precautions.

"Everyone is tired of COVID, me too, but it's important to remember that wearing a mask is important and physical distancing is important," Dunn said. "You cannot overstate the importance of handwashing and hand-sanitizing. I encourage people to remember those things as they travel."

For more information on traveling safely this spring and summer, please visit cdc.gov. Click here to learn more about domestic travel and click here to learn more about international travel.
Metro Manila (CNN Philippines, April 3)  Vice President Leni Robredo is calling on the government to expedite the release of real-time updates on hospital bed capacity, citing the struggles of families looking for available facilities for their loved ones fighting COVID-19, and the deaths of some patients waiting in line for treatment.

It is so heartbreaking to read about posts and text messages from distraught people asking help to find them a hospital room for a COVID-positive family member who is struggling to breathe, Robredo said in a Facebook post on Saturday.

It is even worse to receive messages informing us that the patient died while looking for available hospitals, she added.

Robredo noted that the One Hospital Command Center, the governments referral system, has been very helpful, but it has been overwhelmed with calls due to the exponential rise in COVID-19 cases.

"The hotlines are difficult to access and in emergency situations, every minute, every second counts, she said.

When she earlier proposed setting up a website that lists hospitals that can still accommodate patients, complete with how long the lines are, she was told that there is already an existing site.

I checked the site and there are no real time updates and people wont have an idea which hospitals still have vacancies, Robredo pointed out.

Baka naman puwede na natin itong i rush," the Vice President emphasized. "Doable naman siya. Kawawa yung mga kababayan natin.

[Translation: Can we please rush this? It is doable after all. I feel sorry for our fellow Filipinos.]

Robredo earlier lamented that data from the Department of Healths tracker does not reflect the situation on the ground. Based on available data as of April 1, 51 hospitals in Metro Manila have reached "critical" level in terms of bed occupancy for COVID-19 patients, meaning they are 85% to nearly full.

It also said 61 hospitals are at the safe level which means less than 60% are occupied, while 42% have occupancy rates between 60% and 85%, meaning they should all be able to accommodate patients.

However, social media has been flooded with stories of families from the capital region going as far as Batangas and other provinces in search of medical attention. One of them is Angelo Barrera, who told CNN Philippines his father died on a stretcher outside a hospitals emergency room, hooked up to a hospital-grade oxygen tank. Prior to that, the family had called 20 hospitals and gone to several facilities, but none could accommodate the dying patient.

READ: Desperate calls for help as hospitals fill up due to COVID-19 surge

The country is experiencing a surge in coronavirus infections at a speed never seen before. On Friday, it logged 15,310 more COVID-19 cases, another all-time high, of which 3,709 are part of case backlogs. Still, the 11,601 confirmed that day is the biggest single-day increase in infections since the local outbreak began more than a year ago.
The COVID-19 seems to play a spoilsport on the usual crowded culmination to the weeks-long poll campaigning in Kerala as the Election Commission has banned the years-long practice in the wake of the virus spread in the state. Based on the request of the state Chief Electoral Officer, Teeka Ram Meena, the Election Commission of India has approved the banning of the customary finale marked by immense participation of crowd and celebration on Sunday ahead of the April 6 Assembly polls.

Known as "Kottikalasham" in the local parlance, the finale of the open poll campaigning used to be a jamboree in the southern state in which every political party would try to show off their strength by bringing a maximum number of supporters to add colour to the show. "... the proposal forbanning the practice of Kottikalasham in the state of Kerala has been approved by the Commission," the ECI said in a letter.

Though there is no mention of the COVID-19 in the letter, the sources close to the Chief Electoral Officer here said that the ban was imposed to minimise the virus spread. Meanwhile, the Thiruvanathapuram District Collector Navjot Khosa has imposed strict restrictions and vigil in the capital district ahead of assembly polls.

Bike rallies as part of the election campaigning have been completely banned in the district since midnight. Distribution of free food kits or any other gift, amounted to influence voters,also would not be allowed till the polls, official sources here said.

Also read: ECI orders repolling in Ratabari, suspends officers involved in Assam 'EVM controversy'

Also read: Kerala Election 2021: Voting dates, poll schedule, timings, election results, all FAQs
TWO mothers arrested at Dublin Airport for refusing to go to a quarantine hotel after returning from a cosmetic surgery trip to Dubai have been held in custody on strict bail.

Mother-of-two Kirstie McGrath (30) with an address at St Anthonys Road, Dublin 8 and Niamh Mulreany (25) a mum of one from Scarlett Row, Essex Street West, Dublin 2 were arrested on Friday afternoon at Terminal 2 after coming back from the United Arab Emirates (UAE).

Defence forces personnel called gardai who brought them to Ballymun garda station and charged them with breaking the Health Act. They deny the charges and appeared before Judge Miriam Walsh at Tallaght District Court on Saturday.

Expand Close Kirstie McGrath pictured at Tallaght District Court today for a court appearance. Pic: Paddy Cummins/IrishPhotodesk.ie / Facebook

Twitter

Email

Whatsapp Kirstie McGrath pictured at Tallaght District Court today for a court appearance. Pic: Paddy Cummins/IrishPhotodesk.ie

Two lengthy contested bail hearings took place.

The judge noted the two friends had gone away for breast enhancement surgery and she questioned if that was essential travel.

Colloquially referred to as a boob job, she later described their medical procedures as the reasons for their trip emerged. The court heard gardai spent almost two hours trying explain the regulations to the women who claimed they did not know about the law change.

They pleaded for bail with their solicitor Michael French citing humanitarian grounds. He said they had children to care for and were not aware of the regulations. They had also provided three negative covid tests in the last week and could quarantine at home, he argued.

He also said they will contest the charges and contended that it was a relatively minor offence with serious ramifications.

A challenge to the constitutionality of the law will be taken, he said. He submitted that people with Covid-19 were allowed quarantine at home and were not subject to the same restrictions as the hotel quarantine measures travellers faced.

He submitted that they did not have the funds for the quarantine fees and that refusal of bail was disproportionate for an offence which carries a one-month jail term.

Judge Walsh granted bail with conditions but it requires independent sureties to freeze bank accounts.

This means, the defence argued, that they will not be able to take up the bail until Tuesday when banks are open again.

Gardai were alerted on Friday afternoon by the State Liaison officer after the two friends flew in from the UAE and allegedly refused to agree to comply with go to a quarantine hotel.

A payment of the 2,500 fee for their accommodation was also sought, the court heard.

Breaking new 14-day hotel quarantine law for travellers arriving in the State can result in a 2,000 fine and a sentence of up to one-month in jail.

The measure was introduced to prevent the spread of coronavirus and is mandatory for people arriving from 58 states or if they have not had a negative Covid test taken within 72 hours.

The two women appeared separately before Judge Walsh.

Garda Inspector Luke Lacey, of Dublin Airport Garda station, said there were objections to bail due to their failure to comply with the statutory travel regulations introduced to avoid the spread of the disease.

Releasing them would make a mockery of the Act, he argued. He told the court that extraordinary times required extraordinary measures.

Distraught Kirstie McGrath was called in first. She wept throughout the hearing and at times shielded her face from the public gallery.

Garda Robbie Barber told Judge Walsh that Ms McGrath made no reply to charge.

He arrested her at 2.50pm, after he spent one hour and 50 minutes outlining the rules and giving her an opportunity to make phone calls for advice, he said.

It was explained in ordinary language what would happen if she did not go to the quarantine hotel, Garda Barber said.

She was also told state liaison officers would be at the hotel to explain the process but she refused to go, it was alleged.

Mr French said the rules were an erosion of his clients constitutionality. She was entitled to bail and like her friend had no warrant history, and would comply with conditions at home, he submitted.

He explained that Ms McGrath had gone once to Dubai for cosmetic surgery but his client did not want to say it in open court.

A note was handed in and the judge read it and said it was for the purpose of breast enhancement, adding, that is essential travel?

Garda Karl Connor told the court that Niamh Mulreany also made no reply to charge. It was alleged he spent one hour and 45 minutes explaining the terms and he was also given a chance to get advice.

Mr French said that Ms Mulreany was on the lone parents allowance and needed to care for her child. Exceptions to the regulations are allowed and she could abide by conditions and remain in her home, he suggested.

He told the court that like her co-accused, Ms Mulreany had three negative Covid tests in the last week, one in Dublin before she flying out to the UAE and twice before she returned.

Judge Walsh noted Ms Mulreany had also gone for breast enhancement or modification surgery.

Both were supported by family members in the public gallery.

The two women did not address the court.

A pandemic was raging around the world and laws have been enacted which must be complied with, the judge warned.

She set identical bail terms in each case.

They were remanded on their own bonds of 800 each and they must lodge 500 cash. The judge also required independent sureties to be approved in each case, set at 2,000 of which 1,800 must be lodged and 200 has to be frozen in their bank accounts.

The defendants must surrender passports with immediate effect. Once the bail money is organised they can be released and must remain at government allocated hotels for 14 days unless they provide a negative PCR test after 10 days.

The two women must remain contactable by phone and not leave the jurisdiction except for essential travel. The cases will resume on April 9 next at Dublin District Court.

Legal aid was granted.
Last year, Audi of America, together with Applied Information and Temple, Inc., kicked off the initial deployment of C-V2X (cellular vehicle-to-everything) technology. Now, the German automaker emphasizes the capabilities of communication with everything by announcing an expansion of the partnership that will include yellow school buses and the sensible areas around learning institutions.

17 photos
New Delhi, April 3 : A group of Indian armed forces veterans, especially from the Special Forces, has taken up a challenge to create three world records - on land, air and underwater - involving people with disabilities, whom they are training in sky diving, scuba diving and mountaineering. Of them, a team of eight persons with disabilities will scale Siachen Glacier, the highest battlefield in the world.

"A team of eight people with disabilities will scale Siachen Glacier, the highest battlefield in the world," said Major Vivek Jacob, a former A9 Para officer, who is leading the team of the veterans. The attempt will be made in May this year.

Major Jacob has set up an organisation of Special Forces' veterans called Conquer Land Air Water (CLAW) to help disabled people achieve the impossible.

The Indian Army has accorded in-principal approval for the execution of a 'land world record' at Siachen Glacier. The land world record is for the largest team of people with disabilities to scale the Siachen Glacier - the world's highest battlefield with temperatures dropping to minus 50-degree Celsius, making it one of the harshest terrains on Earth.

After scaling Siachen Glacier, the team has plans to create another record in open sea in Maldives where they will attempt scuba dive in August. By December, they will be doing accelerated free fall in Dubai.

Major Jacob said that the Special Forces is an instinct, a mindset. "You don't become special just because you have worn a particular uniform and carry a rifle. It is all about the state of mind," he said.

Talking about how CLAW was formed, he said that his parachute malfunctioned during a combat skydive in 2015 when he suffered a spinal cord injury. In the hospital, he met with Indian Air Force officer Fl Lt Bhaduria who was permanently paralysed after a freak accident and was on wheelchair for four years.

The IAF officer asked Major Jacob if he can ever scuba dive. "I promised him that he can and it eventually led to the formation of CLAW," Major Jacob said.

The group has now started a scuba training centre for PWDs in Puducherry. "It has given tremendous hope and healing power to many who have come. The idea is to spread it across," Major Jacob said.

He said the CLAW is in the process of formally tying up with the Paraplegic Rehabilitation Centre (PRC) of the Army in Pune and Chandigarh for insititutionalised training.

"We have had serving soldiers with disabilities and veterans coming to us for training. But this was in their personal capacity. We are in the process of instutionalising this," Major Jacob said, adding that the idea is to see ability in disability.

Major Jacob voluntarily retired from the Army, left his Special Forces family and began a journey of exploration.

As the vision deepened, members from the Special Forces teams he had commanded and others, like the MARCOS (Navy Special Forces) he had met along his journey, began to join him.

The vision united and guided them as they set upon a path to serve humanity through peace, sharing and creation rather than war, division and destruction.

"Each team member had been a crack soldier in the Army / Navy Special Forces and was highly trained with multiple specialisations in mountaineering, skydiving, scuba diving, un-armed combat, multi - terrain survival tech, emergency medical response etc.," Major Jacob said.

(Sumit Kumar Singh can be reached at sumit.k@ians.in)
Yellow was the colour of choice in north Wexford on Friday last (27th) as locals marked the annual Daffodil Day in a virtual capacity while still raising vital funds for the Irish Cancer Society.

Students and staff at Creagh College enjoyed a non uniform day and were asked to run, walk, cycle or jog five kilometres to raise money, and all the team were delighted that over 1,350 was raised.

'The Irish Cancer Society is a charity that's very close to the hearts of too many of our school community and we came together as a united school community to support their work. We wore yellow to support this fantastic cause and any donation small or big was greatly appreciated and we thank you from the bottom of our hearts,' a spokesperson said.

Meanwhile in Boots Gorey, Imelda O'Connor stood out dressed up as a yellow daffodil and said that there was a great response.

'People really came on board this year and we sold the daffodils for a month beforehand. Every charity is important but especially at the moment, the Irish Cancer Society need this money. We raised over 2,550'.

Mary Rynhart from Ballyfoley in Camolin usually hosts a coffee morning but this year directed people to donate online or show support by buying pins for sale in Ballycanew, Camolin, Ferns, Boolavogue and Wells.
BEIJING, April 2 (Xinhua) -- A Chinese Foreign Ministry spokesperson on Friday called on the United States to abide by the one-China principle and stop all forms of official exchange with Taiwan.

"We urge the United States to fully understand the highly sensitive nature of the Taiwan question and adhere to the one-China principle and three China-U.S. joint communiques," spokesperson Hua Chunying said at a daily press briefing.

Hua made the comments in response to U.S. State Department spokesperson Ned Price's remarks that the United States will continue to consider "opportunities for visits to Washington and Taipei by senior-level authorities" to advance their unofficial relationship.

"We urge the U.S. side to stop the dangerous practice of challenging the bottom line and playing with fire as the previous administration did," Hua said. She called for prudently and properly handling the Taiwan question, and not sending wrong signals to separatist forces seeking "Taiwan independence," so as to avoid undermining China-U.S. ties as well as peace and stability across the Taiwan Strait.

Hua noted that the U.S. ambassador to Palau joined the delegation of Palau on a visit to Taiwan, and asked, "Does the United States really care about the people in Taiwan? Or is it using Taiwan as a pawn in its plot to contain China?"

There is only one China in the world and Taiwan is an inalienable part of Chinese territory, and the government of the People's Republic of China is the sole legal government representing the whole of China, Hua said, adding that this is a basic fact recognized by the international community.

"The Taiwan question is the most important and sensitive issue in China-U.S. ties, and the one-China principle is the political foundation of the China-U.S. relationship, a red line that should not be crossed," she said.
Source: Xinhua| 2021-04-03 00:57:07|Editor: huaxia

Video Player Close

NIAMEY, April 2 (Xinhua) -- The new president of the Republic of Niger, Mohamed Bazoum, was sworn in Friday for a five-year term, during an inauguration ceremony held in Niamey.

In his inauguration speech, Bazoum said that he would be "the elected president for all Nigeriens."

"My duty is to treat Nigeriens equally. I am committed to consolidating the unity of our country and the fraternity that should dominate our relations between us," he stressed.

He also promised to continue the program of his predecessor, and tackle in his tenure the challenges the country faces in the fields of security, climate, economy, education and health.

Heavy security measures had been deployed across the capital to ensure the safety of the two presidents and other visiting heads of state and government, since two days before Bazoum's inauguration ceremony, an attempted coup in Niamey was foiled by the Nigerien government.

Also, the country faces severe terrorist threats coming from its western part bordering Mali and Burkina Faso. In March alone this year, more than one hundred civilians were killed in various attacks launched by djihadists.

Bazoum is expected to name a new Prime Minister soon to form a new government to lead the country and tackle the security issues.

Mohamed Bazoum, 61, the candidate of Niger's ruling Party for Democracy and Socialism (PNDS-TARAYYA), was elected with 55.66 percent of the votes during the second round of presidential election held on Feb. 21.

President Bazoum's inauguration marks a turning point in Niger's political history, as this is the first time the country sees a peaceful power transition between two democratically elected presidents. Enditem
Larger business-to-business (B2B) events in the Meetings, Incentives, Conventions and Exhibitions (MICE) industry are set to return to Singapore with up to 750 attendees with effect from April 24.

This is an increase from the current limit of 250 attendees and is in line with the safe and progressive resumption of economic activities in Singapore.

Following the Multi-Ministry Taskforces (MTF) announcement on the launch of the pre-event testing (PET) framework at selected events across different settings, businesses can apply to the Singapore Tourism Board (STB) to organise the following pilot events:

(i) Larger B2B events of up to 750 attendees, with PET for all attendees

(ii) B2B events of up to 250 attendees, without PET

The cohort size of 50 pax per zone applies to (i) and (ii). With effect from April 24, Event Organisers (EOs) of approved B2B events can also increase the cohort size to 50 pax per zone, up from 20.

All B2B event applications with more than 50 participants must be submitted to STB for approval by the Ministry of Trade and Industry (MTI). EOs must demonstrate their ability to implement the rigorous SMMs under STBs Safe Business Events (SBE) framework. Details of the application process for larger B2B events for up to 750 pax will be released before April 24.

These events will allow STB and the industry to adjust safety protocols and testbed innovative formats and processes, as the country progressively scales up capacities for larger B2B events.

Progressive resumption of MICE events

Since the launch of STBs Safe Business Events framework in July 2020, close to 60 events hosting over 7,000 attendees have been held in Singapore, with no reported cases of Covid-19 infection.

The pilots started with a cap of 50 attendees per event and was scaled up to 250 attendees per event in October 2020. Successful pilot events include the Asia Pacific MedTech Virtual Forum 2020 in September 2020, the Council of Tall Buildings and Urban Habitat (CTBUH) Conference in November 2020, Singapore International Energy Week (SIEW) Conference in October 2020, and the Milken Institute Summit Asia in December 2020.

To test different models and workflows across different settings, STB had trialled a larger event format, with PET for all attendees, at the Professional Convention Management Association  Convening Leaders (PCMA CL) 2021 in January 2021.

At the same time, a prototype for safe tradeshows and exhibitions was developed by the Alliance for Action on Enabling Safe and Innovative Visitor Experiences convened by the Emerging Stronger Taskforce (EST). This prototype deployed digital enablers to facilitate a seamless and safe end-to-end visitor experience, and comprises safe itineraries, offering delegates a selection of leisure activities that comply with safe management guidelines.

TravelRevive in November 2020, the first major international tradeshow to take place physically in Asia Pacific during Covid-19, was the first to trial this hybrid format, attracting close to 1,000 local and international physical attendees. Geo Connect Asia (GCA) 2021, held on March 24 and 25, is the second event to do so. GCA 2021 featured new formats, processes and digital enablers to enhance safety, such as Geo Suites  where typical tradeshow floors were replaced by ballrooms converted into exhibition booths. Each booth catered to a single exhibitor, to minimise intermingling between different cohorts. The Safe Event platform, a technology solution created by local companies Viatick and Trakomatic during the SafeEvent Challenge at IMDAs Open Innovation Platform, was also trialled at GCA 2021.

To help the industry develop innovative hybrid business models and pathways for new capabilities, the Singapore Association of Convention and Exhibition Organisers and Suppliers (SACEOS), with the support of STB and Enterprise Singapore (ESG), developed the Event Industry Resilience Roadmap (IRR) in October 2020. The aim was to establish best-in-class standards for safe business events.

Charting a new path for Singapores MICE industry

The pilot events and the gradual increase in capacity limits are important steps to support the recovery of Singapores MICE industry and bolster our position as a leading MICE hub. Prior to Covid-19, the MICE industry supported more than 34,000 jobs with an economic value-add of $3.8 billion, or nearly one percent of Singapores GDP.

To further help MICE businesses emerge stronger, STB and ESG have collaborated with the SACEOS to formulate the Technical Reference on safe event management for the MICE and events industry. Developed by the Working Group on safe event management appointed by the Singapore Standards Council (SSC), the standard outlines best practices for conducting events in a safe and responsible manner, and reinforces Singapores commitment to safety, hygiene and welfare.

Looking ahead, STB is partnering PCMA and UFI (global association of the exhibition industry) on a White Paper to document the transformation of the MICE industry in response to Covid-19 and to chart pathways to recovery and growth. This is the first such collaboration between a destination and leading associations representing the exhibitions, conventions and meetings sub-sectors. The White Paper aims to share global perspectives on reimagining the future of business events, while capturing lessons learnt in the reopening journey thus far. The paper is set to be released in the second half of 2021.

Keith Tan, Chief Executive, Singapore Tourism Board, said: Over the past year, we have been encouraged that MICE events continue to pick Singapore as a host destination. This shows that our efforts to progressively resume MICE events in a safe, trusted and innovative way are paying off. Our industry has shown the way in piloting new solutions that prioritise safety without compromising the event experience, and I am confident they will continue to do so as we prepare to emerge stronger from Covid-19.

Aloysius Arlando, President, SACEOS, said: This announcement comes at an opportune time and is a much-needed boost to the local MICE industry which has remained resilient and agile during these uncertain times. We will continue to work closely with the industry, STB and ESG to set safe operating standards for the industry and help our businesses chart a new path in a Covid-19-safe environment. - TradeArabia News Service
A Russian demining team is clearing the area of UXO in preparation for new construction, officials say.

Some of the Yak-130 tanks procured by Laos from Russia, in an undated photo.

Russian troops have been clearing an area of around 500 hectares (1,240 acres) of unexploded ordnance (UXO) in Laoss Xieng Khouang province with plans to build a new airport and military facility as part of an expansion of military aid to the impoverished Southeast Asian nation, according to Lao officials.

A Russian demining team has been working with Lao counterparts to clear the UXO since Dec. 5, 2020, the provincial officials recently told RFAs Lao Service, speaking on condition of anonymity because they were not authorized to discuss the plans with the media.

The Russians came here to build a military airport on the other side of the Plain of Jars, one of the officials said, referring to the archeological landscape in the Xieng Khouang Plateau that was designated a UNESCO World Heritage Site in 2019.

Theyre currently clearing the UXO and then theyre going to upgrade the existing airport, making it larger and more beautiful.

Another Xieng Khouang official, who is a provincial military officer, provided further details about the new airport to RFA.

The Russian and Lao armed forces together are building this new airport that will be larger than the existing one and will be divided in two different zones, he said.

One zone is for Lao and Russian military use and the other is for civilian use.

The officer said that the Russian military intends to provide substantial assistance to Laos going forward, including with training and developing the latters armed forces.

Some work on the new airport has already begun, but the actual construction will not start anytime soon because the UXO clearance will take some time, he said.

Once the UXO has been cleared, well lay underground powerlines. Well do our work step by step.

Besides the airport, the Russians intend to expand military cooperation with Laos that will include building a facility to train Lao troops on how to use Russian military equipment, according to a report by Russian news agency Sputniknews.com.

A former senior government official in Laos told RFA that the two sides are expanding cooperation in line with an agreement they have in place on security and defense, as well as the new airport.

In the agreements, most cooperation would include training and teaching military techniques to the Lao armed forces, said the former official, who also declined to be named.

We had more cooperation and more Russian military presence in Laos during the Soviet era, he added.

RFA spoke with an official at the Lao Ministry of Foreign Affairs who claimed not to know anything about the Russian military aid projects.

The airport planned for expansion with assistance from the Russian military in Laos's Xieng Khouang province. RFA/Planet Labs

Increased cooperation

In 2018, Laos ordered four jet fighters and 10 Yak-130 tanks from Russia following a state visit to Moscow by Laos then-Prime Minister Thongloun Sisoulith a year earlier, during which the two nations signed a military cooperation agreement. Four of the tanks were later delivered to the Lao Ministry of Defense by Russias Rosoboronexport Company and took part in a 2019 parade commemorating the 70th anniversary of the Lao Peoples Armed Forces in the capital Vientiane.

In April 2019, Russias TASS news agency reported that the Russian and Lao defense ministries had agreed on the areas of expanding military cooperation between their two countries on the sidelines of the Moscow International Conference on International Security, citing Lao Defense Minister Chansamone Chanyalath. The report did not provide details of the agreement.

In June last year, Laos unveiled plans to build statues to honor two unnamed Soviet pilots who died while serving in the Southeast Asian country, angering citizens who said the U.S. $775,000 earmarked for the project could be better spent on recovering from the coronavirus pandemic. The pilots were in Laos as part of Moscows military presence in the fellow communist country between 1975 and 1992 and are believed to have been involved in training pilots in Laos air force. An official from the Ministry of Information Culture and Tourism told RFA at the time that the pilots were killed in a crash over Xieng Khouang province while on a practice mission.

According to a report on the Lao Defense Ministry website, Chansamone Chanyalath met with Russian ambassador to Laos Vladimir Kalinin at the Russian Embassy in Vientiane on Dec. 29, 2020 and thanked him for Russias gift of a hangar to store tanks in Xieng Khouang province. Chansamone also expressed gratitude for joint military exercises held in the province in 2019, Russias assistance with UXO clearance, its work in upgrading the airport in Xieng Khouang, and for building an office of the Russian Military Representative in the province. The meeting took place a week after Russias military donated an air force training center to Laos.

Source of aid

Moscow was a major arms supplier to Laos after its communist government, closely associated with the Soviet-aligned communist government in Vietnam, was established in 1975. According to a January report in The Diplomat, recent aid to Laos highlights the countrys importance in Russias desire for broader defense cooperation in Southeast Asia.

Russia has provided various forms of assistance to Laos in recent years.

In January, TASS cited Russian Ambassador Kalinin as saying that Moscow and Vientiane had agreed on deliveries of two million doses of Russias homegrown Sputnik V vaccine, which would be used to inoculate around 25 percent of the Lao population against the coronavirus.

Reported by RFAs Lao Service. Translated by Max Avary. Written in English by Joshua Lipes.
GREENWICH  A traditional Lenten activity that marks one of the holiest times of the year returned to the First Congregational Church of Old Greenwich on Friday.

Members of the church stepped off carrying a large wooden cross from the church at 108 Sound Beach Ave. through the village of Old Greenwich and all the way to Greenwich Point Park.

The Cross Walk has been performed annually to mark Good Friday since 1980, but it was canceled last year due to COVID-19.

Usually the members of the churchs youth group take part, but this year, adults from the church handled the duties, walking through neighborhoods in Old Greenwich and on to the beach. Eight church members participated, each person taking turns carrying the cross on their shoulders in pairs. Everyone wore masks for the entirety of the 2-mile walk.

On Sunday morning, the cross will be processed onto the beach to begin the churchs Easter Sunrise Service at 6:30 a.m. Then it will be brought back to the church building for the 9 and 11 a.m. Easter services in the Meetinghouse.

Those in the Christian faith commemorate Jesus Christs death on the Cross on Good Friday and celebrate his resurrection on Easter Sunday.

Steve Summerton

Daniel Lepoutre

Daniel Lepoutre

Daniel Lepoutre

Steve Summerton

Daniel Lepoutre

For the Easter season, First Congregational is also remembering those who have died in the past year due to the COVID-19 pandemic. The church invites community members to place memorial flags on Saturday and Sunday outside the church to remember those who died of the coronavirus. The flags, which community members have been marking with names, prayers and special thoughts, will be up until Monday.
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!
Railway Minister on Saturday penned a letter to around 13 lakh rail employees, thanking them for their work during the crisis.

He said the last year was unlike anything that was experienced before.

"While the loss of our own would never be forgotten, it was the grit, determination and resolve of Rail Parivaar which had emerged victorious in the wake of the unprecedented pandemic," he said.

Goyal said that during the COVID-19 pandemic, the "Railway family" devoted itself to the service of the nation. "While the world came to a standstill, railwaymen never took a day off, and worked even harder at a great personal risk to keep the wheels of the economy moving," he said.

The minister added that due to the commitment of all, the railways could ensure uninterrupted supply of essential goods, be it coal for power plants, fertilizer for farmers or foodgrains for the consumers across the country.

"With your sheer willpower and resilience, we turned this crisis into an opportunity," he wrote.

Goyal said 4,621 Shramik Specials were run to unite families and carry more than 63 lakh stranded citizens. "Despite limitations during the lockdown, 370 major safety and infrastructure works were completed. Kisan Rail Services became the medium to connect our Annadatas' directly with bigger markets. You, through your service, made this possible and in turn touched the hearts and lives of lakhs of people," the Railway minister said.

"It is a matter of immense pride for me that the railways, with its exemplary work, has spearheaded the economic recovery," he said, adding 1,233 million tonnes of originating freight has been loaded, "which is the best ever for any year".

He also said 6,015 RKM (Route Kilometer) of rail electrification work has been achieved in the last financial year. "As they say, records are meant to be broken and no one does it better than the Indian Railways," the minister said.

Goyal added that now, the railways has become a customer-centric and is taking numerous steps for improving its speed as well as operational efficiency.

"This is visible as the average speed of freight trains has almost doubled to 44 Kmph and punctuality of the passenger trains has been maintained at a level of 96 per cent. There have been zero passenger fatalities and a drastic reduction in number of consequential train accidents in last two years," he said in the letter.

"I thank you for your dedication and stupendous efforts. I can say with confidence that with this motivated team, we will continue breaking records, achieve bigger targets, set examples for others with our performance, and contribute to the growth of Indian Economy," Goyal 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 months into his new job, Oaklands police chief is searching for answers to a rise in homicide cases that started with the shutdown and now threatens to unwind years of progress.

The department logged 34 homicides through March 31, more than triple the 10 that occurred by the same time in 2020. The escalation coincides with unsettling attacks on older Asian Americans, many of them captured in videos that went viral on social media.

At the same time, the citys strained police force is struggling to manage sideshows  impromptu gatherings in which drivers take over an intersection or freeway to perform stunts. Oakland lost its sideshow detail when City Administrator Ed Reiskin ordered cuts to patch a budget deficit in late December.

Addressing reporters Friday afternoon on the ground floor of the departments downtown headquarters, a visibly perturbed police Chief LeRonne Armstrong decried the recent slayings as unacceptable and announced a new strategy to deal with them: disbanding the crime reduction teams that served each geographic area of Oakland and concentrating those officers in a centralized unit.

The Violent Crime Operations Center will focus on the citys most serious crimes  shootings and killings  signaling that Armstrong has made them a priority over the less-severe quality-of-life complaints that also generate voluminous 911 calls. The shift occurred as the department copes with somewhat thinner ranks. Although Oakland is authorized to have 792 sworn officers, the force now hovers at 713, according to department spokesperson Paul Chambers.

Ive moved resources from every area within the Police Department to support this new operations center, so that we can move faster in our response to violence, so that we can be more nimble in our approach to solving violent crime, but also so that we can have citywide enforcement efforts, Armstrong said.

Roughly 60 officers and supervisors would work out of the new center, with eight poached from each of the citys five crime reduction teams. The division would work closely with Oaklands Ceasefire unit, a mediation program for alleged gang members.

While violence rose in many cities during the pandemic  a pattern that criminologists link to closures of schools, recreation centers and public agencies, as well as frustration over job loss  Oakland felt a more acute spike.

Unlike in San Francisco, homicides in the East Bay city now exceed the five-year average, while burglaries dropped. Both cities saw a five-year decrease in reported rapes, robberies and larceny thefts, though robberies are climbing this year in Oakland.

Despite widespread concern about gun violence, some residents and advocates wonder whether Armstrongs center will adequately serve the flatland communities that experience the most crime.

Keisha Henderson, a member of Oaklands Reimagining Public Safety Task Force and a resident of the Seminary area of East Oakland, has long called for better treatment by and more consistent communication from Oaklands Police Department. She worries that without a crime reduction squad assigned to her area, trust between officers and residents will continue to erode.

As far as community engagement, I have not seen that, because theyre so busy just attacking the shootings, Henderson said, adding that she wishes the police would surface at community events  such as trash cleanups  rather than just swooping in during an emergency.

She described her neighborhood as having a cone culture, because residents set up traffic cones in their driveways to block strangers from parking there and dissuade kids from straying down the block when they play outside.

Henderson has two 6-year-old daughters who she has never let walk down the block. She said she never knows when a shot may be fired, and they cant run like that.

Rachel Swan is a San Francisco Chronicle staff writer. Email: rswan@sfchronicle.com; Twitter: @rachelswan
They fought and died as fighters, couriers, smugglers, spies and medics in the Jewish resistance during the Second World War  but little is known about the women who fought against the Nazis.

They fought and died as fighters, couriers, smugglers, spies and medics in the Jewish resistance during the Second World War  but little is known about the women who fought against the Nazis.

Judy Batalion is trying to change that through her new book The Light of Days: The Untold Story of Women Resistance Fighters in Hitlers Ghettos.

Author Judy Batalion

"Against all odds, they made risky and brave choices to resist the Nazis," said Batalion, originally from Montreal but now living in New York City. "These women are our legacy."

Batalion, a granddaughter of Polish Holocaust survivors, will be doing an online book launch April 7 at 8 p.m. as part of the April 5-11 Shoah Week in Winnipeg.

The launch, which will feature a conversation between Batalion and Belle Jarniewski, executive director of The Jewish Heritage Centre of Western Canada, is sponsored by the Centre and the Jewish Federation of Winnipeg.

For Batalion, the book started by accident. She was researching a different topic when she stumbled on a small Yiddish book that contained some stories about female Jewish resistance fighters.

Captivated by the stories  and wondering why she had never heard about those women before  she started tracking down survivors.

"They had many roles in the underground as fighters, smuggled weapons, spied on the Nazis, made fake identity papers," she said.

As for why their stories went untold, Batalion has a few ideas.

"The stories of Jewish resistance to the Nazis were told primarily by men focusing on men as fighters," she said, noting the time after the war was not conducive to highlighting the role of women.

At the same time, many of the women didnt want to tell their stories. "They didnt think they would be believed," she said, adding they also "had a great desire to leave it all behind and start afresh."

Some also had survivors guilt, feeling they had it "easy" compared to those who survived concentration camps  even though "they went through traumatic and horrific experiences," Batalion said.

The result was their stories "were buried, pushed aside." Now she wants Jewish women today to know about the women of the past.

"We come from these incredible, daring women," she said, noting her book has been optioned for a movie by Stephen Spielberg. "They can inspire us, fighting against all odds for justice and liberty."

To register for the launch, visit jewishwinnipeg.org/light.

Other online events during Shoah Week, which remembers the six million Jews murdered during the Holocaust, include Resistance in Poetry and Song, about the United Peoples Jewish Order and the North End Jewish Folk Choir, on April 5, 7:30 p.m.; Holocaust Remembrance from Generation to Generation, April 8, 2 p.m.; the 13th Annual Yom Hashoah Commemoration, also April 8 at 7 p.m.; a public Holocaust memorial commemoration, April 9, noon; and Yom Hashoah Memorial Service, also April 9 at 7 p.m.

For more information about Shoah week events, visit jewishwinnipeg.org

faith@freepress.mb.ca
Lieutentant Ruth Ni Riada with her comrades during her training days in the Cadet School

There's a saying in Irish - an ait ata do chroi, is ann a thabharfaidh do chosa thu, your legs will carry you to where your heart lies - which has a special meaning for Cuil Aodha's Lieutenant Ruth Ni Riada, an officer in Oglaigh na hEireann, the Irish Defence Forces.

The Gaeltacht woman always wanted to be an Army officer and after graduating with a Law degree from UCC made seven attempts to be accepted into the Cadet School.

The daughter of Peadar and Geraldine O Riada was disappointed several times before she passed the interview stage of the recruitment process but, the night before her physical, she injured her leg training with Naomh Aban, the local GAA club, and was unable to take the test.

She tried again the next year but, such is the competition to gain a place in the Cadet School, she wasn't even called for interview.

"I thought about not going for it the seventh time but said I would regret it forever if I didn't so I tried again and this time I was successful.

"I'm not after looking back since."

"It was September 25 2017, I will never forget the date, when my parents and my sister Sadhbh brought me up to the Curragh to start my training.

"The great thing about the Irish Army is that the women and the men do the exact same training so you do the same distances carrying the same weights as the men.

"That can be hard when you're going up a hill carrying the equivalent of a bag of coal and when the man next to you who's taller with longer legs, that can be hard

"But you learn that the best way forward is to carry on putting one leg in front of the other, you will succeed.

"It was without a shadow of a doubt the toughest thing I had ever done in my life - but it was also the most enjoyable."

As tough and challenging as it was, Ruth persevered and was commissioned as an officer in February 2019 at a ceremony in Dublin Castle which had been preceded by an interdominational service in Christchurch Cathedral where Cor Chuil Aodha, directed by her father Peadar, had sung.

"It was a great day, the best day of my life, all my family were there and the class received its commission from Uachtaran na hEireann himself."

Last year she spent five and a half months on UN duty in the Lebanon with the 116th Inf Bn (Infantry Battalion), as part of the Battalion support Group, where she was responsible for the maintenance of the armoured fleet, which is essential for the safe movement of troops while operating overseas.

"It was a wonderful experience, it was great to see people from a different country and culture."

Since her return, she has been stationed in Collins Barracks with the 1 Brigade Cavalry Squadron, which is one of the Cavalry Corps units. Her work involves the maintenance of armoured vehicles and motor bikes and it leads to her spending days at Kilworth Camp near Fermoy.

"It's wonderful, I'm close to home and sure what other job would have you be here on a day like this in Kilworth driving these type of vehicles...?"

Lieutenant Ni Riada last week featured in a Molsceal video distributed on TG4's social media platforms. The film, produced by her first cousin, Seamus O Suilleabhain, and a friend Maire Ni Dhuinnin, caught the eye of the Chief of Staff of the Defence Forces, Vice Admiral Mark Mellett who praised her in glowing terms in a Tweet as Gaeilge:

"Maith thu Lt Ruth Ni Rada. Taimid broduil as ar saighdiuiri, mairnealaigh agus aerfhoireann go leir. Mol an oige agus tiocfaidh si!"
.......... .......... .......... .......... .......... .......... .......... .......... .......... .......... .......... .......... .......... .......... .......... .......... .......... ..........

SANTA FE  A federal judge has tossed a ranchers claim that he should still have the right to use federal land in New Mexico after it was revoked for killing a wolf.

Craig Thiessen killed an endangered Mexican wolf in Gila National Forest six years ago and has since argued that he should still be allowed to graze his cattle on the 48,000 acres of public land, the Santa Fe New Mexican reported.

That argument was rejected last week by U.S. Magistrate Judge Gregory Fouratt.

Thiessen pleaded guilty in 2018 for killing the wolf. He faced a year of probation and a $2,300 fine. Later that year, the U.S. Forest Service revoked his companys permit to graze cattle on the public land.

A court document said he had 286 cows and 143 calves on the property. Thiessen has continued legal action in an attempt to keep his cattle on the land. The Forest Service has sued Thiessen to remove the cows.

Hayden Ballard, an attorney who has represented Thiessen, did not respond to a request for comment last week by the newspaper.

ADVERTISEMENTSkip



................................................................

Representatives from four conservation groups said in a statement that Thiessen had given up his privileges to use the public land after his actions.

Greta Anderson from the Western Watersheds Project accused Thiessen on Friday of animal cruelty by killing the wolf. The Santa Fe New Mexican reported that numerous accounts said the young wolfs leg was caught in a trap and it was then struck with a shovel.
Source: Xinhua| 2021-04-03 20:37:01|Editor: huaxia

Video Player Close

ANKARA, April 3 (Xinhua) -- Turkey has recently witnessed a re-spike in daily COVID-19 cases and tightened its restrictive measures.

According to a statement by Health Minister Fahrettin Koca on his Twitter account, the surge in daily cases was mainly due to an increase in infections of the COVID-19 variant.

The Health Ministry said on Friday that it had officially recorded 42,308 new COVID-19 cases in 24 hours, the highest number of daily cases since the outbreak of the COVID-19 in the country more than a year ago.

Turkey's overall caseload has exceeded 3.3 million, while the death toll from the virus has reached 31,892. The number of COVID-19 patients in critical conditions currently stands at 2,182.

After the number of daily cases fell below 10,000 in March, Turkey started to ease restrictions which were adopted following a second wave of contagion last November, reopening businesses such as restaurants, cafes and tea houses amid a gradual return to in-person education.

But that normalization process is now on hold.

Since Turkey began a mass COVID-19 inoculation campaign on Jan. 14, it has administered over 16.1 million jabs, according to official figures.

In a country of 83 million people, more than 9.2 million to date have received their first doses, while the second doses have been given to over 6.9 million.

In the light of the rise in cases and fatalities, Turkey announced the return of weekend curfews in high-risk areas and other restrictions, in addition to special measures for the upcoming Muslim holy month of Ramadan, which will start on April 13 in Turkey.

Communal meals during the Ramadan will be prohibited, as was the case last year.

"Unfortunately, COVID-19 rules have not been fully respected, and we have returned to restrictions. This situation is again a new burden for health professionals," Gule Cinar, a virologist from a hospital in the capital Anraka, told Xinhua.

She confirmed that a majority of coronavirus patients in hospitals were suffering from the variant, which also affects younger generations. "There are young patients in hospital wards who are treated for COVID-19."

"The variant is said to be 60-percent more deadly. We must obey safety rules," Bengi Baser, a professor of cardiology, said on his Twitter account.

The resurgence of infections is also a bad omen for Turkey's vital tourism industry which is pinning high hopes for this year after a particularly difficult 2020.

"Currently, we have the highest daily (infection) numbers in Europe, so we have to give confidence to our future visitors by accelerating our vaccination program," Esral Dongec, manager of an Ankara-based travel agency, told Xinhua.

"Vaccines will play a central role in global travel and Turkey is on a good path," Dongec said, calling on all people to abide by safety measures.

Tourism Minister Mehmet Nuri Ersoy said earlier that Turkey still demands a negative PCR test result from inbound tourists until April 15.

Tourism in Turkey is usually expected to gain momentum starting April. Enditem
Major vaccination hubs have scaled back or closed over the Easter long weekend amid claims from the Victorian government it is so far ahead in its frontline worker milestones it can leave vials waiting in the fridge.

General practitioners and their staff, meanwhile, are working outside regular business hours to keep up with demand from members of the public who are being turned away from Victorian government-run hubs.

The mass vaccination centre at Melbournes Royal Exhibition Building. Credit:Luis Enrique Ascui

Only 1015 shots were given out in state-run hubs on Good Friday compared to 7512 the day before. A Health Department spokesman said Fridays small total reflected typical public holiday or weekend rates.

But more than 2000 vaccinations were administered on both the Saturday and Sunday of the previous weekend.
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.
Columbia University (CU) graduate student workers are now in the third week of their strike for increased wages, child care benefits, health benefits and against what they are calling COVID-19 austerity measures. Negotiations continue between the university and the Graduate Workers of Columbia (GWC), which has been affiliated with the United Auto Workers (UAW) for two years.

The university has implemented ruthless measures against the striking workers, including docking strikers meager pay in the middle of a pandemic. It is actively attempting to starve the workers, essentially using economic blackmail to force them to accept a concessionary contract.

A Columbia grad student might expect that the UAW, which has a $790 million strike fund, would be in a strong position to assist the workers financially. However, the UAW is operating with a deliberate strategy to defeat the strike, while keeping its very existence hidden from autoworkers it falsely claims to represent.

The UAW strike fund: A bonanza for executives

Despite its enormous resources, the UAW has isolated the striking graduate students and granted the workers a measly $275 a week in strike pay. This is a starvation wage for any worker, let alone those who live in New York City, one of the most expensive cities in the world. The average rent for a two-bedroom apartment is $3,798 a month, which no graduate student could afford with their wages and stipends.

For a graduate student who is able to secure one of the coveted CU subsidized apartments, costing around $1,300 a month, the UAW assistance would not even cover a months worth of rent, let alone food, health care, child care, transportation, bills, student loans and other costs of living.

The UAW has offered no justification for the miserably low pay, but it is completely in line with the strike pay offered to autoworkers on the incredibly rare occasion that the UAW cannot prevent a strike from breaking out. In 2019, during the first major national auto strike since 1976, over 46,000 GM workers walked out on strike across 10 states. The UAW paid workers only $250 a week. At the time, they were sitting on a strike fund worth over $800 million.

The UAW is not a workers organization. It is an arm of corporate management and a labor police force, controlled by wealthy executives who subsist on the exploitation of the workers they claim to represent.

Even as the auto industries were disrupted and closed for long periods of time throughout last year because of the pandemic, the UAWs net income increased by $12.7 million, up $1.2 million from the previous year. During this time, many union members survived on unemployment without any additional pay from the UAW.

The total assets of the UAW at the end of the latest reporting period amount to a staggering $1,127,664,164.

The UAW could provide each of the 3,000 striking graduate workers $1,000 a week for a monthlong strike and still have $778 million left over in its strike fund. In fact, a $1,000 stipend every week for one month to every graduate student would account for just over 1.5 percent of the total strike fund.

Even though virtually the entire UAW leadership was indicted in a racketeering scheme over the last several years, guilty of stealing workers dues money and taking bribes from the companies, the UAW remains a gravy train for the corrupt bureaucracy. Through union-management slush funds, stock holdings of the Big Three companies, and multibillion-dollar VEBA health care trust funds, the UAW has become a business in its own right.

The total annual salary payments for the UAW national staff in 2020 reached a staggering $77,407,948! Meanwhile, the total spent on strike benefits was $6.1 million.

UAW President Rory Gamble receives a salary of approximately $4,615 per week. According to the latest Labor Department filing (March 31, 2021), the salaries for the top 14 officials at the UAW national headquarters totaled $3,027,994.

As these figures clearly demonstrate, graduate workers should be under no illusion that the UAW does not have the money to provide real assistance. The hundreds of millions of dollars in the UAW strike fund is money that comes directly from contributions made by workers.

The UAW executives are well aware that the poverty strike pay places the striking workers in a financial situation that will become increasingly desperate with each passing day. Already, many strikers who want to continue striking have spoken out on the dire situations they face. It is no secret that Columbia University is counting on the economic distress facing workers to force them to accept another concessionary contract.

The isolation of the Columbia strike

In addition to the immense financial resources available to the UAW, the apparatus also represents over 400,000 active members and more than 580,000 retired members in the United States, Canada and Puerto Rico. There are more than 600 local unions in the union.

Why has the UAW not called out other locals in support of the Columbia workers?

Many graduate students no doubt supported the UAW unionization efforts under the impression that the graduate workers would have the backing of autoworkers in their struggle against Columbia University. But the UAW has made clear, as it does in every strike, that it has no intention of mobilizing the industrial workers behind the students, or even other UAW members on their own campus or neighboring campuses.

Autoworkers would support the striking graduate students, but the UAW is doing whatever it can to prevent workers from even knowing that the strike is taking place. There is, for example, no mention of the Columbia strike on the UAWs website.

It is an extraordinary exposure of the unions treachery, the UAW is actively seeking to separate the graduate workers struggle at Columbia from the graduate workers struggle at New York University (NYU), who are part of the same amalgamated UAW Local 2110!

UAW Local 2110 President Maida Rosenstein, speaking at a Graduate Student Organizing Committee (GSOC) meeting at New York University in the second week of the strike, explicitly argued against the proposal to coordinate the strikes by NYU students and Columbia students. Rosenstein told student workers they should not be influenced by outside factors in their decision to call a strike.

When the unions attempt to shut down the Columbia strike was thwarted by the rank and file at the end of its second week, the NYU body suddenly decided to expand its strike authorization vote by another full week. Clearly, the UAW and the universities are doing everything in their power to prevent a situation where the two strikes coincide.

In its bid for union representation, the UAW sold itself to graduate student workers as an organization that defends the interests of tens of thousands of dues-paying members. In reality, it functions as a tool of the very corporations it claims to fight against.

As the WSWS has previously reported, it speaks volumes about the close connections between the union and Columbia that the universitys interim provost, Ira Katznelson, is a former political strategist for the UAW.

The UAW and the other unions in the AFL-CIO long ago ceased to be workers organizations. They are, instead, instruments for the suppression of the class struggle. Over the past year, amidst mass death and social misery produced by the ruling class response to the pandemic, the unions have done everything they could to prevent the emergence of mass working class opposition.

In order for the Columbia strike to move forward, control cannot be left in the hands of the UAW, whose interests are directly tied to the same corporations and political establishment that control Columbia University.

The International Youth and Students for Social Equality urges students to form independent strike committees to expand the strike as broadly as possible!

Send delegations to workplaces and factories in New York and beyond to explain your struggle to autoworkers, teachers, transit workers, hospital workers, retail workers and other sections of the working class.

Every section of workers and young people has a stake in the struggle at Columbia. Like all sections of workers, they are all fighting against COVID-19 austerity, that is, the implementation of ferocious austerity measures against the working class to pay back the trillions of dollars that the Democrats and Republicans handed over to corporate America and Wall Street at the start of the pandemic.

If the struggle at Columbia University is to succeed, it must develop into a broader industrial and political mobilization of the entire working class. This will not happen through, but must be independent of, the corrupt apparatus that is the United Auto Workers.
New Delhi: Cracking the whip against the violators of coronavirus-related protocols, the Delhi Police issued 11,800 challans for not following the face mask rule and 125 for not maintaining social distancing in the last two weeks amid a recent spike in the cases.

According to data shared by the Delhi Police, a total of 5,78,324 challans have been issued since June 15 till Friday, including 5,36,256 for not wearing face masks and 38,631 for not maintaining social distancing.

A total of 2,720 challans were issued to people for not wearing face masks from March 10 to March 19, which translates to an average of 272 challans per day. Thirty-three challans have been issued in the same period for violating social distancing, the Delhi Police data said.

However, the number of challans for face mask violations increased to 11,800 and those issued for not not violating social distancing norms rose to 125 from March 20 to Friday. In the last two weeks, police on an average challaned 842 people per day for not wearing masks, it said.

Recently, Lieutenant Governor Anil Baijal directed authorities in the national capital to intensify the enforcement of COVID rules to check the spread of the coronavirus.

Delhi Police Public Relations Officer (PRO) Chinmoy Biswal said they are taking strict actions against the violators.

"As the COVID cases are again rising in the national capital, we are taking strong action by sensitising and prosecuting the violators in the interest of the public. We have enhanced the checking and issuing challans to people who are not following the COVID norms," Biswal said.

On March 30, police issued 920 challans for mask violation and 19 for not following social distancing. On March 31, the number of challans for the mask rule violation went up to four digits, as police booked 1,091 people. Sixteen people were also challaned for not maintaining social distancing, the data showed.

On Thursday and Friday, police issued challans to 1,127 and 1,203 people respectively for not wearing masks. The number of challans issued for violating social distancing was six on both the days, it said.

Police distributed 132 masks to the needy on Friday and a total of 4,29,829 masks have been distributed since June 15, it added.

COVID-19 cases in the national capital have been increasing since March 19. On Friday, Delhi recorded 3,594 fresh cases of COVID-19, the highest daily count this year.

Live TV
Over 100 companies including Twitter, Zillow and Uber issued a joint statement through Civic Alliance Friday, joining a slew of major corporate players who have expressed concern about Georgia's law curbing voting access.

Why it matters: States often take cues from how hard businesses push back. But many of these corporations, several of which are based in Georgia, could have spoken up earlier when the law was being considered or before the governor signed.

Activists pressed Georgia-based businesses to publicly oppose the legislation for weeks before it was signed into law, and are now calling for people to boycott the companies.

Georgia Gov. Brian Kemp (R) dismissed the backlash on Wednesday, telling CNBC: I would encourage these CEOs to look at other states that theyre doing business in and compare what the real facts are to Georgia."

What they're saying

Civic Alliance: "Our elections are not improved when lawmakers impose barriers that result in longer lines at the polls or that reduce access to secure ballot dropboxes," the joint statement said.

"We stand in solidarity with voters  and with the Black executives and leaders at the helm of this movement  in our nonpartisan commitment to equality and democracy."

Notable signees include: Abercrombie & Fitch Co., Lyft, Etsy, Reddit, Snap Inc., Salesforce and ViacomCBS.

Facebook: "We support making voting as accessible and broad-based as possible and oppose efforts to make it harder for people to vote," Roy Austin, VP and deputy general counsel for civil rights, said in a statement.

Google: "We've long created tools and resources to make it easier for people to vote. But knowing how to vote depends on people being able to vote," Senior vice president Kurt Walker tweeted. "We're concerned about efforts to restrict voting at a local level and we strongly support the John Lewis Voting Rights Advancement Act."

Patagonia: "Our democracy is under attack by a new wave of Jim Crow bills that seek to restrict the right to vote. It is urgent that businesses across the country take a stand  and use their brands as a force for good in support of our democracy."

Mailchimp: Voting should be safe, accessible, and easy for everyone. SB202 undermines free and fair elections in our home state of Georgia, and will make it harder for people to exercise their right to vote, especially people of color. Georgians deserve better," CEO Ben Chestnut said.

Bank of America: "Our history in fact is punctuated by the moments when we expanded that right to those to whom it had been denied too long. We must continue to right the wrongs of our past, and stand united in our advocacy for equal voting rights for all," Chairman and CEO Brian Moynihan wrote in a message to employees.

Apple: "The right to vote is fundamental in a democracy. American history is the story of expanding the right to vote to all citizens, and Black people, in particular, have had to march, struggle and even give their lives for more than a century to defend that right," CEO Tim Cook told Axios.

"Apple believes that, thanks in part to the power of technology, it ought to be easier than ever for every eligible citizen to exercise their right to vote."

Business Roundtable: "The right to vote is the essence of a democratic society, and the voice of every voter should be heard in fair elections that are conducted with integrity. Unnecessary restrictions on the right to vote strike at the heart of representative government. Business Roundtable members believe state laws must safeguard and guarantee the right to vote."

The group represents hundreds of the country's top CEOs and called on elected officials across the country to "commit to bipartisan efforts to provide greater access to voting and encourage broad voter participation."

Microsoft: "We are concerned by the laws impact on communities of color, on every voter, and on our employees and their families.

"We share the views of other corporate leaders that its not only right but essential for the business community to stand together in opposition to the harmful provisions and other similar legislation that may be considered elsewhere."

American Express: "Ensuring equal and easy access to vote, for all those who are eligible to participate in each state, is critical to upholding the principles our country was founded upon," CEO Steve Squeri wrote on LinkedIn. "As a company and leadership team, we ... stand against any efforts to suppress voting which is a fundamental right that belongs to all Americans.

Coca-Cola: The Georgia law is "unacceptable" and "a step backwards," CEO James Quincey told CNBC Wednesday. "[It] is wrong and needs to be remedied, and we will continue to advocate for it both in private and now even more clearly in public."

Cisco: "Our vote is our voice, and everyone deserves the opportunity to be heard. Governments should be working to make it easier to vote, not harder," Cisco chairman and CEO Chuck Robbins tweeted. "Ensuring equal #VotingRights isn't a political issue, it's an issue of right and wrong."

Delta Airlines: "[I]ts evident that the bill includes provisions that will make it harder for many underrepresented voters, particularly Black voters, to exercise their constitutional right to elect their representatives. That is wrong."

Kemp responded to Delta's opposition midday Wednesday, saying: "Throughout the legislative process, we spoke directly with Delta representatives numerous times ... At no point did Delta share any opposition to expanding early voting, strengthening voter ID measures, increasing the use of secure drop boxes statewide, and making it easier for local election officials to administer elections."

"Today's statement by Delta CEO Ed Bastian stands in stark contrast to our conversations with the company, ignores the content of the new law, and unfortunately continues to spread the same false attacks being repeated by partisan activists," Kemp added, per NBC News.

JPMorgan Chase: "Voting is fundamental to the health and future of our democracy. ... We regularly encourage our employees to exercise their fundamental right to vote, and we stand against efforts that may prevent them from being able to do so. "

72 Black executives, led by former American Express CEO Ken Chenault and outgoing Merck CEO Ken Frazier, also called on corporations to oppose voting restrictions in a historic open letter.

Other prominent companies: Home Depot, AFLAC, Cisco, BlackRock, Citigroup, Cardinal Health
Dr Archibald Yao Letsa, Volta Regional Minister, has presented 1,950 dual desks to the Regional Directorate of Education for distribution to schools.



The desks, procured at the cost of GH 887,500.00 by the Coastal Development Authority (CODA), are to be distributed to 14 out of 18 Municipal and District Directorates of Education.



The Minister said the desks would help improve the challenge of inadequate furniture in schools in the beneficiary Municipal and Districts.



This would provide a conducive environment for the children and enhance teaching and learning, he said and commended CODA for the initiative.



He urged beneficiaries to ensure proper maintenance of the desks and also put them to good use to achieve the desired objective.



Dr Letsa assured the Regional Education Directorate that schools yet to benefit would soon receive similar support to enhance academic work.



Mr Godwin Amelor, North Tongu District Director of Education, who received the items on behalf of the Regional Director, said the desks would enable the children to have peace of mind to study.



He was grateful to the Minister and CODA for the gesture and said the desks would get to the beneficiary Schools.

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
Researchers from Chalmers University of Technology in Sweden and the University of Louvain in Belgium analyzed thousands of policy recommendations for how the EU should reduce deforestation in a recent report, deciding which had the greater potential to reduce deforestation while still being politically feasible.

"Surprisingly, support for stricter controls, such as import bans on certain products, is lower. However, our research shows that there is widespread support for such initiatives that can mitigate imported deforestation "According to Martin Persson, a Chalmers University of Technology Associate Professor of Physical Resource Theory.

EU's Impact on Deforestation

Previous research has shown the EU's significant influence in this field. More than half of tropical deforestation is related to the processing of food and animal feed, such as palm oil, soybeans, wood products, cocoa, and coffee, all of which are extensively imported by the EU. What will the EU do to lessen its commitment to deforestation, then?

"This is an especially timely subject, as the EU plans to present legislative measures this year aimed at reducing deforestation caused by European consumption. The EU has been debating the issue since 2008. According to Simon Bager, a doctoral student at the University of Louvain (UCLouvain) and the study's lead author, now something political is taking place.

Related Article: Too Late? Amazon Greenhouse Study Shows Worsening Climate Conditions Despite Initiatives



Reassessing Policies

The authors of the article mapped 1 141 separate initiatives derived from free meetings and seminars held by the EU to gather ideas from businesses, interest groups, and think tanks. The researchers have collected policy ideas from a range of academic papers, policy briefs, and other documents in which different parties have made various policy recommendations. They came up with 86 new solutions after grouping together similar ideas.

Stand Out Ideas

Seeking plans for policies that will have the desired impact but still being realistic to execute and having the requisite political support is a daunting challenge. However, following their comprehensive survey, the researchers have identified two policy options, in particular, that display promise:

Pointing Accountability

The proposed system would make importers of produce responsible for deforestation in supply chains. France and England already have similar systems in place or in the process of being implemented. Bager: "We consider such a system to be credible and possible to implement both politically and practically" But, he says, it needs to be carefully designed, including which companies are affected by the requirements.

Involving Multi-Stakeholders

Multi-stakeholder forums can help tackle deforestation. They are a good way for affected parties to be directly involved in helping design the measures themselves. The Amazon Soy Moratorium was a positive example of such a forum, with producers and exporters agreeing to end soy exports from deforested areas in the Amazon rainforest.

Feasibility of Solutions

The researchers investigated how to deal with the trade-off between policy impacts and feasibility. An essential part of this is combining different complementary measures. Trade regulations on their own, for example, risk hitting poorer producing countries harder.

Finally, the researchers summarize three main concepts that must be integrated into current policy if the EU is serious about reducing its effects on tropical deforestation. "First, put in place policies that would eventually result in improvement. Second, to reduce deforestation, use a combination of steps, incorporating various methods and instruments. Finally, ensure direct engagement of supply chain players in strategically relevant areas, steadily extending and broadening the steps." Simon Bager comes to a conclusion.

Also Read: Modern Pesticides' Harmful Effects on Bees Worsened in the Last Decade

For more environmental news, don't forget to follow Nature World News!
April 03 : Sanjay Kapoors daughter Shanaya Kapoor has been in the buzz ever since filmmaker Karan Johar announced that she will debut in Bollywood with one of his films. The star kid is also an avid social media user and often shares her stunning pictures and videos to treat her fans.

The budding actress took to her Instagram profile and shared a stunning video that shocked not only her fans but her mom Maheep Kapoor as well. Shanaya shared a video clip of her belly dancing from her class along with her instructor Sanjana Muthreja. While Shanaya looked pretty doing the floor work, she really performed the difficult moves with elan. Floor work has always been a challenge to learn! Thank you for pushing me @sanjanamuthreja, Shanaya wrote.

In the video clip, Shanaya can be seen gracefully dancing to Beautiful Liar by Beyonce and Shakira. She can be seen doing shimmy, undulations and other belly dance techniques gracefully. The video floored her fans who poured in comments on her post. Shanayas mom Maheep Kapoor also loved her performance and dropped a heart emoji in the comment section. Shanayas BFF Ananya Pandays mom Bhavana Pandey also showered her love in the comment section. The young diva loves to share pictures and videos from her belly dance class, which also feature her instructor Sanjana Muthreja.

Recently, Karan Johar had announced that Shanaya Kapoor has joined the Dharma Cornerstone Agency and will debut with a Dharma film. Making the announcement on social media, Karan informed that Shanaya has not only joined the DCA Squad but will start her debut film with Dharma Production this July. Praising the star kid, Karan wrote, Her enthusiasm, perseverance and diligence are so amazing to see. Join us in showering your love & blessings as she begins her first film with @DharmaMovies, this July!

Shanaya began her career as an assistant director on her cousin Janhvi Kapoors 2020 Netflix film Gunjan Saxena: The Kargil Girl. Shanaya also made a cameo appearance in Netflix's hit show The Fabulous Lives Of Bollywood Wives. The young talent came into the limelight when she made her debut at the Le Bal in Paris in 2019, which also featured in Karan Johars web series The Fabulous Lives Of Bollywood Wives.
Islamabad, Apr 3 (UNI) Pakistan Prime Minister Imran Khan on Saturday said he is puzzled over not being invited to participate in a virtual global climate summit on April 22-23 by US President Joe Biden.

"I am puzzled at the cacophony over Pak not being invited to a climate change conf!," the Prime Minister tweeted.

According to a statement issued by the White House, 40 leaders from across the world, including India and Bangladesh, were invited to the summit in an attempt to "to galvanize efforts by the major economies to tackle the climate crisis."

Mr Khan averred that his government's environment policies are driven solely by their commitment to future generations of a clean & green Pakistan to mitigate the impact of climate change.

"Hence our initiatives of Green Pak, 10 bn-tree tsunami, nature based solutions, cleaning up our rivers etc. We have gained vast experience in 7 yrs, beg with KP, & our policies are being recognised & lauded. We are ready to help any state wanting to learn from our experience," the Pakistan premier said.

In another Twitter post, he pointed out of already laying out the priorities for the UN Climate Change Conference 2021 - COP26 if the international community is serious about countering impact of climate change.

Several Pakistan media reports suggest that public and government officials are annoyed over the countrys exclusion from the summit despite the fact that Pakistan is fifth most vulnerable country to climate change globally.

Experts believe that it could be a gesture to convey Pakistans lack of global importance, or a hardball tactic to compel Islamabad to help Washington achieve goals in Afghanistan or on counterterrorism.

UNI JAL SB 1231
St Stephens College in Delhi has turned into a COVID-19 hotspot after 17 people including students and staff tested positive for COVID-19.

According to a notice issued by the institute's principal, the St Stephen's College campus' "inner perimeter" has been rendered out of bounds after 13 resident students and two staffers tested COVID-19 positive. The notice, issued on Friday, said necessary and stringent measures have been put in place by the dean's office to ensure isolation and social distancing for "all residents".

Sylvester Tamang

Unauthorized College trip

The dean of residence-cum-college chaplain and mass steward (security officer), both of whom have tested positive for the coronavirus, had taken a group of students, including hostellers, of the Delhi college for a trip to Dalhousie in Himachal Pradesh in the last week of March.

It has been reported that the college trip suspected to be the reason behind the infections, was organised without relevant permissions

On Friday, St Stephen's College governing body member Nandita Narain wrote to the college's principal, John Varghese, asking several questions related to the reports of students testing COVID-19 positive and the Dalhousie trip.

Facebook

In the letter, Narain also asked whether the college administration took permission from the University of Delhi and the state government for the trip or opening hostels and allowing "over 200" students to return in the last few months.

"Why was this trip organised by the college officials in the times of COVID pandemic? Was the trip authorised by the principal? Was the consent of parents of the students taken for going on this trip? Was the permission of the University of Delhi and the state government taken for organising such a trip in pandemic times?" the governing body member asked.

In his reply, Varghese, besides confirming the positive test reports of the students and the staff members, said the trip in question was authorised by him and that the consent of students' parents was also taken for the same.

AFP

"As for the other questions, I shall answer them when I have a little more time to spare. You will agree that handling the situation is the priority now. Please be informed that the Dean's Office is aware of the situation and necessary steps have already been taken in consultation with medical and civic authorities," he wrote to Narain.

After the outbreak was confirmed, the authorities have asked faculty who are scheduled to come to college to defer their visits.
Two women are due to appear in court later this morning after they were charged for refusing to go to a quarantine hotel after returning from Dubai.

The women - aged in their 30s and from Dublin - had disembarked from a flight from Dubai where it is understood they had travelled for cosmetic surgery.

It is believed they refused to go into a quarantine hotel when instructed to by officials.

A garda spokesman said the pair are now scheduled to appear before Tallaght District Court this morning.

Last night, gardai confirmed details of the arrests in a statement.

An Garda Siochana were called to an incident in Dublin Airport this afternoon 02/04/2021, by the State Liaison officer, a garda spokesman said.

Gardai implemented the 4Es approach  engaging, explaining, and encouraging with enforcement a last resort.

After failing to comply with Gardai two women, aged in their 30s, were arrested for breaches of the Health Act and taken to Ballymun Garda Station.

Both women have since been charged. They are due to appear before the Criminal Courts of Justice, Court 2, tomorrow at 10.30am, the spokesman added.

Travellers currently arriving from 33 countries deemed high risk by the Government must quarantine for 12 nights at a designated hotel.

The Government is adding 26 states to its mandatory hotel quarantine list but no further European Union countries are included.

Read More

From 4am next Tuesday, 6 April, people arriving in Ireland from these countries and territories must pre-book accommodation for 12 nights mandatory hotel quarantine on arrival and pay for the stay.

The announcement brings to 59 the number of countries and territories deemed high risk by the Government.

The new quarantine rules also apply to any passenger who arrives from any other country without a negative PCR test for Covid-19 carried out no more than 72 hours before they arrive in Ireland.

The Department of Health is in charge of the mandatory quarantine system and the Defence Forces provide a security oversight at airports and hotels with private security guards then operating at the hotels.

However neither army personnel or the security guards have the legal power to stop people leaving the hotels which is a criminal offence that can attract a fine of up to 2,000 or a month in jail.

A 12-night stay in hotel quarantine costs 1,875 per adult, 625 for a second person over the age of 12 who shares the room, and 36 for children aged four to 12.

The countries that have been deemed "high-risk" because of the spread of variants of Covid-19 includes most SouthAmerica countries, a number of African nations as well as the United Arab Emirates and Austria.

Health Minister Stephen Donnelly has designated the Crowne Plaza in Santry, the Holiday Inn Express in Santry, Clontarf Castle and the Hard Rock Hotel on Exchange Street Upper for use in the system.

Earlier this week we revealed that senior sources described the role assigned to gardai in policing breaches of Covid-19 quarantining rules at designated hotels as absolutely farcical.

Disquiet among officers is growing after it emerged that gardai had to engage in a manhunt for three people who left mandatory quarantine on Saturday at a Dublin hotel without authorisation armed with only the name given by each person and a phone number provided by them.
Three sanitation workers die while cleaning drainage 04 Jun 2021 | 6:19 PM Ramanagara, Jun 4 (UNI) Three sanitation workers died while cleaning a drainage in Ramanagara district of Telangana on Friday. see more..

HMIF delivers 100 Oxygen concentrators and 50 BiPaP machines to Telangana state 04 Jun 2021 | 6:17 PM Hyderabad, Jun 4 (UNI) Hyundai Motor India Foundation (HMIF), the philanthropic arm of Hyundai Motor India Ltd., on Friday handed over the 100 Oxygen Concentrators and 50 BiPaP Machines to the Telangana Government to fight against Covid-19. see more..

IDP at ISB launches online 'Better Reporting on Food and Agriculture' course with ISDJ 04 Jun 2021 | 5:45 PM Hyderabad, Jun 4 (UNI) India Data Portal (IDP), developed under aegis of the Bharti Institute of Public Policy (BIPP), at the Indian School of Business (ISB) on Friday launched the online Better Reporting on Food and Agriculture course in collaboration with IndiaSpend School of Data Journalism (ISDJ). see more..

Covid-19: BSY appoints Amlan Aditya Biswas as BIMS administrator 04 Jun 2021 | 5:42 PM Belagavi, June 4 (UNI) Karnataka Chief Minister B S Yediyurappa on Friday announced the appointment of Amlan Aditya Biswas as Belgaum Institute of Medical Science (BIMS) administrator and assured that the shortcomings faced at present in the Hospital will be solved soon. see more..
Even general officers risk being captured or killed while at war. From the Revolutionary War to the war in Afghanistan, generals near the front have been subject to the same risks as any other troop on the battlefield. How they get captured might vary.

In the Revolutionary War, Gen. Charles Lee was captured while moving his army to meet Washington at Trenton. During World War II, Lt. Gen. Jonathan Wainwright surrendered the Army in the Philippines to prevent the wholesale slaughter of his men. In Korea, Army Maj. Gen. William F. Dean was determined he wouldnt be taken alive.

Maj. Gen. William F. Dean was the highest ranking POW of the Korean War. (Department of Defense)

Dean was the commander of the closest American ground forces to the Korean Peninsula when 200,000 North Korean troops invaded South Korea on June 25, 1950. Gen. Douglas MacArthur ordered Dean and his 15,000 troops to stop or delay the Communists until reinforcements could arrive.

By the time he arrived in Korea, Seoul already had fallen to the North Koreans and they were headed to Osan. Dean dispatched Task Force Smith to Osan to head off their advance, but it was full of inexperienced and lightly armed troops, straight from basic training. To make matters worse, the Americans had no weapon to counter North Koreas Soviet-built T-34 tanks.

A series of quick defeats befell the defenders, but Dean kept trying to hold back the Communist forces. At Pyeongtaek, Chochiwon and Taejon, the Armys 34th Infantry put up the best fight they could, but it quickly found itself overwhelmed.

Taejon was a critical stopping point for the Americans. In their rear, the United Nations forces were trying to build up the defenses around the tip of the peninsulas southeast region, a 40-mile defensive line that would become known as the Pusan Perimeter. Dean needed to hold the city for eight days as the U.S. 1st Cavalry Division and 25th Infantry Division finished forming the defensive area.

Dean crossed the Kum River near Taejon on July 12, 1950, burning the bridges behind him. He kept the North Koreans out for seven days before they came in force. His headquarters were overrun by the Communists as the fighting descended into house-to-house combat. There were just too many enemy soldiers to fight.

Lt. Gen. Walton H. Walker, Commander, U.S. Eighth Army (left) confers with Maj. Gen. William F. Dean, Commander, Ground Forces in Korea, upon General Walkers arrival at an advanced airfield. (U.S. Army)

Block by block, the Army was being pushed out of Taejon. They had no radio communication for Dean to coordinate its defense, so he joined his troops fighting in the streets, hunting tanks with a new weapon, the M20 Super Bazooka. He also destroyed an oncoming tank with a hand grenade and directed the movement and fire of American armor in the city.

On July 20, the day the Pusan Perimeter was supposed to be finished, Dean finally ordered what was left of the Americans to withdraw from Taejon. Maj. Gen. Dean led a company of soldiers to escort the last convoy out of the city. By the time it was ready to leave, the North Koreans had set up a series of roadblocks to stop the Americans from fighting their way out. But Dean still fought on.

When his convoy was ambushed and mostly destroyed, Dean led the survivors on foot, continuing their exodus from Taejon. Now in a Jeep, he sped on until he came across some U.S. soldiers who crashed their truck into a ditch. Dean stopped to help, but the North Koreans soon arrived and all were forced back. On foot once more, the wounded managed to escape, but Dean was separated.

In the mountains, the general fell down a deep slope and knocked himself unconscious. He awoke with a broken shoulder and bleeding from a wound on his head. He proceeded to wander in the wilderness for more than a month. He eventually was tricked into a North Korean ambush by two presumed South Koreans.

Even with all his injuries and losing 70 pounds while being lost, he drew his sidearm and fought the Communists, trying to force them to kill him. Back in the Pusan Perimeter, Dean was thought to be killed in action, but he was taken prisoner.

For the first part of his captivity, Dean was held in a POW camp like any other American prisoner as he tried to keep his identity (and his rank) a secret. When the Communists discovered who he was, he was moved to Pyongyang, where he was kept separate from other Americans.

Dean tried to kill himself in case the North Koreans tortured him for information. He had knowledge of the forthcoming Incheon Landing that the Americans were to make behind the North Korean advance, and he wasnt sure he could keep the secret under torture.

Throughout all the swings in advantages throughout the war, from the Incheon Landing to the Chinese intervention, and the massive aerial bombardment of North Korea by the United Nations, Dean was held prisoner. He wouldnt be repatriated until after the 1953 armistice was signed and all prisoners were exchanged.

For his defense of Taejon, he was awarded the Medal of Honor -- thought to be a posthumous award. His wife and children received it on his behalf from President Truman in 1951, as Dean sat in a Pyongyang POW camp.

-- Blake Stilwell can be reached at blake.stilwell@military.com. He can also be found on Twitter @blakestilwell or on Facebook.

Want to Learn More About Military Life?

Whether you're thinking of joining the military, looking for post-military careers or keeping up with military life and benefits, Military.com has you covered. Subscribe to Military.com to have military news, updates and resources delivered directly to your inbox.
Kolkata, April 3 : Launching a scathing attack on the ruling Trinamool Congress in West Bengal and Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee in particular, Prime Minister Narendra Modi during his second election rally on Saturday at Sonarpur in South 24 Parganas district said that the cut-money culture and syndicate racket is hindering the growth of the state.

Holding back-to-back rallies in Sonarpur and Haripal in Hooghly district, Modi said, "The extortionists of Trinamool Congress hoarded the ration sent for the poor by the Centre. During Corona, the Centre sent 23 lakh metric tonnes paddy and one lakh metric tonnes pulses and for that the Centre had to pay nearly Rs 9,000 crore, but the Mamata Banerjee government didn't allow the Central benefit to reach you. They hoarded the ration. The assistance sent to the state during Cyclone Amphan didn't reach. It was also looted.

Urging that a double-engine government can only provide all the Central benefits to the people of Bengal, Modi alleged that the ruling Trinamool Congress is hindering the growth of the state.

"The Centre has developed 1,000 fast-track courts to give prompt justice to the women but it is not allowed here. The Centre provides free vaccination and Rs 1,000 for pregnant women but here the women are deprived of the benefit. The women don't get the benefits of Central loan facilities because they will have to give cut-money for that," the Prime Minister alleged.

Countering Mamata Banerjee's allegation against the partisan attitude of the Election Commission of India (ECI), Modi said, "Why are you so angry with the ECI and the security people? Are you angry because they have not allowed you to give proxy votes? You should remember that 10 years before, they only gave you the chance to rule Bengal. You were happy then. Keep faith on the people." Suggesting that Banerjee contesting from Nandigram is a big mistake, the Prime Minister said, "There are rumours (though I have not verified) inside the party that she might contest from another constituency. She will lose in Nandigram and if she loses from the second constituency also, the Trinamool Congress can never come to power".

Contesting her 'outsider' remark against the BJP national leadership, the Prime Minister said, "I have heard that she expressed her desire to contest from Banaras. She is always welcome because the people of Banaras and Kashi have a huge heart, just like the people of Bengal.

"They will never call her an outsider. But she will have to listen to 'Har Har Mahadev' every now and then. She gets irritated with the 'Jai Shri Ram' slogan. How will she tolerate that? One thing I can say that the people of UP will love her and accept her so much that they will not allow her to go to Delhi. She will have to stay there."
In the letter, PM Hun Sen expressed his thanks to the Vietnamese Government and people for the donation of US$200,000 to assist Cambodia in combating COVID-19 as well as PM Phucs kind words of encouragement in his letter dated March 31.

This generous contribution amid Cambodias third community outbreak of COVID-19 demonstrates Vietnams spirit of good neighbourliness towards Cambodia in times of need, he wrote.

The Cambodian PM also commended Vietnam in successfully containing the outbreak of COVID-19 and reaffirmed Cambodias commitment to working closely with Vietnam in overcoming this unprecedented global crisis.

He reassured that Cambodia continues to treat all foreigners, including the people of Vietnamese origin, the same way as his country does with Cambodian citizens in the protection against the current COVID-19 pandemic.

The PM also expressed his appreciation to the Vietnamese Government for providing good treatment to the Cambodian community in Vietnam during this difficult time.

Earlier, empowered by PM Nguyen Xuan Phuc, Deputy Minister of Foreign Affairs Nguyen Quoc Dung on April 1 presented the token of the donation worth US$200,000 to Cambodian Ambassador to Vietnam Chay Navuth to support the Cambodian Government and people in the fight against COVID-19.

In April last year, the Vietnamese Government presented an aid package to Cambodia worth over VND7 billion (US$303,500) that included personal protective clothing, face masks, and COVID-19 test kits.
She's called her latest album inVeencible, and it's full of banging tracks featuring the likes of Sarkodie, Kojo Funds, Efya and Falz.



But MzVee hasn't always felt this strong.



Despite being one of Ghanas most successful female artists, two years ago she almost gave up music. It turns out that this seemingly confident artist was really struggling:



"In 2017 it started to get really bad, I went through a really bad depression. I was that kid who was not allowed to socialise or have friends, grew up in a really strict home - they tell you when to watch TV, when to go to bed, when to smile, you can't cough by heart so, very crazy childhood.



"So just moving into this life of showbiz, the switch was really tough on me. It was like dark to light in a split-second."



Interestingly, far from blaming her parents for her mental state, MzVee took inspiration from them when it came to getting through her depression:



"From having nothing - six of us sleeping in one tiny room for six years of my life, not having food to eat - they still did the most to put us through school. They just kept pushing, they never gave up."



MzVee also realised that one of the reasons she'd been unable to cope was that she didnt talk about what was going on for her:



"I didn't discuss my mind with anybody, so now Im trying so hard; I say whats on my mind - which can be very annoying! But I still do that.



"And thats whats happening with my music. I never wrote my own lyrics, but this album has five, six, seven tracks that I wrote myself. So Im really expressing myself more now.



"This album is the love letter that came from getting back to music after such a hard time, a love letter to my fans.



"I titled it inVeencible because ain't nobody touching this girl!"

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
As enters its third Covid-19 lockdown phase, has decided to shut down its stores in the country.

While Stores have been generally returning to normal worldwide, has now shut all 20 stores in France, AppleInsider reported on Friday.

"We will soon close temporarily," said a notice on the Apple Opera Paris's site (in translation).

"For the moment, we are open for the collection of current online orders, and assistance at the Genius Bar for appointments already scheduled before Saturday, April 3," it added.

According to MacGeneration, the closure is until further notice. This closure includes ones in French city centers, which had previously been able to continue operating in January's lockdown.

The move to close retail locations comes in the week that has closed its schools for at least three weeks. Certain lockdown measures were introduced across the country in March, but now all non-essential stores are to shut from Saturday, April 3.

French President Emmanuel Macron on Wednesday night announced a three-week nationwide school closure and a monthlong domestic travel ban to fight the rapid spread of the

In a televised address to the nation, Macron said efforts are needed as "the epidemic is accelerating".

aceWe will lose control if we do not move now," the president said.

However, there is no indication yet of any expected reopening dates.

The overall number of global Covid-19 cases has surpassed 129.4 million, while the deaths have surged to more than 2.82 million, according to the Johns Hopkins University.

In its latest update on Friday morning, the University's Center for Systems Science and Engineering (CSSE) revealed that the current global caseload and death toll stood at 129,475,545 and 2,826,018, respectively.

The US is the worst-hit country with the world's highest number of cases and deaths at 30,538,427 and 553,120, respectively, followed by Brazil as the second worst-hit country.

The other countries with more than two million confirmed cases are India, France, Russia, the UK, Italy, Turkey, Spain, Germany, Colombia, Argentina, Poland and Mexico, the CSSE figures showed.

--IANS

vc/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.)
Fingal County Council's Arts Office is delighted to premier Anthony Haughey & The Global Migration Collective's new public artwork, 'Assemble - A Film Trilogy.'

The Arts Office will host the film premier of 'Assemble - A Film Trilogy' online on Tuesday March 30 2021 at 5.30 pm.

At this special event, the artists and collaborators of this series will reflect on the process of co-creation and the significance of the film's themes to local and global audiences.

The trilogy of short films, 'Can you Hear us Now?', 'This is What We Call Progress' and 'Waiting for Tomorrow' reflect on the impact of global migration from the viewpoint of youth living in Fingal, with a particular focus on Balbriggan.

Mayor of Fingal, Cllr David Healy will also be joining the showing where guests will view a new documentary on the project by Arcade Films followed by a Q&A.

This public art commission explores how cultural identities are represented in the public realm. Each of the three was co-written and performed by the young people who selected everything from set up to the location while assuming the roles of non-professional actors to mediate their stories.

The films explore concerns expressed by these multi-ethnic youth who are growing up in a time of rapid change in Ireland and Internationally.

They draw on source material from history from Frederick Douglas, the civil rights agenda of the 60s and the present-day Black Lives Matter movement, 2020.

Through conversations and explorations together and with artist Anthony, The Global Migration Collective wove a series of dialogues into scripts to reveal films that speak to their lived experiences while signalling their hopes for their future.

In 'Can you Hear us now?', a group of students from Lusk Community College call for equality in the context of a xenophobic Europe. The group researched the writings of Frederick Douglas who travelled to Ireland in 1845 and performed many speeches on emancipation and freedom.

The second film, 'This is What We Call Progress' takes the audience to the beautiful red room of the 18th Century, Newbridge House.

One of the last custodians of this Anglo-Georgian house was Frances Power Cobbe, who was a writer, social reformer and suffrage campaigner.

In this sequence, a group of young local women activists from a collective called My Sisters Keeper articulate and assert the positive role that African women have played in feminist discourse and human rights.

The last film sees a group of young men engage in conversation about what is at stake for their generation where they discuss historical speeches and claims for civil rights and equality espoused by Martin Luther King Jr, Malcolm X and others.

This film, 'Waiting for Tomorrow', set in Balbriggan references Beckett's seminal play, Waiting for Godot.

'Assemble - A Film Trilogy' is available to view on www.theglobalmigrationcollective.com
She and I talk openly in one anothers homes, but we know we cant talk to anyone else.

This is not a historic quote from the days of Stalinist suppression in the Soviet Union. It is message I recently received from a graduate faculty professor in a STEM (science, technology, engineering, and math) field referring to the secrecy with which she talks to her friend who works in university student services.

Today on college campuses, faculty are afraid to speak about a number of issues for fear of being verbally mobbed and denounced by angry students and faculty colleagues.

I know. Faculty, students, and administrators at the University of Rhode Island have recently denounced me for daring to write in 4W.pub, a feminist public forum, that humans cannot change their sex and children are not born the wrong bodies. I wrote that the belief that people can change their biological sex is a fantasy.

Now, such commonsensical statements are deemed so offensive that I must be condemned by publicly issued university statements.

I am not alone in this experience. After my public denunciation was publicized a psychology professor, at another university wrote, I am reaching out it is happening to me at my university. Last week, I was denounced by an entire academic department! I have found no one within the university who is willing to publicly support me -- particularly administration.

From inside my own academic institution, the University of Rhode Island (URI), I heard, I could put myself in hot water merely by sending this email. In the last week, Ive received dozens of messages like this from faculty and graduate students at universities across the country.

What is going on in universities today that faculty are afraid to speak, except to whisper in private or send emails pleading for confidentiality? We have reached a postmodern era where facts are irrelevant and only identity and feelings matter. If you dissent from the new regime of ideas, you will be verbally set upon by a mob of enraged students, faculty, and diversity and inclusion administrators. There will be calls for you to be disappeared from campus.

In some corners of campus, there is no respect for truth anymore; misquoting and distorting what I wrote is perfectly acceptable. A repeated claim in the denouncements and in the media is that I am anti-transgender. If you read the essay, you will see that I am not. What I am doing is speaking up for young people who are being harmed and their bodies mutilated and sterilized in the name of gender identity or transgenderism. Young people suffering feelings of confusion become immersed in social media forums where they are told that the solution to their problems is to change their sex. As I made clear in the essay, I support everyone to freely choose their gender expression, i.e., how masculine or feminine they want to appear. I only criticize the false claim that you can change your biological sex.

Sadly, after I was publicly denounced, Ive heard from graduate students in many disciplines who tell me they must keep silent about their views on a number of topics, not just gender identity, if they want to graduate and get a job. One wrote: I am a student in a MSW (Master of Social Work) program Please don't share this email with anyone. I would literally be thrown out of the MSW program for my thoughts. Another graduate student wrote: Im currently trying to work out how to write my thesis without risking a potentially career damaging backlash from members of my department.

The fear that exists in universities is growing. Those faculty and students, who care about truth, are increasingly self-censoring to avoid being ostracized and condemned or made unable to finish graduate degrees.

I regularly receive messages from people who compared URIs attempt to cancel my free speech to communist suppression: I grew up in a totalitarian regime I am watching with shock and horror to see what is happening in the US with the cancel culture, identity politics, and the suppression of opinions that dont fit with the current progressive dogma.

Universities must reverse course or parents are not going to pay money to send their children there. They are going to see what a professor of philosophy wrote to me, I am greatly saddened at the demise of the university as place to pursue knowledge.

So, what am I doing? Im fighting back. Ive advocated for the rights of victims all my adult life. I wont stop now.

Fortunately, I saw the curtain of censorship and retaliation descending on campus in time to react. So, I secured a civil rights attorney who specializes in campus free speech and I became a founding member of the Academic Freedom Alliance. Together we will stand up for free speech and truth.

Donna M Hughes is a Professor & Eleanor M and Oscar M Carlson Endowed Chair in Womens Studies at the University of Rhode Island

Image: Hamish Griffin

You can find the MeWe post for this article here.
Flags at the U.S. Capitol were ordered to be flown at half-staff on Friday in honor of a Capitol police officer killed in the line of duty.

U.S. Capitol Police Officer William Billy Evans was killed Friday after a man rammed a vehicle into him and another officer at a barricade outside the Capitol building.

The second officer was hospitalized Friday with injuries.

The man, since identified as Noah Green, was shot by officers after he exited the vehicle and lunged at officers, USCP acting chief Yogananda Pittman said.

Evans, a North Adams native, grew up in Clarksburg and graduated from Drury High School in 1998, according to public records and his Facebook page. He went on to attend Western New England University in Springfield before joining the Capitol police in 2003.

He served with the department for 18 years.

He is survived by his mother, Janice, and children, Logan and Abigail.

This image provided by the U.S. Capitol Police shows U.S. Capitol Police officer William Billy Evans, an 18-year veteran who was a member of the department's first responders unit. (U.S. Capitol Police)AP

Flags at the Capitol were ordered to fly at half-staff by House Speaker Nancy Pelosi and at the White House and all federal buildings by President Joe Biden.

May it be a comfort to Officer Evans and his family that Americas flag flies at half-staff in his honor and in honor of the sacrifice of the entire Capitol Police force, and that the President has designated this honor for the White House and all federal buildings, Pelosi said in a statement.

At a time of such suffering, no words are adequate, Pelosi said. However, I hope it is a comfort to Officer Evans family and the family of the other Officer harmed in the line of duty that so many are heartbroken and grateful for the officers brave protection of the Capitol. President Biden, Secretary of Defense Austin, Joint Chiefs of Staff Chairman Milley and other leaders immediately expressed their appreciation for our officers courage to their families and to the Congress.

Richard E. Neal, the longtime House representative for Massachusettss 1st congressional district, said Evans was a hometown hero and a patriot who risked and sadly lost his life to protect our country. We are a grateful nation in mourning.

Evans was a member of the Capitol Divisions First Responders Unit who often tried to lighten the mood at the Capitol.

Kristin Wilson, who covers Capitol Hill for CNN, said Billy was the kindest person, adding, [He] always had either a kind word ... or hed give you some sort of grief, she said. Which is what I think he always really enjoyed doing to me and some of us he sees all the time. Why are you here so late, why are you coming in so early, dont you have family, dont you have somewhere to go? Giving us trouble.

This marks the second time this year the flags were lowered in recognition of the death of a Capitol police officer killed in the line of duty.

Officer Brian Sicknick died of injuries sustained during the Capitol siege on Jan. 6. In recognition of his service, he was given the rare distinction of lying in honor in the Capitol Rotunda.
Moscow, April 3 : Russia will take extra steps if the North Atlantic Treaty Organization (NATO) strengthens forces around Ukraine amid the intensified conflict in the latter country's Donbas region, the Kremlin said.

Military build-up of the NATO will undoubtedly escalate tensions near the Russian-Ukrainian border, requiring Moscow to "take additional measures to ensure its security", Xinhua news agency quoted Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov as saying at a daily briefing on Friday.

Viewing Russia as an enemy in this situation is completely unacceptable and inappropriate as it has never posed a threat to others, he said.

Russia is not a party to this conflict between the Ukrainian government forces and the Donbas insurgents and cannot guarantee a comprehensive ceasefire between them, but it can work to ensure that previously-reached agreements are fulfilled, the spokesman added.

Peskov expressed serious concerns over "provocative actions" from the Ukrainian side and called the situation along the contact line in Donbas "very intimidating".

In a telephone conversation with Ukraine's Foreign Minister Dmytro Kuleba on Thursday, US Secretary of State Antony Blinken said that Washington is closely monitoring the situation in Donbas.

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.

It further escalated on March 26 after four Ukrainian soldiers were killed.
Rege-Jean Page as the Duke of Hastings in Bridgerton (Liam Daniel/Netflix/PA)

Bridgertons breakout star Rege-Jean Page will not return for the second season of Netflixs hit period drama.

The British-Zimbabwean actor, 31, found fame playing the dashing Duke of Hastings opposite Phoebe Dynevors Daphne Bridgerton, with their romance forming the centrepiece of season one.

The forthcoming season, filming of which begins in spring in the UK, will instead follow the eldest Bridgerton sibling, Anthony, played by Jonathan Bailey, as detailed in the second book by author Julia Quinn.

Read More

News of Pages departure was announced through a special edition of the mysterious narrator Lady Whistledowns gossipy Society Paper, posted on Instagram.

It said: While all eyes turn to Lord Anthony Bridgertons quest to find a Viscountess, we bid adieu to Rege-Jean Page, who so triumphantly played the Duke of Hastings. Well miss Simons presence onscreen, but he will always be a part of the Bridgerton family.

Daphne will remain a devoted wife and sister, helping her brother navigate the upcoming social season and what it has to offer  more intrigue and romance than my readers may be able to bear. Yours Truly, Lady Whistledown.

In a tweet, Page described his time on the show as a pleasure and a privilege.

Pleasure and a privilege! An honour to be a member of the family - on and off screen, cast, crew and incredible fans - the love is real and will just keep growing ai https://t.co/YBk4RvKNpx  RegA-Jean Page (@regejean) April 2, 2021

He added: An honour to be a member of the family  on and off screen, cast, crew and incredible fans  the love is real and will just keep growing.

Pages departure will not come as a surprise to fans of Quinns novels, in which the Dukes romance largely plays out in the first of the series before the focus shifts elsewhere.

On the back of Bridgerton, Page has become a heartthrob and hosted long-running US sketch show Saturday Night Live.

He has also secured a number of high-profile screen roles including in Netflix spy thriller The Gray Man, where he will appear alongside Hollywood stars Ryan Gosling and Chris Evans.

The cast also includes James Bond actress Ana De Armas, Armageddon star Billy Bob Thornton and 12 Years A Slaves Alfre Woodard.

Anthony and Joe Russo, the brothers best-known for their work on the Avengers films, are directing.

Bridgerton is produced by Shonda Rhimes Shondaland and has been described as Gossip Girl meets Downton Abbey.

Rhimes, the showrunner behind medical drama Greys Anatomy, tweeted: Remember: the Duke is never gone. Hes just waiting to be binge watched all over again.

The cast of Bridgerton is also nominated for the Screen Actors Guild Award for outstanding performance in an ensemble in a drama series, while Page is also nominated individually for male actor in a drama series.
Email Thomas Elias at tdelias@aol.com. His book, "The Burzynski Breakthrough, The Most Promising Cancer Treatment and the Governments Campaign to Squelch It" is now available in a soft cover fourth edition. For more Elias columns, visit www.californiafocus.net
Source: Xinhua| 2021-04-03 17:40:36|Editor: huaxia

Video Player Close

HKSAR Chief Executive Carrie Lam refuted foreign governments' unfair accusations against Hong Kong. She said three words and phrases would perfectly describe the external interference in Hong Kong affairs over the past years: "double standards," "hypocrisy," and "lies."

#GLOBALink

Produced by Xinhua Global Service
The United States discusses the escalation of Russian aggression in eastern Ukraine, as well as reports concerning Russian troops movements around Ukrainian border, with NATO allies.

Ill definitely say that were aware of Ukrainian military reports concerning Russian troops movements around their borders. And were discussing our concerns about this increased tension and a ceasefire violation as well as regional tensions with NATO allies, Jalina Porter, Principal Deputy Spokesperson for the U.S. Department of State said at a press briefing on April 2.

Porter stressed that the United States remained concerned about recent escalations of Russian aggression and provocative actions in eastern Ukraine.

As reported, Russia escalated the situation in eastern Ukraine in late March. In particular, on March 26, four Ukrainian servicemen were killed and two more were wounded in a shelling by the Russian occupiers near the town of Shumy in Donetsk region. In addition, according to the intelligence reports, the Russian side pulled 28 battalion tactical groups to the state border of Ukraine.

ol
Boulder-founded Noodles & Company are holding a fundraiser that will donate 50% of total sales -- up to $50,000 -- to assist the victims and families impacted by last week's mass shooting at a south Boulder King Soopers.
The CEOs of a host of Indian businesses and industries in have expressed concern over the continuing COVID-19 related visa and travel restrictions being pursued by Beijing which they say are hampering their activities.

They expressed their concern during their interaction with the Indian Ambassador to China, Vikram Misri.

Misri, who is on a visit to Shanghai, inaugurated on Friday the Amrut Mahotsav festival, marking the 75 years of India's independence.

Inaugurated India@75 #AmrutMahotsav in #Shanghai. A soulful rendition of #Upanishad & #Gita, melodious Sitar/Tabla performance, #Deshbhakti songs, films on musical traditions of #Varanasi & #VaccineMaitri marked the occasion," Misri tweeted.

He also interacted with a group of CEOs and representatives of the Indian businesses based in and around Shanghai, the business hub of

Over 30 officials representing eight sectors such as textiles, pharma, electronics, manufacturing, chemicals and IT etc attended the meeting with Misri.

Interacted with the Indian industry representatives based in Shanghai. Business leaders representing various sectors including #IT, #Pharma, #textiles, #engineering, Manufacturing, #foodprocessing, #banking etc participated in discussions, Misri said in another tweet.

In their interaction with Misri, the CEOs stated they were experiencing difficulties in operations, mostly on account of travel and visa restrictions being maintained by as part of its COVID-19 measures, official sources here told PTI.

Misri assured them the Indian Embassy will continue to engage with the Chinese government on the issues related to the travel restrictions, the sources said.

Travel between India and China has been halted since Beijing imposed travel restrictions in November last year and suspended the visas and resident permits held by Indian citizens.

These restrictions left over 23,000 Indian students and hundreds of Indian businessmen, employees and their families stranded in India.

Currently, there are no flights in operation between the two countries.

China has not yet indicated when it plans to permit travel despite numerous representations from the Indian Embassy here and the students, who mostly study medicine in Chinese universities.

These universities maintain that they are holding online classes for the stranded students.

Last month, China made it mandatory for travellers coming from India and 19 other countries to have been inoculated with Chinese COVID-19 vaccines to enter the country.

This created more confusion as Chinese vaccines are not available in India. While China has not included the students in the mandatory vaccine list, the Chinese Foreign Ministry said Chinese authorities would study the issues related to students but no decision has been announced yet.

Several top Indian industries and businesses operate from different parts of China.

With the growth in bilateral trade between India and China in the last few years, many Indian companies have set up operations in this country to service both their Indian and MNC clientele in China.

Indian enterprises are into manufacturing including pharmaceuticals, refractories, laminated tubes, auto-components, wind energy, IT and IT-enabled services, trading, banking and allied activities.

Some of the prominent Indian companies in China include Dr Reddy's Laboratories, Aurobindo Pharma, Matrix Pharma, NIIT, Bharat Forge, Infosys, TCS, APTECH, Wipro, Mahindra Satyam, Essel Packaging, Suzlon Energy, Reliance Industries, Sundaram Fasteners, Mahindra & Mahindra, TATA Sons, Binani Cements, etc.

Two-way trade between India and China in 2020 was USD 87.6 billion, down by 5.6 per cent, according to new figures from China's General Administration of Customs (GAC) in January this year.
Several family members of school shooting victims, Democrats and other public figures took to Twitter to lambaste Senator Lindsey Graham (R-SC) after he posted a 'fear mongering' video of himself firing an AR-15.

Graham posed for the photo-op with the assault rifle at the Palmetto State Armory in Columbia, South Carolina, as he voiced his support of the Second Amendment in the wake of several mass-shootings that has devastated the United States.

'In 1994, there was an Assault Weapons Ban  the evidence indicates that there was really no change at all in crime, because the crooks are going to get a gun,' he said in the controversial Thursday tweet. 'Today at @PalmettoArmory I fired one of the weapons they are trying to ban. #2A'

He continued: 'Now, why would anybody need to own an AR-15? If there is a breakdown of law and order, and that can happen -- we've seen it happen in our major cities. Remember Hugo, where people were isolated for days? Remember Katrina?'

Scroll down for video

Lindsey Graham (R-SC) posed for the photo-op with the assault firing rifle at the Palmetto State Armory in Columbia, South Carolina, as he voiced his support of the Second Amendment

Graham claimed that it was 'not impossible' for Americans to find themselves in a 'modern world without any police protection, because that's just the way the times are in which we live in.'

The Trump loyalist added: 'We're talking about defunding the police!'

Graham's moment shooting the assault rifle was immediately slammed on the social media platform, with parents of shooting victims leading the charge in criticizing the senator for his position.

Graham said: 'Now, why would anybody need to own an AR-15? If there is a breakdown of law and order, and that can happen -- we've seen it happen in our major cities. Remember Hugo, where people were isolated for days? Remember Katrina?'

Graham would continue his tirade claiming that it was 'not impossible' for Americans to find themselves in a 'modern world without any police protection, because that's just the way the times are in which we live in'

'Today, @LindseyGrahamSC showed off with the weapon used to kill my daughter and the weapon of choice for mass murderers,' said Fred Guttenberg, whose 14-year-old daughter Jaime was gunned down in the 2018 Parkland shooting. 'Today, Lindsey will cost lives. Lindsey, all future mass murderers are paying attention to you and you just showed them what to use'

'Today, @LindseyGrahamSC showed off with the weapon used to kill my daughter and the weapon of choice for mass murderers,' said Fred Guttenberg, whose 14-year-old daughter Jaime was gunned down in the 2018 Parkland shooting. 'Today, Lindsey will cost lives. Lindsey, all future mass murderers are paying attention to you and you just showed them what to use.'

Change The Ref, a nonprofit created by Manuel and Patricia Oliver after their son Joaquin was killed in Parkland, asserted: 'And in 2018, this assault weapon was used to murder Joaquin Oliver and 16 others at Marjory Stoneman Douglas. And in Boulder, Orlando, Las Vegas, Aurora, Sandy Hook, Waffle House, San Bernardino, Midland/Odessa, Poway Synagogue, Sutherland Springs, Tree of Life Synagogue...'

Newtown Action Alliance, a nonprofit grassroot formed after the Sandy Hook shooting, added: 'Shame on you@LindseyGrahamSC! Your argument is completely flawed. The assault weapons ban would have prevented the Sandy Hook tragedy. The shooter's mom would not have been able to purchase an AR-15 legally and you know it.'

Change The Ref, a nonprofit created by Manuel and Patricia Oliver after their son Joaquin was killed in Parkland, asserted: 'And in 2018, this assault weapon was used to murder Joaquin Oliver and 16 others at Marjory Stoneman Douglas. And in Boulder, Orlando, Las Vegas, Aurora, Sandy Hook, Waffle House, San Bernardino, Midland/Odessa, Poway Synagogue, Sutherland Springs, Tree of Life Synagogue...'

Newtown Action Alliance, a nonprofit grassroot formed after the Sandy Hook shooting, added: 'Shame on you@LindseyGrahamSC! Your argument is completely flawed. The assault weapons ban would have prevented the Sandy Hook tragedy. The shooter's mom would not have been able to purchase an AR-15 legally and you know it'

The sentiment was shared by Kris Brown, president of Brady Center to Prevent Gun Violence, who said that Graham's post was 'entire false'

The sentiment was shared by Kris Brown, president of Brady Center to Prevent Gun Violence, who said that Graham's post was 'entire false.'

'FACT CHECK: Entirely false,' she declared. 'When the federal assault weapon ban was in effect (1994-2004), America saw a:  37% decline in gun massacres  70% decline in assault weapons traced to gun crimes In the decade after the ban expired, fatalities in gun massacres went up by 347%.'

A number of Democrats joined in on the criticism, slamming Graham for 'fear mongering.'

'He's still fearmongering that Americans need weapons of war to defend themselves if a disaster causes a societal breakdown,' said Rep. Eric Swalwell (D-CA). 'But it's his job to help ensure disasters don't cause societal breakdowns. And to help avoid mass murders. #EndGunViolence'

'He's still fearmongering that Americans need weapons of war to defend themselves if a disaster causes a societal breakdown,' said Rep. Eric Swalwell (D-CA). 'But it's his job to help ensure disasters don't cause societal breakdowns. And to help avoid mass murders. #EndGunViolence'

'That weapon is the preferred choice for mass murderers, you sociopath. It's been used to kill kids in schools,' Nathan Schneider, a House candidate in Washington state. 'F**k off indefinitely. #GunViolence #BoulderMassacre #GunReformNow'

Katie Hill, a former Congresswoman in California, said: 'Lindsey Im sorry but there is literally nothing you could do to look macho. Especially this'

Rep. Malcolm Kenyatta (D-PA) stated: 'This is verifiably false and Sen. Graham knows it. He has stood in the way of common sense reform for years now. We need action at the federal  and at the state level, thats Im why Ive partnered with @RepBenSanchez on reform measures in the state house. Its time to act!'

'That weapon is the preferred choice for mass murderers, you sociopath. It's been used to kill kids in schools,' Nathan Schneider, a House candidate in Washington state. 'F**k off indefinitely. #GunViolence #BoulderMassacre #GunReformNow'

Katie Hill, a former Congresswoman in California, said: 'Lindsey Im sorry but there is literally nothing you could do to look macho. Especially this.'

Rep. Malcolm Kenyatta (D-PA) stated: 'This is verifiably false and Sen. Graham knows it. He has stood in the way of common sense reform for years now. We need action at the federal  and at the state level, thats Im why Ive partnered with @RepBenSanchez on reform measures in the state house. Its time to act!'

'How sad  instead of @LindseyGrahamSC working on solutions to #EndGunViolence in America he continues to propagate these weapons of war that are commonly used in mass shootings,' chided Joseph Sakran, a trauma surgeon.

A number of people relished in the opportunity to poke fun at Senator Graham, including comedian Desus Nice.

A number of people relished in the opportunity to poke fun at Senator Graham, including comedian Desus Nice

Graham's video came in the wake of at least four mass shooting in the United States in less than three weeks, leaving 25 people dead.

On March 16, Robert Aaron Long, 21, gunned down eight people in a series of attacks at three Atlanta spas, with six of the victims Asian women.

The following Tuesday, gunman Ahmad Alissa shot dead ten people including a police officer, in a supermarket in Boulder, Colorado.

On Wednesday a shooting at a Southern California office building left four people dead, including a child.

Three people were killed and four injured in a mass shooting as a house party in Wilmington, North Carolina, on Friday night.
Source: Xinhua| 2021-04-03 22:49:56|Editor: huaxia

Video Player Close

by Chen Jing

HELSINKI, April 3 (Xinhua) -- A second Easter under the COVID-19 pandemic has arrived. Instead of celebrating it at home, Shousha, a young Finnish shop owner who runs a dessert shop with a friend in downtown Helsinki, decided to stay open for business, awaiting customers.

Battling against a new wave of COVID-19 infections fueled by more transmissible variants, European countries are facing the unprecedented challenge of balancing disease control and public life with economic reopening.

EASTER LOCKDOWN

Easter arrived early this year compared to last, yet the pandemic situation in Europe has hardly improved. Several countries cannot afford to drop their guard.

A total of 27 countries in the region were in partial or full nationwide lockdown, with 21 of them imposing nighttime curfews, the World Health Organization's European Region Office said in a press release on Wednesday.

In France, one of the worst-hit countries in the region, a total of 46,677 COVID-19 cases were reported on Friday. In the same week, more than 50,000 people were also diagnosed with the pandemic for two consecutive days. Since March, daily COVID-19 cases have spiraled, with an average of about 30,000 cases.

France has taken "reinforced braking measures" to contain the virus resurgence. Starting from Friday midnight, the country's 67 million inhabitants are asked to stay home, schools are shut down for three weeks and teleworking is prioritized, with inter-regional travel prohibited for at least one month.

The health care system in Poland is approaching capacity. The Eastern European country implemented partial national lockdown measures late last month, closing cinemas, theaters, museums and hotels for non-business guests.

Poland, a country that widely observes Easter, has issued advisories to limit celebrations to direct family members.

Easter in Latvia is expected to be quiet. For the second year in a row, the annual festivity cannot be celebrated with friends or extended family because of the pandemic.

Trying to avoid using such unpleasant terms as "lockdown" or "curfew," the Latvian government came up with a so-called home-sitting policy, in which people are instructed to stay home whenever possible, work from home and spend holidays with immediate household members to keep the virus at bay.

ECONOMIC LOSS

"Our business is deeply affected by the COVID-19 crisis. Now it's only thirty percent (of the pre-pandemic level)," Shousha said, adding that his landlord agreed to waive the monthly rent and only charge commissions.

However, not everyone is as lucky. According to a recent survey by Finnish media, youth unemployment in Helsinki increased by around 100 percent from that of 2020, partly due to a lack of job opportunities in the service industry.

With its pleasant temperature, Spain is traditionally one of the most popular travel destinations in Europe in April. However, due to the impact of the COVID-19 pandemic, the turnover of hoteliers of the Valencian Community, a prominent Mediterranean coastal region, was estimated to drop over 70 percent during the Easter holidays this year compared to that of 2019, local media reported.

Spain, where tourism represents about 11 percent of GDP and provides 12 percent of jobs, suffered a fall of 77.3 percent in the number of foreign tourists in 2020.

Meanwhile, the French government was evaluating the consequences of a third confinement.

The country's Ministry of Economy said that aid to businesses would total 11 billion euros (about 13 billion U.S. dollars) per month, up from 7.2 billion euros per month in mid-March, when part of the country was put under restrictions.

The sharp increase was primarily due to the extension of the closure of non-essential businesses across the country. The number of closed shops was estimated to increase from 90,000 to 150,000.

WAY OUT

The risk of another wave of infections is feared to be imminent after Easter with the continued spread of virus variants and increased mobility.

Travel is still permitted across Slovenia to visit family.

Poland is worried about increased travel given that a number of seniors have already been vaccinated and others will soon receive their jabs.

Ireland learned its lesson from last Christmas, when degraded epidemic prevention measures caused a third wave of infections. The government was forced to resume the highest level of precautions from Christmas Eve until now.

Under the current restrictions, which were supposed to expire on Easter Monday, Ireland has prohibited traveling more than 5 km away from home unless for a special reason, and all non-essential retail outlets and most indoor public facilities are closed.

The Swedish government has also ruled out the possibility of lifting the current COVID-19 restrictions as early as planned, as infection numbers remain high and the virus continues to spread in many parts of the country.

Renewed attention has been given to speeding up vaccination programs. With production and delivery across the continent still facing challenges, some European countries have turned their attention East.

Health authorities in Hungary have granted permission for the use of a COVID-19 vaccine made by the China National Pharmaceutical Group Co., Ltd.

Serbia, which has among the highest rates of inoculations in Europe, also signed a contract with the group to purchase more of its vaccines.

Vaccines present the best way out of this pandemic, said Hans Henri P. Kluge, the WHO's regional director for Europe.

The region's situation is worrying, he noted, saying countries must ramp up manufacturing, reduce barriers to administering vaccines, and use every single vial currently in stock.

Shousha remains optimistic. He plans on renovating the store after the Easter holidays, hoping the pandemic situation would soon improve. (1 euro = 1.18 U.S. dollars) Enditem

(Liu Fang in Paris, Li Deping in Riga, Zhang Zhang and Chen Xu in Warsaw, Fu Yiming and Patrick Ekstrand in Stockholm, Peng Lijun in Ljubljana, Zhang Qi in Dublin, Lin Jing in Copenhagen, Meng Dingbo in Madrid, and Shi Zhongyu in Belgrade also contributed to the story.)
So far, the Year of the Ox has brought fortune to the China Communist Party (CPP). In Anchorage, the Obama redux team from the State Department went belly up on its own soil. Slapping high fives and wearing party hats behind the Xinhua Gate, its the celebration of an outcome finally achieved after a four-year setback by the Trump administration. Theyre toasting a Manchurian candidate in the Oval Office with a hard Left wind at his back and a dystopian family in tow.

To hasten the decline of its principal economic and military adversary, mainland China media and its propaganda outlets in the United States have been flooding Twitter and Facebook with assertions of racism in America, singling out Asian Americans as the new victim class, and chastising the Biden administrations apparent inability to protect them from the sinister actions of their own countrymen.

The global use of Twitter is estimated at 200 billion tweets per year. Absorbed as we are by social media, we are the unwitting audience to an army of CCP trolls and bots banging out a half billion posts a year and nudging American public opinion in one direction or another. Approximately three of every one thousand tweets are CCP-fed onto the platform, engendering pro-China attitudes on issues such as Hong Kong and COVID and exploiting hot button issues du jour, such as violence against Asian Americans.

CCP propaganda organs such as the Global Times and Peoples Daily know full well that toying with America requires little more than turning up the amps on a police or mass shooting and then flooding the internet with inflammatory memes and hashtags to fuel debate and stoke tribal tensions. Since its inception, the Black Lives Matter (BLM) and Antifa movements have been a useful tool of the CCP to lambaste the United States over its treatment of racial minorities, while on their own turf they continue to imprison and cleanse its populace along ideological and ethnic lines. The CCP views the United States as a largely gullible and remorseful bunch who find absolution in righteous causes, deploying a Fifty Cent Party of online sock puppets to coax American millennials into purging themselves of their upbringing and history.

The Global Times was quick to leverage the recent mass shooting at several Atlanta massage parlors that took the lives of eight, including a half dozen Asian women. In an early press conference concerning the attacks, Cherokee County police spokesman, Captain Jay Baker, apparently naive in the ways of social justice and ignorant of straw arguments for racial misogyny, used the shooting suspects own confession in pronouncing sexual addiction as the motive. Speaking truth to those with little interest to hear anything else but race as an antecedent, the Left at once went hard at Baker. He withstood an immediate backlash and rebuke by those who believe that facts should not be an obstacle to healing the inequities and oppression of a white-majority society. In referring to the attack, Congresswoman Maxine Waters was more provocative in proclaiming that the only promise of white supremacy is that none of us are safe.

Waters gaslighting and strongarming by Atlantas Democrat machine prompted the sheriff to backpedal with an offer to reconsider race in the shooters motivation, a flipflop that might play well in ink but not in the well of the court. If the Cherokee County Police Department has an elephant burial ground, that is likely where the poor captain is now protecting his pension.

Biden, who of late has turned the White House into a hideaway, and Harris, rushed off to Atlanta just in time to salvage the racial narrative. He avoided commenting on motive but poked the coals in saying that Asian Americans everywhere needed to be concerned. To no avail, FBI Director Christopher Wray pushed back by looking at the camera and denying that race had anything to do with the shootings. Biden is now setting the stage for a show trial and erecting the gallows by pushing the Department of Justice to file federal hate crime charges in the case.

In sub-rosa fashion, China has put their cyberwarriors behind the Biden storyline that anti-Asian animus in the United States is systemic. As reported in a previous American Thinker article, virtually all the American mainstream media outlets, including some highbrow academic studies of extremism and hate crimes in America, are witting accomplices by relying upon the overinflated and anecdotal statistics gathered by Stop the Asian American Pacific Islander Hate (SAAPIH), an online anecdotal reporting site that treats constitutionally protected speech and avoidance as a hate crime.

SAAPIHs data collection is wide open to the manipulation of slurs and dirty looks. They solicit grievances through aggressive neighborhood complaint-shopping, community vigils, pop-up protests, and an advertising blitz in print and social media. Hurt feelings and keystrokes are all thats needed to make the tally. There is no follow-up investigation, a key component of traditional law enforcement methodologies that base their reporting upon actual crime.

As it suits the self-interests of the American Left and CCP, bias incident rates reported by SAAPIH have become prima facie in sowing the seeds of racial division between Asians and other races and ethnicities. Organized demonstrations locking arms with BLM and sympathetic online chats are now voicing over actual police data that shows an early spike in Asian bias crimes in March 2020 at the outset of the pandemic lockdowns, followed by a steady decline in those episodes throughout the rest of the year. For example, in New York City, where year-to-year change was most prominent, one-half of all Asian-related bias crime reported to police occurred in the month of March, with the rest of the incidents thinning out over the remaining eleven months.

Without context, SAAPIH reports anti-Asian bias at hundreds of percentage points higher than police departments. According to the San Francisco-based Center for the Study of Extremism and Hate, this is what a hundred or more percent increase from 2019 to 2020 in police-reported anti-Asian bias crimes looks like in Americas largest cities: from one to two reported crimes in San Diego and Cincinnati, from two to three in Phoenix, Denver, Houston, and Washington D.C., from two to six in Philadelphia, Cleveland, and Dallas, from four to nine in San Francisco and San Jose, from nine to twelve in Seattle, six to fourteen in Boston, and nine to fifteen in Los Angeles. New York City led the nation with the largest city spike, from three in 2019 to 27 in 2020.

The total Asian population in these sixteen cites is approximately three million, from which there was a total of 122 bias crimes reported to police in 2020, up 39 from the previous year. Four in every one thousand Asians living in these cities reported a bias crime in 2020, a frequency of incidents that still falls behind those reported against Jews and Blacks.

Chinatowns, where much of reported anti-Asian crime occurs, are urban enclaves with their backs up against low income areas where Asian-owned businesses offer those less fortunate a proximal view of a better life. The sudden but brief uptick in hate crimes in March can be attributed to the boiling over of long-simmering neighborhood relations historically reported by the media and aggravated by the sudden economic and social impact of pandemic lockdowns.

The preferred narrative behind these anti-Asian incidents is fragile and fails the test of scrutiny. Comporting with a pattern seen in recently videotaped assaults on Asian Americans, the New York City Police Department recently published mugshots of six individuals arrested for similar bias crimes. Congresswoman Waters would be disappointed to find nary a white supremacist among them.

With the CCP infecting cyberspace, the Biden administration and a complicit Congress are once again wagging the dog on the white supremacy cause celebre. A flurry of executive orders and pending congressional resolutions and acts will turn Asian Americans against their neighbors and towards a phony salvation by Democrats stumping for votes.

Image: OpenClipArt

You can find the MeWe post for this article here.
BC welfare minister Gangula Kamalakar was reviewing allocations made for the welfare of BCs in the State Budget and the plan to implement BC welfare schemes this year. (Photo: Twitter @GKamalakarTRS)

Hyderabad: A new scheme, KCR Apathbandhu for the uplift of Most Backward Classes (MBC) will be launched on April 27 to mark the 20th TRS formation day, BC welfare minister Gangula Kamalakar said on Friday.

Under the scheme, ambulances will be provided to unemployed youth under the Most Backward Classes (MBC) category through financial assistance from the BC Corporation.

The minister was reviewing allocations made for the welfare of BCs in the State Budget and the plan to implement BC welfare schemes this year.

Further, a new scheme with Rs 100 crore will be launched to provide employment opportunities to the community youth. Under this, about 10,000 women from the BC communities would be trained in stitching. Sewing machines and other material would be provided to each unit comprising 25 members, the minister added.

Educated youth would be trained at the National Institute of Fashion Technology (NIFT) here. He directed the officials to take measures to provide employment to all BCs through the 11 BC Federations.

This apart, Rs 300 crore would be spent to provide vocational training such as AC and two-wheeler repair etc for 50,000 BC youth.

The minister stated that the government would include another 25 castes in the list of Backward Classes.

He thanked Chief Minister K. Chandrashekar Rao for sanctioning an additional Rs 12,000 crore in Budget for BC welfare this year despite financial constraints.
Government-owned telco Bharat Sanchar Nigam Limited (BSNL) has come up with a special plan of Rs 108 which if recharged, can fetch a user 1 GB of data daily with a validity of 60 days whereas other telecom companies like Jio and Airtel provides 1 GB of data daily for 28 days or 56 days in prepaid plans.



This is considered as the most economical plan as it is almost half as compared to other companies. Previously, BSNL had affordable prepaid plans which were cheap and provided many benefits it.

The new BSNLs plan of Rs 108 offers daily 1 GB data with unlimited calling and the validity of data is up to 60 days. At the same time, after the daily data quota is finished, you will get an internet downloading and uploading speed of 80Kbps. This data pack includes Delhi and Mumbai MTNL networks. You will also get 500 SMS in prepaid plans.

BSNL has also decided to withdraw the following offers -- Rs 47 first recharge coupon, Rs 109 plan voucher, and special tariff vouchers priced at Rs 998 and Rs 1098.

Live TV

#mute
Richard Lewis next to Cretegaff at Carlingford Harbour. The concrete boat was once known as the Lady Boyne

We're all familiar with the phase 'sink like a brick' so it's not surprising that people do a double take when they learn that ships were made of concrete.

Richard Lewis, who runs On Yer Bike cycle hire company with his wife Joei in Carlingford, was so intrigued when he discovered that there is a concrete ship moored in the marina that he is writing a book about the amazing fleet of concrete ships built during the First World War.

'I had sometimes wondered about the ship that is permanently moored in Carlingford Marina. A casual question to the Marina manager revealed that she was no ordinary ship - this was a ship built of concrete.'

So rather than spending lockdown watching Netflix, Richard who moved to Carlingford in 2018, began researching the history of these unique ships.

'I had always wanted to write a book but never previously contemplated that it might be about concrete ships,' says the Manchester native who spent 20 years in South Africa, where he met his Irish-born wife.

'It transpires that the ship in Carlingford Marina is the last surviving floating example of a concrete ship of its type,' he said.

Expand Close The boat was known as the Lady Boyne when this photo of Frank Godfrey was taken on the River Boyne some years ago / Facebook

Twitter

Email

Whatsapp The boat was known as the Lady Boyne when this photo of Frank Godfrey was taken on the River Boyne some years ago

The fascinating story of 'Cretegaff', or 'The Lady Boyne' as she was known in Drogheda, before she was towed to Carlingford in 1988 when the marina was being constructed, led to him researching the history of the entire fleet of 64 concrete ships.

It was an acute shortage of steel which led the British Government in 1917 to launch of programme of building concrete tugs and barges.

'The name of every British concrete ship of the fleet was prefixed with 'Crete' and suffixed with a noun, generally following a theme unique to the particular boatyard that built her,' said Richard.

The Lady Boyne was originally called Cretegaff and spent 51 years in Drogheda, where she had been a landmark - equally loved and loathed.

Richard then set about finding out what happened to her sister ships, which he christened the 'The Crete Fleet'.

During the course of his research, he encountered many other 'concrete ship enthusiasts', particularly in Drogheda and in Ballina where the Creteboom lies on the River Moy since 1937.

Cretegaff was built in Shoreham-by-Sea, Sussex in 1920 by the John ver Mehr shipyard and was deemed to be an experimental vessel with an 'A1' classification, one that limited her sphere of operations and meant that she was subject to an annual survey. There was room for a crew of seventeen, with the Officers' quarters positioned in the bow.

In 1922 Cretegaff was sold to the Crete Shipping Company and Richard discovered mentions of her in shipping reports but the company floundered after a few years. In 1933, Cretegaff was sold to Captain S.A. Portus of Garston and used to transport newsprint from Liverpool to the Isle of Man.

Richard found that there was a fair degree of folklore and myths surrounding these 'historic hulks'.

'I found myself 'debunking' newspaper reports from the 1950's that claimed that 'The Lady Boyne led a flotilla of tugs to Singapore, that people had lived on her on the Boyne, that she had courageously supplied troops in WW1 (even before she was built).

The somewhat less glamorous truth was that Cretegaff ended her working career in Drogheda having being bought by the Irish Oil & Cake company in 1937 for use as a store for oil barrels at the port.

She was re-named 'The Lady Boyne' and became part of the town's landscape, being moved to the North Quay in the 'sixties and later to Marsh Road.

In April 1988, 'The Lady Boyne' was towed out of Drogheda to Carlingford where she regained her original name Cretegaff. Initially she was used as a breakwater, and when the marina was completed, served as a clubhouse for a number of years until the present Marina complex was completed.

Close by, the barge Cretefield can be seen when the tide is low. This barge was one of four built across the Lough at Warrenpoint and launched between 1918 and 1919 before spending 71 years from 1922 on the River Suir in Waterford. It returned to the Lough during the construction of the marina and forms part of the breakwater.

As he continued his research, Richard set up a website dedicated to the 'Concrete Fleet', www.thecretefleet.com and social media pages. Many people that were interested in the story contributed recollections and photographs that helped complete the picture. A Norwegian 'concrete ship' enthusiast and ardent researcher, Erland Larsen Bonderud, got in touch with him, and thanks to his research, Richard was able to fill in some gaps and get pretty close to knowing the destiny of all 64 Crete ships.

'The Life and Times of The Crete Fleet is now almost written - it's not huge, just 60,000 words - and it is being edited and illustrated,' says Richard 'I don't know how long the process will take from here as this is the first time I have written a book but I do hope it will be printed this year so I can get on with my next project.'
Mourners were granted permission to attend funerals under strict COVID restrictions 10 times since June last year.

Guests at funerals were reduced to as few as 10 people during the pandemic, forcing some people to farewell loved ones via a live video stream.

Health Minister Yvette DAth says Queensland has one of the least onerous restrictions in Australia in relation to funerals.

Between mid-June 2020 and February 24 this year, the Queensland health directions exemption unit received 5785 requests for exemptions from a public health direction that contained the word funeral.

About 75 per cent of those requests were closed after a discussion with the applicant and did not progress for a decision by Chief Health Officer Jeannette Young or a delegate.
President Moon Jae-in takes off his face mask during a meeting with aides at Cheong Wa Dae, March 22. Yonhap





Apparently, the results of the upcoming Seoul and Busan mayoral by-elections will have a marked impact on President Moon Jae-in's final months of leadership.







If the ruling Democratic Party of Korea (DPK) wins, it is expected to provide a much-needed boost to his beleaguered presidency. In the case of defeat, it will lose momentum further, with the specter of a lame duck waddling into public view.







Moon would come under increased pressure to veer away from his key policy approach less than a year before a far more important election to pick his successor.







One dilemma is the lack of progress in his signature policy drive to improve inter-Korean ties and pave the way for lasting peace on the Korean Peninsula. Plus, COVID-19 is still a headache.







Residents in South Korea's two largest cities have been going to the polls since Friday morning in the two-day advance voting prior to the April 7 bye-elections.







Whatever the outcome, it heralds a high-profile political realignment, which is not unusual here especially in the run-up to a presidential election. The nation's next president will be decided March 9, 2022, with Moon banned from seeking re-election under the Constitution.







Next week's by-elections are regarded as a barometer of public sentiment toward the four-year-old Moon administration and a bellwether of a shift in the country's political landscape. Also at stake is the future of some presidential hopefuls.







Multiple opinion polls suggest that the ruling party's winning streak in main national elections might be nearing an end. It won the 2016 general elections, the 2017 presidential race, the 2018 local elections and another round of general elections last year.







Many place their bets on the possibility that the DPK will be beaten this time, perhaps crushingly.







"The by-elections are being dominated by the underlying public sentiment to punish the Moon administration," Park Sung-min, a veteran political consultant, said.







Voters, disappointed with Moon and the DPK, are more determined to send a clear warning sign than to safeguard them, he added.







"In elections, a more desperate side wins," Park, who runs the MIN Consulting firm, said. "The pretext of liquidating social malpractices (laid bare under the previous Lee Myung-bak and Park Geun-hye administrations) is no longer working."







South Korean President Moon Jae-in greets audience members at Pyongyang Grand Theater as he is joined in the VIP seats by North Korean leader Kim Jong-un and his wife Ri Sol-ju, right, and Moon's wife Kim Jung-sook, left, Sept. 18, 2018. Joint Press Corps





It was behind the DPK's landslide victory in the 2020 parliamentary elections. Moon also capitalized on South Korea's early-phase accomplishments in the fight against the coronavirus. His approval rating stood at 59 percent in Gallup Korea's tracking survey just ahead of the April 15 general elections.







That is not the case anymore. Moon's popularity has been on the wane.







His approval rating hit another record low of 32 percent in the pollster's survey earlier this week. Public support for the DPK has also taken a nosedive.







To say nothing of swing voters, those in their 20s, 30s and even 40s, many of whom had long championed Moon and the DPK, are increasingly turning their backs on the ruling bloc, a number of opinion polls show.







What is notable is the disappearance of so-called Moon Jae-in marketing in the party's election campaign.







The DPK's Seoul mayoral candidate, Park Young-sun, meets citizens, wearing a sky-blue bomber jacket without the DPK's logo. She does not mention the president any more on her campaign trail.







Park continues to lag behind her rival Oh Se-hoon of the main opposition People Power Party (PPP), who served as Seoul mayor a decade ago, by the margin of more than 20 percentage points, according to a joint survey conducted at the end of March. It was commissioned by the country's three major broadcasters: KBS, MBC and SBS. Since Friday, the National Election Commission has prohibited the findings of such private polls on the by-elections from being made public.







Park is trying hard to convince voters of her own "competitiveness" to become the first-ever female Seoul mayor. She cites her career as a former four-term lawmaker and minister of SMEs and startups.







In Busan, Park Heong-joon of the PPP is well ahead of Kim Young-choon of the DPK.






Washington, April 3 : Senior national security officials of the US, Japan, and South Korea held a meeting during which they discuss American policy review on North Korea and other regional issues, the White House said in a statement.

On Friday, the national security advisors shared their concerns about North Korea's "nuclear and ballistic missile programs" and "reaffirmed their commitment to address and resolve these issues through concerted trilateral cooperation towards denuclearisation", Xinhua news agency quoted the statement as saying "They agreed on the imperative for full implementation of relevant UN Security Council resolutions by the international community preventing proliferation, and cooperating to strengthen deterrence and maintain peace and stability on the Korean Peninsula," the White House added.

The dialogue also covered issues of the pandemic, climate change, and the situation in Myanmar, according to the statement.

US President Joe Biden last week warned North Korea not to escalate the situation after the latter launched two "newly-developed" tactical guided missiles.

In response, Ri Pyong-chol, secretary of the Central Committee of the Workers' Party of Korea, said that "such remarks from the US President are an undisguised encroachment on our state's right to self-defence and provocation to it".
The Embassy of Ukraine in the Republic of South Africa is actively preparing for the Ukrainian Trade Mission chaired by Trade Representative of Ukraine Taras Kachka which will take place in mid-April.

Ambassador of Ukraine to South Africa Liubov Abravitova made a corresponding announcement during the panel discussion entitled "New Partnership in Times of Pandemic" organized by the Ukrainian Prism Foreign Policy Council on April 2, an Ukrinform correspondent reported.

As the diplomat noted, South Africa is a member of G20 and the second largest economy on the African continent, while the country remains a "blind spot" in Ukraine's foreign policy. In particular, no high-level visit to South Africa had taken place so far, and the last visit of the foreign minister had been made in 2001.

At the same time, the ambassador of Ukraine to South Africa added that African countries would be interested in political dialogue only through the prism of economic cooperation. Therefore, the Ukrainian Embassy in South Africa is doing everything possible to encourage the African partners to start a dialogue, she noted.

"We are actively preparing for the Ukrainian Trade Mission led by Trade Representative of Ukraine Kachka which will take place in April. Sectoral meetings were held with the participation of business representatives of both countries, contacts of various intergovernmental commissions were established and updated. In the parliamentary dimension, we created a group of parliamentarians responsible for cooperation with South Africa," Abravitova said.

According to the Ukrainian Business and Trade Association, the Trade Mission of Ukraine to South Africa will take place on April 13-18, 2021.

ol
State Police chief Loknath Behra on Saturday informed that the Police is fully geared to provide all the security on April 6, the polling day and has posted 59,292 police officials for duty.

"481 police stations in the state have been divided into 142 sub-divisions and are under the direct control of the 14 district police chiefs. Of the 59,292 police officials, it includes 24,788 special police officers and comprises 258 deputy superintendents of police, 784 inspectors and 4,405 sub inspectors," said Behra.

Apart from the Police officials, there are 140 companies of CISF, CRPF and BSF officials and this is the biggest deployment of central forces in any election in the state.

The polling booths are located at 13,830 places and it will have 1,694 patrolling teams and this team can reach any polling booth if a need arises in a matter of 10 minutes.

"Each team will have a videographer besides drones which would be put into service, especially in interior places. It has also been decided to give police protection to polling agents and those who desire can get in touch with their respective police stations. There will be a 24 hour control room at the state police headquarters," said Behra.

In a related development, the Chief Electoral Officer informed the High Court that total security has been provided at the entry points in Idukki district bordering Tamil Nadu to monitor people who are entering the state on the April 5 and 6.

The officer informed the court after three Congress-led UDF candidates in Idukki came with a petition that it's common practice for people who live in the border areas to vote in Tamil Nadu and Kerala and such things should not happen.

Incidentally Kerala and Tamil Nadu go to polls on April 6.

--IANS

sg/skp/

(Only the headline and picture of this report may have been reworked by the Business Standard staff; the rest of the content is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.)
There was never any doubt Brian Pallister would step down as Manitobas premier before the next provincial election.

Opinion

There was never any doubt Brian Pallister would step down as Manitobas premier before the next provincial election.

A year-and-a-half into his second term, the only question remaining is when  not if  hell leave ahead of a scheduled 2023 vote.

Pallister was not expected to be in this job for long. After a ho-hum career in provincial and federal politics (he was largely shunned by caucus colleagues provincially in the 1990s, and never made it into federal cabinet), the idea of becoming premier was Pallisters chance to finally capture the brass ring.

It was an easy path. After Progressive Conservative party leader Hugh McFadyen stepped down following the NDPs fourth consecutive election win in 2011, Pallister saw an opportunity he couldnt turn down.

With no opponents in the PC leadership race (and the near-certainty of an NDP defeat in the next election), he was a shoo-in to become Manitobas 22nd premier.

It was evident during his first term Pallister had no intention of sticking around for the long haul. He called an early election in 2019, a full year before Manitobas fixed election date.

There was no political advantage to doing so. The only reasonable explanation, which he denies, was to knock a year off a two-term stint as premier.

At 66, Pallister  who has spent the better part of the last 29 years in politics  probably wants to get on with his life. He is wealthy, enjoys good health, and has a spectacular vacation home in Costa Rica.

Theres no reason for him to spend another winter in Manitoba (he hates the cold), especially after the hell hes been through trying to navigate the province through the COVID-19 pandemic.

Like most politicians, he would prefer to leave office under favourable conditions. That wont be easy to do, especially with a recent public opinion poll showing his approval rating in a free fall.

A Probe Research/Winnipeg Free Press poll released this week suggests a majority of Manitobans (62 per cent) disapprove of Pallisters job performance, including 46 per cent who strongly disapprove. Probe president Scott MacKay called it "intense disapproval."

Pallister is his own worst enemy. He doesnt just rub people the wrong way with a combative style, he is disconnected from them. His political antenna is tuned to the wrong frequency and he has no interest in learning how to turn the dial.

In the midst of a pandemic, when people are concerned for the well-being of loved ones and anxious about Manitobas frustratingly slow vaccine rollout, Pallister set up a "kitchen table" at the foot of the grand staircase at the legislature Thursday and offered people tax cuts.

It doesnt get more tone deaf than that.

Pallister has not managed the second wave of the pandemic well. Thats the main reason for his plummeting approval rating. He knows it, which is why hes trying to rewrite history almost every time he steps in front of a microphone.

It wasnt his governments failure to prepare for the second wave in areas such as testing, contact tracing and protecting personal care homes that drove up deaths and hospitalizations. Manitobans simply forgot the "fundamentals" and allowed COVID "to make a comeback," Pallister repeats every chance he gets. (Honest self-reflection is not a strong suit.)

Pallisters best hope now is to turn Manitobas troubled vaccine rollout program around and use it as an exit strategy.

If he has any chance at all of shoring up his political fortunes before he sets off into the Costa Rican sunset, its going to be through a happier, vaccinated electorate.

Getting the vast majority of Manitobans fully immunized by late summer or early fall, might allow him to leave under a "mission accomplished" banner before Christmas, two years into his second term.

Pallister could become one of the shortest-serving, two-term premiers in Manitoba history. Considering that was likely his plan all along, hes probably fine with it.

tom.brodbeck@freepress.mb.ca
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.
Theres a scene in the excellent new Tina Turner documentary currently screening on Foxtel where we witness what could have been one of modern pops greatest abominations: the saccharine British bubblegum group Bucks Fizz murdering one of Turners greatest hits: Whats Love Got To Do With It.

Tina Turner in concert at Melbourne Park on her Wildest Dreams tour in 1997. Credit:Jason South

And if it wasnt for the foresight and irresistible persuasion of a little known Australian music executive called Roger Davies, Turner and the world would not have the anthem we know and love, an infinitely superior track compared to the awful Bucks Fizz version.

Whats Love Got To Do With It heralded Turners massive comeback - aged well into her 40s - and would go on to become the biggest selling song of her career. It still ranks at No.38 on Rolling Stones list of the top 500 rock and roll songs of all time.
The Opposition Leader is not lost for words ( Letters, The Sunday Age, 28/3 ), I can think of three good reasons why he might seem a bit quiet at the moment:

Scott Morrison is the master at hogging the limelight. Whether hes behind the wheel of a truck, riding in a tank, building a cubby house or announcing something to do with a vaccine (multiple times), he is the master at using up all the available oxygen. Trying to get attention in this environment can cause an opposition leader to seem whiny and negative (e.g. Michael OBrien).

Labor tried a big agenda, lots-of-policies strategy at the last election, which failed spectacularly  why would they try it again?

Never interrupt your enemy when he is making a mistake.

David Nelson, Clayton South

No queue jumping there

In contrast to the politicians in Australia who jumped the vaccine queue (Letters, The Age, 3/4), Germanys Chancellor, Angela Merkel, stated that she was willing to wait my turn.

Marcia Roche, Mill Park

Surprise, surprise ...

Federal Education Minister Alan Tudge agrees universities are facing challenging times and said some had become very heavily reliant on international students (Failing grades, Insight, The Age, 3/4).
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.
The European Union on Saturday welcomed the United States' lifting of sanctions imposed by former leader Donald Trump on the International Criminal Court's chief prosecutor

The Hague (APP - UrduPoint / Pakistan Point News - 3rd Apr, 2021 ) :The European Union on Saturday welcomed the United States' lifting of sanctions imposed by former leader Donald Trump on the International Criminal Court's chief prosecutor.

Trump's top diplomat hit Fatou Bensouda and another senior court official with financial sanctions and visa bans last year after the prosecutor launched an investigation into alleged war crimes by US military personnel in Afghanistan.

New President Joe Biden's administration on Friday announced it was repealing the measures as it seeks a more cooperative approach on a dispute that has alienated allies.

"This important step underlines the US's commitment to the international rules-based system," EU foreign policy chief Josep Borrell said in a statement.

"The ICC plays an important role in delivering justice to the victims of some of the world's most horrific crimes. Protecting the impartiality and judicial independence of the ICC is paramount to its effectiveness and proper functioning.

" Borrell said the EU was "unwavering in its support" of the tribunal and the "universality" of the Rome Statute that founded the court.

"We will stand together with all partners to defend the court against attempts aimed at obstructing the course of justice and undermining the international system of criminal justice," he said.

The US remains out of the Rome Statute with little prospect of it joining.

Washington says it is encouraged by reforms taking place at the tribunal, but Biden's administration continues to oppose the Afghan probe, as well as a separate investigation into alleged war crimes in the Palestinian territories by US ally Israel.

Gambian-born Bensouda is leaving her job in June and will be replaced by British human rights lawyer Karim Khan, who now can start his work without the burden of looming sanctions.
Last summer, failures and heat exhaustion at gas power plants contributed to Californias first non-wildfire-related blackout in 19 years. In the days following, when temperatures remained brutally high and Californias power supply dangerously low, Southern California Edison and its customers united to move 4,000 megawatts of demand off the grid, preventing further blackouts.

The lesson? Demand response delivered solutions when gas generation failed.

With the California Public Utility Commission now rushing to prevent a similar disaster this summer, advocates are concerned regulators are not going far enough to invest in the clean energy resources and demand-side solutions that are key to supporting a reliable electricity grid. In a decision last week, regulators approved a plan that, while an improvement on earlier proposals, still opens the door to new gas contracts and increased reliance on diesel generators.

These proposals are the latest in a pattern of failures that are undermining Californias transition to clean energy, and as clean energy experts, we are alarmed. The CPUC continues to double down on gas, despite its contribution to climate change and toxic air quality, and despite legal mandates to ramp up renewable energy.

This is all the more concerning given that a new California Energy Commission analysis finds that California will need to move three times faster in building out solar and wind resources, and eight times faster in adding battery storage, to meet Californias 100% clean energy target. Gov. Gavin Newsom must step in and get regulators back on track to address the following issues:

Regulators have had years to plan for the closure of the Diablo Canyon nuclear power plant, the wind-down of the last of the Korean War-era coastal gas power plants and the rapid closure of coal power plants in Western states that previously supplied imports to California; and to fill the looming power gap with clean energy. But despite the evidence that investing in renewables is the most cost-effective solution, there has been a distinct and inexplicable failure by the CPUC to do so.

Now time is running out. A recent analysis from the Union of Concerned Scientists finds that without urgent action, Californias cumulative climate-warming emissions from the electricity sector will be 15.5 million metric tons higher over the next decade as a result of the closure of Diablo Canyon.

Filling this procurement gap with gas rather than renewable energy will also increase nitrogen oxide pollution by an estimated 1,890 metric tons over the next decade. This pollution will burden communities of color and low-income communities where 78% of Californias gas power plants reside  areas already disproportionately impacted by power shutoffs, COVID-19 and systemic inequities.

At the same time, the CPUC has been plagued by a series of inexcusable bureaucratic delays in siting- and permitting-approved and financed transmission upgrades that are key to bringing renewable energy resources online. Without immediate intervention, this failure could shut out thousands of megawatts of renewable energy resources that could play a key role in meeting Californias electricity needs without additional gas power.

Last month, regulators additionally chose to maintain a power sector target that only reduces electricity sector emissions to 46 million metric tons by 2030  a standard too weak to meet Californias climate targets.

Taken together, these decisions present a distinct threat to our state. The CPUC is foolish and reckless to expect polluting gas to solve a problem it created.

It doesnt have to be this way. While the CPUC is doubling down on gas, the publicly owned Los Angeles Department of Water and Power has provided a model for planning for the transition to clean energy. The utility has found that not only is 100% clean energy achievable, ratepayer costs can be lowered if we pursue a broader suite of solutions. The Sacramento Metropolitan Utility District is engaged in a similar exercise.

Newsom has a responsibility to protect Californians from the health and climate consequences of the CPUCs regulatory failures  and we are counting on him to intervene and direct his agencies to uphold their responsibility to transition to 100% clean energy.

Luis Amezcua is a senior campaign representative for the Sierra Clubs My Generation campaign, and V. John White is executive director of the Center for Energy Efficiency and Renewable Technologies. They wrote this piece for CalMatters, a public interest journalism venture committed to explaining how California's Capitol works and why it matters.
A few weeks ago, two teachers whod once worked together crossed paths in a local Costco. It had been more than 20 years, but even behind their masks, the two women recognized each other.

Their conversation quickly turned to COVID-19, with one expressing frustration that shed been unable to get her 101-year-old mother vaccinated. Her friend told her about the COVID Community Outreach Program, or CCOP, the grassroots effort to register the vulnerable and underserved for vaccinations.

The program began with Black women doing what Black women have always done: Identify a problem, then organize to solve it for the benefit of people beyond those in their communities.

The impetus for CCOP came the last weekend of January when two sisters, Francine Prosser-Johnson and Bonnie Prosser Elder, tried to help a friends mother get an appointment. Over the weekend, the two dialed, repeatedly, on four cell phones and one landline. On Sunday, after more than 2,000 attempts, Bonnie, general counsel and senior vice president with VIA Metropolitan Transit, got through.

She told the woman who answered, I feel like Ive hit the Lotto to get you on the line and to allow me to schedule this shot, not even for me but my friends mom.

Also, in January, the offices of South Texas Center for Pediatric Care, where Fran is chief operating officer and Dr. Dianna Burns-Banks is president, was getting frequent calls asking if it was offering vaccinations.

The calls the sisters were making, and the calls the center was receiving, underscored how desperately people wanted to be vaccinated. It also got Bonnie and Fran thinking about the many African American seniors they knew who hadnt been vaccinated.

Over the next few days, their conversation grew to include Burns-Banks and Jelynne LeBlanc Jamison, president and CEO of the Center for Health Care Services, and would lead to the creation of CCOP and a partnership with University Health System to target seniors and other vulnerable people having difficulty getting registered.

After Frans email was flooded with requests, Erin Sylve, a student from Texas A&M University in College Station, created a Google Doc for people to enter their information for CCOP to send to University Health. By the day, the list grew.

State Rep. Barbara Gervin-Hawkins organized a conference call with Fran, Bonnie, Burns-Banks, Jamison and representatives from the Baptist Members Union and Community of Churches for Social Action. Several churches committed members to registering people for appointments. Linda Waiters of St. Paul UMC and Linda Bryant of Bethel AME are among those who, each day, before 2 p.m. send names to Fran, who uploads them to University Health.

She describes this as a three-step process, You register. We schedule. You go.

Through a grant from Beverly Watts Davis, chief operating officer for WestCare Foundation, two full-time staffers were hired. Working out of the offices of South Texas Center for Pediatric Care, they schedule and notify people about appointments.

As of Thursday, more than 6,200 people had been registered and more than 5,000 vaccinated. Joyfully vaccinated.

The oldest is 106-year-old Ethel Carroll. When Fran called to ask how she was feeling, Carroll asked, Baby, when is my next shot?

After the teacher from the Costco store got her 101-year-old mother vaccinated, she sent Fran a meme of Snoopy dancing.

Then theres the 90-year-old man who slit a hole in his nice dress shirt.

Look what I did! he said in a text. I wanted to make it easier for them to give me a shot.

When the call was made to a couple in their 80s to tell them they had an appointment, the woman started crying. They have an adult special-needs son.

If something happens to us, whos going to take care of him? she asked. I cant believe I finally got the call. Thank you for calling.

Reflecting on that, Bonnie asks, What level of burden is it for a mother to worry about not just getting sick because she doesnt want to get sick, but If I get sick and it takes me out. Its not about me but then who cares for him or her? We read the stories of the pain, suffering and death. This is something positive. You can get someone protected. You can get someone vaccinated. We are our brothers keeper.

CCOP was created out of relationships and a shared love for community.

We call it Black Girl Magic, says Bonnie. Fran and I are sisters. Dianna is part of our village. Jelynne is part of our village. Beverly is part of our village.

Bill Phillips, University Healths senior vice president and chief information officer, says, Its valuable what theyre doing on their own time. Its stellar, noble.

Noble. Thank you, queens.

cary.clack@express-news.net
Gogglebox Australia stars have savaged Scott Morrison while watching his interview about Parliament House's series of sex scandals.

Anastasia Katselas and Leanne Lai were unimpressed by the prime minister, who fumbled through questions in the A Current Affair sit-down.

They and many of the show's other stars said Morrison needed to be far more proactive when addressing the poor treatment of women in Canberra.

'He hasn't even met with her?' asked Isabelle Silbery in disbelief as ACA host Tracy Grimshaw grilled Morrison over why he hadn't yet spoken to Brittany Higgins in person.

Ms Higgins, a former Liberal Party staffer, earlier this year publicly claimed a senior colleague raped her in Parliament House in March 2019.

Gogglebox stars Keith and Lee were left unimpressed following a recent interview with PM Scott Morrison and Tracy Grimshaw

Producer Leanne Tonkes summed up the thoughts of many Australians after watching Gogglebox

Gogglebox cult hero Keith could be heard asking 'a month... [and] what have you done', before other stars said that Morrison was out of touch and should step away from politics, as did Lai and Katselas.

Grimshaw's direct line of questioning also caught the eye of the Googlebox stars, with grandmother Emmie saying she had 'a very strong set of ovaries'.

Her friend Kerry chimed in with 'women in Australia are not going to put up with this anymore'.

Googlebox was trending on Twitter, with Australian producer Leanne Tonkes suggesting the comments form the current majority view in Australia.

'The LNP need to get their heads around what a large proportion of people are thinking right now about Scott Morrison's inadequate management of what happened to Brittany Higgins,' she wrote.

'Gogglebox is pretty good litmus test, especially the last 10 seconds, which are particularly important.'

Scott Morrison's perceived poor handling of the mistreatment of women in Parliament has him offside with many voters

Other Australian Twitter users suggested that 'when you are universally despised on Gogglebox you know it's all over,' and 'all the Gogglebox participants absolutely ridiculed Morrison, it was heartwarming to see'

Other Australian Twitter users suggested that 'when you are universally despised on Gogglebox you know it's all over,' and 'all the Gogglebox participants absolutely ridiculed Morrison, it was heartwarming to see'.

'If that translates to Australian voters, Morrison is screwed (at the next election).'

Last month's Newspoll revealed Morrison's approval rating as the nation's leader plunged from 62 per cent to 55 per cent leading into April.

It followed a number of vile incidents emerging from Canberra in recent weeks, including claims of secret orgies involving male prostitutes in Parliament House.

The PM also attracted a wave of criticism when he remarked to Ray Hadley on 2GB 'at least the footy is back on' when being quizzed on morning radio about repeated instances of alleged misconduct in Canberra.

Short-tempered Scott Morrison repeatedly snaps back in fiery interview as he is accused of 'abandoning' Brittany Higgins, calling women liars and living in a 'bubble' unaware of abuse against women

By Kylie Stevens for Daily Mail Australia

Scott Morrison has angrily defended his handling of the Brittany Higgins rape claim and other parliament sex scandals in a fiery TV interview.

The prime minister repeatedly slapped down accusations by A Current Affair host Tracy Grimshaw as she pummelled him on Thursday night's program.

Mr Morrison insisted he was not 'judge and jury' and police investigations should be allowed to play out.

He defended not opening an independent investigation into allegations that Christian Porter raped a 16-year-old girl in 1998 when he was 17.

Police closed the investigation as there was not enough evidence to proceed after the alleged victim took her own life last year.

Tracy Grimshaw grilled Scott Morrison over why Brittany Higgins' rape complaint was so badly handled and she was essentially left 'on her own' when the process failed her

Mr Morrison attempted to draw a line under many of the issues, and frequently rejected the premise of Grimshaw's questions.

He said he found it shocking and daunting when he first learned of Ms Higgins' allegations that she was raped by a male colleague in defence minister Linda Reynolds' Parliament House office in 2019.

Grimshaw grilled him over why her complaint was so badly handled and she was essentially left 'on her own' when the process failed her.

'Why was she on her own? You don't need processes to know how to act humanely,' Grimshaw asked.

'You don't need processes to make them a cup of tea, drive them home, make an appointment for a counsellor.

'Don't just give them a number and say "here, call this number, do your best ". She was abandoned, wasn't she?'

Scott Morrison has angrily defended his handling of the Brittany Higgins rape claim and other parliament sex scandals in a fiery TV interview

The prime minister repeatedly slapped down accusations by A Current Affair host Tracy Grimshaw as she pummelled him on Thursday night's program

Mr Morrison agreed Ms Higgins was failed and abandoned by the ministerial staff who were made aware of the claims several days after the alleged rape.

'I agree with you that clearly that did not pass the test and failed Brittany. No one is disputing that,' Mr Morrison said.

'Why weren't they fired?' Grimshaw asked, bluntly.

Mr Morrison shot back: 'They were trying like everyone else would be trying in those circumstances.'

'We have to fix this and you don't have to tear things down to build things up. What we need in this place and around the country is much better systems and resources to help people in these situations.'

He's yet to speak to Ms Higgins six weeks after the allegations were made public and says the offer remains on the table.

'She hasn't asked to speak to me directly,' he said. 'But I'm happy to have the conversation. If she's happy to, we can arrange it.'

The prime minister then clashed with Grimshaw when he was accused of 'immediately believing' Mr Porter's denial of the rape allegation.

Mr Morrison defended not opening an independent investigation into allegations that Christian Porter raped a 16-year-old girl in 1998 when he was 17

Mr Morrison has repeatedly refused to open an independent inquiry, insisting the closure of the police investigation ended the matter.

He stuck to this line of argument when questioned again about it by Grimshaw, and compared Mr Porter's case to when sexual assault allegations against former opposition leader Bill Shorten were dismissed in 2014.

'What I have done is to respect the rule of law in this country and how people need to be treated under that rule of law. An allegation can be made against you, me, against anyone else,' he said.

Grimshaw countered: 'There really wasn't an investigation because his accuser died, she took her life. There really hasn't been an investigation.

'There has been no investigation, prime minister, you have just believed him.'

Mr Morrison hit back: 'The right way to answer that question to anyone satisfaction is not for me to play judge and jury, or anyone else who are given those powers.'

Mr Morrison is yet to speak to Ms Higgins six weeks after the allegations were made public and says the offer remains on the table

Grimshaw brought up that Ms Higgins was called a 'lying cow' by Ms Reynolds, which Mr Morrison agrees was 'disgraceful'.

'It was very out of character for Linda' he said.

This set off Grimshaw, who brought up Mr Morrison's backing of Liberal senator Eric Abetz, who is accused by former Speaker of the Tasmanian House of Assembly of making shocking 'victim blaming' comments about Ms Higgins' rape.

'The pattern here is that women are always liars. Brittany Higgins, Sue Hickey, Christian Porter's accuser,' she said.

Mr Morrison said he didn't agree with Grimshaw's assessment.

'In this country, people will make allegations and we have ways of dealing with it. I am not making that judgement about the truth of neither statement,' he said.

He hinted both Ms Reynolds and Mr Porter will remain on the frontbench as he considers a cabinet reshuffle.

But the prime minister did not deny he planned to move both ministers said they will 'continue to play a very important role in my cabinet'.

'I am working through those issues now. One is on mental health leave and the other is on physical health leave. Linda in particular, had a very serious coronary condition,' he said.

Defence Minister Linda Reynolds has extended her leave raising questions of her future in politics after she called alleged rape victim Brittany Higgins a 'lying cow'

Mr Porter is expected to be demoted because his defamation lawsuit against the ABC for publishing the rape claim was a conflict of interest to his role as attorney-general.

Peter Dutton is expected to replace Linda Reynolds as Defence Minister.

Mr Morrison's assurances he was doing 'the best a bloke can' to address violence against women also sparked exasperation from Grimshaw.

At one point in the testy segment Grimshaw asked Mr Morrison if he was 'living in a bubble' to which he accused the veteran TV host of being unfair.

'Where have you been?' she asked.

'I think that's a bit unfair, Tracy,' Mr Morrison fired back.

'I think there are many people across this country who live with it every day, you have lived without your whole life. You have. Almost every woman has.'

He was then interrupted by Grimshaw.

'But you are not on an island, or maybe you are in a bubble. You must know, you have a wife you love, orders, you have referenced them several times. How did you not know the depth of it?

Grimshaw brought up Mr Morrison's backing of Liberal senator Eric Abetz (pictured), who is accused by former Speaker of the Tasmanian House of Assembly of making shocking 'victim blaming' comments about Ms Higgins' rape

'This is the difficult part of this. You understand it in a way that only you could,' Mr Morrison said.

'I have a different experience to yours but I can tell you, for many Australians, this has been like a big wake-up call and it's been like a red light to say 'stop, look, listen and that's what' we're doing.'

Grimshaw countered: 'It hasn't been a wake-up call to 52 per cent of Australians.'

She went on to criticise Mr Morrison for refusing to join a march of 100,000 women around the country earlier this month protesting violence against women.

Instead he only offered to meet with a few of the protest leaders in private, but was rebuffed.

'You said to them 'I will meet a couple of you on my turf, on my time, on my turns, or nothing',' Grimshaw said.

'And then you said, 'and my minister for women, she things what I think'.'
CPC leadership reviews guideline on promoting high-quality development of central region

Xinhua) 08:31, March 31, 2021

Aerial photo taken on March 4, 2021 shows the scenery of Baokang County, Central China's Hubei Province. (Xinhua/Yang Tao)

BEIJING, March 30 (Xinhua) -- The Political Bureau of the Communist Party of China (CPC) Central Committee held a meeting on Tuesday to review a guideline on promoting high-quality development of the country's central region in the new era.

Xi Jinping, general secretary of the CPC Central Committee, chaired the meeting.

Promoting the high-quality development of China's central region is of overall significance as it has rich resources, well-developed transport networks, a sound industrial foundation, and massive development potential, according to the meeting.

Efforts should be made to build a modern industrial system underpinned by advanced manufacturing industry, facilitate high-level opening-up of the inland region, improve system and mechanism, and promote coordinated development between urban and rural areas, it said.

The meeting called for improving basic public services and accelerating the rise of the central region, so as to contribute more to China's journey toward socialist modernization.

It urged efforts to promote city-cluster development in the middle reaches of the Yangtze River and the central plains and comprehensively advance rural vitalization.

Innovation should be the primary driving force behind development while scientific and technological innovations should drive industrial growth, said the meeting. It also called for a new system of high-level opening-up in the inland region of China.

The meeting also stressed the need to pursue a new path of green and low-carbon development, strengthen the economical and intensive use of energy and resources, enhance ecological construction and management, and realize the green rise of the central region.

(Web editor: Guo Wenrui, Liang Jun)
Local councillor Danny Collins says the slow progress on the west Cork sinkhole is reflective of attitudes towards rural Ireland. Photo: Independent.ie

A sinkhole that emerged 18 months ago near a west Cork beauty spot is still open, the adjacent road closed and investigations into the risk to surrounding areas remain at a preliminary stage.

Cork County Council says it has appointed an engineering consultant to investigate the sinkhole on the site of old copper mines near the village of Allihies and advise on possible solutions.

But while a drone survey has been carried out, other investigations have been limited to desktop studies of existing records and visual inspections on site.

Many of the records go back to the 1800s because that was when the mining peaked.

The council said the work was at a preliminary stage and no costings for possible remediation works had been prepared as a result.

The Department of Environment, Climate and Communications has specialist staff in its Mining and Exploration Division which were initially called in to assess the situation, but the department did not give details of their involvement.

The department have recently been in contact with Cork County Council on this matter and we are currently awaiting an update, a spokesperson said.

The sinkhole appeared in October 2019, leaving a hole six metres wide and a drop of 10 metres, though it is believed to be part of a mine shaft hundreds of metres deep. It collapsed part of the road, which has been closed since.

Tourists doing the Beara Way and other driving and walking loops in the area were regularly caught out by the closure last summer.

Tadhg OSullivan, of the Allihies Copper Mine Museum, said the sinkhole caused some nervousness, particularly because it was the second one in a few years.

It was never going to be a quick fix. There are a lot of excavation tunnels and they have to find out whats going on underground, Mr OSullivan said.

It is pretty well mapped but theyre from long ago when it wasnt a priority to leave good records for the future.

Local councillor Danny Collins is concerned at the pace of progress.

Its not good enough. It shows how rural Ireland is treated. If this was a road in Cork city or Dublin, surveys would be done immediately and works carried out, he said.
Source: Xinhua| 2021-04-03 13:03:09|Editor: huaxia

Video Player Close

WASHINGTON, April 3 (Xinhua) -- China and the United States should find ways to co-exist and work together, which is in the interests of both sides, Chuck Robbins, chief executive officer (CEO) of U.S. tech leader Cisco, said recently.

"It is in the best interests of both China and the United States, for these two countries to actually figure out how we co-exist and how we work effectively together around the world," Robbins said in an interview with CNBC earlier this week.

Robbins revealed that in March, Cisco completed a 4.5-billion-U.S. dollar "strategic acquisition," in which the approval of China's antitrust regulators plays a vital role. Enditem
RTHK: US Capitol under lockdown after police attacked

A motorist rammed a vehicle into US Capitol police on Friday and brandished a knife, killing one officer and injuring another and forcing the Capitol complex to lock down in an attack that police said did not immediately appear to be terrorism-related.

Police responded by firing on the suspect, who died.

Yogananda Pittman, acting chief of the United States Capitol Police, told a news conference that he drove into the officers then hit a barricade and got out of the car, lunging at them with a knife in his hand.

One officer was killed and the other was injured, she said.

"It does not appear to be terrorism-related but obviously we'll continue to investigate," said Robert Contee, acting chief of the Metropolitan Police Department of Washington.

Police said the suspect was unknown to them, they had yet to determine what had motivated him, and they did not identify him.

"Clearly this was someone who was actively trying to just get at whoever or whatever - we just don't know right now, so we have a responsibility to investigate that to get to the bottom of this. Whether the attack was at law enforcement, or whoever, we have a responsibility to get to the bottom of it and we'll do that," Contee said.

Dozens of police cars, marked and unmarked, raced toward the iconic domed white building, in an unwelcome reminder of January 6, when thousands of supporters of then-President Trump overran the complex.

US spy agencies warned in mid-March of an ongoing threat that racially motivated violent extremists, such as white supremacists, will carry out mass-casualty attacks on civilians while militia groups target police and government personnel and buildings.

Roads leading to the complex were blocked by police cars or officers and people inside the Capitol were told to stay away for much of the afternoon before police announced that the lockdown had been lifted.

Members of Congress were not in Washington on Friday, with both the Senate and House of Representatives in recess for the Easter holiday.

Dozens of National Guard troops, who have been stationed at the Capitol since the January attack, quickly deployed. Heavily armed and in riot gear, they jogged in columns to stand in rows at the scene and around the complex.

Authorities have begun only in the past couple of weeks to remove the outer ring of high, razor-wire-topped fencing erected around the sprawling Capitol complex after the January 6 rampage. Many of the thousands of National Guard troops posted at the building in January had also been sent home.

Lawmakers have been arguing about how much security should remain on Capitol Hill, which is a popular park for city residents as well as the seat of government. Members of Congress from both political parties have introduced legislation to make it illegal to erect permanent fencing around the building.

The January 6 assault took place while the House of Representatives and Senate, with the Senate presided over by then-Vice President Mike Pence, was certifying Democratic President Joe Biden's November election victory over the Republican Trump.

At the time Trump's supporters shouted slogans including "Stop the Steal" and "Hang Mike Pence" as they attacked the Capitol and said they hoped to stop the election certification.

Biden took office on January 20.

"This has been an extremely difficult time for U.S. Capitol Police after the events of Jan. 6 and now the events that have occurred here today. So I ask that you keep our U.S. Capitol Police family in your thoughts and prayers," Pittman said.

House Speaker Nancy Pelosi ordered flags at the Capitol to be lowered to half staff in honor of the slain officer.

Biden also was out of the city, although the White House said he was aware of the incident. He arrived at the Camp David presidential retreat in Maryland early on Friday afternoon. (Reuters)

This story has been published on: 2021-04-03. To contact the author, please use the contact details within the article.
Philippine defense chief in verbal tussle with China on reef View Photo

MANILA, Philippines (AP)  An annoyed Philippine defense chief renewed a demand on Saturday for dozens of Chinese vessels to leave a Manila-claimed reef in the South China Sea, and said he would not be fooled by Chinese assertions that the vessels were taking shelter from bad weather.

The Chinese Embassy shot back at what it called a perplexing statement by Defense Secretary Delfin Lorenzana and insisted that the vessels had the right to take shelter in what it said was Chinese territory. Nobody has the right to make wanton remarks on such activities, it said.

The unusually hostile public exchange stemmed from the sighting early last month by the Philippine coast guard of more than 200 Chinese vessels, which Lorenzana called militias, at the Whitsun Reef. The Philippines filed a diplomatic protest, saying the reef, which it calls Julian Felipe, lies within an internationally recognized offshore zone, where it has the exclusive right to exploit fisheries, oil, gas and other resources.

China ignored Manilas demand for the Chinese vessels to leave the area, which it calls Niue Jiao and claims as Chinese territory. The Chinese Embassy in Manila said the vessels were taking shelter at the reef from rough sea conditions.

The Chinese ambassador has a lot of explaining to do, Lorenzana said in a statement Saturday, adding that the latest Philippine military surveillance showed 44 Chinese vessels were still moored at the reef.

I am no fool. The weather has been good so far, so they have no other reason to stay there. These vessels should be on their way out. You should get out of there, Lorenzana said Saturday.

The Chinese Embassy responded anew by repeating that the vessels were taking cover in what it called Chinese waters.

It is completely normal for Chinese fishing vessels to fish in the waters and take shelter near the reef during rough sea conditions, the embassy said.

We hope that authorities concerned would make constructive efforts and avoid any unprofessional remarks which may further fan irrational emotions, the embassy said. It added that China is committed to safeguarding peace and stability in the waters.

Whitsun Reef lies in the Spratlys, the most hotly contested region in the South China Sea. The Philippines regards the resource-rich chain of islands, islets and atolls as part of its western province of Palawan. But the offshore region is also claimed entirely or partly by China, Vietnam, Malaysia, Taiwan and Brunei. China has turned seven disputed reefs into missile-protected island bases in recent years, ratcheting up tensions.

The United States has expressed support for the Philippines, its long-time treaty ally, and accused China of using maritime militia to intimidate, provoke and threaten other nations, which undermines peace and security in the region. Beijing denied the vessels were part of a maritime militia.

Philippine President Rodrigo Duterte has nurtured friendly ties with Beijing since taking office in 2016 and has been criticized for not immediately demanding Chinese compliance with an international arbitration ruling that invalidated Beijings historic claims to virtually the entire South China Sea. China has refused to recognize the 2016 ruling, which it called a sham, and continues to defy it.

By JIM GOMEZ

Associated Press
Pascal Siakam's foundation announced a coding program for children in Toronto. (Nic Antaya/Getty Images)

Birthdays are typically celebrated by receiving gifts, but on Pascal Siakams 27th birthday, the Toronto Raptors forward announced he and his PS43 Foundation were doing a little giving.

On Friday, Siakam announced that his foundation, along with Penny Appeal Canada, were launching Coding for Champions, a coding program for kids in Toronto.

This content is not available due to your privacy preferences. Update your settings here to see it.

Sixty kids from Torontos Queen Victoria Public School and Parkdale Jr. & Sr. Public School will receive a laptop, backpack, hoodie and other supplies, according to the PS43 Foundation press release. The goal of the program is to break down digital barriers kids with a fascination for coding face in exploring their passion.

The students participating in the initiative were selected by each schools respective principal, who selected kids that have demonstrated an interest in coding. The program will be 10 weeks long and will run between April and June 2021.

According to the PS43 website, the organizations mission is to empower children through education, life skills and mentorship while inspiring them to set any goal despite where their journey may begin or what societal impediments they may face.

Kudos to Siakam and everyone involved with this great project, what a great way to celebrate a birthday.

This content is not available due to your privacy preferences. Update your settings here to see it.

More coverage from Yahoo Sports
We're all spending good lifetime hours watching the likes of Democrat operatives: the three, President Joe Biden; V.P. Kamala Harris, pseudo-black personage who infuses every right-shoulder TV shot populated by Scranton Joe; and the longtime Fox TV cohost of The Five for umpteen years, Juan Williams.

All can start a conflagration in those not of the Democrat persuasion. To watch them is to lose one's lunch. Or to lose your blood as it boils merrily into the clammy ether of your lockdown apartment or home.

Their body language gives us a clue as to how accurate or honest their public appearances are.

President Joe doesn't appear often, but when he does, it's usually to opine on maskery, stay-in-ery, don't-go-near-anyone-ery.

Joe rarely if ever answers a question yelled out from the peanut gallery of White House press corps stenographers. If it's a question he can hear as he shuffles out on muffled feet, he'll grace the rabble assembled with a "no" or, rarer still, a "yes." Shuffle off, left.

But when he speaks, he often touches the spine of his nose  not the tip, mind you  with the index finger of his right hand. It's brief, it involves no scratching of any itch, and it is a constant.

Such a touch indicates a bunch of body language cues.

Were he to tap the tip of his nose, say, that would indicate smug self-satisfaction: I know this, keep me in your eye.

But he doesn't tap the tip. He doesn't, in fact, feel all-wise.

His nether-side glide and down with the hand indicates deceit, trickery, getting away with something. It also betokens insecurity and a desire to comfort himself. "I'm a good boy, I am!"

It also accompanies, by elision, avoidance: by constantly squinting into the near distance, reading the large-font teleprompter, harping on masks, mandates, and pesky distancing, telling us, "This is not political," it is precisely a dodge. It is nothing but political. His nasal touch signals this: he avoids the third rail of the border crisis, where thousands of migrants undocumented, unvetted and untested, are piling in, endangering the states, spewing viral vectors everywhere, before they are assigned to helpless cities and schools and social halls and hauling trucks across the fruited plain.

The president is trying to get away with the flim-flam of distracting his audience with his forbearance, fatherliness, and oceanic love, ha-ha, aimed solely at preserving the polity until the 2022 elections and their continued tolerance for mail-in ballots without accountability, signature verification, or accurate provenance. It's the dream of his true people. The DNC and the left-wing fervid chorus of "let's overturn everything" mantras in glee.

The watchers are fooled and think he's really talking about masks, no matter where they are in the hajj of inoculations, first, second, or solo.

For her part, the nicely suited, mahogany-maned, brash Indian-American vice pres, Kamala Harris, eagerly clutching her dance resume close to her vest, is ready with a hearty and riverine gale of laughter.

Did you mean what you said about Biden being abusive to women in his frequent sniffing and groping episodes? Giggle: "It was a debate. A debate." (Okay, scratch that #MeToo reality, we're guessing?)

Will you be visiting the swollen southern border of the U.S.? Full-throated hilarity.

Will you be taking over the portfolio of foreign dignitaries who seek to speak with the actual 46 on critical affairs of State? Runaway Radio City Hall histrionic roars.

At first, months ago, a feminine laugh once in a while was unexpected, perhaps, but acceptable. Just. Now, it's a sign of near-derangement. Or more germanely, a sign of contempt for the questioner or journ. A sign of avoidance and cementine untransparency.

And with an actual president suffering from something suspiciously close to derangement, Kam's trilling and cackling on every exposure to a camera is pretty old, pretty fast.

Last and decidedly least, Juan Williams. Williams, swanned away from CNN a decade or so ago, has a decidedly tough gig. He's outnumbered 4 to 1. And the people he's encapsulated with aren't the ladies of morning silly sally, The View, dusty dim bulbs desperately in need of brain cell infusions. Juan Williams has to supply the rationale for the nearly insane and hurtful policies of a crazed presidency married to nutcase radicalism at all costs, even if the policies the administration is championing and de-facto'ing are bent to pretzelized grotesquerie.

He manfully joins his cause, often spewing justifications in stem-windy spiels that cause the others to shake their heads or rear slightly back in disbelief.

While listening to the strongly worded and logical assertions of mega-smart Jesse Watters or Greg Gutfeld, Katie Pavlich, Dagan McDowell, Dana Perino, or Emily Campagno, Juan keeps his face carefully noncommittal, not betraying grief at being proven wrong or catastrophically (deliberately?) misguided. Or perdurably ditsoid.

After Juan speaks his piece, however, his eyes blink furiously  a blink rate that betrays his anxiety  and worry that he'll have to go home and justify to his magenta-haired spouse being outreasoned by the other four, night after night. He stoutly talks over the others when they stab to death his entire ridiculous justifications for the impossibly puerile naivete of the regime in the White house, those he is sworn to try to rationalize. But blink, blink, blink he goes, establishing his discomfort as transparently as the nefarious nose-touching Biden or the hysterically fusillading Kamala.

And you thought body-language interp was just for poker players.

Image: Gage Skidmore via Flickr, CC BY-SA 2.0.

You can find the MeWe post for this article here.
During March, the American Cancer Society celebrated its annual Daffodil Days campaign by partnering with Empire BlueCross to donate pots of daffodils to local hospitals. This colorful first flower of spring represents a campaign that brings hope to cancer patients, their caregivers, and families, while providing funds that support research, programs, and services of the American Cancer Society, the organization said.

COVID-19 had a major impact on our ability to raise funds in 2020, noted Cynthia Somma, American Cancer Society development manager. But cancer hasnt stopped, and neither has the work of the American Cancer Society. Despite a roughly $200 million budget gap that resulted in cuts to both personnel and non-personnel expenses that was caused by the coronavirus this past year, we continued to engage with people where they live as we worked hard to serve patients and attack cancer from every angle through research, education, advocacy, and patient services.
If I would have just not taken the bill, this could have been avoided, he said in court.

Adam Abumayyaleh, who owns Cup Foods with his brothers, said in an interview that Mr. Martin came to him in tears after Mr. Floyd had died and said it was his fault.

I told him, Stop it, thats nonsense, said Mr. Abumayyaleh, who was not called to testify.

Mr. Martin stopped working at Cup Foods, telling Mr. Abumayyaleh that coming to the neighborhood gave him bad energy.

Mr. Abumayyaleh himself sometimes wonders What if? He was the manager on duty the night Mr. Floyd died and had instructed a clerk to call the police after Mr. Floyd twice refused to return to the store after using the fake bill.

Mr. Abumayyaleh said he had been back at work for just three days last May, following a severe bout with Covid-19. He was in the middle of a three-hour job unlocking cellphones and was distracted. Had he not been busy, he said, he likely would have been the one to go out and confront Mr. Floyd and his friends about the fake bill, and the outcome might have been different.

If I can go back, of course I would not call the police, he said. Objectively, I know we didnt do anything wrong. We are not responsible for the police being bad people.
Health, Work and Economic policies implemented to safeguard jobs and livelihoods during 2021 will no doubt affect the way people view the foreseeable future.

by Victor Cherubim

The end of COVID-19 could be closer than we think, or is it? With Astrazeneca, Pfizer/BioNTech, Moderna vaccines now being distributed to parts of the worlds population,there is good reason to believe that a return to relative normality is imminent sooner rather than later.



Of course, it would be a different type of normality that we return to in a years time.

Health, Work and Economic policies implemented to safeguard jobs and livelihoods during 2021 will no doubt affect the way people view the foreseeable future.

Many people in the UK have been offered the vaccine but have turned it down. We hear little about them. What then is the reason for the reticence? While the media trumpets that over 58 percent of the Brits have been vaccinated, there seems to be unease of those who are vaccine shy?

According to the data from Oxford University Open Safely analysis just 4 % of the white population in the over 70s age bracket are unvaccinated,compared to some say, as much as 37 % of the Black and Ethnic minority population.

What are some of the reasons for this situation?

The question of stopping infection and or transmission, the vaccine is not the  be all and end all. At the same time no vaccine can ever reach 100% take up. But as Spring blows into Summer and one year of the pandemic decimating large numbers of the population not only in UK and in Europe and around the globe, it is now high time that we need to be frank of the scale of the take up of the vaccine, among the black and Asian minority population.

The most recent launch by Sir Lenny Henry to address this problem of hesitancy by black and ethnic minorities as well as others is in the news. As far as numbers are concerned 26 % of Black Caribbean, 22% of Chinese Brits and say 19% of Bangladeshis over the age of 70 have still to be vaccinated, according to Oxford University data, whereas only 4% of White British are in this category.

Without taking this data out of context, we need to verify the real reason.

We all know that there are pros and cons for any argument and vaccines are no exception. The expressed or unexpressed reluctance of taking the vaccine by some Black and Ethnic Minority (BAME) groups is due to the complicated history of medicine and race. Some suggest that non white people have been disproportionately affected by the virus deaths. People are on the edge because they dont necessarily think that the pandemic has been handled particularly well for BAME people. This has naturally given rise to some being suspicious or concerned. Others state that people are not feeling very trustworthy towards State led institutions as they have been used as guinea pigs. Besides, Black and Ethnic men and women have disproportionately died due to their Body Mass Index and existing medical condition. Further, ethnic minorities have not volunteered for clinical trials of the vaccines as whites, so they have not been properly assessed.

For a lot of BAME there is mistrust in the effectiveness of the vaccine and trust in the vaccine correlates to their trust in the State and their long term detriments.

We see viral hesitancy also among white population of Europe for the EU to keep arguing against efficacy and the issue of blood clots due to Astrazeneca vaccine deployment.

It is quite natural that it is not Blacks and Ethnic minorities but Whites in Europe in particular who are made to be skeptical about certain vaccines by their regulatory bodies. All this is at the forefront of peoples consciousness,especially if they happen to be old and have had past experiences of ill health.

Thus there are many factors besides race or perception why people are distrusting of the vaccine,more than just trusting the process.

Vaccines are here to stay and there is no doubt about that. Soon we may have research for vaccines for various mutants and at various seasons. COVID-19 has surprised one and all irrespective of race, colour or creed and may likely do so once again.
CORVALLIS, Ore.-- The Oregon State Board of Trustees laid out its process for finding an interim president.

RELATED: OSU trustees OK tuition increase, discuss interim president search

Trustee Patt Bedient will meet with OSU staff, faculty, students, administrators, university partners and other stakeholders to review nominations for interim president over the next week.

A final candidate will be presented to the board by the week of April 12.

During that time, there will be a community forum where people can share their input. Steve Clark, Vice President for University Relations, said the university has already gotten lots of input from the community.

"There's been strong interest by the community in participation that's underway right now and has been for the last week with in-person zoom meetings where candidates and interested parties discussing who can be president," Clark said.

According to Clark, the interim president will serve for roughly a year until a permanent president is selected.

Leading contenders for the position have not been named but Clark said many nominees are qualified for the job.

The Board of Trustees also agreed on an external review of the due diligence process done in 2019 that led to F. King Alexander becoming president. That review is expected to be done by May 31.
Customers can test drive an all-new, all-electric 2021 Volkswagen ID.4 SUV at Herman Cook VW today. Herman Cook VW is currently taking appointments for 2021 VW ID.4 test drives now, so all customers interested in getting behind the wheel of this all-new, all-electric SUV need to do is get in touch with the friendly and knowledgeable staff at the dealership to set up their time.

Herman Cook VW, a Volkswagen dealership in Encinitas, California, recently celebrated the arrival of the all-new, all-electric 2021 Volkswagen ID.4 SUV, meaning this exciting all-new electric vehicle is now available to test drive and reserve.

In fact, Herman Cook VW is currently taking appointments for 2021 VW ID.4 test drives now, so all customers interested in getting behind the wheel of this all-new, all-electric SUV need to do is get in touch with the friendly and knowledgeable staff at the dealership to set up their time.

Everyone at the dealership is very excited to start getting people behind the wheel of this innovative new SUV, as the 2021 VW ID.4 is Volkswagens first long-range all-electric SUV with zero direct emissions. Thats not only great for the planet, but great for customers, too, as it boasts an estimated range of 250 miles all without using a single drop of gasoline. That means customers can save as much as $3,500 in fuel savings over five years. And when customers add that to the three years of unlimited charging at Electrify America DC fast chargers, the savings grows even more.

The 2021 VW ID.4 also puts all electric vehicle myths in the rear view mirror thanks to its dynamic performance abilities, its heart-pumping instant torque and its refusal to compromise. And customers can experience all of this for themselves by heading over to Herman Cook VW for a test drive.

More information on all of the all-new, all-electric 2021 Volkswagen ID.4 SUVs can be found on the Herman Cook Volkswagen website at http://www.cookvw.com. Interested parties can also learn more by calling 855-637-8636. Herman Cook Volkswagen is located at 1435 Encinitas Boulevard in Encinitas.
Christians in the Holy Land are marking Good Friday this year amid signs the coronavirus crisis is winding down, with religious sites open to limited numbers of faithful but none of the mass pilgrimages usually seen in the Holy Week leading up to Easter.

Last year, Jerusalem was under a strict lockdown, with sacred rites observed by small groups of priests, often behind closed doors. It was a stark departure from past years, when tens of thousands of pilgrims would descend on the city's holy sites.

This year, the Church of the Holy Sepulchre, built on the site where Christians believe Jesus was crucified, died and rose from the dead, is open to visitors and expecting a few dozen. After the morning prayer service they will retrace Jesus' final steps along the Via Dolorosa.

At the Vatican, Holy Week events are being celebrated before limited numbers of masked faithful to respect COVID-19 health and social distancing norms.

Things are open, but cautiously and gradually," said Wadie Abunassar, an adviser to church leaders in the Holy Land. In regular years we urge people to come out. Last year we told people to stay at home... This year we are somehow silent.

Israel has launched one of the world's most successful vaccination campaigns, allowing it to reopen restaurants, hotels and religious sites. But air travel is still limited by quarantine and other restrictions, keeping away the foreign pilgrims who usually throng Jerusalem during the holy week.

The main holy sites are in the Old City in east Jerusalem, which Israel captured along with the West Bank in the 1967 war. Israel annexed east Jerusalem and considers the entire city its unified capital, while the Palestinians want both territories for their future state.

Israel included Palestinian residents of Jerusalem in its vaccination campaign, but has only provided a small number of vaccines to those in the occupied West Bank, where the Palestinian Authority has imported tens of thousands of doses for a population of more than 2.5 million.

Israeli authorities said up to 5,000 Christian Palestinians from the West Bank would be permitted to enter for Easter celebrations. Abunassar said he was not aware of any large tour groups from the West Bank planning to enter, as in years past, likely reflecting concerns about the virus.

Abunassar said most Christians in the region celebrate Holy Week in their local parishes. The Good Friday services in the Old City are only expected to draw a small number of people, mainly priests and foreigners who reside in the Holy Land.
The White House has confirmed that President Joe Biden will welcome Japan's Prime Minister Yoshihide Suga for the first in-person visit of his presidency on April 16th.

Press secretary Jen Psaki said the visit reflects "the importance we place on our bilateral relationship with Japan and our friendship and partnership with the Japanese people."

The United States and Iran say they will begin indirect talks with other major world powers to try to get both countries back into an accord limiting Irans nuclear program.

The announcement Friday comes nearly three years after President Donald Trump pulled the U.S. out of the deal.

Psaki said "this is a welcome and potentially constructive early step, even if the diplomatic road ahead may be long."

Biden has said rejoining the agreement was a priority for his administration.

After Biden's first call to Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskiy, he underscored support for the country following reports of Russian troop movements on its eastern border.

Biden in his conversation with Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskiy affirmed unwavering support for Ukraine's sovereignty and territorial integrity in the face of Russia's ongoing aggression," according to a statement from the White House.

Psaki told reporters, that the US is watching closely developments on the Russia-Ukraine border. "We've certainly seen this movie before, of the disinformation campaign that Russia has implemented in the past as it relates to their aggressions at the border of Ukraine."

(Disclaimer: This story is auto-generated from a syndicated feed; only the image & headline may have been reworked by www.republicworld.com)
The St. Tammany Parish Council overrode the St. Tammany Parish Zoning Commissions March 2 denial of a pair of rezoning requests that will allow the development of a 384-home subdivision on M.P. Planche road north of Covington.

Most of the 45-minute appeal hearing on April 1 was a replay of what went on at the March zoning commission meeting.

Nearby property owners said the subdivision would worsen existing drainage problems in the area and Planche Road was too narrow to accommodate additional traffic.

Attorney Paul Mayronne, representing developer Corie Herberger, said the projects drainage plan would meet all parish requirements and his client would pay to widen Planche Road and, if necessary, improve its connection to La. 25. Mayronne also addressed density concerns by saying the projects density was comparable to other nearby subdivisions.

Two council members who have previously served as zoning commissioners had different views of the rezoning requests.

Councilperson Jimmie Davis said he was against approving the requests because the zoning commission had denied them on strong 7-2 votes.

But Councilperson Martha Cazaubon, who represents the area, said Mayronne had assured her that Herberger would comply with a series of requirements to overcome all objections to the requests, including the Planche Road improvements, green space and amenities enhancements, and tree plantings.

St. Tammany top stories in your inbox A weekly guide to the biggest news in St. Tammany. Sign up today. e-mail address * Sign Up

Cazaubon then moved to override the denials, conditioned on all of the requirements being met, and her motions passed, with council members Davis, Marty Dean, Mike Lorino and T.J. Smith casting dissenting votes.

In other business, council members voted to remove several requirements from the parish ordinance governing rezoning moratoriums.

Struck from the ordinance was the requirement that the council member requesting a moratorium present a written justification and a timeline and process for addressing the reasons for applying it, and an account of any progress being made toward addressing the issues when requesting that the moratorium be renewed.

Smith, who sponsored the amended provisions, argued forcefully for them, but council members Chris Canulette and Jake Airey spoke just as strongly against, saying the existing ordinance would be weakened by removing the provisions.

When the vote was taken, the amendment passed by a narrow 7-5 margin, with members Airey, Canulette, Davis, Jerry Binder and Maureen OBrien voting against it.

In administrative matters, Cheryl Tanner was sworn in by Louisiana Supreme Court Associate Justice Will Crain as the council member from District 6. Tanner won a special March 20 election to serve the remainder of the term of her husband Richard Tanner, who died last July.

Also on the administrative agenda, council members appointed Karlin Riles as council administrator and Terry Hand as special assistant council administrator. Both are attorneys who have advised various parish agencies on legal matters over the years.
Presidente @FSagasti: Uno de los compromisos es que se realicen elecciones limpias, seguras y transparentes, manteniendo una estricta neutralidad. Se coordino con @ONPE_oficial y @Minsa_Peru para tener mas locales de votacion, ademas del diseno de un protocolo de bioseguridad. pic.twitter.com/rFY2UIvRK2
Colorado Politics is published both in print and online. Our website features subscriber-only news stories daily, designed for public policy arena professionals. Member subscribers also receive the weekly print edition of our award-winning newspaper, containing outstanding features and news stories, in their mailboxes every Saturday.
Email Whatsapp Menu Whatsapp Google Reddit Digg Stumbleupon Linkedin Comment

Assyrians are one of the first nations to convert to Christianity and have played a massive role in the spreading of Christianity throughout the world. According to the Assyrian Church of the East, the Apostle Thomas converted Assyrians to Christianity within a generation after the death of Jesus.

To this day, Assyrians still speak a version of the language of Jesus, Aramaic. "Aramaic was a broader family of languages," said Nicholas Al-Jeloo, a prominent expert of Assyrian and Middle East history. "Jesus spoke Galilean Aramaic and Assyrians speak Assyrian Aramaic."



Yet, in this ancient land of Assyrians that is now ruled by the Kurdistan Regional Government (KRG), rights abuses against Assyrian Christians are ongoing. International Christian Concern (ICC) has extensively reported on such abuses including land grabs.

In 2018, for instance the ICC "learned that two Kurdish Muslim brothers built an illegal home on the land of an Assyrian Christian in northern Iraqs Brefka village. According to the Assyrian Aid Society, one of the brothers, Omar Karem, is the head of the Peshmerga Forces in the region. The land-grabbing case took place on April 20, 2018 and was reported in writing to the local authorities on May 2, 2018. There has since been no change on the ground.

"The illegal seizure of Christian lands in this region has been ongoing since 1991, according to the Assyrian Aid Society (AAS). They estimate that approximately 180 acres of Assyrian-Christian land has been seized by their Muslim neighbors. Land has been taken in different places in the village, especially near the river Khabour and near the school. In 2005, Mr. Barzani sent [a delegation] to visit the village. They promised to return the land back to Assyrians in one year, but nothing has happened until this moment, said the Assyrian Aid Society."

In July of 2020, ICC reported again:

"Iraqs Nahla Valley, located within the Kurdistan Regional Government (KRG), is a historically Assyrian Christian area that has long been subjected to land-grabbing attempts. The village has fought these attempts through a court of law. However, an earlier courts decision protecting their rights over the land has now been reversed. The decision impacts approximately 117 Christian families who rely upon the land as a source of livelihood as they farm crops and raise livestock.

"These families hold a land title deed from the 1950s confirming their right to this land. The title deed was updated in 2015. The current problem with land-grabbing traces back to the early 1980s, when a radical Islamic sheikh encouraged Kurdish families to build homes and other structures on the Christians land. Today, these families have lost access to approximately 75% of their property. Such critical loss makes it impossible to sustain their normal source of livelihood. Kurdish families continue building new structures on the remaining land, as witnessed by ICC during a fact-finding trip.

Claire Evans, ICCs Regional Manager, said that the most pressing issues Assyrians face in the Kurdistan Region of Iraq (KRI) are intimidation, land grabbing by Kurdish tribes and a lack of a free press.

"There is a culture of intimidation that is present throughout most human rights violations in the KRG, something which often goes unnoticed by the larger international community. Assyrian Christians displaced by ISIS fled here for a reason, it's the better alternate. But it's an alternative, not a dream destination. We cannot make the mistake of thinking that all is well within the KRG on human rights issues.

Earlier in March, Iraqis witnessed a historic pilgrimage by Pope Francis who first arrived in the nation's capital, Baghdad, from which he flew to Erbil on the third day of his Apostolic Journey. While there he celebrated Holy Mass at the Franso Hariri Stadium with regional Christians.

Among the indigenous peoples of this land are Assyrians, who built ancient cities of Assur and Nineveh in northern Mesopotamia, now present-day Iraq. That land is called "the cradle of civilization" by many historians and produced immense intellectual, archeological and scientific developments throughout the centuries. For instance, the Cyrus Cylinder, a 2,600-year-old clay artifact, was made on the order of the Persian King Cyrus after he captured Babylon in 539 BC.

Referred to by some scholars as the "first bill on human rights", the cuneiform inscriptions on the cylinder promotes the freedom of religion and allows displaced people to return to their homelands.

Yet Assyrian Christians now living in this land need the international community to recognize the challenges and rights abuses they face in the KRI.

"For the Assyrian Christians, there needs to be recognition from the international community that their challenges are more than just ISIS, and that some of those challenges include the KRG directly. We need to talk about the land-grabbing, that is a huge problem and it's a solvable one, but it desperately needs international pressure and observation. And whenever examples of intimidation occur  whether in the land-grabbing context or perhaps against journalists who cover human rights issues  we need to be clear that this is unacceptable.

"Silence and isolation always worsen the challenges experienced by victims of human rights violations. We need to shine light on those issues, especially because when they are properly addressed, it benefits the whole of society not just one segment.
While the Government and NPHET have been expressing concern at the continuing high figures for positive cases of COVID around Ireland, the figures for Cork have remained low and stable for the past number of weeks.

While figures nationally have remained between five and six hundred on average every night, figures for Cork have been stable between 10-22 each evening during the two week period covered in the figures to hand, March 16-March 29.

When the focus is on the Local Electoral Areas, the returns from Kanturk and Macroom are very low - Kanturk had just six cases between March 9 and March 22 while Macroom had less than five in the same period.

On the other hand Mallow Electoral Area's figures were comparatively high - 29 cases or 99.5 per 100,000.

The figures for Fermoy electoral area were on a par almost with 30 cases or a rate of 82.4 per 100,000. This is substantially lower than the rate per 100,000 nationally, which is 158.4.

The city had been a blackspot for the illness earlier this year when COVID hit a peak nationally but now this seems to have abated with Cork City North West at 31 cases or 77.1 per 100,000 and Cork City South Central with 38 cases (98 cases per 100,000) being the worst hit areas.

Expand Close The numbers of COVID cases in Cork City and County have been among the lowest in Ireland for weeks / Facebook

Twitter

Email

Whatsapp The numbers of COVID cases in Cork City and County have been among the lowest in Ireland for weeks

In Cork City South West, which includes Ballincollig, there were just 11 cases in the same period with a corresponding rate of 23.4 per 100,000 while there just 8 cases in Carrigaline which translated into a rate of 22.8 per 100,000. In Bandon there were 11 cases with a rate of 29.5 per 100,000.

The authorities will be concerned that Easter passes off with as few public gatherings as possible but this may be thwarted by a planned anti lockdown protest in Cork City on Easter Sunday afternoon.

A few hundred attended the previous protest in Cork City Centre on March 13 and it passed off without any major incident.

However the online chatter about protests at Easter has remained at a high level and Sunday's protest could prove problematic.
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
FRACKVILLE  Great Vespers and the laying out of the Holy Shroud for veneration at St. Michael Ukrainian Catholic Church drew about 40 faithful to the midafternoon service on Good Friday.

The vesper service begins with subdued church lighting that increases in brightness during the service.

The Rev. Petro Zvarych, pastor, conducted the service, assisted by the Rev. Deacon Paul M. Spotts. In addition to five altar servers, also involved was cantor Dr. Michael Halupa. The service was in person, but others could watch on Facebook live and delayed through Donna Spotts, who operated video equipment.

For much of the vespers, Zvarych, Spotts and the altar servers stood before a purple-cloth draped wooden cross, which was behind a table covered in white linen, where eventually the Holy Shroud (Plaschanitsa) that depicts Jesus in the tomb, will be placed.

According to the Ukrainian People website (ukrainianpeople.us):

Good Friday is a solemn time that commemorates the day our Lord was crucified. This day is observed as a strict fast, so no meat or dairy products are consumed. No manual labor is allowed. All conversation is done quietly. Part of the services of that day includes the ancient custom of the Veneration of the Holy Shroud. The Holy Shroud is a representation of the sheet that Christ was buried in following his death on the cross.

The body of Jesus with His wounds is depicted, laying in repose, often pictured with other individuals who were part of the events of Good Friday, such as Joseph and Nicodemus, who took Jesus down from the cross.

Toward the end of the service, the Holy Shroud was brought from the sanctuary behind the icon wall by being carried by Zvarych over his back. He brought it to the front, where four men took hold at the four corners in wait for a procession that made its way around the outside of the church.

The procession included a cross-bearer leading, followed by a bearer of banners, the cantor and choir, altar servers using wooden clackers, which are traditionally used between Holy Thursday and the Easter vigil in place of bells, a censor bearer, the four men holding the Holy Shroud, and the priest carrying the Book of Gospels. All in the church can participate.

When the procession reenters the church, and following additional prayers, the Holy Shroud is placed on the table for venerations.

The tradition is for people to venerate the shroud after the service by moving up the center aisle on their knees to the shroud, although walking is also permitted.

In the past, the tradition also included people kissing the shroud where the five wounds of Jesus are located.

Because of COVID-19 precautions, Zvarych advised not to kiss it but welcomed all to venerate the shroud with a bow.
New Delhi:

India flayed Pakistan at UNGA stage on Friday for accusing it of war crime and crimes against humanity in Kashmir.



Speaking as Right to Reply to Pakistan PM Abbasi's speech, the First Secretary in the Permanent Mission of India to the UN Eenam Gambhir flayed Pakistan through a lesson in history.



"In its short history, Pakistan has become a geography synonymous with terror. Pakistan is now 'Terroristan', with a flourishing industry producing and exporting global terrorism," MEA envoy said.



Gambhir further added that Pakistan must understand that the State of J&K is and will always remain an integral part of India.

"However much it scales up cross-border terrorism, it will never succeed in undermining India's territorial integrity," she said.

Pakistan is now Terroristan

"Quest for a land of pure has produced the land of pure terror" - @IndiaUNNewYork replies to Pakistan @UN pic.twitter.com/I2n8Nq0d7i  Syed Akbaruddin (@AkbaruddinIndia) September 22, 2017



During the 71st General Assembly, Gambhir had risen to fame with her 'Ivy League of Terrorism' remarks against Pakistan. "The land of Taxila, one of the greatest learning centres of ancient times, is now host to the Ivy League of terrorism. It attracts aspirants and apprentices from all over the world. The effects of its toxic curriculum are felt across the globe," she said during her 2016 speech.

Read | UNGA 2017: Pakistan PM Abbasi accuses India of human rights violations in Kashmir, asks UN to appoint special envoy

Here are the excerpts of Gambhir's speech during India's Right to Reply to Pakistan PM's speech at UNGA 2017:

#It is extraordinary that the state which protected Osama Bin Laden and sheltered Mullah Omar should have the gumption to play victim



#In its short history, Pakistan has become a geography synonymous with terror



#The quest for a land of pure has actually produced "the land of pure terror"



#Pakistan is now 'Terroristan', with a flourishing industry producing and exporting global terrorism



#Pakistan must understand that the State of J&K is and will always remain an integral part of India



#However much it scales up cross border terrorism,it will never succeed in undermining India's territorial integrity

#WATCH: India hits out at Pakistan calling it 'Terroristan'-with a flourishing industry producing & exporting global terrorism #UN #Geneva pic.twitter.com/nmFlvBeVM1  ANI (@ANI) September 22, 2017

#Even as terrorists thrive in Pak & roam its streets with impunity, we have heard it lecture about protection of human rights in India



#World does not need lessons on democracy and human rights from a country whose own situation is charitably described as a failed state



#'Terroristan' is in fact a territory whose contribution to the globalisation of terror is unparalleled



#Pakistan can only be counseled to abandon a destructive worldview that has caused grief to the entire world



#If it could be persuaded to demonstrate commitment to civilization,order&peace, it may still find some acceptance in comity of nations

Read | Sushma Swarajs veiled attack on Pak: 'Countries using terrorism as an instrument of state policy'

For all the Latest India News, Download News Nation Android and iOS Mobile Apps.
STATEN ISLAND, N.Y.  New York City students who have been learning remotely full-time have until Wednesday to opt-into in-person instruction.

The city opened a new two-week opt-in period from March 24 through April 7 to allow students who have been learning from home a chance to go back to school buildings.

The opt-in period was announced after the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) released new guidelines for K-12 schools amid the coronavirus (COVID-19) pandemic, reducing the recommended distance between students from six feet to three feet. The CDC said last week that students can safely sit just three feet apart in the classroom as long as they wear a mask, but should be kept the usual six feet away from one another at sporting events, assemblies, lunch or chorus practice.

It will be the second time this school year that full-time remote learners can switch to in-person learning. The first opt-in period was in mid-November.

You can fill out this survey online, or call 311, by April 7 to let the city Department of Education (DOE) know that you are opting into blended in-person learning for the remainder of the school year.

*** CLICK HERE FOR COMPLETE COVERAGE OF CORONAVIRUS IN NEW YORK ***

Mayor Bill de Blasio said that the citys younger students who choose to opt-in now will be back in school buildings this 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 the new opt-in period, more work needs to be done in bringing those additional middle and high school students back to campus.

We still have more work to do for middle and high school, de Blasio said. Were still not sure about those timelines, as I said, the opt-in will include middle and high school students so we know what their intentions are, and then well be able to provide more information as we get more guidance and as we see the overall situation evolve.

WHAT TO EXPECT

If you opt-in to blended learning, your childs school will keep you informed about its specific learning model and your childs schedule.

At any time of the year for any reason, you can opt your child back into fully remote learning.

Signing up for blended learning means schools are arranging schedules and programs to serve the number of students they expect to see in-person each day. And the DOE wants to make sure the expectation is clear  if you are in blended learning, your school expects that you will attend school in-person.

Students who sign up for blended learning must submit consent for random coronavirus testing by the first day their child begins in-person learning. 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.

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.

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 three 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.

For information on opting-in to the blended learning plan, go to schools.nyc.gov/returntoschool2020.

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.
A man has pleaded guilty to transporting more than 100 immigrants, including four unaccompanied juveniles, inside a refrigerated trailer, according to court documents.

Barry Terence Harvin, 59, pleaded guilty on Thursday to conspiracy to transport immigrants who had crossed the border illegally. U.S. District Judge Diana Saldana will sentence him at a later date. At that time, Harvin faces up to 10 years in federal prison and a possible $250,000 maximum fine.

Harvin remains in federal custody. Homeland Security Investigations conducted the investigation with the assistance of the U.S. Border Patrol. Assistant U.S. Attorney Paul A. Harrison is prosecuting the case.

On Jan. 22, Harvin arrived at the Border Patrol checkpoint on Interstate 35 operating a semi-tractor and hauling a refrigerated trailer. During the immigration inspection of Harvin, a K-9 unit allegedly alerted to possible contraband within the trailer. An X-ray scan of the trailer revealed anomalies.

Further inspection resulted in the apprehension of 104 people who were inside the trailer. Four were unaccompanied juveniles. Agents said all were immigrants from Mexico, Honduras, Guatemala and El Salvador illegally present in the country. Border Patrol pointed out that there were four unaccompanied minors in the trailer.

After advisement and waiver of rights, Harvin admitted to federal agents that he had been hired to drive the semi-tractor knowing there were illegal immigrants inside, states the affidavit. He stated he was to be paid $1,000 per person transported. Harvin stated he was to drive the semi-tractor north toward San Antonio.

Harvin claimed a friend had offered him the job. He had parked the truck and trailer near some brush when several illegal immigrants emerged from the brush and entered the trailer. His friend closed the trailer doors before Harvin drove toward San Antonio, according to the U.S. Attorneys Office.
Capitol Police Officer William Billy F. Evans, a graduate of Western New England University in Springfield, was killed Friday after a man rammed a car into him and another officer at a barricade outside the U.S. Capitol and then emerged wielding a knife. It was the second line-of-duty death this year for a department still struggling to heal from the Jan. 6 insurrection.

Evans, a North Adams native, grew up in Clarksburg and graduated from Drury High School in 1998, according to public records and his Facebook page. Following his graduation from WNEU in 2002, he moved to Virginia and was hired by Capitol Police on March 7, 2003.

The father of two, Evans was a member of the departments first responders unit.

Todays news of the passing of USCP Officer William Billy Evans, an 18-year veteran of the force, is tragic, and hits home as Officer Evans is a native of Western Massachusetts, said U.S Rep. Richard E. Neal, D-Springfield. He is indeed a hometown hero and a patriot who risked and sadly lost his life to protect our country. We are a grateful nation in mourning. This evening, my thoughts are with his family and friends who are grieving his untimely passing.

Neal added, Every day I am truly grateful for the brave men and women who work to protect our Capitol, the people who visit it, and those who go to work inside its beautiful buildings. When I walk into my office, I greet and thank the guards for their service each and every day. They not only protect us, but our beloved institutions of democracy.

WNEU president Robert E. Johnson said the university was very saddened to learn of the tragic death of Evans.

Once again, we are called to pause and reflect on a great tragedy, and to reaffirm our sense of humanity in a time of sorrow and strife  remembering one who so bravely served our nations capitol, Johnson said. Please keep Billy Evans and his family in your prayers.

US Capitol Police statement on the on-duty death of Officer William Evans after US Capitol attack @wjz pic.twitter.com/C87zjjvirg  Mike Hellgren (@HellgrenWJZ) April 2, 2021

Video shows the driver of the crashed car emerging with a knife in his hand and starting to run at the two officers, Capitol Police Acting Chief Yogananda Pittman told reporters. Authorities shot the suspect, who died at a hospital.

Authorities said there wasnt an ongoing threat, though the Capitol was put on lockdown for a time as a precaution. There was also no immediate connection apparent between yesterdays crash and the Jan. 6 riot.

Law enforcement officials identified the suspect as 25-year-old Noah Green. Investigators were digging into his background and examining whether he had any mental health history as they tried to discern a motive. They were working to obtain warrants to access his online accounts.

Pittman said the suspect did not appear to have been on the polices radar. But the attack underscored that the building and campus  and the officers charged with protecting them  remain potential targets for violence.

President Joe Biden said in a statement that he and his wife were heartbroken to learn of the attack and expressed condolences to Evans family. He directed flags at the White House to be lowered to half staff.

The crash and shooting happened at a security checkpoint near the Capitol typically used by senators and staff on weekdays, though most were away from the building for the current recess. The attack occurred about 100 yards (91 meters) from the entrance of the building on the Senate side of the Capitol. One witness, the Rev. Patrick Mahoney, said he was finishing a Good Friday service nearby when he heard three shots ring out.

The Washington region remains on edge nearly three months after a mob of insurrectionists loyal to former President Donald Trump stormed the Capitol as Congress was voting to certify Bidens presidential win.

Five people died in the Jan. 6 riot, including Capitol Police officer Brian Sicknick, who was among a badly outnumbered force trying to fight off the intruders seeking to overturn the election. Authorities installed a tall perimeter fence around the Capitol and for months restricted traffic along the roads closest to the building, but they had begun pulling back some of the emergency measures. Fencing that prevented vehicular traffic near that area was only recently removed.

Evans was the seventh Capitol Police member to die in the line of duty in the departments history, according to the Officer Down Memorial Page, which tracks deaths of law enforcement. In addition, two officers, one from Capitol Police and another from Washingtons Metropolitan Police Department, died by suicide following the Jan. 6 attack.

Almost 140 Capitol Police officers were wounded in that attack, including officers not issued helmets who sustained head injuries and one with cracked ribs, according to the officers union. It took hours for the National Guard to arrive, a delay that has driven months of finger-pointing between that days key decision makers.

Capitol Police and National Guard troops were called upon soon afterward to secure the Capitol during Bidens inauguration and faced another potential threat in early March linked to conspiracy theories falsely claiming Trump would retake the presidency.

Today, once again, these heroes risked their lives to protect our Capitol and our country, with the same extraordinary selflessness and spirit of service seen on January 6, House Speaker Nancy Pelosi said in a statement. On behalf of the entire House, we are profoundly grateful.

(Material from the Associated Press was used in this report.)
KONNOR PERRIN, Chariho boys lacrosse, freshman: Perrin established a school record for assists in a game with nine in the Chargers 22-0 win over Ponaganset. Perrin leads the team with 21 assists to go with 14 goals.

LILA RICH, Stonington girls track, senior: Rich won two events at the ECC Division I track meet. Rich was first in the high jump (5-0) and the pole vault (10-0) as the Bears finished third at the meet.

MADIGAN HILTZ, Westerly boys lacrosse, senior: Hiltz scored seven goals and had three assists in pair of victories for the Bulldogs. Hiltz has 17 goals and seven assists for the season.

ADDIE HAUPTMANN, Wheeler softball, junior: Hauptmann was 4 for 9 with a home run and six RBIs in two games. For the season, Hauptmann is hitting .617 with eight homers and 42 RBIs. She has 50 hits.

Vote

View Results
A mother acquitted of injecting faeces into her son's blood has opened up about the six-year ordeal that tore her life and family apart.

Charges against the mother, 39, were dismissed in court on Tuesday, bringing an end to a legal drama that started when her son got sick in 2014.

She is still separated from her four young children while fighting on another front in family court to get them back.

The woman was accused of controversial disorder Munchausen syndrome by proxy where a caregiver makes someone sick to get attention.

The mother of four that was accused of injecting faeces into her son has said she wants her children back after she was cleared of poisoning her son

'They dumped me on the street at night at 9.30. I wasn't allowed to see my children for six years,' she told The Daily Telegraph.

This weekend she will see her children for the first time since being marched out of the Westmead Children's Hospital by police late at night in October 2014.

At the time she had four children all aged under 10 - they are now all six years older.

'It is basically like your children have died, this abrupt withdrawal,' the mother said of what she went through.

Just days after being freed of charges, the mother explained what happened leading up to her being accused of carrying a tube of faeces and putting it in her son's cannula, leading to his bloodstream - a claim she slammed as 'disgusting'.

Her nine-year-old son, who needed steroids for severe asthma, became so unwell he had to be flown from Katoomba, in the Blue Mountains, to hospital in Sydney.

She recalled feeling judged as the case was investigated for not taking her son to his usual GP, even though that doctor was away on holiday.

Also questioned was her decision to drive the sick boy from their Wentworth Falls home to Blue Mountains Hospital, instead of calling an ambulance.

She said this was because it was only a short drive and the ambulance could take up to an hour to arrive.

Her son was in intensive care for six weeks and placed on a drip but was found to have E. coli in his blood.

E. coli is bacteria from the gut and infections from it are common in hospitals. It is also found in faeces.

The boy was just 9-years-old when he was in hospital and his mother was accused of poisoning him

Nurses overheard the boy say 'mum, what are you trying to put in my cannula?' when one of them was checking the drip three days before a blood sample was taken.

The next day he was heard to scream 'why are you doing this, poisoning me?' when his mother was in the room.

The mother later claimed her son was confused about who was in front of him and was addressing nurses at the time, not her.

'One nurse admitted that was the truth and thank God he did,' she said.

The mother said her son was delusional while in hospital, which is common with the steroid withdrawal he faced.

He was also given morphine to help reduce discomfort from steroid withdrawals.

Professor David Isaacs interviewed the mother briefly in hospital and two days later police removed from her son's bedside and charged her.

The NSW District Court heard last week that Professor Isaacs raised concerns the mother had injected her son with faecal matter, after a blood sample tested positive for E.coli and another bacterium found in the bowel.

'How are you supposed to inject poo into a cannula when he is in intensive care with a one-on-one nurse?' the mother told the Telegraph after the case was thrown out.

Professor Issacs raised the possibility she could have Munchausen by proxy, which was passed to the Department of Family Services and police.

'If I get it wrong the child dies,' he later told the court.

'I have once in my life missed it and the child died and the mother told me afterwards what she had been doing with that child and I'm never going to miss it again if I can help it.'

This weekend she will see her children for the first time since being marched out of the Westmead Children's Hospital (pictured) by police late at night in October 2014

She lost custody of her children, lost her job after being deregistered as a nurse - because the police filed a complaint with the nurse's registration board - and was forced to sell her home.

Eventually the woman was admitted to a psychiatric ward, where she lived for eight months.

'I was their mother and I didn't get to see my youngest son's first day of kindy, my kid's first day of high school. Heartbroken doesn't even describe it,' she said.

Justice Smith found the E. coli poisoning could have been the result of contamination.

'As a consequence I am not satisfied beyond reasonable doubt that (the woman) administered a noxious thing to the boy,' Judge Smith said.

The woman wept as the judge told her she was free to go on Tuesday.

'Finally I proved that I'm innocent,' she said. 'I nearly died in those six years but I didn't. And now I'm here getting proven innocent,' she said outside court.

'I just want my children to know that Mum's not a bad person.'

Her lawyer Pauline David added: 'The only thing that was administered in this case has been a gross injustice to the accused for more than six-and-a-half years.

'She has lost her children... She has lost financially... She has lost her ability to work in her occupation as nurse. And she has also nearly lost her sanity.'


Finding only frustration, yet determined to seek answers, Linda, who had spent sixteen years as an editor for TV Guide Magazine, felt compelled to shift directions in her career. Previously obtaining her Master's Degree, Linda once again returned to school. It was her motivation to fix her own acne scars that lead Linda to delve into the world of medical esthetics. Always passionate about helping others, Linda believed that if she could continue her tireless research, she would truly be able to help others suffering with skin conditions like she did. As a Licensed Esthetician, and after years of extensive research working with world renowned Plastic Surgeons and Dermatologists, Linda has acquired extensive knowledge in all aspects of clinical skin care, including the latest advancements in medical skin treatments, products and technology. As a result, Linda's expertise, advice and highly effective treatments are sought by many throughout the region between Philadelphia and New York City.

Among those who entrust their skin care to this highly respected specialist are Linda's loyal patients at The Skin Rejuvenator Skin Care Studio in Rittenhouse Square, Philadelphia. Her clientele ranges from models, actors, TV personalities, professional athletes and other celebrities.

EDUCATION



Temple University, Masters of Education, Psycho Educational Processes

Licensed Esthetician, Pennsylvania - Magnolia School of Beauty, Esthetics

Licensed Esthetician, New York - Magnolia School of Beauty, Esthetics

CONTACT:

Linda Lee Tagliamonte, LE

653 West Skippack Pike

Blue Bell, PA, USA

(445) 444-1928

www.theskinrejuvenator.com

About Aesthetic Everything:



Aesthetic Everything is the largest network of aesthetic professionals and hosts the Beauty Expo Trade Show & Celebrity/Media Red Carpet Awards. Aesthetic Everything 2021 Beauty Expo.

Media Contact:



VANESSA JULIA FLOREZ

E-MAIL: [email protected]

IG: https://www.instagram.com/aestheticeverything1/

https://madmimi.com/s/5f43f11

SOURCE Aesthetic Everything

Related Links

https://aestheticeverything.com


A two-year-old boy has been pictured for the first time after he died after being hit by a car in Dumfries.

Alex Radan was playing in the street when he was struck by a Honda Civic in Charnwood Place at around 6.50pm on Friday.

The car hit the child beside a fenced-off island which housed a play area, according to those living nearby.

They said they thought the driver didn't realise he had hit a child because he carried on driving before returning and then leaving again.

Police and ambulance services raced to the scene and rushed Alex to Dumfries and Galloway Royal Infirmary, where he was pronounced dead shortly afterwards.

The driver of the car, a 54-year-old man, was said to be uninjured.

Alex Radan (pictured with his father George), two, was playing in the street when he was struck by a Honda Civic in Charnwood Place at around 6.50pm on Friday

The two-year-old boy was struck by a Honda Civic in Charnwood Place (pictured) at around 6.50pm on Friday

A close family friend told The Sun: 'The parents are in the hospital with the baby. 'They are grieving. They can't accept what happened.

'They are in so much pain. They are very good people and their children are lovely. Why this happened, I don't know. There's a lot of pain.'

The boy's parents, George and Cristina Radan, were in hospital yesterday as family friends visited their home.

Mourners left floral tributes and a cuddly toy rabbit in the street next to the scene.

And workers at a neighbouring garage said they had CCTV footage of the incident which they had given to the police.

Sergeant Bob McNay, from Police Scotland's road policing unit, said: 'Our thoughts are with the child's family at this time, following their tragic loss.

'The investigation into the incident is ongoing and we are asking for anyone who was in the area and witnessed the events to please come forward.

'We are also keen to speak to anyone who may have CCTV overlooking the Charnwood Place area to get in contact, as they may be able to assist our inquiries.

'If you have any information, please contact police on 101, quoting incident 3597 of April 2, 2021.'

MailOnline has contacted Police Scotland for further comment.
China in Focus (April 2): EU, UK Concerned About Press Freedom in China

The European Union and the UK are voicing concerns over freedom of the press in China, coming after two European journalists were forced to leave the country.

One of Chinas latest efforts to defend its actions in the Xinjiang region may have just backfired. A Xinjiang resident praising the internment camps appears to have been outed as a fake.

Shanghai is tightening up public control. Anyone who stays in the city for more than 24 hours must report to authorities.

Worries escalate over the global supply chain of microchips, as suppliers become more concentrated in certain regions, with Taiwan leading them. A possible crisis there could put the production of everyday products like smartphones, refrigerators, and microwaves at risk.

And the Chinese regime is ramping up efforts to challenge the U.S. dollars dominance. But experts say thats not likely to happen anytime soon.

Subscribe to our YouTube channel for more first-hand news from China.

For more news and videos, please visit our website and Twitter.
Pulse teams up with Francis Chan, Ebony Small for global Good Friday service

Email Print Img No-img Menu Whatsapp Google Reddit Digg Stumbleupon Linkedin Comment

For the second year in a row, evangelist Nick Hall and his young-adult ministry Pulse will host a global Good Friday broadcast, teaming up with influential leaders including Francis Chan and Ebony Small to reach millions with the hope of the Gospel.

On Good Friday  the day commemorating the crucifixion of Jesus Christ and His death on the cross  Hall will host the Good Friday Worldwide broadcast, a free livestream event, translated inover40 languages andavailable in 200 countries, including Japan, China, Nepal, Thailand, India, Kenya, Nigeria, Ukraine and Russia.

Good Friday Worldwide is set to be thelargest Easter outreach in the world, with 400 host sites, radio stations, and TV stations airing the program, which will feature messages from Chan and Small with worship led by Grammy Award winners for King and Country, Tasha Cobbs Leonard and Michael W. Smith, and Dove Award winners Kari Jobe and Cody Carnes.

Last year, the world was shaken by the unprecedented COVID-19 pandemic, radical injustice and overwhelming loneliness. We were inundated with grim news and the nations were desperate for hope, for peace, for stability, for joy," Hall said in a statement shared with The Christian Post.

"The Good News that carried us through 2020 will continue to carry us through as we recover, rebuild and repair. Our job as the global church is to share that Good News with the world. I am beyond grateful for the opportunity to once again reach the ends of the Earth with the life-changing love of Jesus Christ this Good Friday."

Last year, Pulse Ministrys Good Friday simulcast reached 115 million homes, with 130,000 individuals responding to the Gospel message and professing faith in Christ.

At the time, Hall revealed his ministry received photos from all over the world  from Nigeria to India and China  of families gathering in their living rooms, around 18-inch cathode-ray TVs, laptops and HD screens watching the services.

The doors to our church buildings may have been closed, but the church has not closed. We are living through a Great Quarantine Revival, and I think God is just getting started, he said.

Good Friday is always observed on the Friday before Easter Sunday, the day Christians believe Jesus rose from the grave conquering death. The Bible says those who believe in Christ will rise to meet Jesus when He returns as promised in 1 Thessalonians 4:16-17.

Last year, Chan, founder of Cornerstone Church in Simi Valley, California, acknowledged that while a digital Good Friday service isnt exactly the norm, theres something powerful about reflecting on Jesus' crucifixion and death in solace.

Youre used to being in a church building with a crowd of people celebrating the cross of Jesus, but I actually think that theres something fitting about you being alone because most of you are watching this by yourself or maybe with your family in just a small group, he said, noting that being alone can be a golden opportunity to connect with God.

Thats why theres something good about you being alone right now. Its one thing to yearn for Him and scream for Him when everyone else is there because the crowd may move you to that. But this Good Friday [it's good] for you to have some quiet and some isolation so that the core of your being, not just your lips, the core of your being will connect with Him, Chan said.

The free livestream can be viewed globally at GoodFriday.com and the Pulse Facebook and YouTube pages.
Metro Manila (CNN Philippines, April 3)  Defense Secretary Delfin Lorenzana said he won't be fooled by China's excuse of bad weather for the presence of its vessels at Julian Felipe Reef in the West Philippine Sea.

In a strongly worded statement on Saturday, Lorenzana told Chinese Ambassador to the Philippines Huang Xilian he "has a lot of explaining to do" about the 44 Chinese vessels still moored at Julian Felipe Reef almost two weeks after the government demanded that they leave.

Also known as Whitsun Reef, Julian Felipe is a shallow coral reef close to Bataraza in Palawan, well within the Philippines' exclusive economic zone.

The National Task Force for the West Philippine Sea on March 20 reported the presence of more than 200 Chinese vessels in the area. The Chinese government said they were only seeking shelter due to "rough sea conditions," but aerial and maritime patrols this week showed 44 ships are still there, and over 200 others are in different reefs in the Kalayaan Island Group, which the Philippines considers part of Palawan province.

"I am no fool," Lorenzana said. "The weather has been good so far, so they have no other reason to stay there."

"These vessels should be on their way out," he added. "Umalis na kayo diyan (Leave that place now)."

In response, the Chinese Embassy in Manila called the Secretary's statement "perplexing" and reiterated its claim that the reef is part of China's Nansha Islands. The Embassy added it was "completely normal" for Chinese fishing vessels to fish near the reef.

"The waters around Niu'e Jiao (Julian Felipe Reef) has been a traditional fishing ground for Chinese fishermen for many years," said a statement attributed to the embassy's spokesperson. "Nobody has the right to make wanton remarks on such activities."

The Department of Foreign Affairs on March 21 filed a diplomatic protest and demanded that China "promptly withdraw" its ships. Philippine Ambassador to China Jose Santiago "Chito" Sta. Romana said last week Beijing gave its assurance that its vessels are only temporarily staying at Julian Felipe Reef.

Meanwhile, the Palace said President Rodrigo Duterte had raised the issue in a meeting with the Chinese envoy and reaffirmed the countrys arbitral win in the South China Sea dispute. China claims most of the global waterway, including parts of the West Philippine Sea.

An arbitral tribunal in 2016 invalidated Beijing's sweeping claims and recognized the Philippines' sovereign rights to parts of its EEZ, which the East Asian giant contests. It also ruled that China's island-building activities on several reefs in the Kalayaan Island Group constitute violations to the United Nations Convention on the Law of the Sea or UNCLOS and "have caused devastating and long-lasting damage to the marine environment." China refuses to recognize the landmark ruling.

This week, the Armed Forces Chief of Staff Lt. Gen. Cirilito Sobejana said government forces also spotted "illegal" mand-made structures in Pagkakaisa Banks or Union Banks, a group of features in the Kalayaan Island Group that includes Julian Felipe Reef.

The government has increased the deployment of Navy, Coast Guard, and Bureau of Fisheries and Aquatic Resources vessels in the area to augment routine patrols and assert the country's sovereignty.
Fear is not the only factor that determines whether bystanders act in such moments. Bibb Latane, a social psychologist who helped pioneer the field of bystander intervention in the years following the Kitty Genovese murder, described another dynamic at play: the diffusion of responsibility that can lead to inaction among strangers who witness a crime.

Professor Latane, along with the social psychologist John M. Darley, sought to replicate real-life emergencies through a series of lab experiments with people who did not know one another. The greater the number of onlookers, they found, the less likely people were to intervene. They also determined that strangers unconsciously took their cues from those around them, a concept known as social influence, and were less likely to intervene when others were similarly passive.

In an interview, Professor Latane said the theories that he and Mr. Darley had developed nearly five decades ago were frequently overlooked by those who cling to popular notions of the emotionally detached bystander. He said those sentiments were often fanned by the news media, which tends to publicize incidents in which witnesses failed to act while ignoring instances when onlookers intervened. It's the unusual event that makes it newsworthy, he said. It was never about apathy, its about social inhibition, and Ive always thought it was unfair that New York was condemned for what happened to Genovese.

More recent research that examines real-life interactions has led to advances in the field. The 2019 study by Professor Philpot, for one, found that a greater number of bystanders increased the prospects for intervention. In reviewing the surveillance footage, the researchers found that on average at least three people chose to act, and they determined that the presence of each additional bystander led to a 10 percent increase in the odds that a victim would receive help.

Although Professor Philpot said his research was not aimed at testing the bystander effect theory, the findings suggest that there is safety in numbers. While the presence of more bystanders may reduce the likelihood that each single individual intervenes, it also provides a wider pool of potential help givers, thus boosting the overall likelihood that the victim receives help from at least someone, he said.

Alan Berkowitz, an expert on the bystander effect and the author of Response-Ability: A Complete Guide to Bystander Intervention, said that other factors, including the race of the perpetrator or victim, could play an unconscious role in determining whether people help a stranger in need. Research suggests that bystanders who, for instance, are white might not feel its worth their while getting involved in an incident involving two people of color, but they might feel more comfortable intervening in a fight between two white male executives, said Dr. Berkowitz, a psychologist who runs workshops for college students, community groups and members of the military about ways to effectively intervene to prevent acts of violence and sexual assault. Once you train yourself to become aware of these things, and you are trained to do interventions that are safe and effective, you become more comfortable acting on your desire to help.

Some of those tactics include distracting the perpetrator, calling for help or finding a way to enlist other bystanders to intervene more collaboratively. Talking to other bystanders is really important, because often we dont know that others are also concerned, he said.
Phillippines extends lockdown for a week

The sluggish rollout of vaccines and poor contact tracing have fuelled criticism of President Rodrigo Duterte's government, which has been accused of bungling its response to the pandemic. File photo: AFP

The Philippines will extend a coronavirus lockdown of more than 24 million people, an official said Saturday, as it deploys tents and health workers to overwhelmed hospitals in the capital where cases are surging.



People in Metro Manila  the national capital region  and four neighbouring provinces will have to stay home for another week unless they are essential workers, presidential spokesman Harry Roque said.



The announcement came as the number of new infections for a single day hit a record high of 12,576, taking the country's caseload to more than 784,000, including over 13,400 deaths.



More contagious variants of the virus and poor compliance with health protocols have been blamed for the surge in recent weeks.



"We call on local governments to tighten enforcement of our quarantine measures and confront people who fail to follow minimum health standards," Roque said.



Independent research group OCTA said the week-long enhanced community quarantine imposed on March 29 was showing signs of slowing the spread of the virus, "but we're not there yet".



The spike has swamped many hospitals, with reports of people driving for hours around the sprawling capital looking for a facility that can treat their sick loved ones.



To boost capacity, the health department said modular tents were being delivered to hospitals across Metro Manila with the help of the World Health Organisation and the UN children fund UNICEF.



Under the restrictions affecting a fifth of the country's population, church services and other mass gatherings are banned and a 6:00 pm to 5:00 am curfew is in force.



Supermarkets, pharmacies and other essential businesses are allowed to operate, and outdoor exercise is permitted.



A previous months-long lockdown crippled the Philippine economy, cost millions of jobs and left many households hungry.



The sluggish rollout of vaccines and poor contact tracing have fuelled criticism of President Rodrigo Duterte's government, which has been accused of bungling its response to the pandemic.



As of Thursday, 760,938 health workers had received their first dose, the health department said.



The government said previously it aims to finish inoculating 1.7 million health workers by mid-April.



"Those who can take the vaccine must have themselves vaccinated now," Roque said. (AFP)
The police department's oversight board declared on Friday it would release a body camera video displaying a police officer fatally shooting a 13-year-old boy in the chest. This is after reversing course upon pressure by city officials and the public.

Video of Chicago Police Shooting Boy

According to Chicago Police Department's civilian oversight office on Thursday, it could not release the footage due to the victim's age. Adam Toledo was gunned in the chest and killed on Monday after authorities were cautioned of possible shots fired in the Little Village neighborhood, which is a predominately Latino community.

Despite a state law preventing releasing of videos involving underaged children without a court order, according to Chicago's Office of Police Accountability, the law does not, in fact, prohibit the release of the alarming video showing Adam Toledo's fatal shooting. The agency stated, "COPA's General Counsel concluded that the Juvenile Court Act does not bar publication of the body worn and third-party video camera footage the agency has obtained to date. COPA will therefore follow established city policy, which requires public posting of material not later than 60 days after the incident," reported NBC Chicago.

The cause of death was listed as a gunshot wound to the chest and ruled his death a homicide. The shooting was held at around 2:36 AM on Monday in the 2300 block of South Sawyer Avenue, according to Chicago police.

According to Chicago Police Superintendent David Brown in a statement on Thursday, "My greatest fear as the Superintendent of the Chicago Police Department has been a deadly encounter between one of our own and a juvenile especially given the recent rise in violent crimes involving juveniles throughout the city." He added that, however, this fear became a reality previously this week, reported ABC News.

'Kill the Bill' Bristol Protest Sees 20 Police Officers Injured

The family of the 13-year-old boy killed by a Chicago policeman in an "armed confrontation" has hired a lawyer and seeks justice for his demise. The boy was identified on Thursday coming from Little Village by the Cook County medical examiner's office.

On Thursday, there were growing cries to release the body camera video of a 13-year-old boy being gunned and killed. The COPA stated, on Thursday, it will be a long while before anyone in public could see the footage, reported CBS News.

The incident transpired when officers responded to a warning of multiple gunshots and spotted two males in an alley. One of the persons, who was allegedly armed, escaped from the officers. What followed was a foot pursuit followed by a confrontation, stated a preliminary statement from the Chicago Police Department.

The police officer's name was not released. The 13-year-old was pronounced dead at the scene.

The COPA remarked it is working with Toledo's family to schedule a viewing. They send their condolences to the Toledo family amid this devastating time.

The police officers involved have been imposed on administrative duties for 30 days in adherence department policy. The Civilian Office of Police Accountability is probing into the shooting.

Atlanta Shootings: Video Shows Suspect Parking in Front of Spa

@ 2021 HNGN, All rights reserved. Do not reproduce without permission.
Oil prices have lost some momentum in recent weeks, pushed from highs not seen since early 2020 by headwinds like a stronger dollar and concerns about global oil demand.

But prices remain above $60 a barrel as the industry approaches the first anniversary of the first  and only  day of negative pricing, when prices fell to negative $38 a barrel on April 20, 2020.

Traders headed into the long Easter weekend Thursday by sending West Texas Intermediate on the New York Mercantile Exchange up $2.29 or about 4 percent to $61.45 a barrel. The posted price ended the week at $57.93, according to Plains All-American.

Fueling the surge was an announcement by members of the Organization of Petroleum Exporting Countries and allied nations to boost output by 2 million barrels a day from May to July. Before the announcement, oil prices had spent a week wavering between $61 and $59 a barrel.

The markets did take the OPEC action in stride as did oil prices, Ben Shepperd, president of the Permian Basin Petroleum Association, commented to the Reporter-Telegram by email. Hopefully, global demand will continue to increase, offsetting the increase in supply.

Economist Ray Perryman told the Reporter-Telegram by email, I dont think this is any particular surprise to the market. The prior production cuts were made at a time when the economy was shutting down around the globe and oil prices were collapsing. Everyone expected producers to raise output as the world economy opens up and prices permitted it. The crucial factor is to avoid the types of increases that will disrupt the overall market, which is unlikely. Most of the OPEC members need prices at or above current levels to sustain the social infrastructure that they have built around their energy resources.

Under the plan announced Thursday, OPEC members and allied nations will increase output by 350,000 barrels a day in May and June and 400,000 barrels a day in July. At the same time, Saudi Arabia will restore 1 million barrels of cuts it had made unilaterally to support the market.

OPEC+ has a fine line to walk  they are trying to maximize profit by increasing pricing and volumes, but not let prices get out of control and motivate US producers to increase rig count too fast, Grant Swartzwelder, president of OTA Environmental Solutions, told the Reporter-Telegram by email. With their previous actions they have done serious harm to US domestic production capabilities. OPEC sees that it is in their best interest to keep a thumb on the US capabilities.

He went on to comment, But this all has to be couched with what is going on with the world economy. With the world opening up and the economy returning somewhat, it should allow production increases without too much price volatility. Such volatility requires constant adjustments thus we should expect very frequent OPEC meetings and volume announcements.

The strength in prices has fueled a recovery in drilling activity, especially in the Permian Basin. Pioneer Natural Resources, one of the top producers in the region, now has 10 rigs operating in Midland County, up three from a year ago, and two rigs in Glasscock County.

Pioneer management told the Reporter-Telegram by email, While the improvement in oil price is welcome, Pioneer remains committed to a ~5 percent annual production growth rate, strengthening our top-flight balance sheet and returning free cash flow to shareholders.
STATEN ISLAND, N.Y. - An ex-convict from Port Richmond whos already served two prison stints for robbery could soon make it three.

Paris Williams, 31, was busted on Thursday in connection with an alleged armed stickup in his community on March 24, said police.

The events unfolded around 6:30 p.m. inside a Metro by T-Mobile store at 234 Port Richmond Ave., said a criminal complaint.

Williams approached a female worker, brandished what appeared to be a gun and threatened her, the complaint said.

I will shoot you in the face if you do not give me the money, the complaint quotes him as saying.

The defendant then reached into the cash register and snatched about $300 before bolting, said the complaint.

Williams was charged with felony counts of first-, second- and third-degree robbery, as well as third-degree criminal weapon possession.

Hes also accused of misdemeanor counts of menacing, stolen-property possession, petit larceny and weapon possession.

The defendant was arraigned Thursday in Criminal Court.

He is being held in lieu of $100,000 bond or cash bail, show online city Correction Department records.

His next court date is Tuesday.

Williams lawyer did not immediately return an email on Friday seeking comment on the case.

The defendant is no stranger to prison.

In 2010, he was sentenced to 42 months behind bars for robbery in Nassau County, according to online records of the state Department of Corrections and Community Supervision.

More recently, in December 2018, Williams was sentenced to three to six years after being charged in three robberies, the Advance/SILive.com has reported.

Two of the incidents occurred in December 2016 in Port Richmond, said police.

Each time, the defendant walked into a store and simulated holding a gun inside a brown paper bag while demanding money.

The final episode occurred on Jan. 12, 2017.

Williams approached a 24-year-old male employee at the MetroPCS at 1752 Hylan Blvd., Dongan Hills, at 7 p.m., displayed a handgun and demanded money, police said.

The worker said he emptied the register and gave the thief about $800, the Advance reported.

In November 2018, Williams pleaded guilty in state Supreme Court, St. George, to third-degree robbery in connection with one of the December 2016 holdups to satisfy all charges against him.

Then-Assistant District Attorney Michael Tannousis told the court prosecutors he offered the plea agreement because Williams had mental-health issues, which include bipolar disorder and schizophrenia.

He was also admitted into a psychiatric facility in South Carolina after the incidents and before his arrest, the prosecutor said.

In addition, Tannousis said the agreement was reached after speaking with the victims and reviewing the defendants medical records.

Afterward, Leo V. Duval, Williams lawyer at the time, said the disposition was meticulously worked out with prosecutors after a careful review of the defendants medical and psychiatric history.

Duval said the plea and sentence were fair and equitable.

He complimented the district attorneys office for being compassionate under the circumstances and giving great weight to the defendants mental condition at the time he committed these crimes.

Williams was paroled in that case in March 2020, records show.
Eight police officers have been injured in rioting in a loyalist area of Belfast.

Officers were targeted in Sandy Row by a crowd of mostly young people throwing bottles, bricks and fireworks.

In a statement on the Police Service of Northern Irelands Twitter account, Belfast District Commander Chief Superintendent Simon Walls called for calm.

Eight officers have so far been injured after being subjected to a sustained attack by rioters who have thrown a number of objects at police, including heavy masonry, metal rods, fireworks and manhole covers, he said.

Local communities do not want to be dragged back to the past PSNI's Simon Walls

Their injuries include burns, head and leg injuries. Seven people have been arrested at the scene.

I am appealing to all those involved to stop this appalling behaviour immediately. Police are trying to protect those living in the Shaftesbury Square, Donegall Road and Sandy Row areas and it is completely unacceptable that my officers are coming under sustained attack.

I would encourage anyone who has influence to use it now and stop the rioting before anyone else is injured, or worse.

Local communities do not want to be dragged back to the past. They deserve to live in safe and peaceful areas, free from rioting, violence and wanton destruction of their communities.

The incident on Friday evening started in the Shaftesbury Square area before moving into nearby Sandy Row.

The trouble came after four successive nights of disturbances in the unionist Waterside area of Londonderry.

The disorder has flared amid ongoing tensions within loyalism across Northern Ireland.

Loyalists and unionists are angry about post-Brexit trading arrangements which they claim have created barriers between Northern Ireland and the rest of the UK.

Tensions ramped up further this week following a controversial decision not to prosecute 24 Sinn Fein politicians for attending a large scale republican funeral during Covid-19 restrictions.

Expand Close Graffiti reading No Irish Sea border close to Sandy Row in south Belfast (Brian Lawless/PA) / Facebook

Twitter

Email

Whatsapp Graffiti reading No Irish Sea border close to Sandy Row in south Belfast (Brian Lawless/PA)

In the wake of the decision not to take action against the politicians, including deputy First Minister Michelle ONeill, all the main unionist parties have demanded the resignation of PSNI chief constable Simon Byrne, claiming he has lost the confidence of their community.

The Sandy Row disturbances, which unfolded ahead of a planned loyalist protest in the area, were met with widespread political condemnation on Friday night.

However, the main non unionist parties also accused unionist leaders of creating the febrile atmosphere and stoking up tensions.

Alliance Justice Minister Naomi Long said: This is in no-ones best interests  not the officers dealing with it and not the mostly young people risking their futures by engaging in it.

Its incumbent on leaders to behave responsibly and dial down the inflammatory rhetoric over recent days. Words have consequences.

SDLP South Belfast MP Claire Hanna tweeted: Sad to see disorder in Sandy Row. Usual suspects with no vision whip up tension for electoral gain, which they never use to improve life for those they pretend to represent. History repeats, people lose hope, kids get criminal records, communities pull apart. Theres a better way.

Sad to see disorder in Sandy Row. Usual suspects with no vision whip up tension for electoral gain, which they never use to improve life for those they pretend to represent. History repeats, people lose hope, kids get criminal records, communities pull apart. Thereas a better way  Claire Hanna (@ClaireHanna) April 2, 2021

DUP MLA for the area Christopher Stalford said: Given the actions of the Deputy First Minister some folks may believe that they can break the rules.

That is not the case  two wrongs dont make a right.

The vast majority of people involved in this incident were under the age of 18.

I do not want to see young people, acting out of frustration at recent developments landing themselves in trouble with the law and ending up with criminal records.

Everyone must be equal under the law and equally subject to it, from the highest office holder in the land to every other citizen.

Sinn Fein MP for West Belfast Paul Maskey said: The DUP and political unionism are failing unionist working class communities through their dangerous and irresponsible rhetoric which is continuing to lead to heightened tensions.

This is a time for calm heads and responsible leadership.

I appeal to the DUP and political unionism to show leadership, to end their dangerous rhetoric and to ensure there is an urgent de-escalation of tensions.

Expand Close Naomi Long of Alliance said the British government were treating victims with contempt / Facebook

Twitter

Email

Whatsapp Naomi Long of Alliance said the British government were treating victims with contempt

In response to the incident, Ulster Unionist MLA Doug Beattie tweeted: Stop please. this is not going to help anyone or change anything. It damages and endangers your own community, it undermines any grievance you might have and it will achieve nothing.

The Police Federation, which represents rank and file officers, tweeted: Once again the outworkings of political flux in Northern Ireland results in our @PoliceServiceNI colleagues being attacked.

No excuse for violence and condemnation across the political spectrum would be welcome.




Cases of new coronavirus are on the rise in the Strip, but the pandemic has not stopped the desire for participation. Once more, Israel has not granted any travel permits, using the health emergency to keep tight control. For Fr Romanelli, at a time of uncertainty, faith is strengthened: let us feed the desire to live through works and prayer.

Gaza (AsiaNews)  In Gaza Strip, Holy Week is a time of great participation, with over 90 per cent of Catholics present at the services, together with dozens of Orthodox, said Fr Gabriel Romanelli, parish priest of the Incarnate Word in Gaza.

Speaking to AsiaNews about the atmosphere in the Palestinian territory, the Argentinian clergyman noted the uncertainty over the rising number cases of COVID-19, the deep desire to participate in Easter celebrations, which did not take place last year at the start of the global health emergency, and the hardships faced by a community shut out from the outside world.

While the light at the end of the tunnel can be seen in Israel and Jerusalem, as Patriarch Pizzaballa said, in the Strip the pandemic adds to the suffering of a people who have long lived in an open-air prison but who have not lost faith.

Despite some restrictions, people here in the parish can live and participate in all the celebrations. The [Hamas] authorities have imposed a ban on travel by car, but people can go on foot or bicycle.

Christians were granted special permission by taking down license plates, because so many live far from the church which they can only reach by car. Last year at Easter only men and women religious were present, while this year we can celebrate with our people.

Looking at the numbers, the COVID-19 pandemic seems to be expanding with more than a thousand cases on 30 March, the highest figure in recent months.

While Gaza is going through a surge, the number are down in Jerusalem and Israel, thanks to the massive vaccination campaign undertaken by outgoing Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, ahead of the recent general election.

The epidemiological situation is very dangerous with more than 65,000 cases and 610 deaths of a population of two million, said Magdy Dahir, an official with Gazas Health Ministry.

Until recently, the Strips isolation had protected it but in October the virus managed to get in.

Despite the pandemic, the faithful want to be present, explained Fr Romanelli. They did so in recent days at Masses, rosaries, confessions, with the Way of the Cross staged last week with many young people (pictured)

On the Palm Sunday, the scouts prepared the procession; after so many years they played drums and bagpipes again.

On Holy Thursday, on the occasion of the washing of the feet, there was at least one representative of each Catholic family in Gaza. We are 133, 13 men and women religious, so the number is small but the faith and sense of community are deeply rooted.

Today, the distribution of eggs, chocolate and blessed water is planned, while tomorrow we plan the solemn Eucharistic procession with the risen Christ.

In part, these events also affect Muslims since those who live near the parish church or are close to Christian organisations never fail to wish us well. The same cannot be said about the authorities who prefer to extend their wishes at Christmas, when the birth of Jesus is celebrated. They tend not to officially recognise death and resurrection.

However, in terms of dialogue, Pope Francis' trip to Iraq was important, because it gave new visibility to Christians and highlighted their role and importance in the Middle East, while condemning in no uncertain terms terrorism committed in the name of religion, including Islamic terrorism when he referred to the Islamic State group.

The impossibility of leaving the Strip to celebrate in Jerusalem or with friends and relatives in the West Bank is a source of great regret. Israel was not inclined to issue many permits in the past; with the COVID-19 pandemic, the few became zero. It has been virtually impossible to leave for more than a year.

Israel has not shown any sign of openness, and we foreigners must obtain more permits: passport, religious visa, green light from military authority and now a procedure that involves the diocese, a third party organisation and the Israeli authorities, which then give the go-ahead.

Red tape has gotten worse . . . It is a good thing that Hamas, better than many governments of the 'Christian' nations in the West, has allowed celebrations to go ahead here in the Strip. Moreover, the people of Gaza have long been accustomed to living in a prison, so they take the further restrictions and bans with irony, saying 'we have always been confined.

What remains is the desire to live the faith with great joy and hope, because the pandemic will end one day, as did the wars and great tragedies of the past.

Faith is the spark to allows people to find courage. This is my invitation for Easter: We must go back to church, go to Mass, experience the celebration with joyful faith, anchored in the presence of Christ in the Eucharist.

For Fr Romanelli, The second thing is not to lose the shared sense of meaning. All this shall pass, but in the meantime, we must not abandon the poor and the elderly nor not neglect ourselves. Let us not give up; let us feed the desire to live through works and prayer. . . We are waiting for hot weather to go to together on an outing to the beach.
(Alliance News) - The evidence is shifting towards a causal link between rare blood clots and the Covid-19 vaccine from Oxford University and AstraZeneca PLC, according to an expert.

The UK Medicines & Healthcare products Regulatory Agency said it had identified 30 cases of rare blood clot events out of 18.1 million doses of the jab administered up to and including March 24.

There have been 7 deaths among the 30 cases.

But the regulator said the benefits of the vaccine in preventing coronavirus outweigh any risks and it urged the public to continue coming forward for the jab.

It did not disclose any information about the 7 people who died such as their ages or health conditions.

The 30 cases include 22 reports of cerebral venous sinus thrombosis and 8 of other thrombosis events with low platelets.

CVST clots stop blood draining from the brain properly.

Professor Paul Hunter, a medical microbiologist at the University of East Anglia, told the BBC Radio 4 Today programme: "It is not uncommon to get clusters of rare events purely by chance.

"But once you find that cluster in one population and it then crops up in another a such as previously in the German and now in the English a then I think the chances of that being a random association is very, very low.

"Clearly more work needs to be done, but I think the evidence is shifting more towards it being causally related at the moment."

However he said the risks of taking the AstraZeneca vaccine are still far outweighed by the risks of not getting the jab.

"The chance of dying if you don't have the vaccine is many times greater than the risk of dying from [cerebral venous thrombosis] after the AstraZeneca vaccine, even if it does turn out, as I suspect it will, that this link is causal," he said.

Germany is suspending use of the AstraZeneca vaccine for people aged under 60 due to fears of a link with rare blood clots.

On Friday, the Dutch government also said it would temporarily halt AstraZeneca jabs for people under 60, after it received five reports of blood clots with low blood plate counts following vaccinations.

But the head of the European Medicines Agency has said there is "no evidence" to support restricting the use of the AstraZeneca vaccine in any population.

The agency said a causal link between unusual blood clots in people who have had the vaccine is "not proven, but is possible", also adding that the benefits of the vaccine outweigh the risks of side effects.

That view is echoed by the World Health Organisation, which has urged countries to continue using the jab.

June Raine, MHRA chief executive, said: "The benefits of Covid-19 vaccine AstraZeneca in preventing Covid-19 infection and its complications continue to outweigh any risks and the public should continue to get their vaccine when invited to do so.

"As published in our most recent weekly summary of yellow card reporting for Covid-19 vaccines, up to and including March 24 we had received 22 reports of CVST and eight reports of other thrombosis events with low platelets, out of a total of 18.1 million doses of Covid-19 vaccine AstraZeneca given by that date.

"There were no reports for the Pfizer/BioNTech vaccine. Our thorough review into these reports is ongoing.

"We are asking healthcare professionals to report any cases they suspect to be linked with Covid-19 vaccination via the coronavirus yellow card website."

By PA Reporters

source: PA

Copyright 2021 Alliance News Limited. All Rights Reserved.
It was fantastic to do a Boris Johnson last week and run through St James's Park in London. Mind you, unlike Boris, I had no dog in tow to jump up at strangers, or a bodyguard following my every step. Just me and my shadow.

What thrilled and concerned me  in equal parts  as I ran in view of the splendid Buckingham Palace was how busy the Royal Park was. Heaving is the word that springs to mind  and it wasn't just lunchtime workers enjoying the spring sunshine.

It was people of all ages determined to party and clock the near-ending of lockdown.

No time for relaxing: The only way this country is going to get back on its feet is through the wheels of commerce clicking back into overdrive

On the one hand, it was great to see the country emerging from its lockdown chrysalis. About time too. On the other, it raised three concerns in my mind. First, a niggling worry that coronavirus  vaccinations notwithstanding  could well thrive in such an environment as social distancing rules are routinely disobeyed.

Secondly, it seems lockdown has spawned a new breed of litter lout who has long forgotten that rubbish should be put in bins, not left for some park official to clear up. I'd fine them if I had my way  with the proceeds going to the NHS.

Finally, and most importantly, why aren't many of these party animals now back at work?

The only way this country is going to get back on its feet is through the wheels of commerce clicking back into overdrive.

The sooner this happens, the better for our economic and financial wellbeing. Everyone, including Boris and those partygoers in St James's Park, should now be doing their bit to put the great back into Great Britain.

Otherwise, we are going to end up with an anaemic economy and a debt overhang that will be with us for decades. Internationally, we will be a minnow. All hands to the pumps I say.

......................................................................................................................................

Authorised corporate director Link is up to its proverbial neck in mud resulting from its failure to do the job it was handsomely paid to do at investment fund Woodford Equity Income.

Twenty-two months after it suspended dealings in the 3.8billion Woodford fund because of liquidity issues  and 18 months after it ordered the fund's breakup  Link is being pursued by several firms looking to recover losses incurred by investors.

They claim Link failed to do the job it was paid to do  safeguard the financial interests of investors  by allowing the fund's manager Neil Woodford to go seriously off-piste. By the time the fund was suspended, it resembled more a risky venture capital fund than a solid UK equity income vehicle investing in some of the country's most dividend-friendly companies.

Link is also at the centre of a probe by the Financial Conduct Authority launched in the wake of the fund's suspension  although this investigation is moving at tortoise pace with no end date in sight (shameful).

Yet, with every passing week, the mud gets deeper.

Scrutiny: Link is being pursued for losses from Neil Woodford's fund

Last week, in an update to investors about its disposal of the fund's remaining assets, Link threw a curve ball by announcing it had made a further investment in one of the companies it had yet to dispose of  Mafic, a global manufacturer of basalt fibre.

An extraordinary decision. As one Equity Income investor told me: 'Link is not a fund manager. It has no competence to be making such investment decisions.

'It should be focused purely on selling the rump of remaining assets [164million] and returning the proceeds to Equity Income investors.'
TRIBUTES have flooded in for a motorcyclist who died in a crash in Dublin this weekend.

Jordan Kennedy (20) was pronounced dead following a single vehicle collision on the Kilshane Road in Finglas around 1am on Friday.

It is understood Jordan survived another serious motorcycle crash three years ago.

Jordan, who lived in Finglas South and was known as Romo to his pals, was described a lovely young lad and a sound chap in online tributes this weekend.

In one tribute on Facebook Sharon Bradley said: Very sad news to hear the passing of Jordan Kennedy (Romo). Another young life taken too soon. You were one of a kind and youre going to be missed by so many friends and family.

You have gained your angels wings. Look over your mam and family and give them strength to get through this sad time. Its not goodbye. See you in the next chapter. Hope you get the best bed in heaven.

Expand Close Jordan Kennedy / Facebook

Twitter

Email

Whatsapp Jordan Kennedy

Gardai said a technical examination of the scene has been completed and they have appealed for witnesses to the crash, which happened on Kilshane Road around 1.20am on Friday, to come forward.

Gardai are appealing for any witnesses to this collision to come forward and are also appealing for any road users who may have camera footage (including dash-cam) and who were travelling in the area at this time to make this footage available to Gardai.

Anyone with information is asked to contact Finglas Garda Station on 01 666 7500, the Garda Confidential Line on 1800 666 11, or any Garda Station.

Details of Jordans funeral will be announced at a later date.
leader alleged on Friday that a "wholesale capture" of India's institutional framework by the ruling dispensation has changed the paradigm in which opposition parties operate post-2014 as the institutions that are supposed to support a fair political fight do not do so anymore.

In a conversation with Harvard University professor and former US Secretary of State Nicholas Burns, Gandhi said in order to fight elections, there is a need for institutional structures, protection by the judicial system, a reasonably free media, financial parity and a set of institutional structures that allow his party to operate as a political party, but all this is not there.

"In Assam, the gentleman who is running our campaign (for the Assembly polls) has been sending me videos of BJP candidates running around with voting machines in their cars," the former chief said.

"He is screaming at the top his voice saying look, I have got a really serious problem here. But there is nothing going on in the media," he added.

There is a "wholesale capture" of the country's institutional framework, Gandhi alleged.

He claimed that there is absolute financial and media dominance by the ruling Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP).

"It is not just the Congress, the BSP is not winning an election, the SP is not winning an election, the NCP is not winning an election. To fight elections, I need institutional structures, I need a judicial system that protects me, I need a media that is reasonably free, I need financial parity, I need a set of institutional structures that allow me to operate as a political party. I do not have them," Gandhi said.

He said the way the BJP is behaving, a lot of people are getting discontented very fast and there is a need to bring them together.

"We are no longer in the same paradigm we were before 2014, we are in a different paradigm. We are in a paradigm where the institutions that are supposed to protect us do not protect us anymore," the leader said.

The institutions that are supposed to support a fair political fight do not do so anymore, he said, adding, "We have to redefine ourselves."



Noting that India is essentially a "negotiation", Gandhi said the country's institutional framework basically allows it to manage that negotiation, but that framework is under attack.

"So I worry that the negotiation will break down and if the negotiation breaks down in a country like India, then we are in very serious trouble," he said.

Asked by Burns about the farmer protests, the Congress leader said it is again about how one runs the country.

"I remember when we were in government, we had constant feedback. What amazed me was how effective, quick and powerful it was.... The model that the government uses and some of the ideas that it projects have shot down that feedback.

"You see it when Gauri Lankesh gets assassinated, you see it when people are beaten up, you see it when people are attacked...you are shutting down the feedback," he said.

What has happened is that the government has shut the feedback route so the farmers have no other way except to come out on the streets, Gandhi argued.

"It is absolutely necessary to reform agriculture, but you cannot attack the foundation of the agriculture system and you certainly cannot do that without having a conversation, because they are going to react," he said.

(Only the headline and picture of this report may have been reworked by the Business Standard staff; the rest of the content is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.)
In public, Hazzard complained that the numbers of jabs given compared to the number of doses delivered had been put into the media without being shared with the states, and then put in a misleading light. He did not say the figures were wrong. Berejiklian labelled the story untrue. The central thrust of the criticism was it was unfair to assert the states had failed to administer the jabs when thousands of doses had only just been delivered - within the past 24 to 48 hours - and they hadnt had time to get them into arms. NSW Premier Gladys Berejiklian and Health Minister Brad Hazzard unloaded on the federal government on Wednesday. Credit:Kate Geraghty In Queensland, they were also livid. Deputy Premier Steven Miles said Littleproud should give himself an uppercut. The stoush continued into Thursday as Brisbane came out of lockdown. For Australians in aged care homes, their worried families and the rest of the country eagerly awaiting their jabs, it was an unseemly squabble that fed into a widely-held perception that while Australia mastered the suppression of the coronavirus, we are stuffing up the vaccinations.

For weeks, frustrated reporters tried in vain to get more information out of authorities on vaccine shipments and jabs in arms. Then on Monday, Hunt said at a press conference that Queensland had received 106,000 doses and to their credit administered 59,000. At the Daily Telegraph, federal political reporter Clare Armstrong asked for and received the rest of the figures, resulting in the Wednesday, March 31 story that infuriated the states. It was a significant date: the day the Morrison government would inevitably be scrutinised for missing its target of 4 million vaccinations. On Macquarie Street, it felt like the story had been cooked up to deflect from that failure. But both the NSW and Queensland governments also had good reason to play up the stoush to distract from their own problems: the unvaccinated Brisbane nurse who was the source of a COVID cluster, and the debacle surrounding now-resigned Nationals MP Michael Johnsen in NSW. In reality, the federal government would have little to gain from stirring a war with the states. The premiers are incredibly popular; the Morrison government is falling behind in national polls. The states took action and got the credit for stopping the spread; the Commonwealth will have to wear its perceived failures on the vaccine - even though, as Hunt points out, its plans were cruelled way back in January when Europe started to block our expected supplies of the AstraZeneca vaccine. As epidemiologist Tony Blakely wrote in the Herald on Saturday, this is the major reason for the rollout delay. The slanging match between Canberra and the states was totally unnecessary and destructive, he wrote.

Hunt was highly conciliatory in his interviews last week - in contrast to Littleproud - stressing the states were doing a good job. Were not frustrated or grumpy with any of the states or territories, he told The Today Show on Nine, which owns this masthead. But there is no love lost between Hunt and Hazzard. The NSW Health minister said on Wednesday that for 15 months every government in the country had maintained a collegiate approach to dealing with COVID-19. But Hazzard has criticised the federal vaccine rollout for weeks (including to The Sun-Herald in comments last month), demanding more information, a faster pace and a wider inclusion of GPs. And terse text messages between the two men are not unusual. Responsible for the vaccine rollout: federal Health Minister Greg Hunt and Prime Minister Scott Morrison. Credit:Alex Ellinghausen The difference this time was that Berejiklian joined the fray. After firing up at her press conference on Wednesday she wrote to Morrison expressing a desire for NSW to assist with the vaccine rollout through vaccination hubs at hospitals and potentially other sites. Morrison responded on Thursday night welcoming the offer, but the details are yet to be worked out. In the end, federal and state governments will co-operate - because they must. But the bad will of last week does little to bolster public confidence at a time when Australia is behind where it wanted to be on the vaccine rollout.

Loading The danger is it creates an us versus them approach to COVID-19 not seen since a year ago when the states intervened to force Morrison into locking down non-essential services. It was also a lesson in how acutely all governments are aware they are being judged on the vaccine rollout, and reveals the base instinct of politicians to deflect blame for any failure and hoover up credit for any success. Were fully behind Brad [Hazzard], said one senior NSW Liberal. Hes absolutely right in everything he has said. Were not the problem here, its the development and delivery. The federal government is not a service delivery arm of government. We deliver services, and given that NSW is the exemplar, were not going to be lectured by people that are so hopeless they cant even implement rules to stop staff masturbating in their offices. Danielle McMullen, the NSW president of the Australian Medical Association, works well with Hazzard and backed him last month when he was critical of the system the Commonwealth had created for participating GPs. But she is unimpressed by the current stoush - on both sides.

We dont think the infighting between levels of government is helpful to the vaccine rollout, Dr McMullen says. We would like to see greater transparency of where and when doses are being delivered and administered. We need to speed up the rollout, particularly for healthcare workers. Loading NSW offered some of that transparency on Friday when it finally revealed a breakdown of daily vaccinations and how many people have been fully vaccinated - that is, received both jabs. The release showed 94,549 frontline border, quarantine, healthcare workers and family members had received one dose of a COVID vaccine, and another 29,796 had both doses by Good Friday. Additionally, NSW Health now provides the number of vaccinations delivered in the past 24 hours in its daily update. If the friction of the past week has shamed authorities into greater transparency, that will probably prove a good thing. The stoush also created an opportunity for the Labor opposition, whose leader Anthony Albanese was quick to remind everyone that at the January 7 press conference, Morrison and Hunt had also sought to under-promise and over-deliver.
In a strong condemnation of the military's brutal crackdown on demonstrators since the February 1 coup, the US Department of State on Monday (local time) said that the junta has responded to calls for the restoration of democracy in the country with bullets.

Speaking at a Department press briefing, Deputy Spokesperson Jalina Porter said: "...Burmese security forces brutally attacked their own people, killing dozens throughout the country. The military junta's violence against the people of Burma is immoral and indefensible."

"The junta has responded to calls for the restoration of democracy in Burma with bullets," she added.

Porter stressed that the military's hostile takeover does not represent the will of the people and said that the US continues to call on all countries to take concrete actions to oppose the coup and its escalating violence.

"...We are deeply concerned and saddened by the reports and strongly condemn the use of violence in Burma security forces against their people," she later said.

Earlier, Stephane Dujarric, spokesperson for the United Nations (UN) Secretary-General, informed that at least 138 peaceful protesters, including women and children, have been killed in since the coup.

"This includes 38 people who were killed yesterday, the majority in the Hlaing Thayer area of Yangon, while 18 people were killed on Saturday," he said.

Despite increasing pressure to restore the democratically-elected government, the junta has ignored the condemnation and has continued to violently suppress the protests against its unlawful takeover of the country. Several ousted lawmakers have even designated the military as a terrorist organisation.

(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| 2021-04-03 19:41:30|Editor: huaxia

Video Player Close

Wei Tieliang introduces the heroic deeds of martyrs at the Changyi anti-Japanese war martyr's cemetery in Changyi City, east China's Shandong Province, April 2, 2021. The Changyi anti-Japanese war martyr's cemetery was built in 1945 to commemorate martyrs died during Chinese People's War of Resistance against Japanese Aggression. In 2012, Wei Tieliang, a retired veteran who had been a member of the Communist Party of China (CPC) for 50 years, took over the management of the martyr's cemetery from another veteran Chen Guangju who had guarded the cemetery for 33 years. Since then, Wei has served here for about ten years. His daily work includes wiping the memorial tablets, cleaning the yard, planting flowers and fixing the wall. When people visit here, Wei introduces the heroic deeds of the martyrs to them. Sometimes, the stories brought tears to his eyes. Wei said that guarding the cemetery is to pass down the spirits of the heroes. (Xinhua/Guo Xulei)
The Honorable Judge Robin Malone Darr is the real deal.

That sentence kept running through my mind as I sat in Judge Darrs office in the Midland County Courthouse and spoke with her about life, her career and the meaning of making democracy work in Midland County.

More than a year ago, the League of Women Voters of Midland (LWV) board of directors voted on who the honoree would be for our annual Making Democracy Work luncheon. Typically, our membership gathers at the Petroleum Club to toast our honoree on their accomplishments and service to Midland. Due to the COVID-19 pandemic, our luncheon could not occur in February like normal. But humble as she is, Darr agreed to sit down and let me pick her brain on important moments in her life and how she came to be the person she is today.

Emily Holeva  I figured we would start as basic as can be: what does democracy mean to you?

Judge Darr  The phrase that comes to mind first is Of the People  people governing the people. Democracy is really about all three branches of government and not just the representatives who make up those branches, but the participation of the people who elect those representatives.

Holeva  Do you have an early memory of wanting to get involved with public service or the judicial system?

Darr  Not really; it just evolved. In a way, it came naturally. My mother was in public service as an elementary school teacher for 36 years and my father, who was a banker, modeled public service by his many volunteer roles in the community. When I graduated from Baylor Law School, my first job as a lawyer was as special assistant to then Secretary of State David Dean. It was an interesting and exciting job because I worked directly for Secretary Dean. A change in the Governors office, and therefore a change in the appointed Secretary of State, led me to the second job of my legal career  working for the Texas Legislature. As administrative assistant to state Rep. Ashley Smith from Harris County, I experienced the law-making process, from drafting legislation, to committee, to seeing a bill signed by the governor.

After a sabbatical for studying international law at the University of Durham in England, I returned to Midland. As I was looking for a job, I met the newly elected District Attorney Al Schorre at a Christmas party, and he offered me a job as assistant district attorney (ADA) temporarily.

Holeva Who are your mentors in life?

Darr  I had known Judge Hyde from growing up in First Baptist. He was one of my Sunday School teachers, so he was a great role model for life in general and for being a judge. He championed continuing legal education and being active in the local bar association. Midland is blessed to have a very strong bar  the Midland County Bar Association.

Judge Rucker was very active with the Texas Center for the Judiciary, an organization that educates and trains Texas judges. He encouraged me to become more involved in the Texas Center, and that was a fun way to serve my community of judges. Judge Ruckers mentoring ultimately led to me serving on the Texas Center board and the curriculum committee.

Holeva  When you took office, you were the only woman sitting judge in Midland. How important is it for women to have a seat at the table?

Darr  I know this is a controversial topic, but in my opinion, there are some jobs where men are better suited, and there are some jobs where women are a better fit. In most jobs, however, including the job of a judge, men and women can both excel.

I hope our culture is growing toward a place where we choose the best person for the job without regard to gender, race or anything but qualification. That is the way I think it should be, a level playing field. For instance, when it comes to serving as a judge, I want the best person for the job, regardless of gender. I do think it is great that women now have the opportunity to be judge. It wasnt that long ago, that my being a judge would have been seen as unusual.

Holeva  What is something that you are proud of in your career?

Darr  Thats easy. One of the most rewarding things I have done is to start the Midland Veterans Treatment Court (VTC). My father and several of his brothers were in the military, and America is what she is largely because of the sacrifice men and women in the military have made. With the help of Judge Marvin Moore and my court coordinator Heather Henderson, we assembled a team of people from probation, the VA, the Vet Center, Agape Counseling and other mental health treatment providers, prosecutors, defense attorneys, and mentors. As a team, we approached cases involving veterans with the goal of finding the underlying problem and addressing it.

Holeva  Was there anything you learned along the way that you think made you a better judge in the end?

Darr  Lots of things. But one thing that I learned was to slow down and look at each individual person. Particularly, I tried to do this in criminal cases. Often after a trial or a plea hearing, I would say to the defendant something like, You did a bad thing, but that does not make you a bad person. This case does not have to define you. You can make a 180-degree turn today. It is your choice.

This slowing down also helped me to noticed family in the audience, and when it was appropriate, I tried to encourage them. Sometimes it would be the family of a victim; sometimes it would be the family of a defendant. Particularly, when alcohol or drugs were involved, I would encourage family members to attend Al-Anon or seek help themselves to understand addiction and to not enable the user. Sometimes, one of my court staff would notice someone who needed encouragement and send me a note to give the person a pep talk.

Holeva  Final Question  everyone leaves a legacy. What do you hope will be yours?

Darr  I hope it is that I was fair. Peoples lives hang in the balance in court decisions. There are winners and there are losers, and no judge can change that aspect of court. I did my best to be fair in all proceedings and with all people. I hope that is my legacy.

Judge Darr is many things on top of being fair. Throughout our conversation, I saw two things not typically thought of when it comes to judges and the judicial system  humanity and authenticity. With her retirement from the 385th District Court, Judge Darr leaves a legacy behind that will not be matched again.

--

On behalf of the League of Women Voters of Midland, we would like to publicly recognize Judge Darr as the 2021 Making Democracy Work honoree.

Emily Holeva is a board member with the League of Women Voters of Midland.

Note: This is only an excerpt. You can read the whole interview on the LWV Midland Facebook page.
South Dakota governor Kristi Noem transitioned  at sprinting speed  from Miss Thing to Miss Nothing. On March 8, Gov. Noem expressed joy over a bill passed by the South Dakota Legislature, which would have banned males from women's sports.

Then, on March 19, she "returned" the text to the Legislature requesting changes that undid the basic purpose of the bill. Her office issued a Shakespearean press release (except far less interesting than Hamlet's soliloquies), doddering to explain her veto.

Life is short, and word limits are tight, so let's not scan the infamous press release. However it's couched, she sank a key bill opposing the imposition of transgenderism on people whom it could harm.

And the conservative world finally erupted.

The homeschooled right cried out, "Et tu, Regina Dakotae Meridianae? You on whom we hung all our hopes for a Trumpian comeback?"

As a pro-family activist who has gotten mobbed and run out of multiple jobs for defending functional heterosexuality against its many detractors, I can understand why everyone is outraged. But I am not outraged. I would like to explain why this is good.

An overdue wakeup call

Whether you want to call it "pro-family" or "socially conservative policy," there exist political positions based on preserving the family unit of mother, father, and child. In earlier decades, the main threats to family were abortion, divorce, and unwed parenthood, so pro-family conservatives focused on respect for life and marriage. Now the main things threatening the mother-father-child unit deal with sexual orientation and biological sex.

Pro-life warriors have faced a backlash. But anti-abortion activism is easier than dealing with your trans "niece" who just had a baby by surrogacy with his "wife." Abortions could be relegated to the "do not discuss at Thanksgiving" list, but you can't simply pussyfoot around the existence of people loved by everyone you love. The LGBT movement teaches millions of people that gayness or transgenderism is not only the central part of their identity, but also the whole basis of their "existence." They see criticism, no matter how thoughtful and correct, as a denial of their being, like a death threat. Simple discussions turn, therefore, into life-or-death battles that nobody prepared for.

The bravest flee before the gayest

Shockingly, people who risk their lives in combat surrender rapidly to LGBT pressure. Celebrated politician Dan Crenshaw wrote to the Republican Party of Texas pressuring them to endorse the Log Cabin Republicans and give them a booth at the party convention, implicitly telling Republicans to dump traditional sexuality from their platform entirely. Kurt Schlichter, who delights in online machismo and swaggers about his military service, recently wrote a column telling Republicans to accept homosexuality for the sake of unity.

Both men now try to claim they will stand up to trans politics. This weakens the movement by sowing confusion. They showed themselves entirely unwilling to stand up to homosexuality, which jeopardizes heterosexual procreation as much as transgenderism does (possibly more, since there are "trans men" in technically heterosexual marriages to "trans women").

Christians must acknowledge that Bible verses condemning sodomy and promoting heterosexuality are more numerous than verses condemning cross-sex behavior, which are nonetheless also found in the Old and New Testaments. Not all pro-family advocates are Christian, but most are. Leaders who want Christian support while denying these biblical imperatives have to engage in soul-endangering trickery. Play too many games with religious voters, and at some point, you'll trip.

How can someone give up an eye for America, but not be able to tell the Log Cabin Republicans that the anus is not a sexual organ and every child has a mom and a dad?

That's what we're dealing with. "Courage" gets cheaper the more discussion veers into sexuality. I've seen that happen many times.

The job nobody on the right is willing to do

Every right-winger wishes someone else would deal with the LGBT stuff. "Someone, somewhere, must be taking care of that," popular activists think. "I'll touch on it here and there, but if that becomes the thing I'm known for, I won't have a career." Nobody wants to become the Westboro Baptist Church.

I've become cynical. I admit it. Every time a new conservative face comes around  a Madison Cawthorn, Kim Klacik, etc.  I assume that his "bold, new, fresh" approach to the movement will be the "lame, old, stale" libertarianism pulled out of the freezer and reheated. I assume we will be told that a bright future and election victories await us if we ride the rainbow slide and define "conservatism" purely as opposition to socialism and Black Lives Matter. All of this, we have heard before, from the olden days, when the topic was repealing Don't Ask, Don't Tell, to our present tense, wherein the president of the Southern Baptist Convention tells us we have to use trans pronouns for sake of "hospitality" and Presbyterian ladies write books telling us that to share the gospel, we have to give men who call themselves women our house keys, allowing them access to the places where our daughters sleep and shower.

"Trust us this time" sounds less compelling after you have heard it enough times. Instead of that bright future, these compromises usually just move us farther into insanity, from "let gays adopt kids in the foster care system" to "let lesbians conceive sons through sperm banking and then make them girls through puberty-blockers."

Those of us who have become known for conservative positions on sexuality hear many of the same refrains from our peers in the movement. "God bless you, you are so brave," folks will say privately. But nobody will hire you. Heck, they don't even want to be seen talking to you. There's always something they need to protect: their donors, their grantors, their friends, their kids, etc. At the core of it, they are protecting themselves by not fighting something they know is wrong.

Just ask Denise McAllister. Just ask Peter LaBarbera. Just ask Linda Harvey. Ask anyone who took a stand against LGBT, armed with the best arguments, solid research, and a perseverance in the face of opposition. When you are that person, thrust into a scorching spotlight, you learn things nobody else can learn. You figure out that 98% of famous conservatives will sell out on the LGBT issue. The knowledge of the movement's deep phoniness haunts you like a Fury.

A popular influencer might make a video mocking the canceling of Mr. Potato Head, but see what happens if you ask that person to stand up to gay adoption. If you'll notice, the bans on conversion therapy ("stay gay laws") have gained ground whether leaders are Republicans or Democrats. The movement against conversion therapy is perhaps one of the most ridiculous initiatives in our country's history; it is literally based on the notion that nobody, even someone who's been molested, can ever discuss ways to avoid sodomy. Conservatives do not want to stand up for ex-gay counseling because it's harder to challenge the myth that people are born gay than it is to complain about a character from Toy Story.

Noem was the unlucky one holding the bag

While I can denounce Noem's duplicity, I have to celebrate the fact that the bluff no longer works.

"Courage" against the LGBT movement has been a mirage for a long time. Like so many bluffs, it couldn't work forever. Sooner or later the masses were going to find out that this issue had been sacrificed even by those who claimed most vigorously to be fighting over it.

The conservative public has usually accepted any rationalization in order to preserve their frail trust in cultural authorities.

They did not want to believe that Chick-fil-A was actually discriminating against pro-family Christians while projecting an image of wholesome bravery.

Nor did they want to believe that the president of a Baptist seminary was undermining pro-family advocates behind the scenes as a favor to pro-gay benefactors, regardless of any grandstanding about the definition of marriage.

They didn't want to believe that Mike Pence had actually sold out the pro-family movement as governor of Indiana, back when the most daring thing such leaders were being asked to do was to protect a handful of patissiers from being forced to make cakes for ceremonies that gay people wanted them to call weddings. While the LGBT movement pushed to legalize prostitution, globalize grooming as part of school curricula, and lower the age of consent, we listened to years of debate about wedding cakes. As part of the narrow legal argument, our side even said these Christian bakers didn't have a problem with homosexuality as long as they would not have to cook for a same-sex "wedding." But even that was too much for Mike Pence, who was supposedly our "staunch" pro-family option.

They didn't want to believe that Jan Brewer, the fierce proponent of immigration standards in Arizona, was the totally un-fierce governor who vetoed a similar religious rights bill in 2014.

Having seen groups like Focus on the Family and the Family Research Council trumpet family values in the past, average conservatives don't want to hear about the backdoor deals, the phone calls placed, and the secret horse trades that so often involve getting rid of the troubling "fanatics" in favor of controlled opposition.

Conservatives didn't "know" how bad the pro-family movement had gotten, for the simple reason that they didn't want to hear about any of that. They were happy to reward leaders for telling them what they did want to hear.

Until now.

This is finally getting interesting

Noem's veto is good. People got a chance to pull back the curtain and see why the conservative leadership they have funded and supported all these years wasn't resisting the march of LGBT ideology at all, but rather enabling it wholesale.

People might gain something by claiming to stand up to LGBT ideology, especially if they can package it in something as innocent-sounding as simply "defining marriage as between a man and a woman," "defending religious liberty," or "standing by the word of God." So don't get me wrong. I am not claiming that you can't name a bunch of conservative pundits who have taken a public stand against LGBT. But social conservatism has been abandoned by the entirety of the right wing. Not just the libertarians or Paul Ryan types. Not just the Guilfoylesque and Kushnerian MAGA friends of Dave Rubin and Brandon Straka, whom we made peace with during the Trump years for the simple reason that we had no other choice.

Even many pro-family groups that shout the loudest have been part of the big betrayal. That includes a lot of the public figures currently tut-tutting about Noem's veto as if they haven't taken the infamous "phone call" from wealthy pro-gay bigwigs and fired pro-family advocates in their own separate fiefdoms  under the cover of darkness, of course.

The Daily Wire's Matt Walsh tweeted a scathing reaction to Kristi Noem's veto. The Alliance Defending Freedom issued a strongly worded press release about it. The Federalist ran several pieces on it. So did PJ Media.

Two years ago, all these groups canceled Denise McAllister for coming out too strong against the LGBTs. You can learn more in the chapter I contributed to Church and State. It took a village to fail the American family.

I don't want war with any of these conservatives who contributed to the collapse of pro-family advocacy; I just want us all to be honest about what's happened. And change for the better. Many are still fighting this tooth and nail, so it's not too late to pitch in.

Don't accept Noem's excuses, but go easy on her. She was just the one stuck holding the bag.

Image: Gage Skidmore via Flickr, CC BY-SA 2.0.

You can find the MeWe post for this article here.
BENZONIA  "Braving the Waves: The U.S. Life-Saving Service on Lake Superior's Shipwreck Coast" will be presented by Bruce Lynn as the next installment in the Benzie Historical Society's Academy Lecture Series.

The lecture will be held at 4 p.m. on Thursday as a virtual presentation on Zoom. To learn more about the Zoom lecture, visit the Benzie Area Historical Society's Facebook page, benziemuseum.org or call the Benzie Area Historical Museum at (231) 882-5539.

The Whitefish Point Lighthouse marks the beginning of an 80-mile stretch of Lake Superior shoreline that has played witness to hundreds of shipwrecks. While many people are familiar with the sinking of the Edmund Fitzgerald, far fewer know of the other ships and crews which came to grief along this coastline. In many cases, a crew might survive a sinking, just to perish from the elements with no shelter to be found.

It wasn't until the arrival of the first four U.S Life-Saving Stations along this coastline in 1876, did government efforts focus on the rescue of ships and crews in distress along this southeastern section of Lake Superior. Learn about the U.S. Life-Saving Service, and the U.S. Coast Guard Lifeboat Stations that came later, and their rescues that took place on Superior's "Shipwreck Coast" in this program.

Lynn is the executive director of the Great Lakes Shipwreck Museum, located at Whitefish Point in the Eastern Upper Peninsula. Lynn started his museum career as an historical interpreter at Fort Mackinac on Mackinac Island, and later returned to work full-time for the Mackinac State Historic Parks. After graduating with a degree in American history from Ohio State University, he studied Heritage Interpretation at Eastern Michigan University.

In 2015 he co-authored, with award winning Great Lakes Maritime Photographer Chris Winters, the book "The Legend Lives On," a richly illustrated meditation on the Edmund Fitzgerald.

This presentation is part of the Benzonia Academy Lecture Series, held on the second Thursday of each month.
Srinagar: An encounter broke out between security forces and militants in Jammu and Kashmir's Shopian district on Saturday, police said here.

The security forces had launched a cordon-and-search operation in a forest area of Choor Ki Gali in Herpora of Shopian, following information about the presence of militants there, a police official said.

Encounter

He said the search operation turned into an encounter after the militants opened fire at the security personnel, who then retaliated.

The gunfight is still underway, the official added.
Source: Xinhua| 2021-04-03 19:52:17|Editor: huaxia

Video Player Close

MOGADISHU, April 3 (Xinhua) -- A new round of talks aimed at resolving the electoral impasse in Somalia finally kicked off in the capital of Mogadishu Saturday amid pressure from the international community for a consensus.

Mohamed Moalimuu, the government spokesman, said President Mohamed Farmajo has officially opened the consultative meeting bringing together all leaders of the five federal member states to help break the impasse which has delayed holding elections.

The meeting between the government side led by President Farmajo and regional leaders from Galmudug, Hirshabelle, Puntland, Jubaland and Southwest states will finalize implementation of the electoral model, building on the work of the technical committee which met in Baidoa in the southwest region on Feb. 15-17.

Efforts to end the electoral stalemate in Somalia have intensified with the international community urging resumption of talks, while the Council of Presidential Candidates (CPC), an umbrella body representing presidential candidates, is proposing the formation of a transitional council to oversee elections, citing Farmajo's continued stay at the helm untenable.

A major concern is the latest spate of attacks by al-Shabab militants who are determined to disrupt the national polls in order to reassert their influence.

Failure to resolve the electoral impasse has plunged Somalia into a political crisis since Farmajo's term officially ended on Feb. 8 while the four-year term of parliament ended on Dec. 27, 2020. Enditem
ANN ARBOR, MI  Hundreds of gallons of sewage spilled into the University of Michigans Nichols Arboretum in Ann Arbors latest sewer overflow, the city reported Friday, April 2.

The citys public works staff responded late Thursday morning to notification of a sewage overflow near Nichols Drive in the Arb, the city said in a Friday press release.

The problem? A root ball, which happens when tree roots grow into a sewer pipe and create a blockage.

Upon inspection, it was found that a root ball had caused the discharge of an estimated 500 gallons to the ground surface, the city reported, indicating no sewage reached any watercourse or storm sewer.

The affected area, located along the Huron River, was covered with lime to neutralize any bacteria and cordoned off with tape, officials said. Signs were placed by the affected area to alert the public access is prohibited.

In accordance with regulatory protocols, the city reported the sewage spill to the Michigan Department of Environment, Great Lakes and Energy, officials said.

The state hit the city with a $45,000 fine last year for repeated sewage overflows in recent years.

Some were the result of pipe blockages caused by tree roots, gravel, concrete, and flushable wipes that the city warns residents not to flush down the toilet.

Some spills have resulted in temporarily shutting down canoeing, kayaking and tubing on the Huron River.

The city has reported multiple sewage spills on Main Street recently related to a contractor doing sewer-lining work.

MORE FROM THE ANN ARBOR NEWS:

$2.5M pledge from anonymous donor is biggest-ever boost for Ann Arbor Treeline project

200 energy efficiency kits to be distributed to homebound residents in Ann Arbor

Washtenaw County seeking feedback to improve Border-to-Border trail

Ann Arbor police chief has message for Hash Bash visitors: Were in the middle of a pandemic

Women who sued Ann Arbor police for breaking down their door get $50K in settlement
With a young man in shorts strumming his guitar and desks littered with water bottles and coffee cups, it could be a scene from any trendy tech start-up firm.

But this picture is believed to be the first from inside the lair of a so-called ransomware gang.

The fast-growing crime involves hackers seizing control of an IT system or data and demanding money to release it.

In the photograph  accompanied by a caption in Chinese reading 'Wow! Little brother playing guitar'  a second man peers at a screen, possibly orchestrating a fresh crime.

This picture is believed to be the first from inside the lair of a so-called ransomware gang

Unearthed by cyber security firm Internet 2.0, the photo is thought to show members of APT41, a Chinese group blamed for more than 100 hacks, including ransomware attacks, up to last year.

The FBI issued a wanted poster last September featuring the faces of five APT41 members wanted for questioning over a string of raids in the US, UK, Australia and Taiwan.

The group is also suspected of spying for the Chinese regime, including during the pro-democracy protests in Hong Kong in 2018.

Ransomware profits last year are conservatively estimated at 250 million. According to research by cryptocurrency experts Chainalysis, the gangs saw profits leap by more than 300 per cent last year.

Apart from the US, Britain is the most targeted country, with schools, charities and even individuals now added to existing targets such as large companies and Government departments.

Since December, more than 100 UK schools have been attacked, while people and organisations with Microsoft Exchange email accounts have also fallen prey to extortion bids.

Even The Woodland Trust, a conservation charity, has not been spared. Hackers targeted the group in December, causing problems for several months.

Security experts fear the criminals will switch their attention to the health service, as they did in Germany last September when they crippled a large hospital.

The fast-growing crime involves hackers seizing control of an IT system or data and demanding money to release it

Ciaran Martin, who was in charge of GCHQ's National Cyber Security Centre until last August, said: 'Right through the pandemic, the main worry was that someone would ransomware a hospital.'

Internet 2.0 co-founder David Robinson said: 'APT41 is into everything. Ransomware has been a big part of their operation and what we've seen around the world for the last year is an unrelenting, sustained attack on organisations and individuals.'

The suspected APT41 hipster hackers in the photograph are in China, but other ransomware gangs are based in Russia, several former Soviet states, North Korea, Iran and parts of West Africa.

Thought to be in Russia, the notorious REvil group has targeted Microsoft emails and it is suspected of an attack against the Harris Federation, a group of nearly 50 primary and secondary schools in and around London. The gang last year also received 1.8 million from Travelex, the now bankrupt UK-based foreign currency exchange service, after taking control of its systems.

High street retailer Fat Face is the latest victim. It is understood to have paid 1.45 million ransom to a gang called Conti which stole 200 gigabytes of data, including customer information, and locked the firm out of its systems in January. Conti is thought to be linked to a suspected Russian ransomware cartel called Ryuk.

The Kremlin is accused of turning a blind eye as long as Russian firms and interests are spared.

The UK Government in 2020 announced the creation of a 3,000-strong National Cyber Force that will bring together specialists from GCHQ, the Ministry of Defence and the intelligence services to tackle the issue.

But security experts say the Government must make it harder for firms to pay up. At present, some companies have insurance policies that allow them to make claims for ransom payments.

'We've got ransomware wrong as a society and criminals have clocked that it's a lucrative, successful line of business,' Mr Martin said. 'Ransomware is increasing because it pays.'
CROMWELL  The Connecticut Department of Transportation Highway Safety Office launched U Drive. U Text. U Pay., a national high-visibility enforcement campaign for National Distracted Driving Awareness Month in April.

In partnership with state and local law enforcement and the U.S. Department of Transportations National Highway Traffic Safety Administration, the campaign will step up enforcement efforts to enforce distracted-driving laws through April 30, according to a press release.

Over the past decade, distracted driving has become one of the leading causes of vehicle crashes on the nations roads. In Connecticut, in 2019, more than 6,600 crashes were attributed to distracted driving. According to NHTSA, between 2012 and 2019, 26,004 people died in crashes involving a distracted driver, according to the NHTSA. While fatalities from motor vehicle crashes decreased slightly from 2018, distraction-related fatalities increased by 10 percent.

Cromwell police will be adding special patrols aimed at catching distracted drivers  especially those on their phones. Officers will focus on heavily traveled roadways, including Berlin Road and West Street (Route 372), Shunpike Road (Route 3), and Main Street (Route 99), the release said.

In addition to increased individualized enforcement patrols, teams of officers will be posted in various areas, utilizing a spotter and/or undercover vehicles, and will be relaying any violations observed to officers in the area, Cromwell authorities said. Although dates and times for this enforcement may vary, emphasis will be placed on the morning and afternoon peak drive times.

Connecticut law prohibits the use of any hand-held mobile electronic device while operating a motor vehicle.

Drivers who are 16 or 17 years of age are prohibited from using a cell phone or mobile device at any time, even with a hands-free accessory. Drivers are reminded that under Connecticuts cell phone and texting law, violations involve heavy fines, ranging from $150 for a first offense, $300 for a second violation, and $500 for each subsequent violation, according to the news release.

For information, visit distraction.go.
New Delhi, April 3: Prime Minister Narendra Modis head turning two-day visit to Bangladesh could have far reaching implications on the ongoing West Bengal assembly elections. By wholeheartedly befriending the Muslim majority state of Bangladesh, the BJP should not be viewed from a communal lens.

Instead, the party was serious about delivering its promise of bringing change and non-partisan development under the slogan Sabka Saath Sabka Vikas.

"The idea is to give them the message that BJP is not anti-Muslim and that they need not fear," an analyst said.

West Bengal has over 27 per cent Muslims in the state.

Political analyst Sajjan Kumar points out that though the visit may not change the voters' mindset, it will allay fear of the minority community.

"The Muslim community has been a strong voter base of the TMC but at the same time, PM's visit sends out a message that the Indian Muslims have nothing to fear in case the BJP comes to power," Kumar said, adding that the BJP has also refrained from bringing up the issues of Citizenship Amendment Act and National Register of Citizens during the campaign.

But not just the Muslims, Modi's visit to a temple in Orakandi located in Bangladesh's Gopalganj district will also act as a balm and even woo the Matua community of the state.

The Matuas, primarily Namasudras, have traditionally been supporters of West Bengal chief minister Mamata Banerjee and the incumbent Trinamool Congress. According to estimates, there are over 1.5 crore voters from this Matua community.

Will Modi's visit have any direct impact on the voting pattern? Kumar responded in the affirmative. He said that Modi's visit to the temples including the one at Orakandi will go a long way in wooing the Matua community.

"Many of the Muslims living in West Bengal are originally from Bangladesh, so the visit does create a connect between the minorities and the BJP," a resident of Kolkata said on condition of anonymity.

"Banerjee has always played the minority card which has led to polarisation in the state but now one can see counter-polarisation taking place," Kumar added.

Another analyst also said that the violence that broke out in Bangladesh after Modi's visit will also help in strengthening in counter polarisation. Banerjee's appeasement policies to the minority community have irked many in the state.

"It is important for BJP to pass this message of Sabka Saath Sabka Vikas and that the party will not discriminate in terms of religion, but at the same time we will not follow a policy of appeasement with any community. It is one India but until now, policy was framed with the idea of minority appeasement, that will not be the case," Gopal Krishna Agarwal, BJP spokesperson on economic affairs said.

(This content is being carried under an arrangement with indianarrative.com) --indianarrative/

-- The story has been published from a wire feed without any modifications to the text
Donaghys Mill destroyed in a blaze and remains an eyesore as you enter the historic town

I ran a story last week on this page about this house (pictured) after taking a stroll up Barrack Street and deciding it was about time to do a piece on this gorgeous piece of stonework that has graced the place in recent years.

It is a finish - to me - that draws two reactions. Either you stop and feel the stone and admire it - or you simply don't notice it. It's stonework on an old street in traditional Drogheda, so what?, I could be on the Marsh Road or wherever.

So, when the owners of the house, Barry and Josephine O'Brien contacted me and told me their story, I couldn't believe what I was hearing.

They have until this week to let the council know their plans for taking away the stonework.

There has been a planning debate ongoing for the past few years about the house.

The council say it is 'out of keeping with the character of the terrace' and they want it gone.

Expand Close Sawmills House on the Marsh Road / Facebook

Twitter

Email

Whatsapp Sawmills House on the Marsh Road

The family appealed the council's view to An Bord Pleanala and lost. That was last March. Now the council have written to them to progress action.

The council maintained that the street leads to Millmount, an architectural conservation area, and the O'Brien's home 'adversely impacts upon the character of Millmount'.

An Bord Pleanala said it has a 'detrimental impact on the overall visual amenity of the area.'

The O'Brien's story is told elsewhere in this paper, but the issue runs much deeper.

To me, there are bigger fish in the sea to catch in this town than a wonderful little house on Barrack Street. The roof is not caving in, it's not a dumping ground, it doesn't have flashing lights.

For instance, if you are driving into Drogheda on the dual carriageway, you don't see the O'Brien's home 'adversely impacting on Millmount.' You drive on past it, past the bus station and on towards the Rathmullen Road junction and around the bend - and then you see something adversely impacting on the beauty of the town - never mind Millmount.

There are two derelict buildings. One will be an 11 storey apartment block. People have their views on that - good and bad -but ultimately the eyesore will be gone.

Donaghy's Mill was gutted in a blaze two years ago. Why is such a prominent building still in such a state? Remedial works should have taken place within nine months, an appropriate roof covering applied and the windows covered in some way. It is an eyesore.

Narrow West Street continues to be a blight on the main artery into this town.

How can a building with no roof be allowed to stand untouched as you enter the biggest town in Ireland?

The great West Gate Vision is still years away from any works taking place.

Last week, down the Marsh, Sawmills House went on fire. It has been in a deplorable state for years with rubbish piling up in a broken window in the front room.

At Crushrod Avenue, the roof of a protected thatched cottage is falling in. It will be gone shortly if EMERGENCY action is not taken.

But then you don't have to look very far for other more pressing issues.

Some months ago, large umbrellas were placed on West Street beside the stone seats.

Since then, metal barriers have been placed around them. Some have fallen down and are unsightly and dangerous and an incredible trip hazard. Why are they still there? Surely enforcement is needed to get them shifted.

There are many more examples around the town that could be used when the term 'bigger fish' comes to mind.

The council don't have an easy job, but surely, surely, they must pick their fights and battles in a more commonsence way.

It is vital - both now and when we leave COVID - to have the people of the town behind them.

The past few weeks has seen the whole debacle about the refusal of funding for the Port Access Route - AGAIN - and the council saying they have been looking for funding for 20 years for it - and still no luck.

People ask - who has been in charge of THIS TOWN for the past couple of decades then? Do they need the assistance of the great DROGHEDA BIDS group to progress things, what about getting the likes of Robert Murray and the Drogheda Chamber on the team. Should I mention the people on the DROGHEDA City Status team. They have punched well above their weight for years and only for them, we would be in an even worse state on the national stage.

People want to see Drogheda progress and want to see the big tasks taken on.

I walked around the town last week and saw some wonderful stone clad homes in historic areas and they looked great.

The story of the O'Brien's of Barrack Street is not going away .

Surely we need to encourage and progress images of historic Drogheda, rather than asking people to tear them down. We had Cromwell for that.
Eight police officers have been injured in rioting in a loyalist area of Belfast.

Officers were targeted in Sandy Row by a crowd of mostly young people throwing bottles, bricks and fireworks.

In a statement on the Police Service of Northern Irelands Twitter account, Belfast District Commander Chief Superintendent Simon Walls called for calm.

Eight officers have so far been injured after being subjected to a sustained attack by rioters who have thrown a number of objects at police, including heavy masonry, metal rods, fireworks and manhole covers, he said.

Their injuries include burns, head and leg injuries. Seven people have been arrested at the scene.

I am appealing to all those involved to stop this appalling behaviour immediately. Police are trying to protect those living in the Shaftesbury Square, Donegall Road and Sandy Row areas and it is completely unacceptable that my officers are coming under sustained attack.

I would encourage anyone who has influence to use it now and stop the rioting before anyone else is injured, or worse.

Local communities do not want to be dragged back to the past. They deserve to live in safe and peaceful areas, free from rioting, violence and wanton destruction of their communities.

The incident on Friday evening started in the Shaftesbury Square area before moving into nearby Sandy Row.

The trouble came after four successive nights of disturbances in the unionist Waterside area of Derry.

The disorder has flared amid ongoing tensions within loyalism across Northern Ireland.

Loyalists and unionists are angry about post-Brexit trading arrangements which they claim have created barriers between Northern Ireland and the rest of the UK.

Tensions ramped up further this week following a controversial decision not to prosecute 24 Sinn Fein politicians for attending a large scale republican funeral during Covid-19 restrictions.

Belfast District Commander Chief Superintendent Simon Walls called for calm in response to the rioting (David Young/PA)

In the wake of the decision not to take action against the politicians, including deputy First Minister Michelle ONeill, all the main unionist parties have demanded the resignation of PSNI chief constable Simon Byrne, claiming he has lost the confidence of their community.

The Sandy Row disturbances, which unfolded ahead of a planned loyalist protest in the area, were met with widespread political condemnation on Friday night.

However, the main non unionist parties also accused unionist leaders of creating the febrile atmosphere and stoking up tensions.

Alliance Justice Minister Naomi Long said: This is in no-ones best interests  not the officers dealing with it and not the mostly young people risking their futures by engaging in it.

Its incumbent on leaders to behave responsibly and dial down the inflammatory rhetoric over recent days. Words have consequences.

SDLP South Belfast MP Claire Hanna tweeted: Sad to see disorder in Sandy Row. Usual suspects with no vision whip up tension for electoral gain, which they never use to improve life for those they pretend to represent. History repeats, people lose hope, kids get criminal records, communities pull apart. Theres a better way.

Sad to see disorder in Sandy Row. Usual suspects with no vision whip up tension for electoral gain, which they never use to improve life for those they pretend to represent. History repeats, people lose hope, kids get criminal records, communities pull apart. Theres a better way  Claire Hanna (@ClaireHanna) April 2, 2021

DUP MLA for the area Christopher Stalford said: Given the actions of the Deputy First Minister some folks may believe that they can break the rules.

That is not the case  two wrongs dont make a right.

The vast majority of people involved in this incident were under the age of 18.

I do not want to see young people, acting out of frustration at recent developments landing themselves in trouble with the law and ending up with criminal records.

Everyone must be equal under the law and equally subject to it, from the highest office holder in the land to every other citizen.

Sinn Fein MP for West Belfast Paul Maskey said: The DUP and political unionism are failing unionist working class communities through their dangerous and irresponsible rhetoric which is continuing to lead to heightened tensions.

This is a time for calm heads and responsible leadership.

I appeal to the DUP and political unionism to show leadership, to end their dangerous rhetoric and to ensure there is an urgent de-escalation of tensions.

Justice Minister Naomi Long condemned the disturbances (Liam McBurney/PA)

In response to the incident, Ulster Unionist MLA Doug Beattie tweeted: Stop please. this is not going to help anyone or change anything. It damages and endangers your own community, it undermines any grievance you might have and it will achieve nothing.

The Police Federation, which represents rank and file officers, tweeted: Once again the outworkings of political flux in Northern Ireland results in our @PoliceServiceNI colleagues being attacked.

No excuse for violence and condemnation across the political spectrum would be welcome.
* Username

This is the name that will be displayed next to your photo for comments, blog posts, and more. Choose wisely!
China said on Thursday that it has shared all data and analyses with the experts of the World Health Organization (WHO) tracing the origin of Covid-19, and it is ready to continue working with global experts to jointly study and analyse the data.

The joint study group of WHO and China to trace the origin of Covid-19 released a report two days ago, in which it flagged that more data will be made available to the investigators by Beijing.

A day after the report was released, India had demanded a comprehensive and expert-led mechanism to expeditiously investigate the origin of coronavirus. The US, the UK and several other countries have also voiced their concerns over the findings.

Reacting to India's demand, China said that they had twice invited WHO experts for the study of the origin of Covid-19 and offered necessary facilitation for the team's work, fully demonstrating its openness, transparency and responsible attitude.

China further said that the joint study group tracing the origin of Covid-19 has unanimously agreed that the allegation of a 'lab leak' is extremely unlikely.

The experts of the joint mission made field trips to several institutions, including the Hubei Provincial Center for Disease Control, the Wuhan Center for Disease Control and the Wuhan Institute of Virology, besides visiting the biosafety laboratories, and had in-depth and candid exchanges with the experts there.

"Members of the mission unanimously agreed that the allegation of lab leaking is extremely unlikely, and this is an important scientific conclusion made clear in the joint study report released this time," said the spokesperson of the Chinese Embassy.

The spokesperson also said that as for the question of further research, the experts of the WHO mission said that there has always been speculation about lab leak, and work could be done with laboratories around the world if there is further evidence that the hypothesis needs to be reassessed.

The experts also said that the virus may have been spread in places other than China early on, and a global perspective is needed to carry out the origin-tracing work.

"The report also proposes multiple tasks to be conducted worldwide. We hope relevant countries can cooperate with the WHO expert mission in an open, transparent and responsible manner like China did," the spokesperson said.

As for the issue on accessing raw data, after China and WHO agreed on the terms of reference in July last year, China carried out data collection, collation and analysis in accordance with the suggestions of the foreign experts.

The Chinese authorities gathered relevant institutions and several hundred scientists to collect, collate data and conduct initial analysis, and presented item by item raw data of particular concern to the WHO experts.

The international experts have also said on many occasions that they had full and candid discussions with the Chinese side with regard to data issues.

As the medical files contain a large amount of information which concern personal privacy, the relevant data are not allowed by the law to be copied or taken abroad, which is a common practice in many countries. The international experts said they completely understand the situation, the spokesperson said.

Going forward, China stands ready to continue working with international experts to jointly study and analyse the data.

The spokesperson further pointed out that the study of origins is a matter of science.

To politicise this issue will only severely hinder global cooperation in study of origins, jeopardise anti-pandemic cooperation, and cost more lives.

It would run counter to the international community's aspiration for solidarity against the virus.

"Study of origins is also a global mission that should be conducted in multiple countries and localities. We believe the joint WHO-China study will effectively stimulate global cooperation in origin-tracing," the spokesperson said.
The real estate market remains feverish not because of high demand and short supply, but because of speculation, experts have said.

Land prices have often escalated based on unclear information or rumors about important infrastructure projects such as airports and highways in localities.

With the existence of numerous real estate brokers, land prices are pushed up to sky high levels. The problem is that though land is overvalued during these "land fever" periods, it still sells well because buyers believe they will still make a profit later when the prices increase.

However, the real estate bubble only exists for short periods, which lead to losses for many speculators when prices drop and they can't sell their properties.

Since 2020, the market has seen land fever in Binh Ba commune, Chau Duc district in Ba Ria  Vung Tau; Dong Truc commune, Thach That district in Hanoi; and in Hon Quan district in Binh Phuoc province more recently. This has spread to many other areas throughout the country.

In HCM City, the land price in the eastern part of HCM City rose by twofold within only one to two years.

The price of land near the citys administrative center has been pushed up to sky-high levels. Brokers said the land in Thanh My Loi Ward is now traded at VND140-350 million per square meter, an increase of VND40-60 million.

Analysts said the local land price has increased by 360 percent compared with the 2007 peak.

In Hanoi, the land prices in Hoai Duc district have soared by 30-40 percent. In late 2020 and early 2021, the prices of land at some projects that have been left idle for nearly a decade suddenly soared by 2-3 times. The prices of other real estate products, including villas, have also increased sharply.

At Ha Do Charm Villas on Hoai Duc district, for example, most of the villas are priced at over VND70 million per square meter, while some small villas are being sold at VND80 million per square meter.

With the existence of numerous real estate brokers, land prices are pushed up to sky high levels. The problem is that though land is overvalued during these "land fever" periods, it still sells well because buyers believe they will still make a profit later when the prices increase.

At An Lac Symphony, the average price is VND110-120 million per square meter for semi-attached houses, and no less than VND90 million per square meter for villas.

In Quang Ninh province, according to Ha Long City Peoples Committee, trading is now occurring at land plots in the Cau Bang residential quarter project in Thong Nhat commune, developed by Thong Nhat 508 JSC, and at Thong Nhat commune residential quarter project, developed by Phuc An Co Ltd, as well as at projects in Cao Xanh and Ha Khanh Wards.

Local authorities believe that these are activities of well-organized speculators who previously quietly bought land at low prices and then exploited the information about urban development plans to create an artificially high-priced market.

A lot of land transactions in these areas have occurred, but the transactions are among speculators who have worked together to create demand to attract buyers.

Warnings

Hanoi, Quang Ninh, Bac Giang and Quang Tri have warned people about land speculation in an effort to stop the real estate bubble.

Ha Long authorities have sent a dispatch to communes and wards, asking them to strictly implement state management tasks and observe the procedures on authenticating transactions related to land-use rights.

Bac Giang said it would organize inspection tours and strictly control institutions and individuals who act as intermediaries and trade properties while not meeting conditions stipulated by law.

It will also remove from the local annual land-use plan any project that has not been implemented after three years of registration.

Quang Tri province, in order to strengthen land management, has requested agencies to speed up the compilation of the 2021 land-use plan and land planning to 2030.

In Hanoi, regarding the Red River urban subdivision planning, the Hanoi Party Committee has asked district peoples committees to strengthen land and urban management to prevent the corrupt use of planning that involves land speculation.

The Ministry of Construction, reviewing the real estate market in 2020 and the first two months of 2021, reported that corrupt use of information about urban development projects to seek illegal profits had occurred.

The ministry said it will give advice to the PM to instruct local authorities to intensify supervision over the real estate market, with the aim of discovering and strictly punishing those who push up prices to seek illegal profits.

Thuan Phong

Five suburban districts to become inner districts, land price soars The plan to turn some suburban districts in HCM City into inner districts is only on paper but it has triggered a new land fever in localities.
Itanagar/Guwahati, April 3 : The outlawed United Liberation Front of Asom (Independent) has released one of the two abducted employees of a New Delhi-based private oil and gas company after 104 days, official sources said on Saturday.

However, unconfirmed reports said that ULFA-I has released the two hostages in different locations of Arunachal Pradesh.

Arunachal Pradesh's Additional Director General of Police Ravindra Yadav told IANS over phone that they are verifying the facts.

A defence statement said that during a border patrol, Assam Rifles troopers in South Arunachal Pradesh intercepted an individual crossing the India-Myanmar border in Changlang District on Saturday.

"The individual was identified as Pranab Kumar Gogoi, an employee of Quippo Oil and Gas Infra Ltd, who was earlier kidnapped from Inau in Arunachal Pradesh on December 21 last year by ULFA-I. The individual has been handed over to Arunachal Pradesh Police at Longvi," the statement said.

Another Arunachal Pradesh police official said that after a brief interrogation and Covid-19 testing Gogoi would be handed over to either the Assam police or to his family.

Gogoi, drilling superintendent and Ram Kumar, a radio operator of Delhi-based Quippo Oil and Gas Infrastructure Ltd, were abducted from the company's Kumchaikha hydrocarbon drilling site in Arunachal Pradesh.

While Pranab Gogoi hails from Sivasagar district of Assam, Ram Kumar is from Bihar.

Earlier Assam Chief Minister Sarbananda Sonowal, Finance and Health Minister Himanta Biswa Sarma other Ministers and Congress leaders including the party's deputy leader in the Lok Sabha Gaurav Gogoi have seperaely appealed to ULFA-I leaders to release the two hostages of a Delhi-based private oil company.

The anti-talk militant outfit -- ULFA-I -- had earlier set February 17 to "take action" if the concerned authorities did not take appropriate steps to secure the release of the oil company officials.

The ULFA-I earlier in several statements had threatened action against the two employees of the private oil company, who were abducted from the drilling site in Innao area of Changlang district in Arunachal Pradesh.
Syndicated and guest columns represent the personal views of the writers, not necessarily those of the editorial staff. The editorial department operates entirely independently of the news department and is not involved in newsroom operations.
Joe Okei-Odumakin, a human rights campaigner, on Saturday confirmed the passing of her husband, Yinka Odumakin, after a brief illness.

Mrs Okei-Odumakin, also the President of Women Arise, made the announcement in a statement in Lagos.

She said The sad event happened on Saturday morning at the intensive care unit of LASUTH where he was being managed for respiratory issues due to complications from COVID-19 which he had recovered from about a week ago.

I appreciate the outpouring of grief and sympathy from home and abroad as I mourn my irreplaceable soulmate.

She urged all to remain steadfast in the cause of the masses to which her husband dedicated his life.

She said that burial arrangements would be made public in due course.

Meanwhile, a former Minister of Aviation, Femi Fani-Kayode, has mourned the passage of the late activist, describing him as warrior who stood for truth till he died.

In a statement sent to PREMIUM TIMES, Mr Fani-Kayode said, I am deeply saddened that we have lost Comrade Yinka Odumakin, one of our brightest and best.

He was a great warrior who feared nothing and who stood for truth and justice right to the end.

The South West and indeed Nigeria has lost one of its greatest sons and brightest stars.

May the Lord forgive him of all his sins, May He honor him with a place in Heaven and May his great and mighty soul rest in peace. Adieu great warrior, until we meet again.

Those of us who had the honor of being called your brother and who stood by you shoulder to shoulder through the most trying times for our people and the most bitter battles for the emancipation of our nation shall miss you dearly.

You were a Spartan and a Roman all rolled into one in every sense of the word.

A great son of the West who inspired millions, who made us proud of who we are and what we stand for, who humbled our collective adversaries and who harboured no fear.

Your legacy is truly blessed and wrapped in glory and it shall surely endure.

Be rest assured that those of us that you have left behind shall pick up the gauntlet, receive the baton, fly the flag and continue the great fight.

And as we enter each new battle we shall call your name in awe and remember you.

May your star shine brightly amongst the hosts of Heaven until we meet again at the marriage feast of the Lamb and may the Lord comfort and strengthen your dear wife, your children and all your loved ones at this difficult time.

ADVERTISEMENT

The whole of Nigeria mourns you brother. You fought a good fight, you held the line, you stayed the course and now it is time for you to rest. We shall never forget you. Adieu great warrior until we meet again.

(NAN)
Prime Minister on



Saturday made a fervent appeal to militants in Assam who have not surrendered yet to return to the mainstream as they are needed to create an 'Atmanirbhar Assam'.

Addressing an election rally here in Baksa district, the prime minister said people of the state have rejected violence for development, peace, unity and stability.

The NDA government, he asserted, formulated policies that are non-discriminatory and for all sections of society.

"It's unfortunate that those who divided society and threw crumbs of development at particular sections for their vote bank politics are said to be practising secularism while we, who ensure that development reaches all, are termed communal," Modi said, attacking the Congress over long years of violence in the state.

"The NDA government has strived to holistically empower every section of society with our mantra 'Sabka Saath, Sabka Vikas, Sabka Vishwas'. This game of secularism and communalism has hurt the nation a lot," he said.

During the last five years, the "double engine" NDA governments at the Centre and in the state have resulted in "double benefit" for Assam, the prime minister said.

He came down heavily on those claimimg what people who will form the next government will look like and wear.

Modi was apparently referring to the comments by Abdur Rahim, the son of AIUDF founder and MP Badruddin Ajmal, a Congress ally, who Friday asserted "dadhi, topi and lungi wallahs" will form the next government in the state.

"There cannot be a bigger insult to Assam. The people of Assam will not tolerate those who insult Assam's pride and identity and will give them a befitting reply through the ballot," he said.

The people of the state have decided to vote the NDA to power again, he asserted.

"I say this on the strength of the love, affection and enthusiam they have shown for the NDA in the two phases of polling already held. They are with development, stability, peace, harmony and unity," 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.)
She has modelled for the likes of Chanel and Vogue Italia.

But Daisy Lowe proved she could rock laid-back styles too as she stepped out in a black leather sheepskin jacket while she carried her dog Monty on a low-key stroll.

The model, 32, sported an all-black ensemble as she paired her jacket with a smart black jumpsuit while out and about in north London on Saturday.

Pretty: Daisy Lowe, 32, proved she could rock laid-back styles too as she stepped out in a black leather sheepskin jacket while she carried her dog Monty on a low-key stroll

Opting for comfort, Daisy looked cool in a pair of black Converse and draped her bag across her torso.

The beauty left her raven tresses in a straight style and she added a touch of lipstick to highlight her pretty features.

She was joined by a friend who also wrapped up, wearing a long leopard print fur coat and wide legged black trousers.

Stepping out: The model sported an all-black ensemble as she paired her jacket with a matching black jumpsuit while she headed out for a stroll in north London

All smiles: The beauty left her raven tresses in a straight style and she added a touch of lipstick to highlight her pretty features

Company: Opting for comfort, Daisy looked cool in a pair of black Converse and draped her bag across her torso

She carried her dog's lead in hand, and made sure to come prepared as she held a large red water bottle.

The snaps come after Daisy set pulses racing as she slipped into a strapless gold bikini on Instagram on Wednesday.

She took a luxurious bubble bath as she told her followers the secret behind her lustrous dark locks.

Daisy teased plenty of cleavage in a strapless bikini top which featured cross-over detailing on the bust.

Beloved pet: She was joined by a friend who also wrapped up, wearing a long leopard print fur coat and wide legged black trousers as they walked with her dog

Thirsty? She carried her dog's lead in hand, and made sure to come prepared as she held a large red water bottle

The former Strictly star enhanced her fair complexion as she donned a raspberry coloured lipstick and a smoky bronzed eye.

Daisy appeared in her element as she lathered Bumble and Bumble shampoo and conditioner into her hair while relaxing in her stylish pink rose bathroom.

Last month, Daisy celebrated her birthday with boyfriend Jordan Saul in London.

Daisy and boyfriend Jordan's romance was first revealed when they were spotted putting on a PDA-fest in a north London park in July.

Feeling hot, hot, hot! Daisy set pulses racing as she slipped into a strapless gold bikini on Instagram on Wednesday

Friend: The duo appeared to be in good spirits as they strolled through the capital on Easter weekend

In February, the model shared a loved-up throwback selfie with her boyfriend as she took part in an Instagram challenge after a fan asked for a photo of 'you and your partner'.

An avid traveller, estate agent Jordan documents his various international adventures on social media, including regular stops in South Africa and plenty of ski trips.

A source previously told The Sun: 'They're enjoying spending time together while they have time off.

'She's not in any rush to put a label on anything, they're just taking things easy.'
PHILIPSBURG:--- The Minister of Public Health, Social Development and Labor (VSA), Richard Panneflek hereby informs the public that effective Monday, April 5, travel restrictions from the ABC islands to St Maarten will go into effect.

Considering the regional epidemiology and consequent likelihood of imported cases from highly concentrated pools of the UK variant (B.1.1.7), together with the absence of systematic nationwide genetic surveillance on Sint Maarten, CPS recommends temporary border closures to Aruba, Bonaire, and Curacao, effective immediately. CPS would review the situation on each island on a 2-weekly basis.

Returning residents from Bonaire, Curacao, and Aruba will be required to hold a negative 72-hour PCR test. It is advised that these residents be retested 48 hours after the arrival.

Aruba, Bonaire, and Curacao (ABC) are experiencing high COVID-19 transmission. These three islands have strong travel connections with Sint Maarten. While anyone traveling from these islands to Sint Maarten now requires a negative 72hr PCR, CPS remains concerned that the magnitude and exponential growth of cases in these locations result in a higher probability source for imported cases into St Maarten.

Importantly, the ABC islands have recorded a significant number of cumulative B.1.1.7 lUK variant cases to date, identified and recognized globally as a Variant of concern. Internal communications between public health agencies currently indicate that 75% of new cases in Curacao are due to the UK variant. Furthermore, the rapid transmission and high magnitude of cases reflect the rapid transmission experienced in SE England at the time of UK variant emergence.

Minister Panneflek urges all Dutch side residents to be a part of the solution and register to be vaccinated.

To register for the COVID-19 vaccine via the online registration form which is available in English, Spanish, and Creole, and can be found via this link: https://forms.sintmaartengov.org/form.aspx?v=OGtn05kNmb or by paper registration which can be found at Collective Prevention Services (CPS) at the Vineyard Office Park Building, the Division of Labour Affairs at the Simpson Bay Public Service Center in Simpson Bay, doctors offices, the Government Administration Building, and select pharmacies.
Addressing rallies in the two poll-bound states, he said that vote for BJP and its allies will be a vote for development.Addressing a rally in Pathanamthitta in Kerala, he alleged that governance took a backseat and dynastic politics was promoted during the rule of the United Democratic Front (UDF) and Left Democratic Front (LDF)."When making money, promoting dynasty and doing vote-bank politics is a priority, governance naturally takes a backseat. UDF and LDF have brought governance paralysis in Kerala. It is time to free Kerala from such alliances, PM Modi said.He also listed seven "sins" committed by LDF and UDF."They promote dynastic politics, there is a craze for dynasty rule in both alliances, everything else is sidelined," he said.The Prime Minister said that both the parties "are full of arrogance and they feel that they can never be defeated"."They become disconnected from the roots. Another sin is greed for money. Solar scam, dollar scam, land scam, gold scam, bribery scam, excise scam - the list is endless. Both alliances have looted from every sector," he said.At a rally in Thiruvananthapuram, PM Modi said the UDF and the LDF are "twins when it comes to nepotism, corruption and political violence"."In Kerala, people are convinced on two things. First, UDF and LDF are twins - twins of misgovernance, corruption, political violence, communalism, casteism, cronyism, nepotism and more. Second, UDF lacks the ability and willingness to defeat LDF. No wonder there's a surge in support of NDA," the Prime Minister said.In Madurai, PM Modi said a vote for National Democratic Alliance (NDA) is a vote for more investment and development in the region. He slammed Dravida Munnetra Kazhagam (DMK) and Congress saying these parties cannot guarantee the safety and dignity of women.PM Modi also said that UPA-led central government was instrumental in a ban on Jallikattu, a practice that has been part of the state's culture for centuries.Speaking at the rally in Kanyakumari, the Prime Minister said the Opposition has reduced itself to a dynasty club."All they want is to secure the position of their own children and grandchildren. They are not bothered about your sons and daughter," he said.In a veiled attack at DMK chief MK Stalin's son Udhayanidhi Stalin, PM Modi said: "In Tamil Nadu, the situation is such that senior DMK leaders who worked with Kalaignar are feeling suffocated due to the new crown prince of the party. Politics doesn't work this way."Elections in Tamil Nadu and Kerala will be held on April 6. The counting of votes will take place on May 2.
(CNN)  At first, the thermometer read 101. But when Ricardo Ramirez arrived in the emergency department it just kept rising. He began pleading for his life, begging the fully gowned, gloved, and masked strangers to give him something to stop the fever.

And then, on March 23, 2020, a few hours after he arrived, it hit Ramirez all at once: he was sure he was going to die.

"I started calling my family -- my wife and my kids." Ramirez has two children, Ricardo Jr., 14, and Rachelle, five. "I started giving my son all my passwords and all my personal information for him to have if anything happened to me," he told CNN.

"I am in the hospital and you are at home," he told his son. "You are the man of the house."

Ramirez, is a 55-year-old biomedical technician at St. Charles Hospital in Port Jefferson, on New York's Long Island. And at that moment, he was living through the trauma that so many Covid-19 patients experienced: the feeling that death was only moments away.

It wasn't. He returned to his family after nine harrowing weeks in the hospital. But almost a year later, he can still recall the trauma of his hospitalization vividly.

"I remember once I woke up and I said, 'God, I don't want to go.' I looked at the ceiling in my room and I saw my wife's face crying. And my kids, both of them crying behind her. Then I woke up and I was crying by myself," he told CNN in a phone interview.

Millions have survived Covid-19 hospitalization, and, for most, the acute physical symptoms have gone away. But many continue to endure the emotional and psychological trauma that comes with having Covid-19. A study published February 2021 found that 30% of Covid-19 survivors experienced post-traumatic stress disorder, or PTSD, a psychological illness that usually occurs after someone has a life-threatening experience.

If left untreated, PTSD has the potential to turn a hopeful recovery into a living nightmare. And while studies after SARS epidemic in 2003-2004 found similar rates of PTSD at around 25%, the scale of the Covid-19 pandemic is a key difference. With roughly 30 million confirmed infections in the US since the start of the pandemic, some experts say the world should be bracing for a mental health crisis.

PTSD and long-Covid

PTSD is a mental health disorder in which a person experiences thoughts, flashbacks and nightmares that strike unpredictably, and bring the person back to the moment of trauma. The re-experiencing of memories causes panic attacks and trouble sleeping.

"It may occur in patients who experienced a traumatic event," Dr. Delfina Janiri, who helped a single-center study published February 2021 in the Journal of the American Medical Association Psychiatry and psychiatrist at Policlinicio Universitario Fondazione Agostino Gemelli in Italy, told CNN. "So in this case we consider having experienced a severe and acute Covid illness."

Janiri's study included 381 patients treated at a hospital in Rome, Italy between April and October of 2020. After recovery from infection, all patients were referred to a post-recovery care center where they received a full psychiatric evaluation.

The patients were evaluated for anxiety, depression, mood disorders and PTSD. "We were surprised by the fact that most of the symptoms we found clustered around the PTSD syndrome," Janiri told CNN.

They also looked for patient characteristics that increased the risk of developing PTSD. The strongest predictor was persistence of three or more Covid-19 symptoms, the same symptoms described by long-Covid patients: fatigue, brain fog, heart palpitations, difficulty breathing, headaches, and others.

Around 70% of people who reported experiencing three or more persistent medical symptoms were found to have PTSD compared to 31% for people with one or two, the study found.

"We found a strong association between the post traumatic stress disorder and those symptoms," Janiri said. "Of course, it's not possible for us now to define the directionality, which means we don't know which was the first thing, so the thing causing the effect. But for sure the people reporting more persistent clinical symptoms are also people reporting more PTSD symptoms."

An earlier study out of China that involved 714 hospitalized patients at five hospitals in Wuhan in March 2020, and published in Psychological Medicine, found 96% of people surveyed had post-Covid PTSD. Half of the patients surveyed said that online mental health counseling would be helpful.

Haunted by the ICU

PTSD occurring after certain hospitalizations is not a new phenomenon, said Dr. Ronald Brenner, psychiatrist and Catholic Health's Chairman of Behavioral Health. As some research suggests one in five patients experiences PTSD after ICU admission.

"But in Covid, it is also showing up in people who had moderate to severe Covid without having to go to the ICU," Brenner said. Why this is the case is hard to know, Brenner said, but it could be due to the high death rate associated with Covid-19.

Brenner is seeing the after-effects of the virus firsthand as a psychiatrist. One patient of his was hospitalized for five days with Covid-19, but never required ICU level care. Now, any cough, pain, or other symptom triggers anxiety and sometimes panic attacks.

"He started having real anxiety attacks about having Covid again, about the symptoms not going away, having residual Covid forever," Brenner said. "He then also had great difficulty coming back to work because of the avoidance issue, because of the fear of going to the same place."

PTSD causes people to avoid situations associated with the trauma, as they can trigger panic and anxiety. The patient still has difficulty at work, Brenner said.

While encouraged that some patients have come forward, Brenner says a comprehensive strategy is still needed to ensure all patients get the care they need. And there is treatment that works, Brenner said, such as cognitive behavioral therapy or treatment with medicine such as antidepressants or anti-anxiety medications.

Fear of stigma

The National Institute of Mental Health is currently funding research to better understand post-Covid PTSD, said Dr. Susan Borja, psychiatrist who heads a program for studying traumatic stress at NIMH. For example, the newly funded National Institutes of Health studies looking at long-Covid patients will also include analysis on mental illness in these patients.

"One of the challenges of this pandemic, is how widespread it is," Borja told CNN. "When it comes down to the entire US population with a healthcare system that's already somewhat at capacity, there's a lot of people that are suffering from mental illness and never received any care."

A key strategy to reach people with post-Covid PTSD must be outreach and targeted screening, Borja said. An example that could be adapted to other high-risk groups is the Heroes Health Initiative, which was launched in June 2020 by the Institute for Trauma and Recovery, University of North Carolina, Chapel Hill, funded by the Rockefeller Foundation.

The initiative uses a free app, the Heroes Health app, that offers health care workers a weekly survey that screens for mental health symptoms and connects users with a mental health worker if needed.

"In this way, the program has linked up hundreds of health care workers to support and care," Dr. Sam McLean, director of the institute, told CNN.

Using screening measures like this for groups that have been identified as higher risk, such as those with persistent Covid-19 symptoms, could be a key strategy to get ahead of this looming mental health crisis.

"The sooner you can get people connected to care and get them good evidence-based care, the faster you're preventing a lifetime of suffering that has all kinds of consequences for the person," Borja said.

And it's important we address this problem now, because, due to stigma, the number of Covid-19 survivors with PTSD could be much greater than people think, Brenner said.

"They have fear of being labeled. I think it is a brand new constellation of symptoms for them that they are totally scared about and totally ashamed about in way. I think it's much harder for them to accept that there is a psychological component to this and not just a physical component."

Correction: This story is updated to show that St. Charles Hospital is in Port Jefferson, NY, on Long Island

This story was first published on CNN.com, "Post-Covid PTSD: the storm after the storm"
Maharashtra CM Warns Of Lockdown; 11 States Of 'Grave Concern': All About India's COVID Crisis

Agencies

On a day Maharashtra reported 47,827 new COVID-19 cases, the highest since the pandemic began last year, Maharashtra Chief Minister Uddhav Thackeray stopped short of announcing a lockdown, but warned that the decision may have to be taken after two days following consultations with experts and political leaders. Read more.

Here are the other top stories of the day:

UP Shocker! Minor Dies By Suicide After Alleged Gangrape While She Was Returning From Tuition

Agencies

In a shocking incident, a class 10 student from Meerut, Uttar Pradesh died by suicide after she was allegedly abducted and gang-raped while on her way back from a tuition class. The incident that happened on Thursday was reported from a village in rural Meerut. Read more.



Meet Rahila Kousar From Kashmir, She Has Set Up A Honey Brand, Provides Employment To People

Idrees Bukhtiyar

Women can do wonders if they are given the chance and the following story from Kashmir is a testament of such zeal and determination. A 38-year-old woman from Nambla village of Uri area of north Kashmir's Baramulla district has successfully transformed her beekeeping hobby into entrepreneurship thereby launching her own brand of honey- Uri Honey. Read more.



17 St Stephen's Students Who Were Part Of College Trip To Dalhousie Test Positive For COVID-19

Sylvester Tamang

St Stephens College in Delhi has turned into a COVID-19 hotspot after 17 people including students and staff tested positive for COVID-19. According to a notice issued by the institute's principal, the St Stephen's College campus' "inner perimeter" has been rendered out of bounds after 13 resident students and two staffers tested COVID-19 positive. Read more.



IndiGo Crew Calls Mayday As Flight Suffers Cabin Depressurisation At 11,000 Feet: What We Know

Agencies

Passengers on the IndiGo flight 6E-6654 from Lucknow to Bengaluru on Friday night experienced the nightmare scenario after it suffered cabin depressurisation just before it was about to land. Read more.


A man suspected of stealing a Williams Valley School District van and deliberately hitting two vehicles last month has been captured.

Gregory A. Daniels, 44, of Williamstown, was found and apprehended Friday by authorities in Ormond Beach, Florida, following several incidents of criminal activity, state police at Lykens said in a release Saturday.

The investigation began March 25, when officers were called to the 200 block of East Market Street in Williamstown, Dauphin County, for a report of a criminal trespass.

At the scene, Daniels illegally entered a vacant property and was driving a vehicle stolen in South Carolina, police said. A short time later, an officer saw him sitting in the vehicle and ordered him to get out. Daniels then fled and was pursued by police.

The pursuit continued at high rates of speed into the Weiser State Forest, where, police said, he stopped and then ran into a wooded area. A handgun, which Daniels could not legally possess, was found at the scene and collected as evidence and a warrant was issued for Daniels arrest.

On March 26, police said, Daniels stole a van from school district property and intentionally struck another occupied vehicle head-on, then intentionally rear-ended another vehicle in Williamstown before fleeing. The van was later recovered in Jefferson Township, Dauphin County.

Daniels is facing charges in Florida relating to the criminal incidents and is awaiting extradition to Dauphin County to face numerous charges in the March incidents, police said.

Police thanked the public for their assistance in locating Daniels in the release.
Uttarakhand Chief Minister Tirath Singh Rawat on Saturday declared all journalists in the state as frontline workers and allowed them to get vaccinated against coronavirus without any age restrictions, said state government.

"Journalists have supported the fight against the pandemic as frontline workers for communication, spreading awareness and giving out correct information," the Uttarakhand government said in a statement.

"Since the time the lockdown started and the country eased it gradually, even officers and employees of the information department have been constantly involved in communication and spreading awareness about correct information in tasks related to fighting COVID-19," the government said.

Meanwhile, Expressing concern over a spike in coronavirus cases, CM Rawat on Friday directed officials to focus on testing and treatment of coronavirus patients besides extending vaccination facilities to rural areas, according to a statement.

Uttarakhand should become a state with 100 per cent vaccination, the chief minister said during a review meeting, asking officials to prepare a fool-proof plan for this.

He asked officials to ensure compliance of the treatment protocol to reduce the fatality rate.

Rawat said fresh awareness campaigns should be held involving people who command social respect to teach people the importance of masks, hand sanitisation and social distancing.

The chief minister, who is himself working from isolation after testing positive for COVID-19 on March 22, asked officials to ramp up testing in view of the ongoing Kumbh Mela in Haridwar and make arrangements required for the safety of people during the forthcoming "Char Dham Yatra" season.

On Friday, Uttarakhand reported 364 COVID-19 cases, 194 recoveries and 2 deaths today. With these new cases, the cumulative count of the infections in the state has reached 1,01,275, while the active cases stood at 2,404. The death toll in the state has mounted to 1,721

Subscribe to Mint Newsletters * Enter a valid email * Thank you for subscribing to our newsletter.
Belfast District Commander Chief Superintendent Simon Walls called for calm in response to the rioting (David Young/PA)

Eight police officers have been injured in rioting in a loyalist area of Belfast.

Officers were targeted in Sandy Row by a crowd of mostly young people throwing bottles, bricks and fireworks.

In a statement on the Police Service of Northern Irelands Twitter account, Belfast District Commander Chief Superintendent Simon Walls called for calm.

Eight officers have so far been injured after being subjected to a sustained attack by rioters who have thrown a number of objects at police, including heavy masonry, metal rods, fireworks and manhole covers, he said.

Local communities do not want to be dragged back to the past PSNI's Simon Walls

Their injuries include burns, head and leg injuries. Seven people have been arrested at the scene.

I am appealing to all those involved to stop this appalling behaviour immediately. Police are trying to protect those living in the Shaftesbury Square, Donegall Road and Sandy Row areas and it is completely unacceptable that my officers are coming under sustained attack.

I would encourage anyone who has influence to use it now and stop the rioting before anyone else is injured, or worse.

Local communities do not want to be dragged back to the past. They deserve to live in safe and peaceful areas, free from rioting, violence and wanton destruction of their communities.

The incident on Friday evening started in the Shaftesbury Square area before moving into nearby Sandy Row.

The trouble came after four successive nights of disturbances in the unionist Waterside area of Londonderry.

The disorder has flared amid ongoing tensions within loyalism across Northern Ireland.

Loyalists and unionists are angry about post-Brexit trading arrangements which they claim have created barriers between Northern Ireland and the rest of the UK.

Tensions ramped up further this week following a controversial decision not to prosecute 24 Sinn Fein politicians for attending a large scale republican funeral during Covid-19 restrictions.

Expand Close Graffiti reading No Irish Sea border close to Sandy Row in south Belfast (Brian Lawless/PA) PA / Facebook

Twitter

Email

Whatsapp Graffiti reading No Irish Sea border close to Sandy Row in south Belfast (Brian Lawless/PA)

In the wake of the decision not to take action against the politicians, including deputy First Minister Michelle ONeill, all the main unionist parties have demanded the resignation of PSNI chief constable Simon Byrne, claiming he has lost the confidence of their community.

The Sandy Row disturbances, which unfolded ahead of a planned loyalist protest in the area, were met with widespread political condemnation on Friday night.

However, the main non unionist parties also accused unionist leaders of creating the febrile atmosphere and stoking up tensions.

Alliance Justice Minister Naomi Long said: This is in no-ones best interests  not the officers dealing with it and not the mostly young people risking their futures by engaging in it.

Its incumbent on leaders to behave responsibly and dial down the inflammatory rhetoric over recent days. Words have consequences.

SDLP South Belfast MP Claire Hanna tweeted: Sad to see disorder in Sandy Row. Usual suspects with no vision whip up tension for electoral gain, which they never use to improve life for those they pretend to represent. History repeats, people lose hope, kids get criminal records, communities pull apart. Theres a better way.

Sad to see disorder in Sandy Row. Usual suspects with no vision whip up tension for electoral gain, which they never use to improve life for those they pretend to represent. History repeats, people lose hope, kids get criminal records, communities pull apart. Thereas a better way  Claire Hanna (@ClaireHanna) April 2, 2021

DUP MLA for the area Christopher Stalford said: Given the actions of the Deputy First Minister some folks may believe that they can break the rules.

That is not the case  two wrongs dont make a right.

The vast majority of people involved in this incident were under the age of 18.

I do not want to see young people, acting out of frustration at recent developments landing themselves in trouble with the law and ending up with criminal records.

Everyone must be equal under the law and equally subject to it, from the highest office holder in the land to every other citizen.

Sinn Fein MP for West Belfast Paul Maskey said: The DUP and political unionism are failing unionist working class communities through their dangerous and irresponsible rhetoric which is continuing to lead to heightened tensions.

This is a time for calm heads and responsible leadership.

I appeal to the DUP and political unionism to show leadership, to end their dangerous rhetoric and to ensure there is an urgent de-escalation of tensions.

Expand Close Justice Minister Naomi Long condemned the disturbances (Liam McBurney/PA) PA / Facebook

Twitter

Email

Whatsapp Justice Minister Naomi Long condemned the disturbances (Liam McBurney/PA)

In response to the incident, Ulster Unionist MLA Doug Beattie tweeted: Stop please. this is not going to help anyone or change anything. It damages and endangers your own community, it undermines any grievance you might have and it will achieve nothing.

The Police Federation, which represents rank and file officers, tweeted: Once again the outworkings of political flux in Northern Ireland results in our @PoliceServiceNI colleagues being attacked.

No excuse for violence and condemnation across the political spectrum would be welcome.
When Tom Ammiano decided to name his memoir, he narrowed the field down to two potential titles: Kiss My Gay Ass and Season of the Bitch.

(The latter is a reference to San Francisco author David Talbots book Season of the Witch.)

The former San Francisco supervisor and state assemblyman went with the former, a reference to words he yelled at Arnold Schwarzenegger in 2009 when the then-Republican governor crashed a San Francisco Democratic Party event.

In the latest Total SF podcast, gay activist Ammiano sits down and reflects on perhaps his most famous public moment. He feels a little bad for his staff, who had to field endless phone calls that week. Beyond that, there are no regrets. Heres Ammiano, recorded in his Bernal Heights backyard, explaining the scene 12 years later:

Schwarzenegger was very hostile. He vetoed the gay marriage bill. 

It was an enormous event at the Fairmont Hotel, and it was free to all these workers from different professions. The janitors, the (nurses), all these working people. And it was a very, very diverse group of people, because they came from San Francisco and had the benefit of being in a union. And he, of course vetoed everything. So there was no great love for Arnold Schwarzenegger.

(Willie Brown) thought it would be cute to have him say hello to the crowd. I guess he happened to be at the Fairmont.

Rich Pedroncelli / AP

All of a sudden (Willie) comes out and introduces the governor. There was silence at first, and then it sunk in that it was him. It was like Tommy Lasorda going into the Giants locker room. And people stood up and said F--- you and Get out of here! Boo!

In my mind the vetoing was just the final straw. So I said, Kiss my gay ass! And everything is recorded today, so it broke. I started to get phone calls.  It made the media  it was on Jimmy Fallon and Jon Stewart, all of it. I was like, Holy s---, what a tsunami.

Kiss my gay ass became kind of a signature I guess. When it came time to write the book, almost everyone to the person said, You should call it Kiss My Gay Ass.

The video is still online and can be enjoyed here. Ammianos voice can be heard clearly at the 18 second mark.

At the time, The Chronicles Carla Marinucci reported that former mayor Brown was angered and called the comment utter stupidity. Then-state Senator Mark Leno declined to criticize Ammiano. And Schwarzenegger tried to laugh it off. (Compared to the reaction I got in Hyannis Port when I told the Kennedys I was marrying Maria, he said, it was fantastic.)

Amazingly the story gets weirder, and more profane. Schwarzenegger later vetoed a bill brought by Ammiano related to Pier 70 development in San Francisco, carefully using the first letter in each line to spell out I F- YOU.

At the time, Ammiano didnt quite confirm or deny that he was the one who yelled Kiss my gay ass. Now, he not only takes full credit, but reserved the URL and sells his book by the same name on www.kissmygayass.com.

I always say its a term of endearment, Ammiano said.

More from the Total SF interview: Ammiano talks about getting his high school track letter more than 60 years later, his near-death experience teaching in Vietnam during the war and his favorite Dianne Feinstein story.

Listen to the episode by clicking on the player above.

Peter Hartlaub is The San Francisco Chronicles culture critic. Twitter: @PeterHartlaub Email: phartlaub@sfchronicle.com
On a sunny Thursday afternoon in October in Ifite Nanka, a town in Orumba North Local Government Area of Anambra State in South-east Nigeria, Felicia Okpara sat on a chair, taking a nap in a stall in front of her family compound with her two hands on her head.

This reporters greeting woke Mrs Okpara, who dropped her hands, replied to the greetings, stood up and yawned.

The massive erosion site behind her house was what drew the reporters attention to Mrs Okpara, who is a smallholder farmer.

Hunger is dealing with me, she lamented when asked how the erosion site had affected her farming business. The erosion is so disturbing that I cant farm. It has affected my farmlands where I plant cassava and yam.

Gully erosion in Ifite Nanka, according to researchers, started around 1850. A 2019 study by the American Journal of Geographic Information System revealed the depth of the site to be 66 metres deep, 2,900 metres long, and 349 metres wide, occupying lands meant for farming and threatening food production.

Food production threatened

As a result of the erosion, farmers who live around the area could not farm. Mrs Okparas farmlands were not affected initially in the last decade but are now being gradually consumed by the erosion.

She was married into the Okpara family in the 1970s and met the erosion site, which had not started impacting the familys farmlands then. In early 2000, the erosion site started to expand gradually to her farmlands. She thought the erosion would not affect the crops but her hope was dashed.

We use fertilizer on the farms but whenever it rains, the rain will wash away the fertilizer, leaving me with nothing, she lamented.

The South-east region of Nigeria has long suffered erosion, mostly as a result of heavy rainfall leading to flooding. The change in climate has been referenced as the cause. Many farms, homes and other buildings have been affected.

According to the World Bank, South-east Nigeria is a hotspot for massive erosion, an advanced form of land degradation.

The Anambra State Government last year said more than 1,000 active erosion sites spread across the state have become a major natural disaster.

A lecturer at the University of Nigerias department of soil science, Benedict Unagwu, said water is the main cause of erosion in Anambra State.

Rain washes away the topsoil. Nutrients are lost due to the process of movement of those soils. The intensity at which it falls impacts on the soil. This hits the soil and displaces topsoil, he said.

Rapidly expanding gully complexes have resulted in extensive impacts, including farmlands, he said. Erosion has very significant effects on farmlands such as poor growth/harvest of crops and development of fragmented lands, shortage of land for other uses, loss of biodiversity, and reduction of farmers income.

Mr Unagwu said the implications of erosion to agriculture in the state are numerous.

Farmlands are lost, he said. It raises the land and the farm loses its soil nutrients. It is a huge loss to lose nutrients in the soil because to regain those nutrients, the farmer needs to buy fertilizer. If you do not have money to replace it, the yield for that year is lost or if you do not lose it, then the gain will be very minimal. Even the capital spent on the farmlands is lost.

ADVERTISEMENT

He said farmers will suffer economically due to the destruction of farms caused by erosion, which will in turn affect the Gross Domestic Products (GDP) of the country.

When the yields are poor, the profits will be poor. Once erosion occurs, the available products will be sold at a very high price in the market and the public will bear the brunt. At a larger scale, the GDP of the country drops because there is no agricultural production.

It will always affect food security because when we are talking about food security, it means securing the foods that we produce. If you do not have the abundance, there is insecurity, then we need to import because farmers are losing their products to erosion, he said.

The United Nations Food and Agricultural Organization (FAO) said the world population will reach 9.1 billion by 2050. To feed that number of people, global food production will need to grow by 70 per cent. For Africa, which is projected to be home to about two billion people by then, FAO said farm productivity must increase at a faster rate than the global average to avoid continued mass hunger.

But erosion is exacerbating food insecurity in Nigeria and destroying farmers livelihood.

Loss of livelihood

Towards the end of February 2020, Mrs Okpara planted yam on her farm with the hope to harvest it in September. But her hope was dashed when she started to harvest the crops.

The big tubers of yam did not produce well because of the erosion, she lamented as she poured the yam tubers inside the basket on the floor for the reporter to see. The size of each tuber is less than one-third the ideal size expected from a normal harvest without erosion.

The erosion sucked the life out of the yam, she said. Had it been my farms and crops were doing well, I would sell them but now I cant.

I cant even get the crops I will eat, she lamented. Later the government will say we do not work hard but we do. It is the little things I sell outside the house that I use to eat. Farmers are struggling.

Mrs Okparas fate is similar to that of Amaobi Nwankwo. The farmlands he inherited from his father 15 years ago in Ifite Nanka, which he was supposed to be farming on to make money, has been taken over by erosion.

I am supposed to have farmlands of my own but I lost the land to erosion. Those who have the money go outside to buy land to farm while people like me who do not have cannot buy land. It is painful that such is happening, said Mr Nwankwo.

As a result, he has lost his desire to be a farmer and contribute to the production of food in Nigeria to address food insecurity.

Now in his 40s, Mr Nwankwo repairs electronic appliances in front of his family house. As he spoke to the reporter, he was repairing a television set a young man had brought to him for repair.

The Agulu Site

A few kilometres from Nanka is a gully erosion site in Agulu community that has destroyed large farmlands the people call Uhuana (land for cultivation). The land was used to plant cassava and cocoyam in the past until floods started to turn the farmlands into an erosion site. The erosion has created a deep hole that is difficult to access.

Chikaodoli Obikiri sat on a chair waiting for her daughter whom she sent to buy snacks she would sell. Mrs Obikiri was one of the farmers who usually cultivated cassava and cocoyam on the farm, but after the farmlands were destroyed, she opened a small stall, where she sells groceries.

Mrs Obikiri last cultivated on the farms five years ago. According to her, as it rained, gullies were created and they kept expanding. It has been more than five years since I planted crops on my four hectares of land because there are no roads and lands for farming as a result of the erosion, she said.

The erosion site has driven me away. Nobody goes there to farm anymore. Everywhere has turned to an erosion site, she said.

Then, whenever I harvested the crops, I would take them to the market and use the money to feed myself and my family. It affected me because there is no other land I have to farm to feed myself and my family. Sadly, I have farmlands but I cant farm on them but rather go to the market to buy cassava, Mrs Obikiri lamented.

A massive erosion site at Dim Ubana village in Oraukwu has taken a large chunk of the land, including the cashew farm. In the past, elderly men and women in the community usually went there to pick cashew to sell to make money to cater to their needs.

The cashew farm used to be our oil well, said 30-year-old Mmaduabuchi Onuora. People used to pluck the fruit and the nuts. Our poor parents usually pluck them and sell in the markets and use the proceeds to feed themselves.

Mr Onuora grew to see the devastation caused by the erosion but said the impacts have been huge ever since. The flood caused by heavy rains usually crawl from neighbouring Alor and Adazi communities and straight to the erosion site

Due to the impacts of the expanding erosion, the community uprooted the rest of the cashew trees.

The World Bank project

In response to the challenges caused by gully erosion and the emerging land degradation and environmental insecurity, former President Goodluck Jonathan requested the World Bank to assist Nigeria in addressing severe erosion and its impacts in South-eastern Nigeria.

The World Bank through the International Development Association (IDA) gave Nigeria $500 million in 2013 with an additional $400 million in 2018 to restore gullies, along with catchment planning, soil, and water conservation in areas worst affected by desertification.

The Federal Ministry of Environment in collaboration with the World Bank designed the Nigeria Erosion and Watershed Management Project (NEWMAP) to address, on a multi-dimensional scale, the danger of gully erosion in the South-east, including in Anambra.

ALSO READ: World Bank to rescue Edo community destroyed by erosion

While work has not started in Oraukwu, Nanka, and Agulu erosion sites, Anambra State NEWMAP said it is currently working to remediate 13 other erosion sites in the state, in which the World Bank provided funding and technical know-how. When this reporter visited the gully erosion site at Nnewichi in Nnewi North local government area, work was ongoing as workers were seen at the site.

At Nanka, Oraukwu, Oko, and Agulu, we have kick-started some of the processes and documentation for intervention in that area, said Emeka Achebe, the state NEWMAP director of communications.

We have done the engineering design and we have done the environment and social impact assessment. We have done the monitoring, evaluation and base-line studies and some other studies that will necessitate the intervention.

He said NEWMAP tries to find out the causes of the erosion before work begins. Normally, our works are for 100 years in return, he said.

Mr Unagwu said to address the problem of erosion in Anambra State, farmers must be enlightened about the negative impact of erosion and the causes of erosion. He said the affected areas must be vacated by farmers.

They should leave those areas or practice self-cultivation, which means raising some bonds that are high so that when rain falls, it will reduce the inflow of water. Secondly, farmers can practice cover cropping, which means using grasses and legumes to cover the surfaces of the soil. Erosion is the impact of rainfall. When it hits the soil, it affects farmlands.

Once there is cover cropping, it will reduce the impact of the heavy rainfall on the soil. Farmers should practice intercropping so that there will be minimal impact of rainfall on the soil. It will minimise the inflow of water, he said.

Mr Unagwu said the government needs to create awareness among farmers and help farmers affected by erosion to get new lands and provide farm inputs so they can return to farming.

By January, farmers will start to burn bushes, which is not good. It is not healthy. As they are burning bushes, they are killing microorganisms that will help to secure the soil. Government can encourage essential services to farmers not to burn the bushes. Government can provide tractors to improve soil structure, he said.

To stop more erosion sites in the state from breaking out, Mr Achebe said NEWMAP is engaging in aggressive sensitisation. We keep on educating people, enlightening them, sensitising them on the right environmental practices. Some of the things that they do to aggravate these gullies to ensure when they see gullies erupting, they will know what they need to do.

We also have community associations and site committees and we go into communities where we intervene to make sure they are sensitised. We call the women, youth, and men organisations, talking to them about what causes erosion, he said.

NEWMAP has advised farmers who have lost their livelihood to the erosion but still try to cultivate crops to stop farming on the lands.

We give them small funds to leave whatever they are doing like cultivation. We tell them to leave it and provide them with an alternative source of livelihood. We give them training and seed money to kick-start whatever business endeavours they choose. We have tailoring, hairdressing, fish farming so that they will allow the lands to rest, Mr Achebe said.

The Permanent Secretary of the Anambra State Ministry of Environment refused to speak to this reporter on whether the state has any plans to assist farmers affected by erosion. I will not comment, he said. When asked why, he reiterated, I do not want to comment, sorry, and ended the call.

Mrs Okpara whose family relocated to Benin as a result of the erosion said only the government can address the problem, which is bigger than the community.

I want the government to address the problem because the erosion site is now very deep, she said. Later the government will say farmers do not work hard but we do.

This report was produced with support from the Premium Times Centre for Investigative Journalism (PTCIJ) through funding support from the Ford Foundation.
404

  

              
.......... .......... .......... .......... .......... .......... .......... .......... .......... .......... .......... .......... .......... .......... .......... .......... .......... ..........

As Alaska Native people with deep ties to the land over which the Department of the Interior (DOI) has jurisdiction, we are immensely proud of Rep. Deb Haalands confirmation as secretary. We are also nervous.

In so many ways, Alaska is different from the rest of the nation. This is not a bad thing or an accident. Indeed, policymakers learned from mistakes made in the Lower 48 about how to manage Indian Country. We are proud to have broken the mold when it comes to the land and water rights of our Native Alaska people. We did it right. That also means that we do not fit neatly into any category. Our issues require adherence to unique laws and practices that do not apply to the rest of the country.

Two landmark laws in particular guide us in Alaska. The Alaska Native Claims Settlement Act (ANCSA) and the Alaska National Interest Lands Conservation Act (ANILCA) were watershed pieces of legislation that provided Alaska Native people with more rights and control over Native lands than tribes in the Lower 48. Both laws were meant to empower Native communities to survive and thrive, while providing for responsible use of the land to support our people.

Unfortunately, many of the promises made to Alaska Native people in both ANCSA and ANILCA have been willfully broken  one of the tragic similarities Alaska Natives share with Indian Country. We must constantly defend the rights clearly provided to us in law from people who do not understand the novel approach Alaska decided to take in managing Native land. Haaland will play a prominent role in when and how these laws are enforced.

To say President Biden got off to a bad start in this area is an understatement. In his first few days of office, he promised to consult with Native Americans and Native Alaskans on issues affecting them, then issued sweeping policy changes without any consultation at all. We are the Indigenous people who live in the areas impacted by his decisions, and these early actions leave us to question how Bidens choice for secretary of the Interior will navigate under challenging circumstances.

It is critical Haaland be transparent and clarify her approach to this dilemma. Will she take the time to educate herself about Alaska Native people and the unique laws that govern us? Given the long, sad record of federal overreach in dealing with our people, we struggle to be optimistic. Alaska Native people from across the state should be concerned about Haalands record of open hostility toward natural resource development and the industries that have contributed to lifting so many of us in Alaska out of poverty into a life of self-determination.

ADVERTISEMENTSkip



................................................................

Despite our concerns, we pledge to work with the secretary in a productive, cooperative manner. Make no mistake, however, we will hold her accountable for her actions, and if her decisions adversely impact our people, we will speak up loudly and publicly.

The authors are Alaska Native leaders and whaling captains, and all are lifelong residents of the North Slope and live an active subsistence lifestyle.
Former U.S. Rep. Beto ORourke does not plan to run for governor in 2022.

The El Paso Democrat said on a Dallas-Fort Worth television program set to air Sunday that hes focusing on other ways to be involved in politics right now.

Ive got no plans to run, and Im very focused on the things that Im lucky enough to do right now  organizing, registering voters and teaching, ORourke said for an upcoming segment on Lone Star Politics on KXAS-TV Channel 5. Im just going to keep doing what Im doing now.

But Friday evening, ORourke sent a statement to the Houston Chronicle that hes not slamming the door shut, either.

Nothing I said would preclude me from considering a run in the future, said ORourke, 48, who served in Congress from 2013 to 2019.

ORourke said his point was that hes focused on political organizing and teaching a political science course at Texas State University.

His latest comments come months after he told an El Paso radio station he was weighing the possibility. You know what, its something Im going to think about, ORourke said in that interview.

To be sure, ORourke has changed plans before. In late 2018, while in Houston, ORourke was adamant that he was not going to run for president in 2020. Four months later, he jumped into the race.

For Democrats, ORourke is seen by many as their best potential candidate against Republican Gov. Greg Abbott, who they have sharply criticized for his handling of the coronavirus pandemic and for the breakdown of the states energy grid during last Februarys cold snap, which caused massive power outages.

In 2018, ORourke came within 3 percentage points of beating U.S. Sen. Ted Cruz  the closest a Democrat has come to winning statewide office since the 1990s.

Since his failed presidential run in 2020, ORourke has put his time into a political action committee called Powered by People, which has been registering and trying to mobilize voters.

On the Lone Star Politics Podcast, a joint program run by The Dallas Morning News and KXAS (NBC-5), ORourke talked about Harris County Judge Lina Hidalgo and Dallas County Judge Clay Jenkins as potential candidates to run against Abbott in 2022.

How about somebody like Lina Hidalgo, the county judge in Harris County, who has disregarded the polls and the conventional wisdom and instead followed the best public health advice and science and guidance from medical practitioners? ORourke said during the interview.

But Hidalgo has already pushed back against that prospect.

"My plan right now is to run for reelection. There is a lot that we still need to do," Hidalgo said last month. "I wouldnt say its something I am actively pursuing right now. The focus is on reelection."

Texas requires candidates seeking office in 2022 to begin officially qualifying this coming November. Though that is seven months away, because of the size of the state, candidates for office typically start much earlier in preparation of raising the millions of dollars needed to compete statewide.

Abbott could be facing his own primary challenge in 2022. Former State Sen. Don Huffines, R-Dallas, has said hes considering taking on Abbott and could have an announcement later this month.

Lt. Gov. Dan Patrick, a Republican, has already declared hes not running against Abbott and is seeking re-election

jeremy.wallace@chron.com.
Jennifer Dorsey is chief copy editor and Business section coordinator. She worked in Washington, D.C., and Chicago before moving to the Tetons.
With her arms aloft and a look of pure joy on her face, this is the young Muslim woman who fell for neo-Nazi police officer Benjamin Hannam.

Shaima Madarbukus had a three-year relationship with Hannam  who was convicted last week of belonging to the banned far-Right terrorist group National Action  after they started dating when they were in the sixth form at Winchmore School in North London.

The Mail on Sunday can reveal that Ms Madarbukus, who moved to Britain from her native Mauritius as a six-year-old, appeared as a character witness at her former boyfriend's trial, where she described him as 'outgoing, courageous, educated and well-mannered'.

Ms Madarbukus, pictured appeared as a character witness at her former boyfriend's trail

She told the Old Bailey: 'I would see him Monday to Friday at school break times and lunch, and we would walk home every day after school.

'Weekends centred around our education, catching up on homework. I would not see him [then] mainly because I had no excuse to leave the house.'

The court heard that Ms Madarbukus tried to keep the relationship secret from her parents, but they found out and did not approve.

She grew up in a religiously observant household, although she no longer practises her faith and dresses in a Western manner.

The 22-year-old insisted that Hannam never made any racist remarks or spoke disrespectfully about Islam.

Denying that his persistent questioning of her faith led her to turn away from it, she said: 'Leaving the religion was me. He would provide positive and negative.

'He enlightened me about my religion and didn't really deter me from my religion either.'

Unknown to his girlfriend, Hannam, also 22, from Enfield, North London, became a poster boy for National Action, a white supremacist group which celebrated the murder of Labour MP Jo Cox by a Right-wing extremist.

He appeared in propaganda videos, recruited members and attended training camps.

Despite his membership of the organisation, Hannam was able to join the Metropolitan Police and work for the force for two years.

Ben Hannam, 22, became the first British policeman to be convicted of terrorism this week after it was found he was once a member of banned white supremacist group National Action

The former constable, who pleaded guilty to separate charges of possessing child porn, has been told to expect a custodial sentence for his involvement with National Action.

Linda Hughes, Hannam's former history teacher, told the trial that his A-level dissertation on Islam was so offensive and 'intolerant' that she refused to submit it for marking.

The court also heard that Hannam told a school counsellor that Ms Madarbukus's parents 'hated' him, even though he learned verses from the Koran to impress them.

Hannam's grandfather Peter Murphy, 72, who is gay, told the Old Bailey: 'I have never known Ben to use any derogatory remarks about being gay.

'In my opinion, it is wrong to suggest Ben is in any way racist or homophobic. Ben is anything but violent and intolerant.'

But the court heard police who raided Hannam's home found antisemitic material, as well as the manifesto of Anders Breivik, who killed 77 people in Norway in 2011, and images of Brenton Tarrant, who murdered 51 Muslims in a shooting spree in New Zealand in 2019. Hannam will be sentenced on April 23.
The US Department of Labor has sought feedback from the public in the next 60 days on determining the wage levels for the employment of various immigrants and non-immigrants, including those on the H-1B visas, the most sought-after work visa among Indian professionals.

The H-1B visa is a non-immigrant visa that allows the US companies to employ foreign workers in speciality occupations that require theoretical or technical expertise. The technology companies depend on it to hire tens of thousands of employees each year from countries like India and China.

In a federal notification published on Friday, the US Department of Labor urged the public to respond to its request in the next 60 days.

The request by the departments Employment and Training Administration follows a prior announcement by the department proposing an 18-month delay in the effective date of a final rule changing on calculating the prevailing wage levels for certain immigrants and non-immigrant workers.

Published in January 2021, the final rule affects employers seeking to employ foreign workers on a permanent or temporary basis through certain immigrant visas or through H-1B, H-1B1 and E-3 non-immigrant visas.

While the E-3 visa is one for which only citizens of Australia are eligible, the H-1B1 visa is for people from Singapore and Chile.

The proposed delay will give agency officials sufficient time to compute and validate prevailing wage data covering specific occupations and geographic areas, complete necessary system modifications and conduct public outreach.

The rule is a carry-over from the Trump administration, which had proposed revisions mandatory salaries after losing a court battle to organisations including the Bay Area Council over an initial version.

According to the Department of Labor, the proposed rules delay in effective date will result in the reduction of transfer payments in the form of higher wages from employers to H-1B employees.

Additionally, the proposed rule would delay the potential for deadweight losses to occur in the event that requiring employers to pay a wage above what H-1B workers are willing to accept results in H-1B caps not to be met, it said.

The Department has observed that the annual H-1B cap was reached within the first five business days each year from fiscal 2014 through fiscal 2020.

In February, the US Citizenship and Immigration Services, the federal agency which screens and allocates H-1B applications, said it received a sufficient number of petitions needed to reach the Congressionally-mandated 65,000 H-1B visa regular cap and the 20,000 H-1B visa US advanced degree exemption, known as the masters cap, for fiscal year (FY) 2021.

The Biden administration in February announced that it was delaying the H-1B policy of the previous Trump administration on the allocation of the popular foreign work visas by continuing with the lottery system until December 31, 2021, to give the immigration agency more time to develop, test and implement the modifications to the registration system.

On January 7, the USCIS announced to do away with the traditional lottery system in deciding the successful applicants for the H-1B visas.

The Trump-era rule was scheduled to go into effect on March 9.

With inputs from agencies

Subscribe to Mint Newsletters * Enter a valid email * Thank you for subscribing to our newsletter.
Vietnam will strive to outstandingly perform its role as the United Nations Security Council (UNSC) President in April, significantly contributing to realising the foreign policy set by the 13th National Party Congress.

Deputy Prime Minister and Foreign Minister Pham Binh Minh. (Photo: VNA)

The affirmation was made by Politburo member, Deputy Prime Minister and Foreign Minister Pham Binh Minh in his recent article published on the occasion of Vietnam assuming the rotating UNSC Presidency for the second time during the 2020-2021 tenure.



This is the first multilateral mission the country has taken on following the 13th National Party Congress, which has drawn up vision and major orientations and policies for national development, including the foreign policy in the new period, Minh wrote at the beginning of the article.

Vietnams imprint at UNSC  favourable condition for further success

Vietnamese military doctors hold the flags of the UN and Vietnam at Juba International Airport when arriving there to begin their duties at the UN peacekeeping mission in South Sudan (Photo: VNA)

Vietnam has joined the UNSC for the second time in the context of complex developments of the global situation, increasing competitions between powers, conflicts and uncertainties occurring in many places worldwide, and the COVID-19 spreading, according to the article.



However, the country has effectively implemented activities relating to the UNSC, completed the heavy workload in the first year of the tenure, and created its own imprint at the UNSC  the most important body of the UN in maintaining international peace and security.



This is the imprint and characteristics of the foreign policy of Vietnam, a country that loves peace, opposes all forms of war and the use of force, upholds the UN Charter and observes international law, Minh wrote.



Vietnam has demonstrated its responsibility as a UNSC member that always works to promote consensus and makes efforts to seek peaceful solutions to conflicts, he went on.



We have persistently pursued the principles of independence, self-reliance, protecting national interests in harmony with the interests of the international community; made active, proactive, constructive and responsible contributions, and properly handled complicated issues in the UNSC agenda, while promoting Vietnams efforts and experience in national reconstruction and development, he said.



The Deputy PM and FM stressed that Vietnam has actively put forward many initiatives and played a core and leading role in several major matters.



While holding the UNSC Presidency for the first time in January 2020, Vietnam successfully chaired an open debate on upholding the UN Charter to maintain international peace and security, and the first-ever meeting on cooperation between the UN and the ASEAN, which well combined the countrys dual role of UNSC non-permanent member and ASEAN Chair in 2020, thus helping enhance the ASEANs solidarity and role, and strengthen connectivity between the regional grouping and the UN and the UNSC.



Vietnam also hosted the International Conference on Women, Peace and Security with the participation of more than 400 delegates from nearly 90 countries and many international inter-governmental and non-governmental organisations. Countries had supported and appreciated Vietnams efforts and resolve to host such an event amidst the pandemic, and lauded the countrys leading role in building the Hanoi Action Commitment that promotes womens role in peace process. The document was co-sponsored by 75 countries in the region, and circulated as an official document of the UN.

The international conferene on women, peace and security held by Vietnam in December 2020. (Photo: VNA)

Moreover, the country has made specific and pragmatic contributions to maintaining stability, reconstruction and peace building through engaging in UN peacekeeping operations in South Sudan and the Central African Republic.



Vietnamese forces at the UN missions have worked professionally, and completed their assigned tasks, receiving applause of the UN and the international community, and winning love and trust of local residents, Minh noted.



Such achievements have contributed to maintaining and consolidating a peaceful, stable and favourable environment for national development, improving Vietnams prestige and position in the international arena, and deepening multi-faceted cooperation between Vietnam and major partners, thus combining bilateral and multilateral diplomacy, he stressed.

Successfully serving as UNSC President, bringing into play pioneering role of diplomacy



Entering the second year of its tenure as a non-permanent member of the UNSC and acting as the councils President for the second time in the tenure, Vietnam is strongly implementing the foreign policy set out by the 13th National Party Congress, especially bringing into play the pioneering role of diplomacy and promoting multilateral diplomacy and comprehensive and intensive international integration.



Minh stressed that the strategic orientations and new mindset about foreign relations, along with the successes gained in the first year of the UNSC membership have provided a favourable foundation for the country to better perform the UNSC Presidency in the second time, in April 2021.



According to him, as the councils President, Vietnam is set to organise and chair about 30 UNSC meetings and represent the council in the relations with non-UNSC member states, UN agencies, international organisations, and the press in an active, proactive, and responsible manner, aiming to concurrently ensure objectivity and transparency, flexibly and harmoniously deal with and balance countries interest in discussed issues, while enhancing cooperation and consensus in the UNSC.

Deputy Prime Minister and Foreign Minister Pham Binh Minh (R) chairs the UNSC open debate on promoting the compliance with the UN Charter in maintaining international peace and security in January 2020. (Photo: Ministry of Foreign Affairs)

Vietnam will promote the priorities and hallmark events that match its commitment to boosting partnership for sustainable peace during its membership. Accordingly, Vietnam will seek satisfactory and sustainable solutions to conflicts, promote dialogue, resolve disputes by peaceful means, foster the role of regional organisations, put people at the centre, and promote humane policies towards vulnerable groups.



In that spirit, Vietnam is going to chair three important events during the month of its UNSC Presidency.



The focal event is a high-level open debate slated for April 19 on strengthening cooperation between the UN and regional organisations in promoting trust and dialogue in conflict prevention and settlement. This is the continuation of Vietnams priority of fostering the role of regional organisations and also an occasion for the country to join other states to share experience and propose solutions to tighten links between the UN and regional organisations in handling global challenges as well as preventing and solving conflicts in certain regions  an extremely practical topic that matches both Vietnams interest and the expectations of the international community.



Vietnam will organise a ministerial meeting (on April 8) on settling bomb and landmine consequences and maintaining sustainable peace. As a country hit hard by war-left bomb, landmine, and explosive consequences, Vietnam will share experience and attract the UNSCs attention to this issue. Together with other states, it will show support for humanitarianism and the necessity of reinforcing international cooperation in settling UXO aftermath.



A ministerial-level open debate on the protection of facilities essential to peoples life in armed conflicts will take place on April 27. Protecting civilians in armed conflicts, especially the facilities essential to their life like food production and distribution facilities, water and power supply facilities, and hospitals, is an issue frequently discussed at the UNSC and many other multilateral mechanisms and forums.



Deputy PM and FM Minh concluded that with high resolve to promptly and effectively implement the Resolution of the 13th National Party Congress, and with the growing strength, fortune, stature, and prestige, Vietnam has the firm belief that it will successfully fulfill its role as UNSC President in April 2021 with new contributions and hallmarks.

VNA
Fishing on opening day is a tradition for a lot of families across the Lehigh Valley, but one Easton familys tradition might not be for everyone.

It started when Marty Bobo began taking his son, Martin Hagadorn, out when he was 3 or 4 years old.

The fish was jumping around and it hit me in the face, Bobo said Saturday on the first day of trout season. I said, you know what, Im making up a game. Its called In Your Face. And if you catch a fish, whoevers fishing with you, you get to smack them in the face on each side with the tail.

Hagadorn, 38, reeled in a trout from the Bushkill Creek outside Easton and, true to form, got to smack his dad in the face with the tail, as well as his own son, 12-year-old Zachary Hagadorn.

And hell probably smack his son with a fish, Bobo said of his grandson.

Over in Bethlehem, it only took Stephen Smith about 10 minutes to land his first trout on a Rooster Tail spinner.

I put em all back, he said after setting this one free just below the falls on the Monocacy Creek at Illicks Mill.

Annette Lombadro had been in the park since 6:30 a.m., when the National Weather Service registered temperatures across the Lehigh Valley in the low 20s.

It was 25, said Lombardo, who was using Power Bait in one particular spot: The first fish was caught right across the bank, so thats why Im hanging out here, because I saw him throw it back in.

At Minsi Lake in Upper Mount Bethel Township, Northampton County officials gathered to celebrate the return of trout fishing following a two-year dam replacement project undertaken with the Pennsylvania Fish and Boat Commission.

Ecological and recreational enhancements at the lake include fish habitat structures, purple martin towers, duck boxes, turtle basking platforms, blue bird boxes and an osprey tower all constructed. The county is currently working on design, engineering and permitting to construct new restrooms, picnic areas, accessible kayak launch and fishing piers and, for the first time ever, a bridge across the spillway connecting the East and West Shore parking lots to create a walkable path around Minsi Lake.

As part of the improvements, the county is preparing a Minsi Lake Greenway & Stewardship Plan that will focus on the environment and recreation within the 1,200-acre Minsi Lake Greenway and invites public participation. Check out the flyer below, or here if it is not displaying, to learn more.

With the weather expected to return to more normal springtime temperatures, New Jerseys trout opener follows next week, on April 10.

Anglers who would like to have their catches included in a photo gallery this spring are invited to submit up to three images to shindash@lehighvalleylive.com, with the names of those pictured and fishing location.

Our journalism needs your support. Please subscribe today to lehighvalleylive.com.

Kurt Bresswein may be reached at kbresswein@lehighvalleylive.com.
(Newser)  A young couple admiring a large work by American artist JonOne at a gallery in South Korea added a few brushstrokes of their own in the mistaken belief it was allowed. The best part: The work "Untitled" is valued at $440,000, reports ABC News. JonOne, real name John Andrew Perello, is generally known as a graffiti artist, or street artist, and his work is often displayed with paint and brushes nearby, the tools he uses to create it. In this case, the work is a giant canvas about 23 feet wide and 8 feet tall and thus is not framed in the "Street Noise" exhibition at the Lotte World Mall in Seoul. The couple say they thought the paint placed in front of the canvas meant that it was a piece of participatory art, so they added three blue-green brushstrokes on the piece, per Channel News Asia.

story continues below

Gallery staff noticed the additions after the fact and tracked down the couple after looking at CCTV footage. Police released them after questioning when they explained their gaffe. What happens next is not clear. The work is still being displayed, though now with better protection and clearer "do not touch" signs for visitors. JonOne is not commenting on whether he will keep the work as is, request compensation from the couple, or perhaps file an insurance claim. As the Korea Times notes, some people think the couple's additions improved the piece. "The added brushstrokes, which almost look like three dancing figures, seem to express the free spirits of today's younger generation, while complementing the painting well," wrote one commenter. JonOne is a New York City native who now lives in Paris. (Read more artist stories.)
People of do not accept the AIADMK-BJP alliance, and the DMK-led front would emerged victorious in April 6 Assembly elections, said Dinesh Gundu Rao, AICC in-charge of the state, on Saturday.

Seeking votes for Thirumagan Evera, the Congress candidate for Erode east constituency, he said Thirumagan is the great grandson of radical EVR Periyar and son of former TNCC president E V K S Elangovan, both noted for honesty and self-respect.

The Congress leader criticised the income-tax raid on the house of DMK president M K Stalin's daughter and said the BJP has destroyed democracy by using the government agency to arrange the raid just to defame the Secular Progressive Front consisting of the DMK-Congress and other parties.

Gundu Rao said he was confident of the DMK alliance getting over 180 seats in and forming the government in the state.

Thirumagan Evera said, "If I am elected, I will get only the government salary for an MLA post and I will not accept any bribe.
.......... .......... .......... .......... .......... .......... .......... .......... .......... .......... .......... .......... .......... .......... .......... .......... .......... ..........

Copyright  2021 Albuquerque Journal

Consumer and environmental advocates want regulators to require much more direct public benefits in the proposed merger between Public Service Company of New Mexico and Connecticut-based energy giant Avangrid.

The state Public Regulation Commission set Friday as the deadline for all parties intervening in the case to file written testimony laying out their positions in preparation for open public hearings scheduled for early May. Many intervenors were still making final changes to their documents on Friday before filing. But many told the Journal they plan to push for significant changes to the merger proposal that PNM and Avangrid jointly submitted to the PRC in November to guarantee that ratepayers and local communities receive significant net benefits.

The Attorney Generals Office, for example, may push for PNMs parent firm, PNM Resources, to share a substantial part of what may be $700 million-plus in premium profits expected from the sale with its customers, rather than just distribute those proceeds to shareholders.

ADVERTISEMENTSkip



................................................................

The Journal obtained a partial copy of draft testimony prepared by one expert witness representing the AG in the case, which recommended the PRC start out with a 50/50 base presumption as fair compensation for ratepayers. That would mean PNMs roughly 530,000 consumers would potentially share about $350 million in sale proceeds, possibly as a credit on their monthly bills.

Ratepayers share

Avangrid, which is majority-owned by international energy company Iberdrola, S.A., has offered to buy PNMR and its two utility subsidiaries  PNM and Texas New Mexico Power  at $50.30 per share, or about $4.3 billion on nearly 86 million outstanding shares.

The share price offered represents nearly a 20% premium over PNMRs volume-weighted average stock price calculated over six months prior to the merger announcements, according to the AGs expert witness, Maryland-based attorney Scott Hempling. That extra 20% would total about $713 million.

But those additional profits, which Hempling terms a control premium, dont reflect extra value created by shareholders. Rather, they reflect the value that Avangrid places on purchasing a state-regulated monopoly that guarantees a captive customer base with no competition from other utilities. As a result, the extra value should be shared with ratepayers, Hempling said in his draft testimony.

Iberdrola/Avangrid is paying this amount to get control of PNMs franchise  the government-assisted privilege of providing essential electric service for profit, Hempling said. The value that Iberdrola/Avangrid sees in that franchise was not created by PNM Shareholders; it flows largely from regulatory actions  actions that compel customers to support PNM financially by paying commission-set rates. Since those rates have already provided PNMR shareholders fair compensation, giving them the control premium is overcompensation.

As of early Friday afternoon, the attorney generals official filing was still unavailable, and it was unclear if Attorney General Hector Balderas would support Hemplings recommendation. The AGs office was still discussing its final position with different parties in the case.

I strongly support the transition of the states largest utility to Avangrid, a leader in clean energy, Balderas told the Journal in an email. But I remain concerned that the deal results in overwhelming profit leaving the state, and leaving ratepayers no benefit for having allowed PNM to monopolize the energy market.

Other intervenors are also pushing for PNMR to share proceeds with ratepayers, although the amounts advocated differ among parties. In part, that reflects different calculations on the actual premium total that PNMR shareholders will receive through the sale.

Among others, for example, the Albuquerque Bernalillo County Water Utility Authoritys expert witness, Mark E. Garrett of Garrett Group Consulting, recommends that up to $226 million be returned to PNM customers as a rate credit.

Avangrids offer

So far, Avangrid has only offered $25 million in total rate credits for PNM customers to be paid out over three years following the merger. If divided among 530,000 PNM customers, that would amount to about $15.47 per year per customer, or about a $1.29-per-month savings on bills.

Avangrid has also offered to invest $2.5 million in shareholder money for local economic development over two years, and to continue financing PNMs low-income assistance programs for three years. In addition, it promises to create 100 new full-time jobs, plus no involuntary employee terminations and no reduction in wages or benefits for two years.

But some parties want a lot more assistance for low-income consumers, and for communities impacted by the transition from fossil fuels to clean energy. That includes significant investment in energy efficiency programs, such as subsidies to help weatherize low-income homes, allowing families to cut consumption and lower their bills.

Major resources

Avangrid is a leading renewable energy company, ranking as the nations third-largest wind developer. The company has operations in 24 states with $35 billion in total assets, plus the financial backing of Iberdrola, a global energy mammoth ranked as the worlds third-largest electric company.

Many environmental organizations support the merger with PNM on principle, because it could mean an acceleration in renewable energy development in New Mexico. But they want guarantees from Avangrid that it will make significant investments with substantial benefits for ratepayers and the state in general, said Stephanie Dzur, attorney for the Coalition for Clean Affordable Energy.

Avangrid says it can bring significant benefits, and it has an obligation to serve New Mexico with just and reasonable rates, Dzur said. But we dont want empty promises. Were saying show me the money, rather than just take things on faith.

That means writing commitments directly into any PRC orders approving the merger, said Noah Long, Natural Resources Defense Council western director for climate and energy.

We want clear commitments on energy efficiency, electrification programs for transportation, and investments in renewable generation, Long said. We believe thats Avangrids intent, but we need to secure those commitments in writing.

Coal at issue

Environmental groups also want to include discussion of PNM plans to exit the coal-fired Four Corners Generating Station in December 2024  more than six years ahead of schedule  to be part of the merger hearings. PNM filed for plant abandonment in January, which the PRC is now reviewing as a separate case.

But Avangrid has conditioned its merger agreement on PNM efforts to depart Four Corners because it doesnt want coal on its books when it takes over the utility. And many environmental groups oppose PNMs current abandonment plan, which calls for selling its Four Corners stake to the Navajo Nation, which could then continue running the plant with other co-owners until 2031.

Sierra Club Rio Grande Chapter Director Camilla Feibelman said her group and others want to discuss those plans directly with Avangrid in the merger case to push not just for PNMs exit from Four Corners, but to get the plant shut down before 2031.

Four Corners is a different case, but we believe the PNM-Avangrid merger should be stipulated on not allowing PNM to do anything that could extend the life of Four Corners after it exits the plant, Feibelman said.

PNM said Avangrid will help New Mexico in its transition to renewable energy, and the PRC regulatory process will ensure that the merger brings benefits to customers and the state.

We believe that each of the intervening parties in this regulatory process shares with us an interest in our states future, PNM spokesman Ray Sandoval told the Journal. We look forward to reviewing their responses and working with them throughout the proceeding.
New Delhi: Delhi is encountering the fourth wave of Covid-19 infection but imposition of a lockdown is not being considered yet, Chief Minister Arvind Kejriwal said on Friday and urged the Centre to allow states to undertake mass-level vaccination.

If there is a need for a lockdown in the future, a decision will be taken after consultation, he said, adding the fourth wave is less serious than the previous ones as there are fewer number of deaths and hospitalisations this time.

Arvind Kejriwal

The chief minister, however, added, Its a matter of concern since the Covid-19 cases are rising exponentially. But there is no need to panic. The government is monitoring the situation and taking all necessary steps.

After a high-level meeting, Kejriwal suggested that the Centre should lift the age bar of 45 years for vaccination to pave the way for mass-level inoculation.

Covid-19 vaccine

If the Centre allowed vaccination at non-healthcare facilities like schools, immunisation be undertaken on a war footing to check the spread of the virus, he said.
Products in Ireland could have their names, details and instructions in Irish in the future if a bilingual packaging policy comes into place.

Labour Youth, Ogra Shinn Fein, Social Democrats' College & University Branches, Young Fine Gael, and Young Greens/Oige Ghlas along with Conradh na Gaeilge are calling on Minister for the Gaeltacht Catherine Martin and Minister of State for the Gaeltacht Jack Chambers to put in place a bilingual packaging policy by the end of 2024.

This policy would ensure that throughout the State, all text on a product, its container or wrapping, or on a document or object supplied with it, including the directions for use and the warranty certificates, will be drafted in Irish.

Those in favour of the move point out that an Irish inscription may be accompanied with a translation or translations, but they want no inscription in another language to be given greater prominence than that in Irish.

A statement issued by the organisations mentioned above this weekend said: By setting Irish as the default language with an option for a translation to accompany, this allows for monolingual packaging within the Gaeltacht areas and bilingual packaging nationwide.

It continued: We regard this proposal as a pragmatic way to increase literacy rates and speaking opportunities for the Irish language without any increase in spending by the state. This policy, adopted by the state, would give greater visibility and accessibility to the Irish language for learners and native speakers and allow citizens greater flexibility to go about their lives in either Irish or English.

"We contend this policy to be in large part one of public education which will see gains for (but not limited to) teachers, students, those required to have knowledge of Irish for their employment such as in the civil service, and the one million plus people actively learning Irish on Duolingo, a language learning app, every week. It will also provide new opportunities of employment for Irish speakers in translation and marketing.



It added: We contend this policy would incur no new costs to the average business that they wouldn't already incur over a short-run period i.e., in packaging, printing, and marketing costs. In the event of marginal costs, the Business Support Scheme 2021 grant is available, through Foras na Gaeilge, to small and medium-sized commercial enterprises to promote Irish in their businesses through signage, packaging, websites, and printed marketing material.

In the medium and long run this policy will serve businesses interests by creating bilingual workers that are going to be flexible in the ways demanded by the 21st century.

International enterprises must already translate their products when selling to other nations, and it would be in line with EU norms that we adopt this prerequisite for trade here.

"To further reduce the impact on business, it is intended that this would initially apply to new products being brought to market and phased in organically for existing products as companies redesign their packaging or branding in line with their own business needs. Canada provides a successful workable model of bilingual commerce which we seek to emulate.

Finland, a similar sized EU country, also requires all sales and marketing material is in both official languages, Finnish and Swedish.

The statement concluded: Bilingualism is proven to be a major asset to a childs intellectual development and provides the skills necessary to pick up a third or fourth language. Bilingualism improves metacognition, making your brain healthier, better at problem solving, switching between tasks, and focusing."

There have also been claims that bilingualism can even delay the onset of diseases like Alzheimer's and Dementia by as much as five years.
When Norman Lawrence Rich was a little boy, he was given the nickname Semo by his grandmother.

Ive never called him Norman - hes always been Semo to me, Semos younger sister, Sekeithia Tyler told Dateline. After years of not knowing, she finally asked where the nickname came from and their grandmother explained it was because Semo was intuitive and could see more of the world around him.

The name stuck. Semo and his seven siblings, raised by their mother in Washington, D.C., were close and took care of each other. Semo, being the oldest, stepped in as the provider and learned to work hard from a young age.

He was like a dad to us, Sekeithia told Dateline. And he worked hard. Worked hard to provide for us, and then had his own family and worked hard to provide for them. He was just that type of person. Hed give the shirt off his back for someone in need.

In March 1990, Semo was living in Washington, D.C. with his girlfriend, Sheila Brown, and their three children - all under the age of 11.

He was devoted to those children, Sekeithia said. He had many jobs over the years, but the most important was the last one of being a stay-at-home dad while Sheila worked. Those kids were his life.

Sekeithia told Dateline she remembers March 28, 1990 starting out as a typical day. But when she got to work for her 3 p.m. shift, she received news that changed everything.

Her brother Semo had been shot and killed inside his home.

I went in and a co-worker said, 'Sekeithia, I'm sorry to hear what happened.' And I said, 'You are sorry to hear what?' she explained to Dateline. The co-worker said, 'I'm sorry to hear what happened to him.' And I said, 'You are sorry to hear what happened to who?' And then she looked at me and said, 'Sekeithia, Semo was killed this morning.' I said, 'What?' and I just went to the floor."

Sekeithia said she was in shock when she made her way to her brothers house in the 500 block of M Street NE. It was now a crime scene.

Story continues

Semo holding his baby niece next to one of his daughters. (Sekeithia Tyler)

Her family, including her mother, Helen Rich Frazier, and brother, William Thomas, were already there. William, who worked for the D.C. Department of Corrections at the time, told Dateline he had arrived on the scene before they knew the severity of the situation. Yellow police tape lined his brothers house and William knew something was wrong but said he had to hear it for himself. So he approached one of the officers.

They told me a man named Norman Rich had been fatally shot, William said. I knew what fatally meant. He was gone.

Once William found out that Semo had been shot and killed inside his home, he relayed the devastating news to their mother, who broke down.

The moment their mother found out about her oldest sons death was captured in an image by a Washington Post photographer and featured on the Metro section's front page.

Theres a lot of pain in that picture, William added.

Sekeithia arrived a short time later and found her mother inside Semo's house.

There were these bags under my moms eyes - they looked like welts - like she had been punched, Sekeithia said of her mother when she arrived at the scene. But the bags were from where she had been crying. I saw her and I just went to the floor again.

According to the initial Metropolitan Police report, Semos girlfriend discovered his body in their bedroom at the house around 1 p.m. He had been shot multiple times.

At the scene, after collecting herself from the initial shock, Sekeithia asked her mother where Sheila and the children were. Helen, who had been battling cancer of the larynx, told her in a raspy voice that the children were at a neighbor's and Sheila was being questioned by police.

Sekeithia told Dateline that when Sheila returned, she told them her version of what happened that day. According to the family, Sheila said she it was about 8 a.m. on March 28 when there was a knock on the door. She said there were two men at the door, one she said she recognized as someone called Ducky, and the other she didnt know, but that he had a brown paper bag underneath his arm. She said she announced to Semo that two men were at the door and she left the house to run errands and get her hair done.

Sekeithia Tyler continues for fight for justice in her brother's murder.

Detective Ruben Sanchez-Serrano was the lead detective on Semos case for a few years before he retired. He told Dateline the case still haunts him to this day.

Sanchez, who collected a statement from Sheila Brown that day, told Dateline he remembered her being very reluctant, she was combative," he said. But she offered to help them with composite drawings of the two men she said came to the house that day.

Sanchez told Dateline that many people were questioned and potential suspects emerged, but nothing led to an arrest.

Retired and now living in Florida, 79-year-old Sanchez continues to follow the case and keeps in close contact with Semos family and with the many detectives who have worked on the case throughout the years.

He would not comment on possible suspects or any updates on the case as it stands today, but told Dateline he believes the answer to cracking the case lies within the family.

When they put out a reward for $25,000 and no one comes forward, it was just odd, Sanchez said. Especially in the 90s - that was a lot of money.

But Sanchez, and Semos family, told Dateline they have faith in the newest detective on the case and believe hes the one who will finally solve it.

Detective Michael Fulton, who took over Semos case in January 2021, told Dateline that its being actively investigated and is hopeful someone will come forward with a key piece of information that will ultimately solve the case and give closure to the family.

Detective Fulton would not comment on these theories or any possible leads in the investigation, but encouraged the public to call police with information.

Semos brother, William, told Dateline hes encouraged by the work Detective Fulton is doing on his brothers case and believes it will lead to justice.

For years, a lot of things have not added up, William said. But Detective Fulton is going through everything with a fine tooth comb. And thats what we need. Its been 31 years - why are we still here? It makes no sense. My brother deserves justice.

Its been 31 years, and Sekeithia Tyler has hundreds of journals filled with notes about the case to show for it. She was only 26 years old when her brother was brutally murdered, but she took to the streets immediately to conduct her own investigation. And she hasnt slowed down.

People tell me to move on and live my life, but Semo is my life, Sekeithia said. God is using me and I believe I can be a blessing to others who are going through the same thing.

Sekeithia said she still thinks about what her brother would be like if he were alive today. His children are now adults and have children of their own.

She often visits Semos gravesite which is next to their mothers; Helen died of cancer a year after Semo was murdered.

She had been sick a long time, Sekeithia said. But this is what killed our mother. My brothers murder was the end for her. She never came back from it. And she never got to see him get justice.

Sekeithia said that even though three decades have passed without answers, she believes they are close to getting the justice they have been fighting for.

Ive fought for 31 years to get justice for my brother and Im not giving up, Sekeithia told Dateline. I still have hope.

The Metropolitan Police Department is offering a $25,000 reward to anyone who provides information which leads to the arrest and conviction of Semos killer. Anyone with information on the case is asked to call the Metropolitan Police Departments Synchronized Operations Command Center (SOCC) at 202 727-9099.
.

The occasions of expressing sentiments publicly, particularly by politicians, have, in recent times, been on the rise. We have very often noticed politicians, even those in power, becoming visibly sentimental. This spectacle of tears makes it imperative on our part to raise at least two basic questions. First, how does one justify the presence of sentiments/emotions in the political life of an enlightened democracy which is expected to function within the limits of rationality and which is also expected to avoid crossing over to the explosive field of sentiments? Second, are these sentimental expressions innocent, healthy and morally sound? Can we completely rule them out from the political practices while experiencing democracy?

Democratic politics is supposed to operate along the lines of enlightened reason. In such a form of deliberative democracy, which involves appeal to reason, the sphere of sentiments, goodwill and emotions is put aside in the modernist flow and force of reason. Appeal to reason rather than emotion, goodwill or sympathy hurts even the violent emotions such as rage, thus forming the basis of conducting rational politics. Political action motivated by reasoned argument, thus, is the result of appeal to mind rather than heart. Therefore, those who are influenced by the enlightenment tradition of rationality would find it difficult to justify the public expression of sentiments in an enlightened democracy. Democracy, in recent times, has, however, been implicated in a difficult tension between sentiments and reason.
A Tesla logo on a Model S is photographed inside of a Tesla dealership in New York, U.S., (Photo : REUTERS/Lucas Jackson/File Photo)

Tesla Inc on Friday posted record deliveries for the January to March quarter, beating Wall Street estimates, as solid demand for less expensive models offset the impact of a global shortage of parts.



"We are encouraged by the strong reception of the Model Y in China and are quickly progressing to full production capacity," Tesla said in a statement.



Advertisement

"The new Model S and Model X have also been exceptionally well received ... and we are in the early stages of ramping production," it added.



Tesla's Shanghai factory started production of the Model Y late last year in the key market where it already produces Model 3 sedans. In February, Tesla's China sales jumped from the previous month even as demand usually falls during China's Lunar New Year holidays which occurred that month.



The electric-car maker delivered 184,800 vehicles globally during the first quarter, above estimates of 177,822 vehicles, according to Refinitiv data.



This also exceeds its previous record of 180,570 achieved last quarter.



In February, Tesla suspended its California plant for two days due to "parts shortages."



"We believe China and Europe were particularly robust this quarter," said Dan Ives, an analyst at Wedbush. He expects Tesla's annual sales to exceed 850,000 vehicles this year, fueled by the Biden administration's policy of boosting EV sales and by rising global demand.



Tesla delivered 182,780 Model 3/Ys in the first quarter, up 13% from the previous quarter. In contrast, deliveries of pricier S/Xs slumped from 18,920 to 2,020 during the period, ahead of model refreshes.



Gerber Kawasaki CEO Ross Gerber said sales declines of the more profitable cars would lead to weaker margins for Tesla in the first quarter, but he forecast "blowout" results for the second quarter.



Other automakers like General Motors Co on Thursday reported a rebound in first-quarter U.S. sales from a coronavirus-induced slump last year, but volumes were capped by a global chip scarcity that forced many companies to cut production.



Tesla has become the most valuable auto company in the world by far, despite production that is a fraction of rivals such as Toyota Motor Corp, Volkswagen AG and GM.


Kiwi model Georgia Fowler announced her pregnancy on Friday.

And that same day, the stunner showed off her baby bump as she stepped out in Sydney's Rose Bay.

The 28-year-old cut a casual figure in a pair of black bike shorts and a crop top that highlighted her figure.

Stepping out: On Friday, Kiwi model Georgia Fowler showed off her blossoming baby bump while out in Sydney, after announcing her pregnancy

Happy news: Georgia announced her pregnancy on Friday

The Victoria's Secret model wore a pair of black shorts with a beige long sleeve top and a lilac bucket hat.

She teamed the look with a pair of black and white sneakers and appeared to be makeup free.

Georgia looked relaxed as she hopped out of her white luxury vehicle after announcing her big baby news.

Relaxed: Georgia looked relaxed as she hopped out of her white luxury vehicle after announcing her big baby news

Low-key: The Victoria's Secret model wore a pair of black shorts with a beige long sleeve top and a lilac bucket hat

Casual: She teamed the look with a pair of black and white sneakers and appeared to be makeup free

On Friday, Georgia announced she's pregnant with her first child.

She shared the happy news on Instagram alongside a series of gorgeous black and white photographs of her baby bump.

Georgia is expecting her first child with restaurateur boyfriend Nathan Dalah, 26, and sweetly wrote: 'We can't wait to meet you little one.'

Thrilled: On Friday, Georgia announced she's pregnant with her first child. She shared the happy news on Instagram alongside a series of gorgeous black and white photographs of her baby bump

New addition: Georgia is expecting her first child with restaurateur boyfriend Nathan Dalah, 26, and sweetly wrote: 'We can't wait to meet you little one'

'It's been hard to keep this one quiet, but now it's pretty hard to hide,' Georgia wrote

'It's been hard to keep this one quiet, but now it's pretty hard to hide,' Georgia wrote.

'Nathan and I couldn't be happier to share our exciting news with you. We cannot wait to meet you little one and begin our next adventure together.'

She finished: 'The best is yet to come.'

Nathan, a co-founder of the Fishbowl restaurant group, also shared the sweet baby news on his respective Instagram account and revealed they're having a daughter.

Baby on board: Nathan, a co-founder of the Fishbowl restaurant group, also shared the sweet baby news on his respective Instagram account and revealed they're having a daughter

'Beyond excited to welcome a little princess into the world with my superwoman,' he wrote

'Beyond excited to welcome a little princess into the world with my superwoman,' he wrote.

Georgia and Nathan confirmed their romance in February last year.

Last year, they welcomed a pup into their family, called Chilli.
The Prime Minister has approved the re-constitution of Economic Advisory Council (EAC) to recommend macro-economic stabilization measures and carry forward the reform agenda for robust and sustained economic growth, Finance Ministry said in a statement here Saturday

ISLAMABAD, (UrduPoint / Pakistan Point News - 3rd Apr, 2021 ) :The Prime Minister has approved the re-constitution of Economic Advisory Council (EAC) to recommend macro-economic stabilization measures and carry forward the reform agenda for robust and sustained economic growth, Finance Ministry said in a statement here Saturday.

The EAC would be chaired by the Prime Minister whereas Minister for Finance and Revenue would be the Vice Chairman of the committee.

In the absence of the Prime Minister, the Finance Minister may chair the meeting, the statement said adding the EAC would include private sector members as well as official members.

According to the statement, the Economic Advisory Council would have an advisory and capacity enhancement relationship with the government of Pakistan.

It will engage with economic institutions collaboratively and synergtically.

The EAC would follow the consultative process and suggest policy initiatives that would further strengthen and optimize financial and economic policies in order to enhance their welfare impact for the citizens.

The ultimate goal of the EAC is to promote analytically sound and evidence based reforms and initiatives after taking all stakeholders on board. The Ministry of Finance will be the nodal government agency for the EAC.

The re-constitution of Economic Advisory Council is aimed at framing an agenda for economic reforms in an entirely non-partisan manner and promoting an active and informed debate that leads to sound policy making, analytical vetting and active monitoring as envisaged by the leadership for sustained institutional reforms and modernization of the Public Sector and enhance public welfare, the statement added.
Przepraszamy!

Ogoszenie na stanowisku:

Java API Developer



wygaso z dniem 2021-04-30



Ta propozycja bya zozona przez Nordea Bank Abp SA Oddzia w Polsce

Mozliwe przyczyny wygasniecia oferty to:

oferta zozona przez pracodawce zostaa usunieta z naszej bazy

rekruter zakonczy proces rekrutacji uzyskujac odpowiednia ilosc zgoszen

firma zmodyfikowaa tresc ogoszenia i jest ono dostepne pod innym adresem url

dostawca tresci usuna ogoszenie z bazy danych

nieprawidowy adres WWW ogoszenia

Jezeli poszukujesz pracy w branzy Informatyka / Telekomunikacja, zajrzyj tutaj: Praca Informatyka / Telekomunikacja

Jezeli poszukujesz pracy na stanowisku Java API Developer, zajrzyj tutaj: Praca Java API Developer

Jezeli poszukujesz pracy w miescie: Warszawa, zajrzyj tutaj: Praca Warszawa



Pamietaj, ze mozesz takze rozpoczac poszukiwanie pracy od strony gownej, kliknij tutaj.

Inne oferty, ktore mogy byc w kregu Twoich zainteresowan:
The American artist and filmmaker Andy Warhol with his paintings(1928 - 1987), December 15, 1980 (Photo by Susan Greenwood / Liaison Agency)

A Boston man has pleaded guilty to stealing Andy Warhol paintings from a friend then selling fake versions to a collector on eBay.

Brian Walshe 46, took $80,000 from the collector for two counterfeit versions of the artists Shadows series of works from 1978.

Walshe originally put them on eBay in 2016 for $100,000 after claiming that the purchase price of the artworks was $240,000.

Buyer Ron Rivlin, who owns a Los Angeles gallery, agreed to a deal for the paintings with a signed agreement that they could get a full refund within three days of purchase.

Authorities say the buyers assistant flew to Boston to collect the art and a day later Walshe paid it into his account.

Read more:

According to bank records, the cashiers check was deposited that day into an account that Walshe controlled, and $33,400 was subsequently withdrawn in the following 14 days, said acting United States Attorney Nathaniel Mendell.

But a day after the purchase the new owner realised that something was wrong with the paintings.

The buyer removed the paintings frames and found no Warhol Foundation authentication stamps and noticed that the canvasses and staples looked new, said prosecutors.

When he compared the paintings to the photographs from the eBay listing, they did not look identical. The buyer concluded that the paintings he purchased from Walshe were not authentic.

Investigators say that Walshe, who had previously tried to sell the paintings to a New York City gallery in 2011, then made excuses to delay refunding the money.

Prosecutors say that Walshe got the paintings from a former college classmate in South Korea who agreed he could take the collection, which included the Warhol works, back to the US for sale.

Story continues

But Walshe, who was arrested for the alleged scam in 2018, disappeared with the collection, until a mutual friend managed to track him down and get some of the artworks back.

Walshe pleaded guilty to wire fraud, interstate transportation for a scheme to defraud, possession of converted goods and unlawful monetary transaction.

He will be sentenced in August and the wire fraud charges carry a prison sentence of up to 20 years and a fine of $250,000.
STAMFORD  Police are asking the public for help identifying a vehicle in connection to a drive-by shooting, according to a Stamford Police Department Facebook post.

Police said two unknown suspects shot at an unknown target five times from a white sedan while traveling in the area of Henry Street at about 9:35 p.m. on March 21. According to police, the suspects fled north on Pacific Street heading toward the highway.
This weeks two-day online Australian Labor Party Special Platform Conference was a thoroughly-orchestrated event, but one rare contested vote on policy laid bare the partys support for the continued outsourcing and privatisation of health and disability services.

Health Workers Union (HWU) secretary Diana Asmar proposed an amendment that would oppose a future Labor government funding or subsidising the private health industry. It was a cynical token gesture in an attempt to head off the anger of overworked and underpaid health workers, who have been exposed to the COVID-19 pandemic for more than a year, often denied adequate personal protection equipment.

The amendment was also part of a factional power manoeuvre. The HWU, which is the Victorian state branch of the Health Services Union (HSU), threatened an 11th-hour court injunction to stop the conference if its voting numbers were not increased at the event. In moving the amendment, Asmar said the union reserved its right to challenge any conference vote in court.

Mark Butler, Labor's shadow minister for health and ageing, addressing ALP conference (Source: YouTube)

The HWU is a particularly discredited union, embroiled in corruption scandals for years. Late last year, former national secretary Kathy Jackson pleaded guilty to two charges of obtaining a financial advantage by deception, relating to the use of union funds for travel and personal items.

Addressing the conference, Labors shadow health minister Mark Butler insisted that the HWU amendment had to be stripped of any mention of opposing the government funding of the private health industry.

The phrases that had to be deleted included there is no justication for supporting a private sector health system with taxpayers money and private health providers should not be subsidised or supported by the Australian Government.

Butler said the health system depends so clearly on private general practitioners, private clinicians, in part private hospitals and private health insurers that he could not support a statement like that.

This support for massive shift in recent decades in favour of the corporate health conglomerates typifies Labors pro-business program, and the trade unions backing of it.

Butler agreed to retain a HWU sentence calling for a commitment to not privatise or outsource public health institutions, jobs, or services, but would not accept the further words, departments of institutions or services. In practice, this gives Labor governments carte blanche to continue to outsource services in public health departments.

Also to be deleted was a paragraph that opposed Labor governments subcontracting public health services, unless employees were guaranteed equal or better pay. Butler claimed that this was not a matter for the national conference, but an issue for the partys state branches.

This was obviously false. No such objection was raised to any of the many pro-business propositions in the platform adopted by the conference.

For the sake of putting on a show of dissent at the conference, a vote was taken on the HWUs original amendmentone of only two contested votes at the event. Predictably, the vote was only 22 for and 352 against.

In nearly every election for the past three decades, Labor has run under the slogan of save Medicare, the subsidised health insurance system. This has been dropped in the new platform, clearing the way for further eroding the chronically underfunded public health system.

The save Medicare campaigns were always an electoral charade. Labor governments have long sought to undercut the Medicare bulk billing system, which enables many people to see a general practitioner without paying a fee. In 1991, for example, the Hawke Labor government tried to impose a $3.50 upfront fee, but was forced to retreat by the public outrage.

Today public and private health costs are at record highs. Both the Liberal-National Coalition and Labor have frozen or cut Medicare payments to doctors, gutted funding to public hospitals and pressured people to get private health insurance, with premiums increasing every year.

The National Disability Insurance Scheme (NDIS), which has outsourced disability services, is a prime example of this process. At the conference it was heralded at every turn as an example of a landmark Labor reform. Speakers claimed, however, that the current Coalition government had bastardised the scheme since taking office in 2013.

Federal Labor MP Libby Coker said the NDIS needed significant reform. Coker cited the high turnover of staff, lack of permanent staff in the workforce, and high levels of frustration by carers and disabled people and their families. We need to rebuild trust, she said.

Cokers comments revealed Labors anxiety that its only supposedly progressive reform for decades is every day being exposed as a for-profit, cost-cutting measure.

The NDIS was established by the minority Greens-backed Labor government of Julia Gillard, supported by the trade unions and the Coalition. It was modelled from a report by the Productivity Commissiona pro-market body that specialises in cutting social spending.

The NDIS uses a voucher-based system by which individual clients must prove to the governments National Disability Insurance Agency (NDIA) how much funding they need for basic services. If successful in their application, they are issued with a plan to obtain services from non-government providers.

The government is shirking virtually all responsibility for the provision of these services. The delivery of one-to-one supports, housing services, allied health services, assistive technology, independent assessments, disability employment services, the oversight of plans and even, for the majority of clients, the development of plans, are all privatised.

For example, Local Area Coordinators (LACs) are responsible for seeing the clients and sending in a plan request to the NDIA. This role is sub-contracted by the NDIA to non-profit businesses. For the most part, the NDIA planner never meets the individuals and typically cuts or reduces the amount of funding requested.

The rollout of the NDIS has seen the dismantling of government-run public health services and institutions for disabled people. This has resulted in the premature deaths of numbers of people forced to rely on the privatised for-profit NDIS system. These outcomes are not aberrations, but inherent to the scheme itself.

The Labor Party conferences explicit removal of any words that would oppose the contracting of private companies for the provision of public health services reveals the continued commitment of Labor and its union partners to this process.
The most brilliant thing that Trump did when it came to bringing peace to the Middle East was to marginalize the Palestinians. By making them irrelevant, he allowed other countries  none of which like the Palestinians  to come directly to the table with Israel. Biden, of course, is reversing that.

The Palestinians are not a real people, pardon me for saying so. By that, I don't mean they're imaginary; they exist, but the identity they claim does not.

Jews have lived in the land of Israel for at least 3,800 years. They are the indigenous people. Those people who call themselves Palestinians mostly arrived in the 19th century. They were refugees from various internecine battles between Muslims in different Arab countries. They didn't own the land but, instead, were squatters or laborers on land owned by wealthy Ottoman Turks.

When these drifters settled in the land, it was called Syria-Palestine. The name "Palestine" was the name the Romans applied to it when they conquered it in 70 A.D. It was a deliberate insult, meant to sever the Jews' ancient ties to their land. The Syria part was because the Muslims had conquered the land, and it eventually ended up under Ottoman Turk control as a swampy, disease-ridden region adjacent to Syria.

Fast-forward to WWI. The Ottoman Turks sided with Germany. When Germany lost the War, Britain gained control over the Palestine part of Syria-Palestine. By this time, Theodore Herzl's dream of returning all the diaspora Jews to their ancient land to avoid Europe's deadly anti-Semitism had taken hold.

Jews were traveling to the land still known as Palestine. They didn't steal the land. They bought it very cheaply because it was a useless swamp. And then, through hard labor, they made the land flow with milk and honey. The Arabs living on the land were at first quite delighted because the Jews made life better for them.

Meanwhile, in England, Arthur Balfour believed that Palestine was the predestined home of the Jewish people. Everyone, including the future Faisal I bin Hussein bin Ali al-Hashimi, who ruled over Syria and Iraq, thought it was a good idea to have the Jews bring their energy, commitment, and modernity to this backward land.

And then the bureaucrats came along.

British civil servants who had never risen above mediocrity in other parts of the vast empire were shipped to Palestine. This was their chance to shine, and they certainly didn't want Jews to get in the way. The Jews were especially offensive because their energy and initiative  and compassion to their Arab neighbors  put the bureaucrats' lazy inefficiency to shame. The Jews threatened their job security, so many bureaucrats went to work ginning up Arab nationalism, including "Palestinian nationalism." It worked.

The big secret about the Palestinians is that the other Arab nations dislike them. They're considered dangerous malcontents. While everyone was fussing some years ago about the wall Israel built to cut down on terrorism, nobody mentioned that Egypt has a wall keeping the Palestinians out. They mattered only because they were a pawn in the Cold War and, for the Arab nations, they were a good distraction to keep people from noticing their own governments' failings.

Between the Cold War and the Arab nations using Palestinians as a distraction, the Palestinians found themselves central to all Middle East peace plans. No plan ever worked, though, because the Palestinians never wanted a two-state solution. As Hamas's charter says, their goal is to drive all Jews from the land (mostly by killing them). You can't reach a fair agreement with genocidal people.

Trump's genius was to ignore the Palestinians. Instead of working to achieve an Israel-Palestinian peace deal, he looked at Arab countries that would benefit from business deals with Israel, and then he went to work. And so the Abraham Accords were born.

Biden, though, has never liked Israel and is surrounded by people who are often openly anti-Semitic. He's therefore returning the Palestinians to their central role in the region:

The Biden administration is quietly ramping up its financial assistance to Palestinians, in the latest reversal of former President Donald Trump's foreign policy. The State Department, along with the US Agency for International Development, notified Congress of their intent to deliver nearly $75 million in aid to the region just one day after announcing a $15 million commitment publicly to vulnerable Palestinian groups.

What Biden is doing is stupid unless your goal is to return violence to the region. It remains to be seen whether the surrounding Sunni Arab nations once again enshrine the Palestinians as the fulcrum to any peace plan or they decide not to go down that route and, instead, maintain their mutually beneficial new relationships with Israel.

Image: Aziz Salha, proudly waving his blood-stained hands after lynching two Jewish men in Ramallah.

You can find the MeWe post for this article here.
Newport, N.Y. -- State Police out of Herkimer are searching for an elderly man that may have fallen into the West Canada Creek on Friday evening.

State Police began their search around 6 p.m. Newport Fire Department, along with State DEC and Oriskany Water Rescue were on scene just east of the West Canada Creek fishing access site.

Details are very limited at this time as it is still an active search. Stay with NEWSChannel 2 and wktv.com for the latest information.
Deliveroo's April Fools' joke backfires in France after thousands of customers were sent fake 400 bills for pizzas they never ordered.

The food-delivery company issued fake confirmation emails to its customers for orders totalling more than 450 (380) on April 1.

Dozens of recipients said that they had tried to call their banks in a panic to block any payment after thinking their accounts had been hacked.

Deliveroo France has since issued a statement on Twitter to apologise and confirm the invoices were not serious.

The food-delivery company issued fake confirmation emails to its customers for orders totalling more than 450 (380) on April 1.

One Deliveroo customer, 24-year-old Elies, said he 'almost had a stroke' after receiving the confirmation email which included a 466 invoice for 38 pizzas that he had not ordered.

He uploaded a screenshot of the fake order which included the customer's first name at the top of the message alongside the words: 'Excellent choice'.

It also stated that as a loyalty reward 50 sachets of hot sauce were being thrown in for free.

And other social media users were quick to comment under Elies's post to vent their own frustrations.

One wrote: 'I invite all the victims of the very bad "April Fools" from @Deliveroo_FR to unsubscribe from their platform. The joke is in very bad taste.'

Another added: 'Horrible when you see your first name on the mail.'

And a third added: 'Don't worry, I got the same email, so I uninstalled Deliveroo.'

Deliveroo France has since issued a statement on Twitter to apologise and confirm the invoices were not serious

Deliveroo France has since taken to Twitter to apologise and confirm that the emails had not been serious.

They uploaded a length statement alongside a caption that read: 'Our apologies for this April Fool's Day.'

'We confirm that it was an April Fool's joke,' the clarification read. 'You can enjoy the evening by ordering the pizza of your choice.'

MailOnline has contacted Deliveroo for further comment.
Deputy Foreign Minister Andrei Rudenko told the Novoye Vremya Armenian newspaper that while Moscow considers the elections Armenias internal affair it cannot stay indifferent to what is happening in a friendly country.

We call on all political forces in the republic to show restraint and look for reasonable compromises to consolidate Armenian society. We express hope that during the pre-election period everything will go peacefully and within the framework of the constitution and serve as a starting point for achieving long-term stability in Armenia, he said when asked whether Moscow supports any of the Armenian election contenders.

The Kremlin confirmed, meanwhile, that Russian President Vladimir Putin and Armenian Prime Minister Nikol Pashinian are scheduled to meet in Moscow on April 7. Putins spokesman, Dmitry Peskov, told reporters that the upcoming Armenian elections will be on the agenda of their talks.

Pashinian announced on March 18 plans to hold the elections following renewed opposition protests against his rule which were sparked by Armenias defeat in last years war with Azerbaijan.

The Armenian militarys top brass added its voice to opposition demands for Pashinians resignation in an unprecedented statement issued on February 25. The prime minister condemned the statement as a coup attempt.

Moscow expressed concern at the deepening political crisis in Armenia. Putin discussed it with Pashinian in a phone call later on February 25.

In recent months, prominent members of Russias large Armenian community, among them Kremlin-linked media figures and wealthy businessmen, have also called for Pashinians resignation. Their statements have fuelled more speculation about Putins distrust of Pashinian.

Rudenko insisted, however, that Russian-Armenian relations have been developing dynamically at various levels and regardless of any external or internal developments. He argued in particular that Putin and Pashinian had more than 60 phone calls last year.

Most of those conversations apparently took place during the autumn war in Nagorno-Karabakh stopped by a Russian-brokered ceasefire.
Michigan daily coronavirus cases are continuing to climb and reached 8,413 cases on Saturday, a recent one-day high.

The numbers appear to validate concerns from state and local health leaders about another surge in COVID-19 cases.

The data for Saturday, April 3 also shows 57 new deaths. Of those, 51 were identified through a routine check of death certificates and did not necessarily occur in the last 24 hours.

Along with the increasing case numbers, the rate of positive cases also is on an upward trend. As of Friday, the rate of positive cases as compared to all diagnostic tests administered was at 17.6 percent, according to state dashboard.

Testing sites submitted 48,307 tests on Friday.

Health officials recommend a positive test rate of less than 5% for keeping schools and communities open.

Michigan reports data on coronavirus recoveries once per week. As of Friday, there were 577,141 people who had recovered.

A recovery is deemed someone who is still alive 30 days beyond the onset of COVID-19 symptoms.

Michigan now has a total of 692,206 coronavirus cases since the pandemic began in March 2020. There also have been 16,218 deaths.

The latest hospital statistics show 2,766 people with suspected or confirmed COVID-19 in Michigan hospitals, up from 1,294 patients on March 18. There are 539 adults with suspected or confirmed coronavirus in intensive care units, up from 294 patients on March 18.

Vaccine data shows that 4.5 million doses of COVID-19 vaccine have been administered up to April 1. That includes. 2.87 million first doses and 1.65 million second doses.

The Pfizer and Moderna vaccines require two doses, while the Johnson & Johnson shot needs just one dose for maximum efficacy.

According to a state vaccine dashboard, slightly more than 35 percent of Michigans vaccine-eligible population has been vaccinated. Only residents 16 years of age and older can be vaccinated.

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:

Vaccine eligibility opens to Michiganders 16+ April 5, heres what you need to know

Myths and facts about the COVID vaccine shot as Michigan opens access to all

Vaccines dramatically reduces COVID-19 risk, experts say, though infections still possible

Attorney convinces judges to let 4 high school wrestlers compete, despite COVID-19 quarantine orders
Sinopharm is one of the vaccines being used to inoculate the population.

The Ministry of Health is seeking to provide more information on the WHO approved vaccine which is produced by the Beijing Institute of Biological Products
Keanu Reeves was spotted in Berlin, ahead of the start of production on the fourth installment of the John Wick franchise on Friday.

The 56-year-old actor appeared to be enjoying the crisp springtime air as he took a shared stroll with another crew member.

The upcoming feature's cast and crew are currently prepping to begin principal photography on the future entry in the action-thriller series in June.

Back at it: On Friday, Keanu Reeves was spotted taking a shared stroll in Berlin ahead of the start of production on John Wick 4

Reeves stayed comfortable during the walk, wearing a form-covering black puffy jacket.

The actor attempted to fend off the early springtime chill with a dual-tone beanie and a comfortable scarf.

Development on the fourth entry in the action thriller franchise officially began shortly after the release of its third film, John Wick: Chapter 3  Parabellum, in May of 2019.

In April of last year, series director Chad Stahelski spoke to Collider and noted that the project's creative team had set their bar much higher for the upcoming film from its inception.

Appropriate attire: The franchise star wore a black puffy jacket and a scarf to keep himself comfortable in the brisk early springtime air

'We submitted an idea or thematic [plan] and it was really big. So, we're talking about doing a little bit more than a [John Wick 4], or something like that, and trying to develop that,' he said.

The 52-year-old filmmaker also expressed that the development team had a relatively fleshed-out story in mind for the forthcoming feature and that they were glad to have a roadmap of sorts.

Stahelski said, 'I'm in a happy place where we are in development...we're in a place where we know what we want do and where we want to do it.'

The director then remarked that the planned film would not lose its action-focused core, as he and creative partner David Leitch regularly looked back on their past roles for creative inspiration.

Onward and upward: During an interview with Collider, Chad Stahelski noted that the creative team behind the series was attempting to raise the bar for its fourth entry

Prepping for success: The series' director also noted that the team had fleshed out a concept for the upcoming film, and expressed, 'we know what we want do and where we want to do it'; Reeves is seen performing in 2019's John Wick: Chapter 3 - Parabellum

'I think Dave and I were both good at what we did as stuntmen and as choreographers. So, we don't want to lose that,' he stated.

Production for the fourth entry in the franchise will primarily take place in Berlin and Paris, with New York City and Japan serving as additional filming locations.

The crew behind the film originally intended to shoot back-to-back for another John Wick feature, although this idea was later shot down, leaving the possibility of a fifth movie in limbo.

The fourth entry in the action franchise was originally scheduled to make its debut sometime this year, although the onset of the global pandemic forced the release date to be pushed back to May 27th, 2022.

The time change was partially done to avoid a potential conflict with Reeves' upcoming science fiction-action movie, the currently untitled fourth film in the Matrix series.

To those who wait: The fourth entry in the action-thriller franchise was supposed to make its debut this year, although it was eventually pushed back to May 27th, 2022; Reeves is spotted in the series' first film. which premiered in 2014

Several spinoffs in the John Wick franchise are also currently in the development stage.

A female-centric film entitled Ballerina, which will serve to expand the universe of the original movies, has been worked on ever since 2017, and in May of last year, it was announced that Chloe Grace Moretz was being eyed for the lead role.

A television series entitled The Continental has also been in the development process for three years and will focus on the in-universe hotel of the same name.

The forthcoming show was given its official order in 2018 and it is set to premiere on Starz in the near future.

Reeves is set to reprise his iconic role as the series' titular character for The Continental.
Under Phase II, residential customers are limited to 65 gallons per person per day, plus 2,500 gallons per month for outdoor use. Non-residential customers must cut their consumption by 10% compared with their previous non-drought winter average.

On April 13 the council could adopt penalties for customers who exceed their water rations.

Bell Canyon Reservoir is at 43% of capacity, and at least 25% is supposed to be reserved for firefighting and to maintain water pressure. Based on typical water consumption without conservation, Bell Canyon would hit that 25% mark in September.

At the end of March, St. Helena had 466 acre-feet of water available from Bell Canyon Reservoir until it hits 25%, 90 acre-feet from the Stonebridge wells based on their estimated maximum yield, and 312 acre-feet from the City of Napa.

St. Helenas contract with Napa requires the city to buy 600 acre-feet per fiscal year, with an option for another 200 acre-feet if Napa can provide it. But with state water allocations being cut, its unclear whether Napa will be willing to sell the extra 200 acre-feet, said Wanger said.

To limit the strain on Bell Canyoon, the city has been drawing as much water as it can from the Stonebridge wells and the Napa water connection.
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!
China reported 26 new COVID-19 cases on April 2 witnessing a spike from nine cases a day earlier, said the countrys national health authority on April 3 as officials in the southwest linked new infections with a local outbreak in Myanmar. As per local state media reports, the National Health Commission said that seven of the cases on Friday were from local cases in Yunnan province where a new COVID-91 cluster has emerged in the city of Ruili bordering Myanmar. Chinas Southeast Asian neighbour is currently rocked with anti-military protests, violence following the February 1 coup amid the pandemic.

Citing a press briefing, the state media reported that the genetic analysis of cases in Ruili indicated that the infections budded from viruses imported from Myanmar and are unrelated to the localised outbreaks in China. Ruili is basically a key transit point for Yunnan province. However, the region has been struggling to monitor the 4,000 km (2,500-mile) border with Laos, Myanmar and Vietnam for illegal immigration amid a fresh wave of unauthorised crossings in 2020 as people sought shelter from the pandemic.

The Chinese city of Ruli has imposed home quarantine, exit restrictions and as well as mass testing. As per state media reports, by Saturday, it had identified 3,650 close contacts and secondary contacts of cases. Apart from COVID-19 cases budded from Myanmar, the other 19 infections in China were imported, stated the national Health Commission. Furthermore, the number of asymptomatic coronavirus cases that China excludes from confirmed cases spiked to 24 from 20. As per the Johns Hopkins University tally as of April 3, the total COVID-19 cases in China are 101,801 with a death toll of 4,841.

China-Myanmar border cities launch mass vaccination

While Myanmar had launched its immunisation drive in January-end just days before the military took over the power, starting from Thursday, four Myanmar-China border counties and cities including Ruili launched the mass vaccinations. The Center for Disease Control and Prevention of Yunnan Dehong Dai and Jingpo Autonomous Prefecture, which governs Ruili stated the move in order to control the sudden new infections. As per the Global Times report, presently there are 65 vaccination points and noted that the vaccine stocks are currently insufficient.

Image credits: Unsplash/Representative
For the second time in three months, there has been an attack at the U.S. Capitol in Washington, D.C.

One Capitol Police officer was killed and another was hurt after a driver struck them at a barricade outside of the Capitol on Friday. The driver exited their vehicle and stabbed one of the officers.

The suspect was shot by police and died at a hospital, according to an Associated Press report.

The officer who was killed has been identified as William Evans. He is the second member of the Capitol Police to die on duty this year. Brian Sicknick, who served for nearly 13 years as a Capitol Police officer, died after being attacked on Jan. 6 when supporters of former President Donald Trump stormed the Capitol.

U.S. Rep. John Katko, who wasn't at the Capitol at the time of Friday's attack, called it a "devastating act of violence" and "heartbreaking."

"The U.S. Capitol Police responded heroically and swiftly to secure the Capitol and protect countless lives," Katko, R-Camillus, said. "My wife Robin and I are praying for the injured officer and sending our deepest condolences to the family of the officer who lost their life today."
A jealous girlfriend allegedly cut off her lover's penis and then flushed it down the toilet while he slept after accusing him of cheating on her in Taiwan.

The victim, identified by his last name Huang, said he woke up in severe pain to find part of his sex organ severed off.

The 52-year-old man had fallen into a deep sleep after eating a bowl of chicken noodles soaked in wine at his home in Changhua County's Xihu Township in Taiwan.

The father-of-three woke up to find he was 'bleeding extensively' and 20 per cent of his penis had been sawn off, according to local media.

The victim, identified by his surname Huang, woke up to find he was 'bleeding extensively' and 20 per cent of his penis had been sawn off, according to local media. He was rushed to hospital for treatment

His girlfriend, named only as Phung, 40, (centre) allegedly cut his penis near the base with a pair of kitchen scissors

His girlfriend, named only as Phung, 40, allegedly cut his penis near the base with a pair of kitchen scissors, Taipei Times reports.

She then allegedly flushed the sex organ down the toilet so that it couldn't be reattached by medics.

Phung then went to the police station to turn herself in while police and paramedics attended to Huang who discovered that part of his penis was still missing.

They did recover a large pair of bloodstained scissors that were found dropped just outside the house.

A fire brigade spokesman told local media that the injured man 'could still walk on his own although he was bleeding extensively'.

He was rushed to hospital in an ambulance to nearby Changhua Christian Hospital where medics said that they had to operate in order to stem the bleeding.

They confirmed that 1.5 centimetres (0.59 inches) had been chopped off from the end of his penis but said that his scrotum and testicles were still intact.

The man was rushed to hospital in an ambulance to nearby Changhua Christian Hospital where medics said that they had to operate in order to stem the bleeding.

Hospital deputy director Chou Chih-chung said: 'Examination showed Huang's 'manhood' was sliced off and still bleeding, so doctors had to perform emergency surgery to stop the bleeding, and repair the urethra for urine release. His scrotum and testicles are still intact.'

Huang 'is not in any deadly danger. He was still in pain after recovering from anesthetics, but can drink water and eat normally,' Chou added.

'The main length of the patient's 'manhood' could not be found and could not be reattached. The remaining part is insufficient to engage in sexual intercourse, therefore the best way is to implant an artificial penis,' Chou said.

'He will need further reconstructive surgery and also psychological counseling.'

A doctor explains the injury of the victim who had part of his penis severed

Police have confirmed that they are investigating whether Phung had spiked her boyfriend's food.

Neighbours told local media that they often heard the couple arguing and Phung had accused him of cheating.

The couple had reportedly moved in together around 10 months ago and Phung, from Vietnam, had allegedly obtained Taiwanese citizenship by marrying a local man and later divorcing him.

Phung has since allegedly said she acted on impulse and anger - and now faces charges of aggravated assault.

Her boyfriend has been told that he will no longer be able to have sex and is being given advice on having an artificial implant and reconstructive surgery. He is also being offered psychological counselling.
Princess Charlene of Monaco has shared a sweet snap of her family today to mark Easter, amid claims her husband Prince Albert has fathered a third love child while the couple were together.

The former Olympic swimmer, 43, took to Instagram to share a sweet festive snap with her husband, 63, and their six-year-old twins Princess Gabriella and Prince Jacques.

Keeping it casual, the South African athlete sported jeans and a white T-shirt with a grey Doc Marten-style boots.

Showing off her new bold hairstyle, the royal looked onto her adorable twins as she held an empty carton of eggs which her little ones appeared to be painting.

Princess Charlene of Monaco has shared a sweet snap of her family today to mark Easter, amid claims her husband Prince Albert has fathered a third love child while the couple were together

Gabriella, and heir-to-the-throne Jacques, looked straight into the camera and posed with huge smiles, while Jacques wrapped his arms around his sister.

Meanwhile, Prince Albert perched against a wall, getting in on the action by also painting an egg as he sported a blue and white floral Hawaiian-style shirt.

Not to miss out on edible fun, the family also had a basket of chocolate eggs in the snap.

'Wishing everyone a blessed Easter. Happy Easter egg hunting,' Charlene wrote.

The royal turned comments off on the post, but more than 20,000 people likes the pictured in the first few hours.

It comes as Charlene praised 'loyal' Prince Albert earlier this year in her first comments since claims arose he is facing a paternity suit over a third love child.

Princess Charlene, Prince Albert and twins Prince Jacques and Princess Gabriella attend the Saint Devote's Day a national holiday in Monaco and celebrates its patron saint, a Christian martyr who was killed and tortured for her faith in the 4th century, in January

After appearing putting on a united front in family pictures over Christmas, Charlene hailed her husband as 'loyal, determined and courageous'.

Speaking with Point du Vue, she revealed: 'When my husband has problems, he tells me about it. I often tell him, "No matter what, no matter what, I'm a thousand percent behind you. I'll stand by you whatever you do, in good times or in bad."

The mother-of-two went on to say she also often tells her husband she will 'protect him' and will 'always be by his side.'

Earlier this year, Princess Charlene praised 'loyal' Prince Albert in her first comments since claims arose he is facing a paternity suit over a third love child. The mother-of-two shocked royal fans around the world when she debuted a striking punk shaved haircut in December (pictured)

Meanwhile Princess Charlene revealed her drastic new haircut was 'her decision', explaining she had wanted the cut 'for a long time' because the 'style pleases her.'

She said she had dismissed comments about the style 'not being royal', adding: 'And I have nothing to answer them, except that we are in 2021, and that in these times so troubled, so difficult, other much more important subjects deserve our attention.'

And after being asked 'are you happy', the royal responded: 'There are times more or less easy, it is the case for everyone.

'But I am happy as I am, fulfilled by what I am going through, I know I am very privileged.'

The royal, who usually wears her hair in a chic blonde bob, shocked fans around the world when she unveiled her drastic new haircut earlier this year (pictured, before the haircut in September)

Sources in the Mediterranean principality say Charlene has had a 'terrible' year as lawyers for the billionaire couple brace themselves for the court case that opens in Milan in February.

Albert, who already supports two illegitimate children, is alleged to have had a relationship with a 34-year-old Brazilian woman which resulted in a daughter on July 4, 2005.

The claim, which his lawyers dismissed as a 'hoax', is particularly painful as he was dating Charlene at the time, having met the former Olympic swimmer in 2000.

Princess Charlene's life in the Monaco royal family 1987 - Bea Fiedler, a German topless model, claims her son Daniel was the prince's son, although this was never proved. 1992 - An American national files a paternity lawsuit against the Prince, claiming that he was the father of her daughter, Jazmin Grace. 2000 - Princess Charlene meets Prince Albert at the Mare Nostrum swimming competition in Monte Carlo 2005 - In May, a former flight attendant claims that her youngest son, whom she named Alexandre Grimaldi-Coste, was Prince Albert's child. She states that his parentage had been proven by DNA tests requested by the Monegasque government. On 6 July, a few days before he was enthroned on 12 July, the Prince officially confirms via his lawyer Lacoste that Alexandre was his biological son. 2006 - After a DNA test confirmed the child's parentage, Albert admitted, via statement from his lawyer, that he is Jazmin Grace's father. 2010 - Princess Charlene and Prince Albert announce their engagement 2011 - Princess Charlene was said to have bolted two days before the royal wedding after hearing Prince Albert had a third love child during their relationship. It was alleged that Charlene tried to flee home to South Africa three times before her 'arranged marriage', at one point taking refuge inside her country's embassy in Paris. Monaco officials were said to have coaxed her back by brokering a deal between the Prince and his reluctant bride that she provide him with a legitimate heir. After that she would be free to leave of her own free will. During the wedding, Charlene was in floods of tears, while her husband looked on impassively. Later in the year, Princess Charlene confessed she felt 'very lonely' in Monaco 2012 - Princess Charlene was reported to be 'depressed' at her failure to provide her husband with a legitimate heir. 2014 - Pregnancy was announced in May. In December Charlene gave birth to twins Princess Gabriella and heir to the throne Prince Jacques. 2017 - Princess Charlene visits Africa, tells media: 'I am African and this is my heritage. It will always be. Its in my heart and in my veins.' 2019 - In a rare interview, Princess Charlene confessed it is 'sometimes hard to smile' and said the year had been 'very painful' In another interview, she said she found motherhood 'exhausting' Advertisement

The princess, whose maiden name was Charlene Wittstock, was an Olympic swimmer for South Africa when she first met Albert at a Monaco aquatic competition in 2000.

They began dating soon afterwards, before Charlene married into the House of Grimaldi at a star-studded wedding in July 2011.

Their twins  daughter Gabriella and son Jacques  were born three years later and are the family's official heirs.

By this time, Charlene had come to terms with Alberts hard fought legal battles with women who eventually won financial settlements over children they had with Albert  even though he originally denied their claims.

In May 2005, just before he was enthroned as Prince of Monaco, Albert confirmed he was the biological father of Alexandre, whose mother was Nicole Coste, a former Air France flight attendant from Togo.

A DNA test in May 2006 also confirmed Albert was the father of Jazmine Grace, the result of an affair with Tamara Rotolo, an American estate agent he met while she was on holiday in the South of France.

Jazmine was born in the 1990s and Alexandre in 2003. The Brazilian woman says she travelled around the world with the Prince in the 2000s.

Her Italian lawyer is, by coincidence, called Erich Grimaldi  the name of the Grimaldi Royal Household of which Albert and Charlene are a part.

Mr Grimaldi said he had filed papers with specific details of his clients love affair with Albert, including trips to Brazil, the USA, France and Russia.

While in Moscow, the lovers are even said to have had a meeting with Russian president Vladimir Putin, who gave the Brazilian a warm hug, according to court papers.

Now Albert is said to be ignoring all correspondence from his alleged third daughter, instead leaving the matter to his legal team.

Alberts lawyer, Thierry Lacoste, has described the allegations as a a hoax, saying: There are no intimate photos, no tangible facts surrounding a possible relationship.

Mr Lacoste said he was also considering filing a counter claim for attempted fraud and blackmail because the claimant threatened to publicise her story if no cash was forthcoming, Mr Lacoste told Frances Le Point magazine.

Neither Alberts daughter Jazmin Grace Grimaldi, now 28, nor his son, Alexandre Grimaldi-Coste, 17, can claim the throne of Monaco, according to negotiated financial agreements.

The line of succession instead favours Prince Jacques and Princess Gabriella, who have just turned six, and who frequently appear in their parents social media posts.

Charlene is known for being exceptionally quiet and soft-spoken, leading another Monte Carlo resident who has known the couple since before their marriage to speculate that her new hairstyle may be a sign of distress.

She pointed to a series of unsettling incidents in Charlenes career as a royal, which included the princess being in floods of tears throughout her wedding to Albert.

They were saying she was very home sick, and was desperate to get back to Africa, said the friend.

This was a time when there were already rumours that Albert had yet another love child conceived during his time with Charlene.

It was said that Charlene got news of the child when she was being fitted for a bridal gown in Paris. The rumours subsided for a while, but now they have exploded again.

In December, Princess Charlene posted a series of festive snaps of her family Christmas, which were interpreted as a show of unity

She enjoyed a fiery display with her family in Jauary at the celebrations for Monaco's patron saint but today Princess Charlene (pictured with Prince Albert) appeared in a more sombre mood

In an interview with the South African magazine Huisgenoot a year ago, Charlene confirmed that her fairytale lifestyle came with deep problems.

Charlene said: People are very quick to say, Oh, why isn't she smiling in the photos?.

Well, sometimes it's hard to smile. They don't know what's going on in the background.

She added: I have the privilege of having this life, but I miss my family and my friends in South Africa and I'm often sad because I cannot always be there for them.
Russias coronavirus cases grew by 9,021 in the past 24 hours reaching 4,572,077, the anti-coronavirus crisis center told reporters on Saturday, TASS reports.

The relative growth rate stands at 0.2%.

The lowest daily growth rates were recorded in the Chukotka Autonomous Area (0%), the Magadan Region, the Altai and Tuva regions (0.01% each) and the Jewish Autonomous Region (0.05%).

Another 717 COVID-19 cases were confirmed in St. Petersburg, 594 in the Moscow Region, 274 in the Nizhny Novgorod Region, 242 in the Rostov Region and 201 in the Samara Region.Currently, 276,191 people in Russia continue treatment.

Russias coronavirus deaths grew by 384 in the past 24 hours compared to 400 fatalities confirmed a day earlier, 100,017 people have died since the start of the pandemic.

The conditional mortality rate has risen to 2.19%, as follows from the data provided by the crisis center.

In particular, 36 fatalities were recorded in St. Petersburg, 24 in the Rostov Region, 16 in the Leningrad Region, 12 in the Krasnodar Region, while the Moscow and Tula regions reported 11 fatalities each.
Bears that are infected are less afraid of people and are battling to survive on their own.

A bizarre neurological disease in juvenile Californian black bears (Ursus americanus) is causing them to behave like pet dogs, warming up to humans in an affectionate manner.

Low Chances of Their Survival in the Wild

Though it sounds lovely, the chances of surviving in the wild with this rare behavior dramatically worsen. The bears, which are all about 1 year old, seem to be putting up with a form of infectious encephalitis which is the inflammation of the brain tissue that can be brought about by bacteria, viruses, fungi, and parasites, as well as part of an autoimmune response.

But veterinarians are doubtful of what exactly is causing the issue or how fast it is spreading within the population. Symptoms may include a prominent head tilt, seizures, muscle tremors, lethargic movements, walking in circles, and being significantly underweight, as well as an act of astounding courage towards humans.

Ann Bryant, executive director of the Bear Education Aversion Response (BEAR) League who has been a part of the rescue of infected bears said they came to their attention because they come close to people in a peaceful, friendly, and non-aggressive manner. "Their behavior seems like that of a dog, not a bear," she said.

Also Read: Fatal Bear Attacks in Alaska Killed 2

Humans Discovered With the Disease

In the previous year, according to the California Department of Fish and Wildlife (CDFW), four individuals have been discovered with the disease - the highest number of victims since it was initially detected in 2014.

According to the CDFW, the population of black bears in California has escalated from between 10,000 to 15,00 individuals in 1982 to between 30,000 to 40,000 presently. As a result, veterinarians are not too disturbed about the effects of the disease on the general population.

Bryant said to Live Science: " On March 2018 the first bear I rescued personally was diagnosed with encephalitis. "She wandered into a school and entered a classroom where she sat down in the midst of children, acting very much like a friendly dog."

Snowboarder Saves a Juvenile Male

Another infected bear was captured on video in 2019 making an effort to climb onto a snowboard alongside its rider. The juvenile male was eventually saved after the snowboarder and his friends played with him and gave him sandwiches. However, behavior that is friendly doesn't mean it's not dangerous for humans to be around the bears.

Bryant said that bears coming close to people who might then treat the animal as if they are domesticated could easily bring about danger. "I would not be secured with a member of the public making effort to handle one of these, or any, bears," he said.

Instead, if anyone runs into bears showing symptoms of encephalitis they should report it to the CDFW, Bryant said. These two specific bears now stay in rescue centers, where they must be given constant medical care to keep the inflammation of the brain under control, but most other bears aren't so fortunate.

Related Article: North Carolina Warning: Bear Activity on Rise as They Prepare for Hibernation

For more news, updates about bears and similar topics don't forget to follow Nature World News!
Advertisement

Boris Johnson is on course to give the green light to holidays abroad from May 17  as the Government was buoyed by a triple dose of good news on vaccines.

The Prime Minister will announce that the near-blanket ban on foreign travel will be replaced by a traffic-light system, paving the way for holidays overseas in six weeks.

Countries will be assessed according to their vaccination programmes, infection rates and prevalence of known variants and ability to identify them.

While only a handful of European destinations are expected to be given 'green' status, including Portugal, it should open the way to trips to countries including the US, Barbados, Maldives, Gibraltar, the United Arab Emirates, Malta and Israel.

With the potential for circumstances to change, the first list of 'green' countries will not be announced until next month.

However, even travel to and from approved countries will require at least three Covid tests for each holidaymaker  one before departure back to Britain and two after returning  leaving families facing extra bills potentially running into hundreds of pounds.

Renewed hope that millions of Britons will be able to take a summer holiday abroad comes as Britain's vaccination programme continues to make huge strides.

The stream of positive news came as:

Daily Covid deaths fell to ten, the lowest number since September 14, as hospitals admissions fell by 23 per cent week-on-week and positive tests were down more than 28 per cent over the same period;

A new Anti-Virals Taskforce is being set up to develop innovative coronavirus treatments, sources told this newspaper, with the creation of a simple pill to ward off the serious symptoms of the virus top of its list of aims;

A single-dose vaccine developed by Johnson & Johnson is expected to be approved for use by Britain's medical regulator 'within weeks', according to Government insiders;

Ministers are set to launch a door-to-door vaccination push to help boost take-up among ethnic minorities, following the success of pilot schemes in Luton and Bradford where everyone over the age of 18 in a house was offered jabs at the same time;

Oxford University and the Office for National Statistics are to examine the low take-up as early evidence suggested ethnic groups who have shunned vaccinations may have started to see higher Covid infection and death rates;

As Mr Johnson praised the role of church volunteers in the vaccine rollout, police were criticised for breaking up a Good Friday service at a South London Catholic church;

The Government is preparing to launch a PR offensive to encourage Britons to have staycations in the UK cities which have been badly hit by lockdown and the near-disappearance of overseas travellers;

Tens of millions of pints of beer are being delivered to the nation's pubs ahead of the next easing of lockdown in eight days' time;

Families pleaded with Ministers to further clarify the rules on care home visits after April 12 to avoid a postcode lottery;

France was plunged back into a near-full lockdown with tougher Covid-19 restrictions being enforced across much of Europe.

Foreign holidays could be just six weeks away as the Prime Minister prepares to give green light to traffic light system

Coronavirus cases are surging again in France, Germany and Spain as the Kent variant triggers a 'new epidemic' there and vaccinations are not as widespread as in the UK

Airline bosses plead to be allowed to fly UK airlines bosses have demanded the Prime Minister give them the green light for international travel within weeks. The chief executives of British Airways, easyJet, Jet2.com, Loganair, Ryanair, Tui and Virgin Atlantic as well as trade body Airlines UK wrote to Boris Johnson as ministers made it clear the ban on foreign travel will be in place until at least May 17. In the letter, shared with the Sun, they recognised restriction-free universal travel may not be possible by May 17. 'However there can be no economic recovery without aviation, and we are confident we now have the tools to enable a safe and meaningful restart to travel in May - allowing us to return to our job of reuniting friends and family, supporting trade and business and allowing Britons to enjoy a well-earned break again,' the letter stated. It added: 'We believe vaccinated passengers should not be subject to travel restrictions and that testing can also reduce the barriers to travel including for areas that are considered to present some risk. Only very high-risk areas would be subject to more stringent measures' The letter comes after the same group of airline bosses on February 18 called on the Government to outline a recovery road map for the industry so they could plan for the summer. At the same time they called for further economic support for UK aviation to stimulate and strengthen any recovery when it comes. Advertisement

The Mail on Sunday can reveal that an efficiency drive at the Oxford Biomedica factory, encouraged by Mr Johnson, will allow the production of 5 million extra doses of the AstraZeneca vaccine a year, making it the most efficient producer of that vaccine in the world.

In North Wales, a so-called 'fill and finish' plant, where the vaccine is decanted into vials for distribution, is in the process of increasing the number of production lines.

And the European boss of pharma giant Moderna said 200,000 doses of their vaccine will soon begin arriving in the UK every week.

With the rate of second doses accelerating, using supplies of the Pfizer and AstraZeneca vaccines, almost all the Moderna doses will be administered to those aged under 50.

In each of the last four days more second doses have been given than first doses, allowing the Government to hail the milestone of achieving more than 5 million second doses.

That means more than one in ten adults have now had both shots.

Health Secretary Matt Hancock said it represented fresh evidence 'of progress along the road to freedom'. Meanwhile, the number of first doses reached 31.4 million, just shy of 60 per cent of all adults.

Downing Street hopes to reach its target of offering a vaccine to all 32 million people in the first nine priority groups this week, earlier than its target date of April 15.

Writing on Twitter, Mr Johnson said: 'We have made huge strides over the past few months with our vaccine programme and everyone in the country has made huge sacrifices to get us to this stage in our recovery from Covid-19.

'We are doing everything we can to enable the reopening of our country so people can return to the events, travel and other things they love as safely as possible, and these reviews will play an important role in allowing this to happen.'

Meanwhile, he used an Easter message to pay tribute to the 'church leaders and congregations that have stepped up to support us all in these very challenging times', adding: 'But, as ever, the arrival of Easter brings with it new hope.'

Britons jetting off abroad from May 17 will have to take at least THREE Covid tests even if they are going to a green country under the government's new traffic light system

By Anna Mikhailova for the Mail on Sunday

Boris Johnson DROPS Covid passports for pubs Boris Johnson has scrapped plans to force drinkers and families out for a meal to show a coronavirus vaccine passport to get into pubs and restaurants in the face of huge political opposition. The Prime Minister is expected to announce a wave of pilot events in April and May where proof of a jab will be required for entry, to avoid the need for social distancing. They include the FA Cup Final at Wembley and a series of nightlife events in Liverpool. But despite polling suggesting the public wants it to be used in pubs and restaurants, Mr Johnson is believed to have omitted them amid widespread political and industry opposition. Labour leader Sir Keir Starmer had branded 'passports for pints' Un-British and suggested Labour could vote against them. A hardcore of more than 40 Tories had also threatened to rebel, potentially enough to defeat the Government in the Commons. In a cross-party letter on Friday 72 MPs had branded the idea 'divisive and discriminatory'. The decision will come as a huge boost to the industry, which will open from April 12 to customers seated outdoors. Punters will be allowed inside from May 17, with social distancing. Advertisement

Britons could be jetting off on summer holidays from May 17  but will face at least three coronavirus tests even if they visit the safest countries.

Boris Johnson is expected to announce tomorrow that the current 'stay in the UK' policy will be replaced with a 'traffic light' system. Countries will be colour-coded on the basis of their vaccination programmes, infection rates and prevalence of known variants and ability to track them.

A list of which nation is in which group is expected to be released next month and there is cautious optimism that 'green' countries will include the US, Maldives, Barbados, UAE, Gibraltar, Malta and Israel. But even visitors to those countries will face a barrage of tests and a bill potentially running into hundreds of pounds.

Travellers coming from 'green list' countries will not have to quarantine but they will have to take at least three Covid tests  either PCRs or lateral-flows with high sensitivity. They will have to take one before leaving for the UK (no more than 72 hours before take-off), and two when they get back  the first on day two after arriving home and the second on day eight. The country they fly to may require even more tests.

People flying in from 'red list' nations will need to quarantine in a hotel, as they do currently. 'Amber list' visitors will have to isolate for ten days at home, while taking tests before and after travel. Both 'red' and 'amber' travellers will also need to take three tests. It is still unclear if children will be affected.

Despite the inconvenience and cost, travel experts believe many will still want to seek sunshine overseas after spending much of the past year in lockdown.

Travel consultant Paul Charles said: 'Summer holidays this year will be sun, sea, sand and swabs. Yes, they will be different and there will be more social distancing, more wearing of masks and more handwashing, but we are used to that now. I think consumers are looking forward to a holiday as people need a break.'

Alex Macheras, an aviation analyst, said: 'A resumption of flights in May, with clear measures and protocols in place that ensure air travel and Covid-19 can co-exist, will be the shot in the arm the industry is so desperate in need of.'

But bosses of leading airlines and travel companies last night urged Mr Johnson not to impose travel restrictions on vaccinated passengers. In a letter organised by the industry association Airlines UK and signed by bosses of companies including British Airways, EasyJet and Virgin Atlantic, they said: 'We recognise that universal, restriction-free international travel everywhere may not be possible from May 17.

However, there can be no economic recovery without aviation, and we are confident we now have the tools to enable a safe and meaningful restart to air travel in May.'

Just TEN people die of coronavirus in the UK in a day - the lowest toll in SIX MONTHS Covid deaths have fallen to the lowest in six months as the UK records 10 fatalities and and infections drop by 27% in a week to 3,423. The Government said a further 10 people had died within 28 days of testing positive for Covid-19 as of Saturday, bringing the UK total to 126,826. Separate figures published by the UK's statistics agencies show there have been 150,000 deaths registered in the UK where Covid-19 was mentioned on the death certificate. The Government also said that, as of 9am on Saturday, there had been a further 3,423 lab-confirmed cases in the UK. It brings the total to 4,357,091. Between 28 March 2021 and 3 April 2021, 27,912 people had a confirmed positive test result. This shows a decrease of 28.3% compared to the previous 7 days. Advertisement

Emma Brennan, a spokesman for the travel industry body ABTA, said: 'I think people do want to go on holiday because they have spent so long at home.'

Meanwhile, Henry Smith, a Tory MP whose constituency covers Gatwick Airport, today urges the Government to protect the aviation industry. Writing for The Mail on Sunday, he says: 'For some, the situation in some European nations leads to the conclusion that the safest and best course of action is to keep our borders closed and remain in splendid isolation.

'This is a dangerous approach that dismisses the progress from our vaccination programme but also fundamentally fails to understand the economic importance and value of aviation to the UK.'

Officials are said to be looking at finding a cheaper way of testing holidaymakers. 'We want it to be as cheap and as accessible as possible,' said a source.

The Government's global taskforce is also said to be looking at whether people who have had two doses of the vaccine could avoid needing a test before flying.

Downing Street said: 'We will continue to monitor the risks posed by individual countries and consider a range of factors to inform the restrictions placed on them.'

The situation has been complicated by the third wave tearing across much of Europe. Countries including Greece, Cyprus and Croatia, which rely heavily on tourism, have already offered vaccinated Britons quarantine-free and test-free entry to their countries.

The Foreign Office is believed to be in talks with more governments about securing bilateral agreements for vaccinated travellers and testing regimes for other holidaymakers.

Last night, a Government source said it was pursuing a 'softly-softly catchy-monkey approach' to avoid having to reintroduce restrictions.

PHE data showed that a quarter of council authorities in England - or 41 out of 149 - saw a rise in Covid cases last week, with the upticks likely being driven by school children

Despite the inconvenience and cost, travel experts believe many will still want to seek sunshine overseas after spending much of the past year in lockdown

The return of crowds: 21,000 for the FA Cup final, 3,000 inside a nightclub and 1,000 at an open-air cinema  all monitored by scientists Trials of vaccination passports will begin at some of the country's most iconic venues next week, with crowds of up to 21,000 people allowed to gather for the first time in a year. Boris Johnson will tomorrow confirm a system of certification that will allow spectators at football matches and other sporting events, nightclubs and theatres. The system will take into account vaccination status, a recent negative test or natural immunity  demonstrated by producing a positive PCR test taken in the previous six months. Nine events will be used for a month-long trial, including an FA Cup semi-final and the final in front of 21,000 fans at Wembley, a nightclub in Liverpool, which would host 3,000 indoors and do away with social distancing, and three 10km outdoor runs for 3,000 athletes and up to 3,000 spectators. Officials are also in talks with the organisers of the Brit Awards about allowing thousands of fans to watch the music event, hosted by comedian Jack Whitehall, in London's O2 Arena on May 11 Advertisement

MP Henry Smith: The Prime Minister can either take a huge step forward in our national recovery or put millions of jobs in severe risk

By Crawley and Gatwick MP Henry Smith

The importance of the Prime Minister's expected statement next week on the reopening of international travel cannot be underestimated. In one statement he can either take a huge step forward in our national recovery, provide another false dawn for an industry on its knees or put millions of jobs in severe risk.

Over the last twelve months, our aviation, travel and tourism sectors have been amongst the most affected sectors by the COVID-19 pandemic and the impacts have been brutal, devastating and far reaching.

Passenger numbers have fallen to historically low levels, with last summer seeing the lowest level of international air travel since 1975, with passenger numbers down by 99% during the worst periods of the last twelve months.

These impacts are not confined simply to numbers and statistics, there are very real human impacts of the collapse in international travel.

Impacts that are often untold, neglected and forgotten. From the airport and airline staff who have lost their jobs, to the businesses in the supply chain who have shut their doors for good, to the many families who have been unable to visit loved ones living overseas.

Vaccine squads will go door-to-door to offer Covid-19 jabs to ethnic-minority families in large households amid low uptake Vaccine teams are set to offer door- to-door jabs to tackle low uptake among ethnic-minority families in large households, The Mail on Sunday can reveal. Ministers are planning to roll out the scheme after a successful pilot targeting 'multi-generation' homes in Luton and Bradford resulted in hundreds of adults of different ages being inoculated in the past fortnight. 'You're protecting not just great-grandpa and grandma, but the whole family  all the generations,' one insider said. During the pilot, even young adults in their 20s with no underlying health conditions were given the jab. Ministers will assess final data from the pilot, but initial results have been positive with take-up significantly boosted in vaccine-hesitant families. Plans for a wider rollout are expected to form a key plank of the next phase of the UK's vaccination effort, with the target to inoculate the first nine priority groups  32 million people in total  expected to be met this week ahead of Downing Street's April 15 target. Advertisement

The inclusion of international travel in the Prime Minister's roadmap out of the COVID-19 restrictions was warmly welcomed, as was the potential date of May 17th for the restart of international travel.

However, since then, we have had a conveyor belt of mixed messages from Government ministers that has left holidaymakers confused and dashed the hopes of businesses impacted by the collapse in international travel who have suffered enough pain over the last twelve months to last a lifetime.

The Government are right to remain vigilant about COVID-19 and potential variants of concern, which is why nobody is suggesting an immediate return to restriction-free travel.

But, with the huge progress we have made as nation in the last few months through the combined sacrifices of everyone and our world-leading vaccination programme, the time has come to strike the right balance between risk and reopening international travel.

I know that for some the situation in some European nations leads to the conclusion that the safest and best course of action is to keep our borders closed and remain in splendid isolation. This is a dangerous approach that dismisses the progress from our vaccination programme but also fundamentally fails to understand the economic importance and value of aviation to the UK.

Aviation is about more than summer holidays; it is a major economic enabler and one which will be central our economic recovery. We know that a 'lost summer' of international travel will put a million more jobs at risk and cost 55.7bn in lost trade if reopening is delayed until September. We know that our hospitality, retail and leisure sectors will not fully recover without the 30 billion that international visitors spend every year in our shops, restaurants, high streets and attractions.

We know that a safe and sustainable resumption of international travel from 17 May would generate a GDP injection of 47.6bn and help secure more than a million jobs otherwise under threat  worth some 200m a day to our economy.

That is why we need a clear direction from the Prime Minister on how and when international travel can restart. It should take into account where we are and crucially where we will be by May 17th, by which time our vaccination programme will have provided many more of us with protection from the virus.

A risk-based approach to international travel using a traffic light system can allow for travel to low-risk nations with minimal or no restrictions but retain the flexibility for restrictions for nations where there remains a real, high risk including those with variants of concern. This framework can ensure that the right balance is struck between reopening travel with minimal restrictions and making sure this can be done safely.

Doctors fear ethnic groups that shun vaccinations may start to see higher Covid infection and death rates than the country at large Ethnic groups which have shunned vaccinations may start to see higher covid infection and death rates than the country at large, doctors fear. NHS figures show that 93 per cent of over-50s have had their first jab, but with much lower take-up rates among Pakistani, Bangladeshi and black Britons, it is thought large numbers in these communities will be left vulnerable to the virus. Oxford University researcher Dr Nazrul Islam, an expert on how the pandemic has affected different ethnic groups, says the university's Big Data Unit and the Office of National Statistics are closely examining the situation. Dr Islam said it was 'alarming' that vaccination rates were trailing in some ethnic communities, 'particularly as these are the groups that have been affected so badly during the pandemic'. While the full impact of the inoculation programme has yet to be seen in mortality rates, there are hints in the weekly statistics that higher vaccination levels in the white population may already be leading to proportionally fewer deaths. White patients accounted for between 76 and 79 per cent of all covid deaths in the four weeks from mid-February to mid-March, with the remainder occurring in the non-white population or those whose ethnicity was not recorded. But in the third week of March, that dropped to 73 per cent and then to 70 per cent in the fourth week of the month. One intensive care consultant said: 'It makes it hard to comment on [ethnic] sub-groups since the overall numbers coming in are now tiny compared to the beginning of the year. 'The mix of [intensive care] patients hasn't changed but it's hard to be definitive about this when we're now admitting a bare handful anyway.' Advertisement

One of the central features to this approach would be a 'green list' that allows for travel to low-risk nations with minimal or no restrictions. For many, this list will form the basis of their summer holiday plans so the criteria for the lists must be publicly available, clear and consistent. We cannot and must not return to the stop and start chaos that rendered last summer a false dawn for the aviation, travel and tourism industry and for holidaymakers.

Where continuing restrictions are required, they must acknowledge the significant progress made in recent months, particularly on testing.

Research published this week by Edge Health and Oxera showed that rapid antigen testing can be just as effective as a 10-day quarantine period for stopping the spread of the virus. It is therefore clear that rapid testing must be introduced for international arrivals where necessary.

Alongside this, the Government must set out a clear plan and criteria for the abolition of all quarantine policies as soon as is safe to do so, as well as ensuring that the cost of testing is kept affordable and is not allowed to become a disincentive to travel. It cannot and should not be the case that families have to several times more for tests than they do for their flights or accommodation.

The Government must also ensure that the framework for international travel ensures that all Government departments work in lockstep with each other and the framework.

We need to ensure that the Foreign Office Travel Advice is amended in line with the traffic light system and that Border Force receive the full resources that they will need to avoid chaotic scenes at passport control as a result of additional COVID-19 measures.

Too often have we seen queues out the door in airports in recent months, despite barely any passengers travelling, due to Border Force's insufficient resources and lengthy document-checking processes.

The consequences of failing to back a risk-based approach to the reopening of international travel are unthinkable. That's why we need the Prime Minister to announce that the ban on international travel will be lifted from May 17th and to work with industry and our partners throughout the world to restart travel, ensuring that travel to low-risk nations has limited or no restrictions.

We cannot begin our long road to national recovery if we keep our skies shut throughout the summer months.

Our aviation industry will continue to face considerable challenges over the next few years, but the safe reopening of international travel has the potential to kickstart our economic and social recovery and we simply cannot afford another false dawn.

The return of crowds: 21,000 for the FA Cup final, 3,000 inside a nightclub and 1,000 at an open-air cinema  all monitored by scientists in an extraordinary mass vaccine passports experiment

Trials of vaccination passports will begin at some of the country's most iconic venues next week, with crowds of up to 21,000 people allowed to gather for the first time in a year.

Boris Johnson will tomorrow confirm a system of certification that will allow spectators at football matches and other sporting events, nightclubs and theatres.

The system will take into account vaccination status, a recent negative test or natural immunity  demonstrated by producing a positive PCR test taken in the previous six months.

Ministers are also understood to be set to block Covid passports being rolled out in pubs and restaurants, although the Government will consult with the industry before making a decision

The first events begin next week and the project will run until May 15. They are designed to advance the reopening roadmap's plan to scrap social distancing on June 21

Nine events will be used for a month-long trial, including an FA Cup semi-final and the final in front of 21,000 fans at Wembley, a nightclub in Liverpool, which would host 3,000 indoors and do away with social distancing, and three 10km outdoor runs for 3,000 athletes and up to 3,000 spectators. Officials are also in talks with the organisers of the Brit Awards about allowing thousands of fans to watch the music event, hosted by comedian Jack Whitehall, in London's O2 Arena on May 11.

The first events begin next week and the project will run until May 15. They are designed to advance the reopening roadmap's plan to scrap social distancing on June 21. Liverpool has been chosen for several events because of the city's advanced testing infrastructure.

The trials will be led by scientists, aided by researchers inside events to 'monitor and study' crowds. Some events will be used to test Covid certificates, others to examine how ventilation, crowd flows and testing on entry can help audiences return without social distancing.

Researchers will also study 'behavioural' responses of crowds after a year of social distancing. A Government source said: 'It's going to feel very odd for people to be sitting next to each other.'

A board of advisers, made up of independent scientists and public health experts, will assess the data and present results to Ministers at the end of May. Culture Secretary Oliver Dowden said: 'The great British summer of sport, performance and music is now in sight.'

Writing in The Mail on Sunday opposite, Mr Dowden accepts that events with social distancing have 'no atmosphere' and adds the trial will allow 'real occasions with large audiences in theatres, stadiums and at gigs packed with cheering fans'.

He says: 'Each pilot event is a model for a much bigger reopenings in the future, particularly from June 21.

'And the programme is a key part in helping us to lift all the social distancing restrictions this summer, if we can do so safely.' The Government said Covid passports were expected to be used in events where 'large numbers of people are in close proximity, at mass events such as festivals, sports matches and nightclubs'.

Ministers are also understood to be set to block Covid passports being rolled out in pubs and restaurants, although the Government will consult with the industry before making a decision.

The Government also said work was 'ongoing with clinical and ethical experts to ensure appropriate exemptions for people for whom vaccination is not advised and repeat testing would be difficult'. Last month, Mr Johnson told MPs the decision to use vaccine passports could be left to individual pub landlords, prompting a backlash from the hospitality industry and cross-party MPs.

Meanwhile, the Government is conducting a separate review of social distancing, with a view to scrap the '1m plus' rule  a move seen as crucial for arts and hospitality venues to remain viable when they reopen.

It comes as research revealed that four out of five people would be willing to show proof they had been vaccinated or had tested negative for Covid to attend a concert or a cricket match.

The MoS-commissioned poll of 2,010 people by Censuswide also found that 84 per cent were willing to agree to some form of 'bio-security' safety measures, including social distancing, one-way systems and testing. However, 60 per cent said they were unwilling to pay to cover the costs of extra measures to prevent the spread of Covid.

Those surveyed also said that compulsory mask-wearing was the measure that would make them feel most comfortable in attending, ahead of social distancing and vaccine passports.
The sweeping rewrite of Georgia's election rules, signed into law in late March by Republican Governor Brian Kemp, makes numerous changes to how elections will be administered, including a new photo ID requirement for voting absentee by mail.

Republican supporters say the law is needed to restore confidence in Georgia's elections. Democrats say it will restrict voting access, especially for voters of color. Here's a look at some of the top issues:

African Methodist Episcopal Church Bishop Reginald Jackson announces a boycott of Coca-Cola Co. products outside the Georgia Capitol on Thursday, March 25, 2021 in Atlanta

The State Election Board can now take over local election offices and replace officials

Much of the work administering elections in Georgia is handled by the state's 159 counties. The law gives the State Election Board new powers to intervene in county election offices and to remove and replace local election officials. That has led to concerns that the Republican-controlled state board could exert more influence over the administration of elections, including the certification of county results.

One target for intervention could be Fulton County, a Democratic stronghold that contains most of Atlanta. The heavily-populated county has been plagued by problems, including long lines, and it is often singled out by Republican officials. Under the law, the board could intervene in up to four counties at a time and install a temporary superintendent with the ability to hire and fire personnel including elections directors and poll officers.

Demonstrators in Atlanta hold a rally outside of the World Of Coca-Cola museum protesting the Coca-Cola corporation's donations to several politicians who are in support of several voting bills that are an attempt at voter suppression

Anyone handing out snacks or water to voters in line can be prosecuted

The new law makes it a misdemeanor for 'any person give, offer to give, or participate in the giving of any money or gifts, including, but not limited to, food and drink' to anyone standing in line to vote. The prohibition extends 150 feet from a polling place and 25 feet from any person standing in line.

Advocates of the law say they are attempting to crack down on political organizations or advocacy groups trying to influence voters just before they cast a ballot. Critics say it's cruel and would penalize even nonpartisan groups or individuals for something as simple as giving water to someone waiting in a long line. Democratic state Senate Minority Leader Gloria Butler slammed the proposal Thursday before the bill was signed into law, saying: 'They want to make it a crime to bring Grandma some water while she's waiting in line.'

Georgia lawmakers argue that polling places would be able to, but not required to, set up self-serve water dispensers for voters.

Some defenders of the law, including Tucker Carlson, have claimed that the prohibition on handing out water only covers political organizations - which is the law in Montana.

But the Georgia law specifically says 'any person' - and could include friends and family of voters in line.

Early voting and black-voter drives as Georgia residents attended church were seen as vital in securing Senate run-off victories for Jon Ossoff and Raphael Warnock

Early weekend voting has been expanded, rather than restricted

Republicans had proposed at one time to limit early voting on weekends, a time when many black churches conduct 'souls to the polls' efforts to take congregants to vote. But Republicans reversed themselves, and the measure now expands weekend early voting. Previously, one day of weekend voting was required, with counties given the option of offering more. Now two Saturdays will be required, and counties can offer two Sunday voting days as well. Republicans point to this provision to argue they are actually expanding, rather than restricting, voting access.

'Contrary to the hyper-partisan rhetoric you may have heard inside and outside this gold dome, the facts are that this new law will expand voting access in the Peach State,' Kemp said Thursday.

State Rep. Park Cannon, D-Atlanta, is placed into the back of a Georgia State Capitol patrol car after being arrested by Georgia State Troopers at the Georgia State Capitol Building in Atlanta, Thursday, March 25, 2021

Georgia's runoff races will be shortened

Georgia is the only state in the nation that mandates runoff elections between the top two finishers following general elections in which no candidate achieves a majority. Like some other states, Georgia also mandates runoffs for candidates who do not win a majority in a party primary.

The system came under scrutiny from Republicans after Senators Raphael Warnock and Jon Ossoff won twin runoffs in January.

The new law shortens the time for runoffs from nine weeks to four, with lawmakers saying the current span is 'exhausting' and needs to be shortened to a 'more manageable period.'

Military and overseas voters will use ranked-choice absentee ballots to rank all possible candidates before a primary or general election, allowing their preferences to be determined in any possible runoff. Georgia only had three weeks before runoffs until 2013, when a federal judge ordered a longer gap to give military and overseas voters more time to return ballots.

The shorter period means less time for early and mail voting. Early voting had lasted three weeks before runoffs. Now early voting would begin 'as soon as possible' but no later than the second Monday before the election, possibly leaving as little as five weekdays and no weekend days of early voting. Voters would also have less time to apply for a mail ballot.

No new voters could be registered in the period before a runoff because the registration deadline would be the day before the earlier election.

Protesters opposed to changes in Georgia's voting laws sit on the steps inside the State Capitol in Atlanta, Ga., as the Legislature breaks for lunch Monday, March 8, 2021, in Atlanta

Opponents vow to keep fighting the new laws

Three groups filed a lawsuit late Thursday to try to block the law. The New Georgia Project, Black Voters Matter and Rise Inc. say the law violates the First and 14th Amendments of the U.S. Constitution, as well as parts of the federal Voting Rights Act that say states cannot restrict Black voter participation.

'These unjustified measures will individually and cumulatively operate to impose unconstitutional burdens on the right to vote, to deny or abridge the voting rights of Black Georgians, and to deny Black voters in Georgia an equal opportunity to participate in the electoral process and elect candidates of their choice,' says the lawsuit, which is filed against Georgia Secretary of State Brad Raffensperger and Georgia's State Elections Board.

Opponents are also looking to Congress, which is considering nationwide voting standards. A Democratic-backed measure passed the House earlier this month, but faces opposition from Senate Republicans wary of a federal takeover of state elections.

The federal proposal would create automatic voter registration nationwide, allow former felons to vote, and limit the ways states can remove registered voters from their rolls. It would expand voting by mail, promote early voting and give states money to track absentee ballots.
Seven Democratic governors, led by Phil Murphy, on Friday urged President Joe Biden to support efforts to fully restore the federal deduction for state and local taxes.

The letter by the governors could put additional pressure on Biden to embrace repeal a day after House Speaker Nancy Pelosi, D-Calif., said ending the Republican tax laws $10,000 deduction cap should be part of the presidents $2 trillion infrastructure proposal.

Senate Majority Leader Chuck Schumer, D-N.Y., has introduced separate legislation to repeal the cap, which disproportionately affects New Jersey and other high-tax states, most of which annually send billions of dollars more to Washington than they receive in services.

The negative impacts of the SALT cap on middle class families are particularly egregious when you consider that in the states most affected by this cap, the federal government already takes more in federal taxes than the states receive in federal support, effectively subsidizing federal payments to other states, the governors wrote.

Two-thirds of those hurt by the deduction cap in New Jersey, which has the nations highest property taxes, had income between $75,000 and $200,000, according to Internal Revenue Service statistics. In addition, Moodys Analytics found home values across the state below what they would have been without the limit on state and local tax deductions.

The governors said the deduction cap was based on politics, not logic or good government. This assault disproportionately targeted Democratic-run states, increasing taxes on hardworking families. This was unacceptable then, and is simply untenable given the dire economic conditions caused by the pandemic.

Besides Murphy, the governors signing the letter were Andrew Cuomo of New York, Gavin Newsom of California, Ned Lamont of Connecticut, David Ige of Hawaii, J.B. Pritzker of Illinois and Kate Brown of Oregon. Murphy is the only one of them who faces an election in 2021.

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:





Biden did not address the issue in his infrastructure proposal, calling instead for a partial repeal of the huge corporate tax break included in the Republican tax law. But he has talked about raising taxes on the wealthy to fund an expansion of child care and health care.

White House press secretary Jen Psaki said Thursday that Biden would consider removing the cap if Democrats showed how to pay for it. The House in 2019 proposed funding repeal by raising taxes on those making at least $518,400.

While more than half of Senate Republicans have introduced legislation to repeal the estate tax, levied only on inheritances of at least $11.7 million for individuals and $23.4 million for couples, they have attacked efforts to repeal the deduction cap for state and local taxes as a giveaway to the rich.

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.
BAD AXE - The Huron Area Technical Center (HATC) recently announced the Student of the Month recipient for March 2021. Students are selected based on a variety of criteria including achievement in career technical education, outstanding attendance, enrollment status, CTE related extra-curricular activities, on-the-job-training placements, work experience, and future CTE Program related education and/or employment plans.

Jameson McKnight is the HATC Student of the Month for March. He is a senior student at Owen-Gage High School and attends the Mechanical, Architectural, Engineering and Design program at the Huron Area Technical Center. Jameson is a member of SkillsUSA and has completed Introduction to AutoCAD, Introduction to SolidWorks, Introduction to CNC Programming as well as CNC Programming earning a total of 14 college credits through Mid-Michigan College. He will also be completing Tool Handling and Operation FANUC certification by the end of the month. Jameson competed in Square One Mini Innovative Vehicle Design as well as VEX Robotics.
'The Sun Ain't Gonna Shine (Anymore)' had a very low-key baptism, the silky vocals of Frankie Valli taking it to number 128 in the US charts in the autumn of 1965.

Six months later, The Walker Brothers achieved far greater success with their version, retitled 'The Sun Ain't Gonna Shine Anymore'. It gave them their biggest US hit (No. 13), a number one in the UK and a top five placing in many other territories, including Ireland.

The song is considered a classic of the era, ranked No. 357 on NME's list of the 500 Greatest Songs of All Time and No. 187 in Pitchfork's list of The 200 Best Songs of the 1960s.

The Walker Brothers consisted of three, unrelated members: Scott Walker (born Noel Scott Engel), John Walker (born Joseph Maus) and Gary Walker (born Gary Leeds). Formed in Los Angeles in 1964, they moved to Britain in 1965 and went on to have more success in their adopted country than their homeland. As well as 'The Sun Ain't Gonna Shine Anymore', they scored another UK No. 1 with the Burt Bacharach and Hal David composition, 'Make It Easy On Yourself'.

After they disbanded, the Walker Brothers trio all embarked on solo careers, with Scott by far the most successful. He is widely acclaimed as one of the greatest and most influential artists in rock history, his innovative and experimental solo work attracting a cult following and the admiration of many top artists, including David Bowie, Radiohead's Thom Yorke, Leonard Cohen and Brian Eno.

Gary Walker, now 79, is the only surviving member of The Walker Brothers. John died of liver cancer in 2011, aged 67; Scott died of cancer in March 2019 at the age of 76.

1 The Sun Ain't Gonna Shine Anymore The Walker Brothers

2 I Can't Let Go The Hollies

3 Shapes of Things Yardbirds

4 Dedicated Followers of Fashion The Kinks

5 Elusive Butterfly Bob Lind

6 Elusive Butterfly Val Doonican

7 Sha La La La Lee The Small Faces

8 Make The World Go Away Eddy Arnold

9 Barbara Ann The Beach Boys

10 Somebody Help Me Spencer David Group

 Our chart from 1966 features a top ten rarity - two versions of the same song. Baltimore's Bob Lind wrote 'Elusive Butterfly' and originally released it as the B-side of his debut single. When it picked up far more airplay than the A-side, Lind's record company rereleased the single with 'Elusive Butterfly' as the lead track. It reached No. 5 in the Billboard Hot 100 and also peaked at 5 in the UK charts.

Waterford's Val Doonican also reached number 5 in the UK with his version of the Lind song. In Ireland, Doonican's release peaked at number three, with the Lind original not charting here at all.
Biden is making false claims about Georgia's voting law, fact checkers and pundits say

Email Print Img No-img Menu Whatsapp Google Reddit Digg Stumbleupon Linkedin Comment

Political pundits and independent fact-checkers are pushing back on some of President Joe Bidens claims about a newly passed Georgia law that will reform the states election laws and procedures.

Gov. Brian Kemp, R-Ga., signed into law the Election Integrity Act of 2021 last week, much to the chagrin of Democratic politicians in his state and around the country. The measure comes shortly after the 2020 presidential election, where allegations of fraud caused many to doubt the legitimacy of the results.

Following the passage of the bill, Biden described the measure as an atrocity, alleging that the bill has a provision saying that you cant provide water for people standing in line while theyre waiting to vote. According to Biden, You dont need anything else to know that this is nothing but punitive and designed to keep people from voting.

As Fox News senior political analyst Brit Hume explained during an appearance on Tucker Carlson Tonight Tuesday, the bill permits poll workers and others to distribute water as they so choose. He clarified that what they cant do is walk up on the street and say here, have a little water, and by the way, the water bottle says Vote for Joe, referring to such an act as an example of electioneering.

The text of the law declares that No person shall solicit votes in any manner or by any means or method, nor shall any person distribute or display any campaign material, nor shall any person give, offer to give, or participate in the giving of any money or gifts, including, but not limited to, food and drink, to an elector within 150 feet of the outer edge of a building where a polling place is located, within a polling place or within 25 feet of a voter standing in line.

This Code section shall not be construed to prohibit a poll officer from distributing materials, as required by law, which are necessary for the purpose of instructing electors or from distributing materials prepared by the Secretary of State which are designed solely for the purpose of encouraging voter participation in the election being conducted or from making available self-service water from an unattended receptacle to an elector waiting in line to vote, the law continues.

Describing the presidents suggestion that the Georgia election law forbids people from handing out water at polling places as a completely exaggerated claim, Hume said that the aforementioned allegation wasnt even the biggest whopper that the president has publicly told about the law. Biden also claimed that the law reduces the number of voting hours.

The voting hours are exactly the same voting hours they had in this most recent Georgia election, about which nobody complained, Hume stressed before noting that the most recent Georgia election had record turnout. In addition to Hume, Glenn Kessler, a fact checker for The Washington Post, also flagged some of Bidens assertions about the law.

Biden maintained that the law will end voting at five oclock when working people are just getting off work and ends voting hours early so working people cant cast their vote after their shift is over.

As Kessler reported, On Election Day in Georgia, polling places are open from 7 a.m. to 7 p.m., and if you are in line by 7 p.m., you are allowed to cast your ballot. Nothing in this law changes that.

Stephen Fowler of Georgia Public Broadcasting outlined some other aspects of the bill, which includes an expansion of early voting for most counties, adding an additional Saturday and formally codifying Sunday voting hours as optional. Additionally, the law will allow early voting to take place from 7 a.m. to 7 p.m., or 9 a.m. to 5 p.m.

Other changes implemented by the law include revisions to the regulations governing the use of absentee ballots. Specifically, it mandates that neither the Secretary of State, election superintendent, board of registrars, other governmental entity, nor employee or agent thereof shall send absentee ballot applications directly to any elector except upon request of such elector or a relative authorized to request an absentee ballot for such elector. In other words, the practice of automatically sending absentee ballot applications to all registered voters will end.

In addition, those hoping to apply for an absentee ballot must provide his or her name, date of birth, address as registered, address where the elector wishes the ballot to be mailed, and the number of his or her Georgia drivers license or identification card issued. Voters without a drivers license will be asked to provide another acceptable form of identification. The applicant is also required to sign an oath affirming that they are a qualified Georgia elector and the facts presented on the application are true.

Critics of the bill dont like this idea of voter ID, Hume added. Voter ID is obviously a very sensical way to protect against people who (are) not who they say they are (from) voting and its particularly important in an age where theyre going to have mail-in balloting on a scale where were now having it.

A Rasmussen poll released on March 17 found that 75% of Americans agree with Hume that voter ID is a sensical way to protect against fraud and that providing identification is a necessary prerequisite to voting.

Hume predicted that Democrats will cite the Georgia law as a reason why Congress must pass the For the People Act, which will federalize the rules for elections, establish a uniform set of regulations across the country and cancel a lot of state regulations that are now in existence. A group of attorneys general opposed to the For the People Act warned that it would dismantle meaningful voter ID laws.

Democratic politicians believe that casting aspersions on the  Georgia law becomes a rationale for federalizing the rules nationwide, which then opens the door to the kind of open-ended goings-on  that these state laws are intended to guard against, Hume contended.
Under federal guidance, Michigan will begin vaccinating all Michigan residents age 16 and up beginning Monday, April 5.

Eligibility for Michiganders age 16 and up with disabilities or medical conditions has been open since March 22.

At this time, Michigan has administered more than 4.4 million doses of vaccine. As of March 31, 34.5% of Michigan residents age 16 and older had received their first dose, and 20.7% had completed all doses. Moderna and Pfizer vaccines require two doses weeks apart, while Johnson & Johnson requires one.

Now that more Michiganders are eligible, heres what you need to know:

1. All Michiganders age 16 and up are eligible on April 5, but MDHHS still recommends prioritizing those at a higher risk

Providers are encouraged to schedule appointments and allocate vaccinations based on highest risk, per a release issued by Michigan on March 12. The state characterizes higher risk as being an older individual, a frontline worker or an essential worker.

Vaccinations of the remainder of the population not previously eligible depends on vaccine apply, according to the MDHHS website.

2. Coronavirus vaccinations are provided at no cost

Some vaccination clinics are recommending patients bring their insurance card. However, if you do not have insurance, its OK.

According to the MDHHS website, those with insurance will have their insurance charged for an administrative fee. If a person does not have insurance, this administrative fee will be charged to Health Resources and Services Administrations Providers Relief Fund, not the person.

No individual will be personally charged for a coronavirus vaccine.

3. How to find an appointment

MDHHS recommends checking the website of your local health department or hospital to check out their appointment process. A map of local health departments can be found here.

The department also recommends signing up with chain pharmacies like Meijer, Rite Aid, Kroger and Walmart for those in mid, central and northern Michigan. Those in the Upper Peninsula should check in with Snyders Drug Stores.

Michiganders who need assistance navigating the scheduling process or who do not have access to internet can call the COVID-19 hotline at (888) 535-6136 and press one. This hotline is open from 8 a.m. to 5 p.m Monday through Friday and from 8 a.m. to 1 p.m. on Saturday and Sunday.

4. How to prepare for your appointment

Ingham County Health Officer Linda Vail recommends wearing clothes that make your upper arm easily accessible, like a short sleeve shirt with a jacket over. Bring photo identification to your appointment as well.

Additionally, be sure you have not had another vaccine two weeks prior to your coronavirus vaccine. If you are getting a two dose coronavirus vaccine, do not plan to get a different vaccine in between your coronavirus doses, Vail said. In addition, do not plan to get a vaccine until two weeks after your final dose.

If you experience side effects, such as a fever or chills, its normal, Vail said. This is a side effect of your body building immunity.

5. Those over the age of 16 but under 18 will only be eligible for the Pfizer vaccine.

The Pfizer, Moderna and Johnson & Johnson were approved for emergency use under the U.S. Food and Drug Administration. However, Pfizer was approved for individuals 16 and older, while Pfizer and Johnson & Johnson were approved for those age 18 and older.

6. Younger Michiganders cant be vaccinated yet, but Pfizer and Moderna are working on it

Moderna and Pfizer have started studying the vaccine for children age 6 months to 11 years old. Both have also enrolled for studies of children age 12 and up.

RELATED: When will children be able to get COVID-19 vaccines?

Study results for children age 12 and up are expected this summer, while study results of younger children may take until early 2022.

RELATED: Pfizer begins studying use of COVID-19 vaccine in children 6 months to 11 years old

7. Fully vaccinated individuals should still wear a mask in public, but can gather with others who are fully vaccinated

Fully vaccinated means waiting two weeks since receiving your single dose of Johnson & Johnson vaccine or two weeks since getting your second dose of Pfizer or Moderna vaccines.

Fully vaccinated people can gather indoors with others who are also fully vaccinated without wearing a mask or social distancing, per the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.

It is not yet clear if fully vaccinated individuals can catch and transmit COVID-19. The CDC recommends wearing a mask, avoiding crowds and social distancing in public even if an individual is fully vaccinated.

Read more on MLive:

Vaccinated people can gather without masks, CDC says in new guidance

35% of Michigan adults have received first vaccine dose; see numbers in your county

Michigans COVID-19 surge is the worst in the nation. Whitmer is focused on vaccines, not restrictions.

Michigan coronavirus data for Friday, April 2: Sanilac, Huron, Oscoda lead 13 counties over 20% test positivity

Pfizers COVID-19 vaccine effective at least 6 months, company says
Stacy Blatt was in hospice care last September listening to Rush Limbaughs dire warnings about how badly Donald J. Trumps campaign needed money when he went online and chipped in everything he could: $500.

It was a big sum for a 63-year-old battling cancer and living in Kansas City on less than $1,000 per month. But that single contribution  federal records show it was his first ever  quickly multiplied. Another $500 was withdrawn the next day, then $500 the next week and every week through mid-October, without his knowledge  until Mr. Blatts bank account had been depleted and frozen. When his utility and rent payments bounced, he called his brother, Russell, for help.

What the Blatts soon discovered was $3,000 in withdrawals by the Trump campaign in less than 30 days. They called their bank and said they thought they were victims of fraud.

It felt, Russell said, like it was a scam.

But what the Blatts believed was duplicity was actually an intentional scheme to boost revenues by the Trump campaign and the for-profit company that processed its online donations, WinRed. Facing a cash crunch and getting badly outspent by the Democrats, the campaign had begun last September to set up recurring donations by default for online donors, for every week until the election.
Happy April, Housewives faithful! It was a wild week here in the Bravo-verse, and I'm not fooling. The Real Housewives of Atlanta kicked things off with the second vacation of the season, this time organized by Drew, who invited everyone onto the private jet. Next up, The Real Housewives of Dallas' preparations for a road trip to Oklahoma (where there'd better not be any spiders, or Kameron is outta there) were derailed by a controversial news story. And finally, The Real Housewives of New Jersey kept the drama turned up to 11 as their shore trip continued, now with the additions of Evan and Bill. Read on for the best, worst, and wildest moments from this week in 'Wives!

HIGH POINT: A Big Easy bike ride, RHOA

The Atlanta ladies all seemed to agree that the New Orleans vacation was an improvement on their South Carolina getaway from minute one  with the exception of Kenya, who was offended by Drew's room selection process and then unimpressed by the room she got by declining to participate. Everyone aligned, however, during an evening bike ride through the city. "Ahh, the wind blowing through my lace front!" Porsha sighed in a confessional. "Drew is killing it! How often do these big asses get on little bitty bikes? Not often." Even Kenya had a blast, the significance of which was not lost on her hostess: "When Kenya is having fun, it makes a difference in this group," Drew observed. "It felt like we are all friends, for the first time in my experience."

LOW POINT: Brandi plays the victim (again), RHOD

Ugh, spare me. Brandi and D'Andra were about to make up after their tiff over Brandi making a completely ridiculous show of moral superiority after the shaman ritual. Great. Then a story came out, however, in which D'Andra answered a question about whether this season of RHOD would address Brandi's racist video. D'Andra assured Page Six that the ladies address the issue "head on." This quote was used for the headline (of course, it was) because Bravo fans wanted to know the answer to this question, because Brandi publicly posted something deeply offensive. Brandi was for some reason very angry that D'Andra gave a bland but supportive answer to this obvious, completely inevitable question, and we, the innocent viewers, had to sit through her tantrum over it. Perhaps the most ridiculous part? Brandi's text that she was disgusted that D'Andra spoke to the press about her "racist video"  yes, in quotes. Okay, "Brandi."

Story continues

WILDEST MOMENT: An apology? From Teresa? RHONJ

This entire roller coaster of an episode qualifies as the wildest moment, to be perfectly honest. Picking up right where we left off last week, every Housewife (and most of the husbands in attendance, too, besides the heroic Frank Catania) delivered their own moment of high drama, all within the second half of one single dinner party at Dolores' shore house  and that was barely the prologue! The next day, my heart raced as everyone gathered at the Gorgas' to lounge by the pool, but then Teresa actually apologized, kind of, and Jackie and Evan were happy to put everything behind them. So they did! It was "one of the weakest apologies I've ever seen," Margaret says, "but coming from Teresa, it's a frickin' miracle." Hallelujah! Now everyone's friendly, we're having a great time, drinks all around  until Jennifer and Margaret start to rehash each other's roles in the fight from the night before, prompting an ugly dig from Jennifer about the old revelation of Margaret having slept with her boss as a young woman Honestly, my head is spinning.

 QUEEN OF THE WEEK  Drew, RHOA

Bravo

ARTIST TO WATCH: Kenya's toddler daughter Brooklyn on RHOA, who immediately decorated her New Orleans hotel room and her food with blue crayon. RHONY's Barbara may have thought she knew how to leave her mark on a space, but self-tanner's for amateurs.

NEWS OF THE WEEK: That's not hospital you're smelling; it's allegations of fraud! (RHOSLC)

HOTTEST PARTY: Tiffany's twin daughters' princess teatime on RHOD, hands down. Enormous respect for anyone who orders birthday caviar before they've even aged into the double digits.

SUDDENLY CRAVING: Some New Orleans fried alligator (approved by "baby vegan" Porsha on RHOA), eggs grilled by Joe Gorga on RHONJ, and why not throw in a Westcott Academy-made PB&J from RHOD. Good eating this week!

Related content:
Jaipur, April 3 : Situated in the centre of the Thar Desert in Rajasthan, a school building made of yellow sandstone is telling the story of sustainability for its architectural marvel as the students can study and play in the protected courtyard here without worrying about the extreme weather outside. This, at a time when temperatures keep soaring and the harsh winds cause sand to blow throughout the day.

The school is built as an oval-shaped structure and blends with the desert landscape with no air conditioners installed inside the building but the beautiful Jali wall at the roofs and solar installations ensure that sustainable principles are followed at length.

Named the Rajkumari Ratnavati Girls' School, the building is designed by Diana Kellogg Architects and is funded by CITTA, an international non-profit founded by Michael Daube, aiming at enticing the local communities to send their girls to school. It will also encourage craftspeople to impart skills such as weaving and printing to the students' mothers and aunts, and make it a marketplace to exhibit and sell their goods.

The school building is situated just a six-minute drive away from Jaisalmer's famous Sam Sand Dunes in Kanoi village and has been constructed with the idea of blending tourism, culture, craftsmanship and other unique aspects of Jaisalmer to open up a concept of economic avenue.

Although the school planned to start its operations in March 2021, it could not start operating due to COVID. However, the design theme of the school has already starting making waves due to the beautiful structure which is quite impressive visually.

"The Rajkumari Ratnavati School will be offered to girls below the poverty line residing in the Thar Desert region of Jaisalmer. The facilities will include classrooms, a library, a computer centre, and a bus facility to transport girls from neighbouring villages. The school will provide education for an estimated 400+ girls from kindergarten through class 10. It will have a midday-meal programme to ensure proper nutrition for the students as well as lessen families' financial burden," says the CITTA website.

CITTA's second goal is to enhance gender parity in the region through the Women's Cooperative. While girls receive education at the girls school, local artisans will teach mothers and other women weaving and embroidery techniques from the Jaisalmer region that are on the verge of being forgotten. The traditional techniques paired with contemporary designers will produce international quality items for the global marketplace, thereby diversifying and enhancing the local economy, it adds.

The school building has a Central Hall which will act as the Girls School and the Women's Cooperative, enhancing both programmes forming the completed GYAAN Centre. Strongly following the principles of women empowerment, the GYAAN Centre will invite renowned female artists, designers education advocates to create artwork, host events and present installations.

According to the CITTA portal, "The space will also periodically act as a marketplace to share the women's creations with tourists venturing to the nearby dunes to experience the sunset." According to Michael, "The school will help bring together culture, growth opportunities for women, and tourism, all of which will create a "ripple in the desert." The school has been constructed on land donated by Manvendra Singh Shekhawat, owner of the Suryagarh Palace hotel and a director for CITTA Foundation India. Indian fashion designer Sabyasachi Mukherjee also collaborated with CITTA to create uniforms for the students of this school and also released images showcasing the blue-maroon Ajrakh uniforms.
Sunil consumed pesticide on March 26 and recorded a selfie video saying he was frustrated with the delay in issuance of notification for jobs by the state government. (Representational Photo: DC)

Hyderabad: Boda Sunil Kumar Naik, 25, a student of Kakatiya University, died here on Friday, a week after he attempted suicide. His extreme step came after the government announced an increase in the retirement age of government staff, that could adversely affect the job chances of youths.

Naiks death led to an outcry from political parties demanding that the government immediately start recruiting staff for vacant posts and pay Rs1 crore as ex gratia to Sunils family.

Police said Naik, a native of Thejavat Ram Singh thanda of Gudur mandal in Mahbubabad district, had tried for a job in the police in 2016 but did not succeed. He continued to prepare for competitive examinations from a hired room at Hanamkonda.

On coming to know of the extension of retirement age for government employees, Sunil consumed pesticide on March 26 and recorded a selfie video saying he was frustrated with the delay in issuance of notification for jobs by the state government. He blamed Chief Minister Chandrashekar Rao for his death.

Recording his statement on the mobile phone, he asked students to protest for jobs. If I come back, I will join you in the struggle for jobs. If not, you must continue the agitation, he said.

He was immediately shifted to MGM Hospital in Warangal and later to Hyderabad for better treatment but died at the Nizams Institute of Medical Sciences on Friday morning. His body was shifted to Gandhi Hospital for post-mortem and later taken to his home village.

Following the incident, unemployed youths have gathered in strength and protested against the government decision that was made as a bait to woo votes for TRS in the recent Legislative Council polls. Police removed them from the spot to control the situation.

Reacting on the incident, BJP state president Banda Sanjay Kumar expressed anguish over the police not allowing Sunil's body to be carried to martyrs statue near the Assembly. He said police in the state have been showing high handedness by insulting the unemployed youth.

TPCC working president A. Revanth Reddy termed the incident as 'state-sponsored murder' and said Chief Minister K. Chandrashekar Rao and his men who raised the emotions of youths during the statehood agitation and killed hundreds of students were now responsible for Sunil's suicide.

He demanded that the government fill all job vacancies immediately and give unemployment allowance from April to youths.
Sir Keir Starmer has come under fire from his own party after visiting a north London church previously criticised for its attitudes towards homosexuality.

The Labour leader visited Jesus House in Brent Cross on Good Friday to see its vaccination centre, posting a video on his Twitter feed praising it as a 'wonderful example of a church' for its work with the community.

But the church's senior pastor, Agu Irukwu, has previously attracted controversy for his comments on LGBT+ rights - having spoken out against same sex marriage and equality legislation.

Agu Irukwu, pastor at Jesus House, has previously spoken out against same sex marriage and equality legislation.

The visit drew scorn from the Labour Campaign for LGBT+ Rights which described the visit as 'unacceptable.'

Sir Keir said in the video: 'From rolling out the vaccine to running the local food bank, Jesus House, like many other churches across the UK, has played a crucial role in meeting the needs of the community.'

In 2017, Theresa May was criticised when she visited the church.

Prime Minister Boris Johnson and the Prince of Wales have both recently been to the pop-up vaccination centre there in recent weeks.

In a statement, the Labour Campaign for LGBT+ Rights said: 'The visit was unacceptable and we made this clear to LOTO (the Leader of the Opposition's office).

Sir Keir Starmer was criticised for the visit to Jesus House in north London by the Labour Campaign for LGBT+ Rights

'We received an unreserved apology, and will be urgently meeting with them next week to ensure this does not happen again and that LGBT+ equality is embedded in everything that Labour does.'

A Labour spokesperson said: 'The Labour Party is unwavering in its support for the LGBT+ community and a woman's right to access safe abortions, and have called for the Government to stop dragging its feet and ban the abhorrent practice of conversion therapy.'

Labour councillor Kerri Prince said on Twitter: 'When I worked for an MP, I would google every organisation who wished to meet with him.

'I cannot fathom that nobody in Keir's office bothered to check the background of Jesus House. Totally unacceptable.'

Another user added: 'Ok thanks Keir, I'll be cancelling my membership of @UKLabour now. It's been fun, but I don't like people who pander to homophobes. Bye.'

And another said: 'I'm barely holding on to Labour party membership Keir.

'I'm only holding it due to the fact I always believed Labour to be better than the Tories but you are now promoting such objectionable ideas from associates for photo ops I have to hand my membership back and vote elsewhere.'
Metro Manila (CNN Philippines, April 3)  Over 180,000 families affected by the hard lockdown in the NCR Plus bubble will receive food donations from San Miguel Corporation.

Its president and chief operating officer Ramon S. Ang said the group's food business San Miguel Foods produced more than 19,500 packs of ready-to-eat meals and about 86,400 pieces of canned goods.

The conglomerate also donated over 148,000 packs of 'Nutribun' bread, with six buns per pack to Pasig City, to be distributed to soup kitchens, medical frontliners, and various communities.

Initial donations were already rolled out to various locations in Metro Manila, including the City of Manila, Quezon City, Caloocan, Las Pinas, Makati, Malabon, Mandaluyong, Marikina, Muntinlupa, Navotas, Paranaque, Pasay, San Juan, Taguig, Valenzuela, and Pateros.

It also extended the donations to nearby provinces Cavite and Laguna, SMC noted.

Distribution of the remaining food donations will resume next week.

"It's important for everybody to stay home as much as possible because of so many cases today. Our hospitals and medical frontliners are having such a difficult time. Staying at home is really the best way we can help them, and help stop the spread of the virus," Ang was quoted as saying in a statement released Saturday.

"We hope that whatever help San Miguel can give to our people will make sheltering in place easier for them," he added.

In 2020, when the COVID-19 started to pose a serious threat to the Philippines, SMC contributed a COVID-19 response initiative worth over 13 billion, which included food aid, medical equipment, and other forms of assistance to frontliners.
Dear Amy: My fiance, Albert, talks nonstop. He will talk about any and every subject, regardless of the situation or the audience.

He doesnt care if anyone is interested in what he is saying.

He will tell endless stories  it is just one story after another.

The subject doesnt matter. It doesnt matter if he has told the same story more than once to the same person. He gets started and doesnt stop until people finally walk away.

He cant seem to read the social cues that indicate people want him to stop talking.

He has been reprimanded more than once by his employers about talking to workers on his job sites and wasting their time while on the clock.

If I invite friends over, it doesnt matter that we are having a conversation; he will interrupt and try to steer the conversation to a subject that he enjoys.

Ive stopped inviting my friends over because his behavior is annoying and embarrassing.

He complains that he has no real friends to do things with but holy smokes, I might know why!

I cant watch TV or listen to the radio because he is talking about something over the sound.

Albert is a really nice guy, but I have started to dread going to gatherings with him and this makes me feel terrible.

I worry that this is a mental illness.

Am I just being ridiculous and petty, or could he have a problem that a doctor or therapist could help with?

 Worried

Dear Worried: If Alberts behavior is as extreme as you describe, you should take a very serious look at your own capacities and willingness to cope with such a noisy and intellectually unfulfilling partnership over the long term.

Being with him is already causing you to self-isolate. His compulsive behavior has an impact on his professional prospects, as well as your relationships.

Yes, his nonstop talking could be the result of a treatable issue: extreme anxiety, bipolar disorder, Aspergers, or ADHD.

Talking nonstop can also be a way for a person to hold their deeper feelings at bay, covering old wounds or trauma.

Your fiance should be evaluated by a mental health professional. One way to confront this issue would be for you to set up an appointment with a therapist for some premarital counseling for you both.

Amy Dickinson, author of the 'Ask Amy' column.TNS

Dear Amy: My fiance and I are getting married this September! Weve already sent out save the dates.

We decided not to invite my friend, Mark, and I feel terrible about it.

Mark has battled alcoholism for the past two years.

I feel like Ive done everything I can do to help him on his journey. Hes had multiple hospital stays and went to in-patient rehab.

Prior to this, wed talked about being the best man at each others wedding, but our relationship has changed.

I recently found out through his family member that he moved down the street from me a month ago. Ive tried reaching out to him, but he isnt the best at returning text messages and phone calls.

My fiance, who is wise beyond her years, has said that some friends are for a season, a reason, and for a lifetime.

However, I just cant seem to shake the guilt I feel for not inviting him to our wedding. Your advice?

 Future Groom

Dear Groom: Your girlfriends take on friendship is wise. Your guilt is also sending you a strong message. You should pay attention.

It is understandable that you might not want to saddle Mark with the pressure and stress of being your best man, but why not invite him to your wedding?

His disease has a very high impact on all of his relationships, but the loop of alienating others and self-isolating makes everything worse.

Your relationship has been strained. You cannot cure his alcoholism. You likely cant even help him, but it might be good for both of you if you hung in there.

Whether he could handle attending the event should be up to him.

Dear Amy: Grossed Out Girlfriend objected to the pornographic decor her boyfriends roommates had in their apartment.

If she doesnt like it, she can stay away! Your suggestion for her to suggest they post a nude photo of Burt Reynolds was asinine!

 Disgusted

Dear Disgusted: The late Burt Reynolds participated in a fairly legendary nude photo shoot for Cosmopolitan magazine in 1972. Given that the roommates pornography was cheesy, I thought this might be a fun suggestion.

(You can email Amy Dickinson at askamy@amydickinson.com or send a letter to Ask Amy, P.O. Box 194, Freeville, NY 13068. You can also follow her on Twitter @askingamy or Facebook.)

2021 Amy Dickinson. Distributed by Tribune Content Agency, LLC.

Read more advice:

Ask Amy: Separated soulmates are eager to connect

Dear Annie: Looking to hop off the hamster wheel

Dear Abby: Children cut off stepmother with dads power of attorney
Source: Xinhua| 2021-04-03 16:45:11|Editor: huaxia

Video Player Close

KAMPALA, April 3 (Xinhua) -- The United Nations Food and Agricultural Organization (FAO) has distributed financial support to thousands of Ugandan households in the eastern region affected by desert locusts last year.

Agatha Ayebazibwe, an FAO communications officer in Uganda, told Xinhua in an email on Friday that more than 5,800 households have received cash assistance so far and each has received about 200 U.S. dollars.

"The target is currently at 8,000 beneficiary households spread across the 17 districts in the Teso and Karamoja sub-regions," Ayebazibwe said, adding that beneficiaries receiving cash assistance had been identified as the most vulnerable among those affected.

Besides cash aid, beneficiaries are also supported with re-engagement packages for crop or livestock-related livelihoods activities, as well as related training.

In a report last year, the FAO said the desert locust disaster posed a potential threat to the food security of 1.32 million people in the African country.

"For as long as there is a presence of locusts in the region, depending on the weather and wind directions, Uganda remains threatened," Ayebazibwe said. Enditem
We are now approaching the 80th anniversary of the Belfast Blitz. With ample justification, Jimmy Doherty described it in his book, Post 381: The Memoirs of a Belfast Air Raid Warden, as "the most disastrous event in the history of the city". It was unprecedented, traumatic, tragic and, for most, entirely unexpected. Belfast was ill-prepared when the Blitz began: it had too few shelters and anti-aircraft (AA) guns; fighter aircraft only equipped for daytime operations; no searchlights and few of its citizens had been evacuated.

A huge crater at Ravenscroft Avenue off the Newtownards Road after the Blitz of 1941

Soldiers see at first hand the devastation wrought on Duncairn Gardens by the Luftwaffe

A police officer and a soldier inspect the aftermath of a German air raid at Portman Street on September 19 of the same year

The gravestone to Emily Douglas and her five children, who died when German aircraft blitzed Belfast with bombs in 1941

The scene of devastation in east Belfast after the blitz of 1941

Belfasts empty streets during the coronavirus crisis, and (right) the Belfast Blitz in 1941

WORLD WAR II: BELFAST AIR RAIDS. NEWTOWNARDS ROAD. April/May 1941. Tamar Street and Dee Street experienced the full force of the blitz. The area shown is partly cleared, with air raid shelters taking place of demolished houses. AR 125.

In part, this was because the city was thought to be too insignificant and remote from Germany to merit elaborate preparations. Its long immunity from attack encouraged the hope that it might escape altogether and there was a feeling that Hitler might respect Ireland's neutrality and so desist from bombing it.

JC MacDermott (the minister responsible for Blitz preparation from June 1940) himself described Belfast as being "less well protected than any major city or port in the United Kingdom".

The blame is often attributed to the incompetence of the Stormont government. But AA guns and searchlights were in short supply throughout the UK, not just in Northern Ireland.

Also, the key decisions about how available supplies should be allocated were made in London, not in Belfast.

However, from mid 1940, there was a growing expectation, certainly among politicians and officials, that Belfast would be attacked. This was because of the city's increasing importance as a munitions and military centre.

The fall of France, in June 1940, dramatically increased its vulnerability. Thereafter, Germany had air bases in northern France and Holland. Also, the Admiralty diverted shipping from Britain's vulnerable Channel ports to Glasgow, Liverpool, Bristol and, of course, Belfast.

Local concern was heightened by the emerging pattern of the Blitz on Britain in early 1941; it was increasingly directed at these western ports.

On March 29, 1941, after a massive raid on Clydeside (March 13/14), MacDermott presciently advised Johnny Andrews, the Prime Minister: "Up to now, we have escaped attack. So had Clydeside, until recently. Clydeside got its Blitz during the period of the last moon... The period of the next moon, from, say, the 7th to the 16th of April, may well bring our turn."

There was clear evidence that Luftwaffe activity over the city was rising. There were 22 red alerts in Belfast between October 25, 1940 and early April 1941 and mines were being laid in Belfast Lough almost daily from July 1940. In the first attack, the "Dockside raid" (April 7/8, 1941), 13 people died, 12 in the harbour area. Though popularly referred to as the "wee raid", 500 bombers attacked the UK that night.

Belfast was fortunate; there were at most eight aircraft over the city at any one time. But it seemed certain that the Luftwaffe would return and, in preparation, a smoke screen was set up to obscure the docks and searchlight units arrived on April 10.

Belfast's second raid, on Easter Tuesday night (April 15/16), is the one most deeply embedded in popular memory. Some 180 bombers participated, and dropped 200 tons of high explosives and 30,000 incendiaries.

The most striking feature of the bombardment was that the harbour area sustained so little damage. Instead, it was the working-class streets to the north of the city which suffered most.

The explanation most commonly offered was that the Luftwaffe mistook Belfast's Waterworks for the docks and bombed the district surrounding it.

It is understandable how the bombers might have missed the Harbour Estate. Weather conditions were poor; one-third of the aircraft designated to attack the city, therefore, failed to find it and diverted to targets in Britain.

Military reports also stressed the effectiveness of the smoke screen in obscuring the dock area. In addition, bombing techniques were primitive; Luftwaffe crews attempted to drop their bombs "by sight", despite their visibility difficulties.

Their reports on the raid are revealing. They regarded it as an abject failure; they had little idea what they had hit, but knew full well that they had missed their primary targets - the shipyards and the aircraft factory.

They described it as having been "unsatisfactory", "inconclusive" and "abortive" and predicted that its effect would be "minimal" and results "mediocre".

Writing about this raid (April 15/16, 1941), John Blake, Northern Ireland's official war historian, states: "No other city in the UK, save London, had lost so many of her citizens in one night's raid. No other city, except perhaps Liverpool, ever did."

Sir John Maffey, Britain's "representative" in Dublin, was in Belfast immediately after it and was familiar with the London Blitz.

Comparing the two cities, he said of London after a severe attack, that "things were able to resume their more or less normal course the following morning". He considered that the experience of the raid on Belfast was "more horrifying... because of the number of small dwelling houses of poor people which were destroyed".

Likewise, Doreen Bates, a Londoner who had transferred to work in Belfast in March 1941, described the Easter Tuesday attack as "the worst night I've had. (It was)... worse than (London)... because (Belfast)... is a smaller place. One feels... more part of the target."

During the Easter Tuesday raid, 740 civilians lost their lives in Belfast. The death rate was high, because: so many bombs fell on densely populated areas; shelters were few and underused; virtually no one had been evacuated from the city and its defences were inadequate.

Again, it was likely that the Luftwaffe would return. Their reconnaissance photos proved what the crews already knew - they had failed to hit their targets.

Meanwhile, little could be done to improve the city's defences. "Dangerous" animals in Bellevue Zoo were put down and the number of AA guns increased from 22 to 28.

Belfast's second major attack took place on May 4/5, 1941. It was shorter, more intense and more accurate than on Easter Tuesday.

Over almost three hours, 200 bombers dropped 240 tons of high explosives and 100,000 incendiaries. On this occasion, the Luftwaffe struck all its primary targets in the harbour area. Over 200 fires were ablaze when the raid ended; consequently, it was popularly referred to as the "fire raid".

This time, there were fewer casualties: 192 civilians were killed, primarily because it was the docks and city centre area which suffered most.

There were few people about; it was a Sunday night, many workers had refused to work night shifts after Easter Tuesday and 100,000 people had evacuated following that attack.

Possibly also the shelters were used more and the AA guns were more active, supplemented by those of the aircraft carrier HMS Furious.

Afterwards, the Luftwaffe crews were euphoric. Virtually all reported that they had hit their main strategic targets; some claimed that the city's fires were visible from the coasts of Wales and Lancashire. They had also caused such extensive damage to the city centre that local military reports stated it must have been a target, too.

The "fire raid" was Belfast's last major aerial attack. The bombing of Dublin, the capital of a neutral country, on May 30/31 was to be the last occasion when a significant number of bombs fell on Irish soil.

Four bombs were dropped that night; the last and most devastating, at 02.05am, struck the North Strand area, near Connolly Station. Over 40 people were killed, 100 seriously injured and almost 2,000 made homeless.

Its causes have prompted speculation.

Some blamed the RAF, but the German government eventually accepted culpability and paid compensation.

It was also suggested that the Luftwaffe had attacked Dublin by mistake: that they had intended to bomb Belfast again, but, for some reason, had missed, or the British had "bent" their navigation guidance beams, or that their aircraft were blown across from Britain by unexpectedly strong easterly winds.

Others have argued that the bombing was a calculated act of German retaliation and retribution for Eire's cumulative breaches of neutrality - the "last straw" being the help it had given Belfast after the air raids there.

In support of this conjecture is the fact that, prior to the Easter Tuesday raid, Luftwaffe pilots had been given strict instructions by Hermann Goering, intended to ensure that they did not fly over, let alone bomb, neutral Ireland.

Belfast had fewer air raids than many industrial centres and ports in Britain. It had just four, while Liverpool had 74 and Glasgow 11. But it did experience two attacks which were particularly severe and officially classified as "major".

In a table of the worst affected urban areas in the United Kingdom, compiled by the weight of bombs dropped, it comes 12th. Such was their destructive power that over half of the city's housing stock (56,000 houses) was destroyed, or damaged, and over half of its public elementary schools.

It was the unprecedented and unimagined number of deaths they caused, however, which seared them so indelibly into the collective memory of Belfast's citizens.

They fell indiscriminately on both Catholic and Protestant communities and such was the terror they generated that 220,000 people from both traditions are estimated to have fled from the city by May 1941, while tens of thousands "ditched".

Home Office statistics indicate that over 960 civilians died in the course of the Blitz. But the total number of fatalities was well over 1,000 when military personnel are included (there were 17,000 British troops billeted in the Belfast area at the time).

I was first impelled to write about the Belfast Blitz, because its details were so little known, so little researched. People then thought of the Blitz as being something that had happened in London, or Coventry, not Belfast.

This is no longer the case. Nonetheless, until now it has been inadequately commemorated, with no civic memorial to its victims - unlike those of the Titanic, even though few of those who perished had lived in the city.

But this lamentable omission is being corrected. The City Council has agreed to erect a permanent memorial in remembrance of the civilians and servicemen who lost their lives.

It is an overdue, but very welcome, tribute to those who died.
Sir Kenneth Branagh might be known for his weighty characters, but this could be his most substantial role yet.

As our exclusive picture shows, the theatrical knight has certainly grown into the role of Boris Johnson, sacrificing his waistline to become his startling doppelganger.

With his physical appearance, dress, mannerisms and gait all mimicked perfectly, Sir Kenneth's transformation into the Prime Minister is all-consuming.

Sir Kenneth, 60, donned a navy quilted jacket, suit and tie and tousled blond wig to match the PM's look as he filmed the Sky Atlantic drama This Sceptred Isle last week.

The photograph (right) shows Sir Kenneth Branagh, as PM Boris Johnson, visiting locals in the flood-hit Worcestershire town of Bewdley last March as part of the five-part series

Our photograph shows Sir Kenneth, as Boris, visiting locals in the flood-hit Worcestershire town of Bewdley last March. In reality, Boris was heckled by some who called him a 'traitor' while others posed with him for selfies.

The five-part series, directed by Michael Winterbottom, will tell the story of how the 56-year-old Prime Minister tackled the Covid pandemic, including his own hospitalisation with the virus, as well as charting his relationship with fiancee Carrie Symonds.

Sir Kenneth Branagh, 60, is transformed for his role in Sky Atlantic drama This Sceptred Isle

Filming for This Sceptred Isle, which has already attracted criticism for featuring fictitious storylines, has been under way for three weeks in various locations around the UK. It is due to air next year.

Sir Kenneth's transformation into a hunched and haunted-looking Johnson is just his latest physical metamorphosis for a role.

He deployed a prosthetic nose to play William Shakespeare in All Is True and grew a dramatic moustache to portray Hercule Poirot in Agatha Christie's Death On The Nile.
KYODO NEWS - Apr 3, 2021 - 11:42 | All, World, Japan, Coronavirus

Two Ground Self-Defense Force personnel dispatched to Djibouti in eastern Africa have been infected with the novel coronavirus, the Japanese Defense Ministry said Saturday.

The two are among some 80 GSDF troops assigned to guard a base as part of Japan's antipiracy mission in waters off Somalia, which involves Maritime Self-Defense Force vessels and patrol aircraft operating in the Gulf of Aden.

Around 20 of the contingent who were in contact with the infected pair have been isolated, the ministry said, adding the mission of the unit has not been disrupted by the isolation.

The two troops, who are in their 20s and 30s, complained of a fever, headache and other symptoms on Friday. They were found to be infected with the virus after being tested at the medical office at the base and both of them are in a stable condition, according to the ministry.
They recently began filming for the Sky Original drama, The Colour Room.

And Phoebe Dynevor and Matthew Goode looked almost unrecognisable as they chatted between takes, a day after Bridgerton co-star Rege-Jean Page revealed he WON'T return for series two.

The actress, 25, was seen taking a break from filming in the Midlands on Saturday as she joined co-star Matthew, 43, for some coffee.

On set: Phoebe Dynevor and Matthew Goode looked almost unrecognisable as they chat between takes of new drama The Colour Room on Saturday

The Bridgerton beauty transformed into real-life pottery pioneer Clarice Cliff as her hair was styled in tight ringlet curls.

To keep her hair in place, Phoebe sported a hair net around her locks as she chatted between takes.

She appeared to be in good spirits as she snacked on set, wearing a brown tailored jacket at three quarter length trousers.

Shock: Filming for The Colour Room came a day after Phoebe's Bridgerton co-star Rege-Jean Page revealed he won't return to play the Duke in series two (pictured together)

Unrecognisable: The actress, 25, was seen taking a break from filming for the Sky Original drama in the Midlands whilst wearing a brown tailored jacket at three quarter length trousers

Dapper: Phoebe's co-star Matthew Goode, 43, appeared to be in good spirits as he sported stone suit trousers and a matching waistcoat and sported brown brogue shoes

Phoebe paired her suit with a bright red top which she wore under a matching brown waistcoat.

The star completed her look with a pair of brown knee-high socks and brown brogue shoes.

Staying safe amid the coronavirus pandemic, Phoebe made sure to follow strict rules by wearing a face covering while walking to set.

She sported a white robe and comfortable black UGG boots as she strolled with Matthew between takes.

Busy day: Between takes Phoebe sported a white robe and comfortable black UGG boots as she walked on set

Staying safe: Protecting herself during the pandemic, the Bridgerton star sported a white face mask

Matthew, meanwhile, looked dapper in a stone three-piece suit and bottle green knee-high socks.

He added a further pop of colour with a bright yellow tie, and also sported smart brogue shoes.

The film tells the true story of Cliff, a pioneering ceramic artist who became a rising star in the pottery industry in Stoke-On-Trent in the 1920s.

Gushing about the production earlier this month, Phoebe said: 'I am so excited to be joining the cast of The Colour Room, especially in the role as one of the nations most celebrated artists, Clarice Cliff. It's truly such an honour to take on such a remarkable character.

Taking a break: The film tells the true story of Cliff, played by Phoebe, a pioneering ceramic artist who became a rising star in the pottery industry in Stoke-On-Trent in the 1920s

Protective: To keep her hair in place, Phoebe sported a hair net around her locks as she chatted between takes

Between takes: Matthew looked dapper in a stone three-piece suit as he vaped on the set of the new drama

'The script is a beautifully written contemporary take on the 20th century, and I feel proud to be working with such a strong female team, both in front and behind the camera.'

Phoebe, who was catapulted to stardom after playing Daphne Bridgerton in the Netflix hit, added: 'I look forward to telling Clarice's story and of course working with Matthew too.'

Matthew will take on the role of Colley Shorter, the factory owner who became impressed by Clarice's work and helped stoke her talent.

Period drama to pottery! Phoebe, who was catapulted to stardom after playing Daphne Bridgerton in the Netflix hit, added: 'I look forward to telling Clarice's story'

All smiles: Matthew will take on the role of Colley Shorter, the factory owner who became impressed by Clarice's work and helped stoke her talent

The set: Streets have been transformed to look like Stoke-On-Trent in the 1920s for the upcoming drama

In real life, Cliff broke the glass ceiling to revolutionise the workplace during the 20th Century, and the film will see her take 'more and more dangerous risks' to bring her creations to life.

The artist went on to create the Art Deco 'Bizarre' range while apprenticing for renowned Art Designer Fred Ridgeway, played by David Morrissey.

It come after Bridgerton fans were left heartbroken as the Duke, played by Rege-Jean, announced he will not return for series two on Friday.

Chatting: The stars appeared to have good banter between takes as they tucked into some snacks on set

Cosy: Phoebe plays the artist went on to create the Art Deco 'Bizarre' range while apprenticing for renowned Art Designer Fred Ridgeway, played by David Morrissey

Strolling: Matthew sported bottle green knee-high socks and added a further pop of colour with a bright yellow tie

The hit Netflix series took to its official Twitter account to reveal that the actor, 31, who plays Simon Basset, the Duke of Hastings, will not return.

Rege-Jean, who is set to star in The Gray Man, also took to Instagram to confirm the news as he emotionally said it had been a 'pleasure and a privilege to be your Duke'.

In a tongue-in-cheek statement penned as the mysterious show lead Lady Whistledown, Bridgerton tweeted: 'Your Grace, it has been a pleasure.'

The statement read: 'Dear Readers, while all eyes turn to Lord Anthony Bridgerton's quest to find a Viscountess, we bid adieu to Rege-Jean Page, who so triumphantly played the Duke of Hastings.

Good spirits: Phoebe paired her suit with a bright red top which she wore under a matching brown waistcoat

Costume: The star completed her look with a pair of brown knee-high socks and sensible brown brogue shoes

'We'll miss Simon's presence onscreen, but he will always be a part of the Bridgerton family.

'Daphne will remain a devoted wife and sister, helping her brother navigate the upcoming social season and what it has to offer  more intrigue and romance than my readers may be able to bear. Yours truly, Lady Whistledown.'

Rege-Jean later confirmed his show exit in his own statement posted to Instagram where he shared a picture of himself in character and behind-the-scenes.

He penned: 'The ride of a life time. It's been an absolute pleasure and a privilege to be your Duke.

Shock: Bridgerton heartthrob Rege-Jean will not return for series two, it was announced on Friday (pictured in character)

'Joining this family - not just on screen, but off screen too. Our incredibly creative and generous cast, crew, outstanding fans - it's all been beyond anything I could have imagined.'

Signing off his message, he added: 'The love is real and will just keep growing .'

MailOnline has contacted both Rege-Jean and Netflix for further comment.

Bridgerton was officially renewed by Netflix for series 2 in January after weeks of speculation.

The second season will focus on Anthony Bridgerton's (Jonathan Bailey) quest to find a wife after his turbulent love life was played out in the first series.
There is no doubt that they meant well, coming out in their thousands to sincerely express their grief over the deeply tragic kidnap-murder of 23-year-old Andrea Bharatt.

But the organisers of those candlelight vigils held all over Trinidad between February 4 and April 1 did not seem in the least bit concerned that what they were assembling could turn out to be Covid super spreaders.
On Friday, India refused to comment on Pakistan's flip-flop on plans to go for limited imports of sugar and cotton from the country. On Thursday, Pakistan's Cabinet rejected the proposal of a high-powered committee to import cotton and sugar from India.

"We have seen reports on this. But as is evident, we are not the right party to whom this question should be directed," said Arindam Bagchi, Spokesperson in the Ministry of External Affairs (MEA).

Foreign Minister Shah Mahmood Qureshi said there can be no normalisation of ties until New Delhi reverses its decision to revoke the special status of Jammu and Kashmir. This came days after the Economic Coordination Committee (ECC) under newly-appointed Finance Minister Hammad Azhar decided to buy the two key items from India, lifting a nearly two-year-long ban on their import from the neighbouring country.

Bagchi said he does not have any information on whether India is planning to restore the Most Favoured Nation (MFN) status to Pakistan. India withdrew the MFN status to Pakistan following the Pulwama terror attack in 2019.

Pakistan's U-Turn on resuming Cotton & Sugar Imports from India

Pakistan has once again taken a U-Turn and this time it is on resumption of import from India. On 26th March, Pakistan Prime Minister Imran Khan in his capacity as Minister of Commerce presented the proposal to resume the import of Cotton and Sugar from India during the Economic Coordination Committee meeting.

But the irony is the decision that Imran Khan took as the Prime Minister of Pakistan. On April 1, the Imran Khan-led cabinet took a U-Turn and decided not the give a go-ahead to his own proposal. Pakistan said that it needs reconsideration, while once again raking up the issue of Abrogation of Article 370 and 35A in Jammu and Kashmir. The documents exclusively accessed by Republic World also show how Khan succumbed to pressure from the ISI and Pakistan Army and rejected his own proposal.

Meeting With Jaishankar Not 'finalised Or Requested': Pak FM Qureshi

Pakistan Foreign Minister Shah Mahmood Qureshi has said no meeting has been "finalised or requested" so far with his Indian counterpart S Jaishankar on the sidelines of the 'Heart of Asia' conference on Tuesday at Tajikistan's capital Dushanbe, according to a media report on Monday. As per PTI reports, when asked about media speculation that India and Pakistan have been quietly negotiating for the full resumption of diplomatic relations, Qureshi said, No such decision yet. Jaishankar last week also did not give a specific reply to questions on whether he will meet Qureshi on the sidelines of the conference.

"My scheduling is in progress. So far I do not think any such meeting (is scheduled)," he said at the India Economic Conclave in New Delhi on March 26.

'Heart of Asia'

The conference was launched on November 2, 2011, in Turkey and have 15 countries as part of it. It is a decade-old regional initiative on security and cooperation for a stable and peaceful Afghanistan. Most of the countries are Afghanistan's neighbours and west Asian countries like Iran, Saudi Arabia and UAE as part of it. India hosted the same meet in 2016 in Amritsar.

(With PTI Inputs))

(Image Credits: PTI/AP)
Kosovos parliament was due to sit on Saturday night to vote in law professor Vjosa Osmani as the nations president with the backing of the anti-corruption, reformist camp that swept February elections.

Despite the victory, doubts remain if she will be confirmed president after two opposition parties threatened to boycott the vote.

A quorum of 80 MPs out of the 160 seats is needed for a presidential vote to proceed.

Under the constitution failure to elect Osmani, 38, would see parliament dissolved and legislative elections held with 45 days.

It would be the sixth general election in the former Serbian province since independence in 2008, which is still not recognised by Serbia.

Prime Minister Albin Kurti, firebrand head of the anti-establishment Vetevendosje (VV) party, secured a landslide in February and Osmani is his candidate.

They can count on 58 votes plus several MPs from minor parties out of the 120 seats.

Eighty votes would be required for Osmani to win in a first or second round of voting, but that would fall to 61 by a third round.

VV officially convened the parliamentary sitting for 1600 GMT, but it had yet to start as the evening wore on and behind-the-scenes talks continued on, local media reported.

US ambassador Philip Kosnett urged all MPs to take responsibility and ensure a quorum.

Around 300,000 people voted for Osmani personally in the February polls, a similar number to what former president Ibrahim Rugova  considered the father of the nation  had previously won.

She stood in as president for several months for Hashim Thaci who was charged last November with war crimes.
People living in these districts, should get medical and educational facilities on par with Hyderabad, says the CM.  Twitter

Hyderabad: Chief Minister K. Chandrashekar Rao has constituted a nodal agency headed by Chief Secretary Somesh Kumar for the integrated development of Ranga Reddy and Medchal-Malkajgiri districts, which are developing fast, and to find permanent solutions to the problems faced by the districts.

The CM said all these areas have become a part of Hyderabad. Since a lot of people from all over the country are coming settling down here, plans should be prepared based on the growing needs, he said.

The CM said that all the Assembly segments, municipalities and other important towns under these districts should have integrated vegetarian and non-vegetarian markets, town halls, laying of roads, infrastructure like power, drinking water, cleanliness, repairing of the sewerage and drainage. He said a permanent solution should be found for the free flow of traffic and prevention of floodwater submerging lowlying areas.

People living in these districts, should get medical and educational facilities on par with Hyderabad, the CM said. For this, local MLAs should prepare a plan based on the issues and needs in their constituencies.

The Chief Minister instructed the CS to meet local ministers, MLAs, MLCs and officials of the departments concerned to develop a plan. He was speaking at a review meeting on Friday at Pragathi Bhavan on the two districts.

To keep pace with the changing times and the needs, there is a need to form plans for the integrated development of the municipalities and corporations in these areas, the CM said. A comprehensive plan should be prepared for the integrated development of these districts along with Hyderabad.

The CM advised public representatives to have at least one meeting a month with the CS. The nodal officer should review the programme regularly and the government is ready to provide adequate funds, the CM said.

Chandrashekar Rao said development works should be taken up in all municipalities and municipal corporations in these two districts.
Thank you for reading!

Please log in, or sign up for a new account and purchase a subscription to continue reading.
On the FactCheck page, The Associated Press tracks down some of the most popular but completely untrue stories and visuals that were shared widely on social media. The AP takes those untrue stories, checks them out and sets the records straight in this weekly series of news articles.


Yuri Norstein meets true crime in the latest episode of Criminal, the popular podcast hosted by Phoebe Judge. In Only in Hollywood, Judge  who has an eye for oddball tales of wrongdoing  recounts the improbable story of Soviet animations piracy in the U.S. Listen here.

The story starts with Oleg Vidov, a Russian-born movie star with the looks of a Robert Redford and a passion for vintage Soviet animation. After defecting to the U.S. in the 1980s, Vidov, together with his American wife Joan Borsten, purchased the international rights to the catalogue of Soyuzmultfilm, Soviet Russias renowned state animation studio. Their aim was to introduce the studios classic works to the world.

Vidov and Borsten were initially successful with the distribution: the animated films were aired by the likes of HBO and PBS. But then orders from video stores fell. Borsten investigated, embarking on a vigilante mission that was equal parts frightening and farcical. Judge interviews her and other players in the drama, including an ex-CIA private eye and a young friend of Borstens stepson who joined the investigation, only to find himself way out of his depth.
Chinese authorities have asked H&M to change a map on its website in the latest clash between the clothing giant and officialdom there, media reported on Friday.

The company, based in Sweden, has faced a backlash in China in recent days after it voiced concerns last year about alleged human rights abuses in Xinjiang province.

ABC News reported that the city government of Shanghai had asked H&M to correct a 'problematic map of China'. H&M did not immediately respond to telephone calls or an emailed request for a comment.

Citing a statement by the Shanghai government, ABC said Internet users reported the problem to the management of H&M's website and the Shanghai municipal bureau of planning and natural resources ordered it to be changed.

The Wall Street Journal cited the Shanghai arm of the Cyberspace Administration of China as saying that H&M's website operator had taken actions to address the issue.

Last week, H&M said it would work to win back trust in China after a statement it had made in 2020 about sourcing cotton there resurfaced on social media.

In the statement, the world's second-biggest fashion retailer expressed concern about the allegations of forced labour in Xinjiang province and said it would no longer source cotton from there.

Also read: Reliance gets shareholders, creditors approval to hive off O2C biz into separate unit
U.S. Marshals and city police arrested two Scranton men following a pursuit Thursday, seizing cocaine and marijuana, authorities said.

At about 7:36 p.m., Marshals contacted officers with the Scranton Police Street Crimes Unit, notifying them they were following a vehicle driven by Lepke J. Robinson, 44, 1024 S. Webster Ave., who was wanted for violating probation, according to a criminal complaint. Officers tried to stop him on the 2900 block of Birney Avenue, but Robinson continued driving, eventually pulling over on the 400 block of North Main Avenue, police said.

During the pursuit, officers saw someone throw a bag with 16 grams of marijuana, six grams of cocaine and drug paraphernalia out of the passenger window.

At the scene, authorities also arrested Robinson's passenger, Andre House, 53, 514 Cedar Ave. Robinson said he had been drinking alcohol and smoking marijuana and admitted to being a middle man for drug deals, police said.

At police headquarters, House let police search his phone, where they found evidence of him selling drugs. He admitted to throwing the drugs out of the window, police said. Both are charged with possession with intent to deliver, tampering with evidence and related counts. Bail and preliminary hearing information was unavailable Friday.
It's the dog all the toffs want to get their paws on these days a fox-red working labrador.

But I'm not sure that George Osborne and his pregnant fiancee Thea Rogers are ready to send their mischievous new pup on to the shooting fields quite yet.

First the adorable dog got one of its legs wrapped around its lead during a walk near London's Portland Hospital before then trying to gnaw her way through the leash.

Later the dog looked likely to jump up at the former Chancellor, before Thea bent down give her a loving pat on the nose.

Having a new puppy just months before welcoming a child into the world is my idea of a nightmare but perhaps Thea, a Deliveroo executive, has taken some tips from her fiance and seems well-equipped to balance several jobs at once.

Osborne quit frontline politics in 2017 but has had no shortage of roles since then, and recently took up a lucrative position at investment bank Robey Warshaw. He also chairs the Northern Powerhouse Partnership.

George Osborne, right, pictured with his fiancee Thea Rogers, centre, and their new puppy, left

The couple were taking a walk through London near London's Portland Hospital

Having a new puppy just months before welcoming a child into the world is my idea of a nightmare but perhaps Thea, a Deliveroo executive, has taken some tips from her fiance and seems well-equipped to balance several jobs at once

Last month he hit back in the Tory civil war over China as he praised Boris Johnson for 'seeing off the hotheads' who he claimed want to start a 'new Cold War' with Beijing.

He said he sees 'a lot of continuity' between the Prime Minister's new strategy for relations with China and the 'golden era' approach he took when he was in power.

Mr Osborne said the PM 'should be congratulated' for facing down Conservative hawks who are demanding the Government take a tougher stance against China.

His comments are likely to pour fuel on the fire as Mr Johnson faces a growing Tory revolt over his Integrated Review.

The security document calls for 'deeper trade links' with China despite also admitting it is a 'systemic' threat to the West.

Tory defence select committee chief Tobias Ellwood said he had hoped Mr Johnson would take the opportunity to 'call out' China for the 'geo-strategic threat it is'.

George Osborne hit back in the Tory civil war over China last month as he praised the PM for 'seeing off the hotheads' who he claimed want to start a 'new Cold War' with Beijing

Some Tory MPs believe the PM's new Integrated Review is too soft on China and want the Government to take a tougher approach

Intelligence committee chair Julian Lewis warned the 'grasping naivety of the Cameron-Osborne years' towards China 'still lingers' in some departments.

Mr Osborne had promised a 'golden era for the UK-China relationship' when he was in power and said the two nations should 'stick together'.

He told the House of Lords' International Relations and Defence Committee that he believes Mr Johnson is correct to recognise the 'threat' posed by China while also seeking to 'engage' with the country.

He said: 'China is changing, becoming more assertive, but the question of how you deal with it has not changed.

'And that to me is why I think Boris Johnson should be congratulated for seeing off the hotheads who want to launch some new Cold War with China and instead promoting an approach that is realistic about the threat that China poses but also wants to engage in the opportunity.

'Talks about increasing trade, talks about increasing investment from China and essentially tries to co-opt China rather than confront China and to me that was the approach back then and it is the approach today.'

Mr Osborne said he believed his approach of 'engaging with China in a more meaningful and deeper relationship that recognised the threat but also sought to try and co-opt China into the international order' was 'realistic'.

He added: 'It was a deeper relationship and frankly reading the Government's security document that they published yesterday, I see a lot of continuity in what is being proposed now and I very much welcome that.'

Mr Osborne said there 'have been things that China has done that are not acceptable' as he mentioned interference in Hong Kong and 'suppression' of the Uighur people in Xinjiang province.

He said many issues of concern were frequently raised with Beijing during the years of the Coalition Government.

David Walliams's ex is praying for a belated wedding gift from the Prince of Wales.

Sylvia Flote, who married Lord Oakeshott's son Luke last weekend, is fighting plans by the Duchy of Cornwall to turn a former county court near her home in South London into flats  and hopes the Prince will order his designers to rethink a proposal to add an extra storey.

'I have a high opinion of Prince Charles and the speeches he's made about preserving the historic character of London from get-rich-quick architectural vandals,' says Sylvia, 38, a former Miss Norway contender who dated Walliams in 2017.

Catch of the week... Elias Baker

Not only has Elias Becker inherited his dad Boris's great genes  he looks pretty good in jeans too. The 21-year-old model and wannabe music producer has a growing fanbase thanks to pictures like this, and catwalk gigs with Dolce & Gabbana. While dozens of fans commented that this photo was 'hot' on Instagram last week, his doting mother Barbara posted a series of love-heart emojis under the caption instead.
The International Monetary Fund (IMF), on April 2, approved a 2.34 billion aid package for Kenya, a move that is expected to mitigate the effect of a worsening health and economic crisis in the African state. The funds would be equally spread over a period of 38 months, beginning with an immediate disbursement of $307.5 million. In a statement later, the IMF asserted that the monetary aid would support the Kenyan government's COVID-19 response while also supporting their plan to reduce debt vulnerabilities.

The Executive Board of the International Monetary Fund (IMF) approved 38-month arrangements under the Extended Credit Facility (ECF) and the Extended Fund Facility (EFF) for Kenya in an amount equivalent to SDR 1.655 billion (305 per cent of quota or about US$2.34 billion) to support the next phase of the authorities COVID-19 response and address the urgent need to reduce debt vulnerabilities. statement read.

Kenya's plunging GDP

According to the official data by IMF, Kenyas Gross Domestic Product (GDP) grew by -0.1 per cent in the year 2020. The monetary body has predicted it to grow by 7.6 per cent in 2021, 5.7 per cent in 2022 and 6.1 per cent in 2023. However, IMF said that even with the expected recovery, challenges remain in the return to durable and inclusive growth, and past gains in poverty reduction have been reversed.

The authorities program would set a basis for a resurgence of growth and shared prosperity. Building on critical steps already taken, it aims to reduce debt vulnerabilities through a multi-year fiscal consolidation effort centred on raising tax revenues and tightly controlling spending, safeguarding resources to protect vulnerable groups. It will also advance the structural reform and governance agenda. Finally, it will strengthen the monetary policy framework and support financial stability, IMF said about its aid.

The aid comes as the head of the International Monetary Fund, Kristalina Georgieva, said that the prospects of global growth have increased since the month of January. However, she further warned that uneven progress in fighting the pandemic could hamper economic growth. Georgieva on Tuesday, March 30 said that IMF releases will release its economic forecast next week and it will show the global economy growing at a faster pace than the 5.5 per cent gain it projected at the start of the year.

Image: cfr.org
(@FahadShabbir)

Swiss President Guy Parmelin was among the first Saturday to take part in a virtual candlelight vigil in memory of nearly 9,700 people who have died from Covid-19 in the country

Geneva, (APP - UrduPoint / Pakistan Point News - 3rd Apr, 2021 ) :Swiss President Guy Parmelin was among the first Saturday to take part in a virtual candlelight vigil in memory of nearly 9,700 people who have died from Covid-19 in the country.

In a video message, Parmalin lit a red wax candle, comparing it to a "glimmer that we are starting to see on the horizon in this crisis".

And then he lit a virtual candle as part of a nearly two-month-long online vigil organised by Swiss churches of various denominations to coincide with the period between the eve of Easter and Whit Sunday -- a Christian feast celebrated 50 days after Easter.

Just a few hours into the vigil, more than 800 virtual candles had been lit, creating flickering dots of light in various colours sparkling across a darkened map of Switzerland.

The colours symbolise whether the candles were lit in memory of a specific person, or to symbolise other messages.

"Light a flame across the Swiss map showing gratitude, a sign of hope or of unity with others," organisers said on the www.offreunelumiere.ch website.

Participants were also urged to leave a message on the site, in either German, French or Italian, the main official languages in the Alpine nation of 8.6 million people.

One participant, Ruth, said she had lit her candle "in memory of all the people who have left us", while Christiane left a message saying: "Mama, forever in my heart".
New Delhi: Prime Minister Narendra Modi on Saturday (April 3) took a dig at CM Mamata Banerjee in response to a Twitter post that mentioned she would contest against him in the 2024 Lok Sabha polls from his constituency, Varanasi.

While speaking at an election rally PM Modi said that the statement shows that the West Bengal Chief Minister has conceded her defeat in the ongoing state elections and is looking for a seat beyond her state.

The TMC had posted a tweet on Friday saying, Didi is winning Nandigram. The question of her fighting from another seat doesn't arise. @narendramodi Ji, retract from your efforts to mislead people before they see your lies with the end of nomination in WB. Look for a safer seat in 2024, as you will be challenged in Varanasi.

Didi is winning Nandigram. The question of her fighting from another seat doesn't arise. @narendramodi Ji, retract from your efforts to mislead people before they see your lies with the end of nomination in WB. Look for a safer seat in 2024, as you will be challenged in Varanasi.  All India Trinamool Congress (@AITCofficial) April 1, 2021

In response to this tweet, the Prime Minister said, Didi's party says that she will contest from Varanasi, which makes two things clear - that she has accepted her defeat in Bengal & that Didi has started a search for her space outside Bengal.

People of Varanasi are as kind-hearted as people of Bengal. But you (Mamata Banerjee) will meet so many people with vermillion & 'choti'. 'Jai Shri Ram' slogan irritates you, but you will have to hear 'Har Har Mahadev' every 2 minutes. What will you do then?: PM Narendra Modi pic.twitter.com/ivfslPK7BY  ANI (@ANI) April 3, 2021

He also said People of Varanasi are as kind-hearted as people of Bengal. But you (Mamata Banerjee) will meet so many people with vermillion & 'choti'. 'Jai Shri Ram' slogan irritates you, but you will have to hear 'Har Har Mahadev' every 2 minutes. What will you do then?

The Prime Minister had visited West Bengal to address a rally ahead of the West Bengal Assembly Election.
Cristina Yang might appear in season 17 of "Grey's Anatomy," and this is not a drill.

In this current season, the fictional Grey-Sloan Memorial Hospital mirrors the real-life happenings as they face and battle the coronavirus pandemic. The lead star Meredith Grey, played by Ellen Pompeo, has been contracted this deadly virus.

Currently, Meredith is put on a ventilator to keep her alive. However, during her life-threatening battle, she meets with people she loved and lost over in her dreams at the beach.

She has also seen and talked to her husband Derek Shepherd, her close friend George O'Malley, and her good friend and ex Andrew De Luca, who died just this season after being stabbed.

Last Thursday's latest episode made "Grey's Anatomy" fans go head over heels after the show brought back two well-loved characters, Lexie Grey, Meredith's little sister, and Mark Sloan.

Even with the number of people making a re-appearance on "Grey's Anatomy," one character keeps coming up, and that's Cristina Yang, played by Sandra Oh.

Cristina is Meredith's "person" and "twisted sister" who left in season 10 to become the cardiothoracic head in a hospital in Switzerland.

Now, fans, one wish may be coming true as there are already clues pointing out that Cristina Yang may appear this season.

Cristina Yang Reappearing on 'Grey's Anatomy' Clues

After the events that took place on Thursday's episode titled "Breathe" and the episode before that titled "In My Life," it's possible Cristina Yang will be gracing the halls of Grey-Sloan Medical Center pretty soon.

In looking at her relationship with baby daddy Owen Hunt, Cristina Yang's name was mentioned about five times in that episode.

READ ALSO: 'Grey's Anatomy' Major Character Death Explained; Is DeLuca Returning On the Show?

In "Breathe," there was a text message exchange showed between Cristina and Owen.

Cristina was demanding updates on Meredith's status and telling Owen to send pictures of Meredith's charts.

we love our stubborn queen who will appear at the end of the episode because i said so #GreysAnatomy #cristinayang pic.twitter.com/NTYVzY0JPE  meg  | MADDIE & ADRI DAY (@sergiosaltman) April 2, 2021

Additionally, in the previous episodes, George O'Malley reminded Meredith that unlike him, Cristina Yang is still pretty much alive, so that could be a possible foreshadowing.

Co-Star Drops Hint of Cristina Yang's Possible Return

Teddy, who plays actor Kim River, dropped a clue when she singled out Sandra Oh as a "Grey's Anatomy" alum she would like to see return for season 17.

Speaking to E! News, Kim said, "For Teddy and Cristina to be able to have scenes together again would be incredible."

But then she reminded herself to not spoil anything, "I have to be very careful with the way I talk because I don't want to give anything away."

Kim added, "But I will say it's just amazing to have the cast members that were here before return because I think we all do feel connected."

READ MORE: 'Grey's Anatomy' Season 17 Spoiler: Cast Member Hints Meredith Grey's Fate

See Now: Famous Actors Who Turned Down Iconic Movie Roles
Bahrain calls on citizens and residents to get protected against COVID-19

TDT | Manama The Daily Tribune  www.newsofbahrain.com More than 775,000 doses of coronavirus vaccines have been administered in Bahrain so far, the Health Ministry said, while calling on people to take their jabs soon enough to support national efforts to combat the pandemic. It is the national responsibility of every individual in society to adhere to the mandatory precautionary measures, the ministry said. The ministry also called on all citizens and residents above 18 years of age, groups at greater risk of developing complications from COVID-19, including the elderly and people with chronic diseases, to register and receive the vaccine to protect themselves and society.

Most governments are starting with doses for the over-60s, health workers and people who are clinically vulnerable. Bahrain is providing four vaccines free of charge to citizens and residents, including vaccines from Pfizer/BioNTech, Chinas Sinofarm, the Oxford-AstraZeneca and Russias Sputnik V. The vaccination campaign has greatly contributed to protecting a large segment of the population, especially the groups most vulnerable to health complications associated with (Covid-19) with latent diseases, said the Health Ministry statement. Currently, a total of 517,603 people had received their first dose and 257,593 their second dose, bringing the total number of doses administered to 775,196.

We would continue to accelerating the pace of the national vaccination programme and harness all capabilities to preserve the health and safety of everyone through the best global health practices, said Health Ministry. The ministry further confirmed that it is continuously following the global development to provide safe and approved vaccinations in Bahrain. The US and China have administered the highest number of doses, 150 million and 120 million, respectively. India ranks third, with more than 65 million. Worldwide, more than 200 vaccine candidates are undergoing trials to test their efficacy and safety.
"The idea is to give them the message that BJP is not anti-Muslim and that they need not fear," an analyst said.

Instead, the party was serious about delivering its promise of bringing change and non-partisan development under the slogan Sabka Saath Sabka Vikas.

Political analyst Sajjan Kumar points out that though the visit may not change the voters' mindset, it will allay fear of the minority community.

"The Muslim community has been a strong voter base of the TMC but at the same time, PM's visit sends out a message that the Indian Muslims have nothing to fear in case the BJP comes to power," Kumar said, adding that the BJP has also refrained from bringing up the issues of Citizenship Amendment Act and National Register of Citizens during the campaign.

But not just the Muslims, Modi's visit to a temple in Orakandi located in Bangladesh's Gopalganj district will also act as a balm and even woo the Matua community of the state.

The Matuas, primarily Namasudras, have traditionally been supporters of West Bengal chief minister Mamata Banerjee and the incumbent Trinamool Congress. According to estimates, there are over 1.5 crore voters from this Matua community.

Will Modi's visit have any direct impact on the voting pattern?

Kumar responded in the affirmative. He said that Modi's visit to the temples including the one at Orakandi will go a long way in wooing the Matua community.

"Many of the Muslims living in West Bengal are originally from Bangladesh, so the visit does create a connect between the minorities and the BJP," a resident of Kolkata said on condition of anonymity.

"Banerjee has always played the minority card which has led to polarisation in the state but now one can see counter-polarisation taking place," Kumar added.

Another analyst also said that the violence that broke out in Bangladesh after Modi's visit will also help in strengthening in counter polarisation. Banerjee's appeasement policies to the minority community have irked many in the state.

"It is important for BJP to pass this message of Sabka Saath Sabka Vikas and that the party will not discriminate in terms of religion, but at the same time we will not follow a policy of appeasement with any community. It is one India but until now, policy was framed with the idea of minority appeasement, that will not be the case," Gopal Krishna Agarwal, BJP spokesperson on economic affairs said.

(This content is being carried under an arrangement with indianarrative.com)

--indianarrative/
President Donald Trump takes a selfie with Rep. Matt Gaetz, R-Fla., in the House chamber after Trump's State of the Union address to a joint session of Congress on January 30, 2018. Tom Williams/CQ Roll Call

Trump has been advised to refrain from publicly defending Matt Gaetz, the Daily Beast reported.

Gaetz, who is a Trump loyalist, is currently facing a sex crimes investigation.

Trump agreed to stay quiet but believes the allegations could be a "smear" campaign, a source said.

See more stories on Insider's business page.

Former President Donald Trump's advisors have strongly urged him not to publicly defend GOP Rep. Matt Gaetz who is currently facing a sex crimes investigation, the Daily Beast reported Friday.

Trump has reportedly spent the last week watching the "Gaetzgate" scandal unfold from afar while consulting several advisors about what he should do about one of his most loyal allies.

According to two people familiar with the matter, Trump thinks the allegations against the Florida Republican seem "really bad" but also believes they could be a "smear," the Daily Beast reported.

Nevertheless, Trump's confidants have firmly said he should keep quiet on the matter- a recommendation the former president appeared to ultimately agree with.

Trump's office has not issued any official statement on the matter as of Saturday.

Read more: We asked 30 Republicans who know and have worked with Rep. Matt Gaetz if they've reached out to him as his sordid sex stories snowball. Their collective silence was deafening.

Gaetz, a bombastic Trump loyalist, is currently being investigated for allegedly having a sexual relationship with a 17-year-old girl in 2019 and paying her to travel with him, potentially breaking federal sex-trafficking laws by doing so, The New York Times reported earlier this week. Gaetz has not been charged in connection to the investigation.

Since the report, several more allegations have surfaced.

Among other allegations, Gaetz is accused of reportedly using campaign money to fund travel and other expenses for women, paying women for sex, and participating in a sex game that included a "Harry Potter" challenge and "extra points" for sleeping in sorority houses.

Story continues

Gaetz has claimed that the federal probe is part of an "organized criminal extortion" scheme against his family. He said the plot involved two former justice department officials, whom he did not name.

"Matt Gaetz has never paid for sex. Matt Gaetz refutes all the disgusting allegations completely. Matt Gaetz has never ever been on any such websites whatsoever. Matt Gaetz cherishes the relationships in his past and looks forward to marrying the love of his life," his office said in a statement on Thursday, according to the New York Times.

On Friday, the Florida Republican from the state's first congressional district told the Hill that it is "very safe" to say he has no intentions of resigning.

Gaetz has been one of Trump's biggest defenders on Capitol Hill. He recently spoke at the Republican National convention in Florida and was once called a "proud Trump protege" by Politico.

Read the original article on Business Insider
New Delhi, April 3 : As tribes are among the disadvantaged sections of the society, a quiz has been started by the Centre at promoting and preserving their craft, culture and lifestyle to improve their income. Tribes constitute over 8 per cent of our population.

Started by Ministry of Tribal Affairs, the innovative contest called "Be A Friend of Tribes India", has the sole objective of promoting the wide range of tribal handicrafts which include hand-woven cotton, silk fabrics, wool, metal craft, terracotta, bead-work -- all of whom need to be preserved and promoted.

Through the innovative contest, awareness about tribal heritage, arts, crafts can be enhanced among the general public. With more knowledge and awareness about tribal heritage, it is hoped that citizens will also contribute to overall tribal empowerment by purchasing more tribal products.

"Characterised by natural simplicity, the tribal creations have a timeless appeal," said the Ministry, adding the quiz is a way of promotion of tribal products so as to improve the income and livelihoods of these people, while preserving their way of life and traditions.

Tribal Cooperative Marketing Development Federation Ltd (TRIFED), as the nodal agency under the Ministry of Tribal Affairs, launched the "Be A Friend of Tribes India" quiz on Friday. The competition will be on till May 14 this year and 50 winners of this quiz will be awarded a Tribes India Gift Voucher.

The TRIFED has also put in place several initiatives to familiarise people with the rich and diverse craft, culture of the tribal communities across the country and to help the tribal population in the area of marketing development of their rich products.

Earlier, TRIFED had launched "Be the Brand Ambassador of Tribes India" quiz in February this year. The ongoing quiz invites stories featuring any tribal product (s) from customers across the country. The stories should be highlighting experience in using the product and provide details of the product and the place or shop from where it was purchased. The requirement is that the stories are in the form of short videos ranging from 30 seconds to five minutes.

The tribal products may include gents or ladies' apparel, jewellery, accessories, paintings, metal crafts, terracotta and pottery, decorative items, food & organic items, cane and bamboo items, stationery, furniture, home furnishings and cuisine.

Participants will have to share their stories in the form of a link to the video uploaded on YouTube. The contest will be on till May 14 this year and 50 entries will be selected and a gift voucher will be awarded.

These initiatives, launched in association with MyGov fall in line with the Aatmanirbhar Abhiyan, the PM's vision of emphasising local products and promoting local entrepreneurship.
98-y-o creator of The Girl Who Believes in Miracles' says his life is proof miracles happen

Email Print Img No-img Menu Whatsapp Google Reddit Digg Stumbleupon Linkedin Comment

The new faith-based movie The Girl Who Believes in Miracles highlights the miracle-working power of God, and 98-year-old Laurence Jaffe, the creator of the film, says he is proof that miracles do happen.

"It's sort of like a miracle, Jaffe said of the release of his new movie in an interview with The Christian Post.

The nonagenarian, who decided to start a new career as a filmmaker much later in life, revealed that several things came into place to bring the film to audiences.

Jaffe credited director Rich Correll in helping to pull everything together, including finances and an A-list cast.

The feature film brought together a star-studded cast, including Oscar winner Mira Sorvino, Emmy Award-winner Peter Coyote and God's Not Dead actor Kevin Sorbo.

When Sara hears a preacher say faith can move mountains, she starts praying, the films synopsis reads. Suddenly, people in her town are mysteriously healed! But fame soon takes its toll  can Saras family save her before its too late?

The Girl Who Believes in Miracles is loaded with faith-filled content as viewers are challenged to tap into childlike faith and believe God for the impossible. Jaffe, who joined the Marine Corps during World War II, said he himself believes in miracles.

"There was a time when I was in the service, in the Marine Corps, when a couple of things happened where I was in the wrong place at the wrong time, he explained. "I was walking on a railroad track and I didn't know that trains [still] came on it ... all of a sudden, a force came along, picked me up, and put me on the platform.

Seconds later, an express train came down the same track I was walking on. So the fact that I'm here ... is a miracle.

The 98-year-old filmmaker, whose wife of 72 years passed in October 2020, said he's believed in miracles ever since his life was saved decades ago.

Up until the time that miracle occurred with me, I was a man of faith, and I happen to have a belief in God [by] just my faith, I had no proof, Jaffe explained. But then, when this miracle happened and my life was saved, I had a fact.

"So now, I not only have faith, that's just based on belief. But it's based on an actual fact that I do believe that miracles still happen! he continued. "Just think of this, our bodies are miracles. So we know it's happening all the time.

The trailer for The Girl Who Believes in Miracles shows a young girl named Sara praying for several dead animals to come back to life. She's also seen praying for a lame boy to walk and for a girl to be cured of cancer.

"This happens to be an uplifting movie and anything to make people feel good now is so very critical," Jaffe added. "They should really flock out to see it, to feel good about life and about themselves. We've been through a very, very tough year and now we'd like to see people feeling good again.

He encouraged people to pray, saying that just like the movie aims to bring encouragement, prayer does too.

"I happen to be a man of faith, he said. Prayer makes the person who's praying feel good.

Jaffe also hopes to use the money generated from the film to help the poor through a program he created to help disadvantaged children in Gainesville, Florida.

"My ultimate goal in life  I hope to live long enough  is to try to see if I can help people who are living in poverty, or in disadvantaged communities, he told CP.

And despite his age, Jaffe said he intends to continue making films.

[With] this movie, [and] we have some other movies that will follow it, I'm hoping they will get me enough money so I'll be able to help people who need it, he stressed.

The Christian movie premiered in theaters nationwide on Easter weekend. It is now available to stream across all platforms.
CLEVELAND, Ohio -- A 27-year-old man died after being shot in the head early Saturday at a Cleveland party center, police said.

Police have made no arrests in the shooting that happened about 3:30 a.m. at Kinsman Party Center on East 93rd Street near Kinsman Road, Cleveland police spokeswoman Sgt. Jennifer Ciaccia said.

When police arrived at the scene they found the man lying in the parking lot with a gunshot wound to his head, Ciaccia said. He was pronounced dead at the scene.

Investigators learned the victim may have driven his car into another car and got involved in an argument with a man driving the car he crashed into, she said.

Police say shots were fired and the victim was struck in the head.

Witnesses say a man ran away from the parking lot.

The shooting is under investigation.

Anyone with information is asked to call investigators at 216-623-5464.

Read more crime stories on cleveland.com:

Elyria man accused of repeatedly ramming car into home after smashing up living room

Two men indicted in deadly shooting inside Clevelands My Friends Restaurant

Man charged in rapes of two women in downtown Cleveland

Man charged in shootout at Cleveland afterhours club that injured 7

Man carjacked at gunpoint in his Lakewood garage, police say
New York, April 3 : A second of Covid-19 vaccination dose may not be needed for individuals who have successfully recovered from a prior coronavirus infection, suggests a study.

The research, involving more than 260 individuals, showed that a single dose of the Pfizer-BioNTech vaccine for individuals who previously had Covid-19, can generate an immunologic response similar to that of individuals receiving the two-dose recommended sequence.

The Pfizer and BioNTech vaccine is normally administered in two doses, 21 days apart, to provide nearly full protection against the novel coronavirus, known as SARS-CoV-2.

Post-vaccine symptoms were more prominent for those with prior infection after the first dose, but it was similar between the two groups after the second dose, the findings, published in the journal Nature Medicine, revealed.

"Our findings extend those from smaller studies reported elsewhere and support a potential strategy of providing a single dose of vaccine to persons with a confirmed prior history of coronavirus infection, along with two doses for people not previously infected," said Susan Cheng, Associate professor at the Cedars-Sinai Medical Centre in California, US.

"This approach could maximise the reach of a limited vaccine supply, allowing potentially millions more people to be vaccinated in the US alone," she added.

However, further study is needed, said the research team. For the study, the team conducted a survey of 1,090 healthcare workers at Cedars-Sinai who had received the Pfizer-BioNTech vaccine. They were asked about prior coronavirus infections and any symptoms they might have experienced after being vaccinated.

The workers also underwent antibody tests to gauge the response of their immune systems to the vaccinations. Antibody levels were measured at three points in time: before or up to three days after the first dose, within seven to 21 days after the first dose, and within seven to 21 days after the second dose.

The team identified 35 individuals with prior coronavirus infections who had received a single vaccine dose and 228 individuals without prior infection who had received both vaccine doses. Based on the antibody tests, the team found that levels and responses of coronavirus-specific antibodies were similar in both of these groups.

Latest updates on Coronavirus (COVID-19)

-- The story has been published from a wire feed without any modifications to the text
Source: Xinhua| 2021-04-03 18:41:16|Editor: huaxia

Video Player Close

BRUSSELS, April 3 (Xinhua) -- Parties to the Iran nuclear deal have agreed to convene in Austria next week to discuss ways to bring the deal back to life.

The deal, formally named the Joint Comprehensive Plan of Action (JCPOA), was reached in 2015 between Iran and the United States, Britain, Russia, France, China, Germany and the European Union (EU).

Washington withdrew from the deal in 2018 and tightened sanctions on Iran under former President Donald Trump. In response to the U.S. moves, Iran suspended the implementation of parts of its obligations under the deal.

The United States confirmed on Friday that it would attend the meeting scheduled to begin on Tuesday in Austria, saying it remains "open to" direct talks with Tehran.

"We have agreed to participate in talks with our European, Russian, and Chinese partners to identify the issues involved in a mutual return to compliance with the JCPOA with Iran," State Department Spokesperson Ned Price said in a statement.

"These remain early days, and we don't anticipate an immediate breakthrough as there will be difficult discussions ahead. But we believe this is a healthy step forward," he added.

He said that the primary issues to be discussed in the meeting "are the nuclear steps that Iran would need to take in order to return to compliance with the terms of the JCPOA, and the sanctions relief steps that the United States would need to take in order to return to compliance as well."

"We do not anticipate presently that there will be direct talks between the United States and Iran through this process, though the United States remains open to them," he said.

The EU said earlier in the day that parties to the Iran nuclear deal will convene in Vienna, Austria next week to discuss the possibility of lifting sanctions on Iran and the country's responsibility for further implementing the agreement.

Representatives of China, France, Germany, Russia, Britain and Iran, known as the participants in the JCPOA, met virtually on Friday morning, and "agreed to resume this session of the Joint Commission in Vienna next week, in order to clearly identify sanctions lifting and nuclear implementation measures," the EU said in a statement.

"Positive meeting today," Deputy Secretary-General and Political Director of the European External Action Service (EEAS) Enrique Mora tweeted following the meeting. The parties will reconvene in Vienna next week, with "substantial work ahead for a key opportunity" to bring the JCPOA back to life, he added.

The participants recognized the prospect of a full return of the United States to the JCPOA, and "underlined their readiness to positively address this in a joint effort," said the EEAS statement. They also "emphasized their commitment to preserve the JCPOA and discussed modalities to ensure the return to its full and effective implementation."

Tehran will be aiming for the "choreographed removal of all sanctions" followed by "Iran ceasing remedial measures," Iranian Foreign Minister Mohammad Javad Zarif wrote on social media after Friday's online meeting.

Zarif was quoted by IRNA news agency as saying that no meeting will be held between Iranian and U.S. representatives, since it is "unnecessary."

At the online meeting, Iranian Deputy Foreign Minister Abbas Araqchi stressed the Iranian position that no negotiation is needed for Washington to return to the nuclear deal.

"The same way the U.S. withdrew from the agreement and imposed illegal sanctions on Iran, it can return to the agreement and put an end to its lawbreaking," Araqchi said, according to IRNA.

Araqchi pointed to the lifting of the U.S. sanctions as the first step in reviving the JCPOA, and said that Tehran's compliance reduction steps would be stopped as soon as Tehran verifies that sanctions are lifted.

Russian Deputy Foreign Minister Sergei Ryabkov, who attended the virtual meeting, said that there is no alternative to the JCPOA.

All parties involved should make every effort for the earliest possible return of the Iran nuclear deal to the originally established framework, Ryabkov said.

The participants paid special attention to the measures that should be taken by the United States to eliminate previously committed violations of the JCPOA and to lift its sanctions against Iran, the Russian Foreign Ministry said in a press release.

German Foreign Minister Heiko Maas said it is good that all the relevant actors will meet to work on fully implementing the nuclear agreement again.

"We have no time to lose," he said in a statement published by the German Foreign Ministry. "A fully respected agreement would be a plus in security for the entire region and the best basis for discussions on other important questions of regional stability." Enditem
Adam Toledo, 13, is the citys youngest victim of a fatal police shooting in Chicago in decades. Toledo was reportedly shot once in the chest by Chicago Police Department (CPD) officers early Monday morning in the Little Village neighborhood on the southwest side of the city, under circumstances that remain obscure.

While Toledos mother and other family members are demanding an explanation for how such a young boy came to be brutally murdered by the police, the administration of Mayor Lori Lightfoot is already working on a coverup operation to protect the officers involved.

According to a police spokesman, CPD officers responded to an alert of gunfire in the area at around 2:35 a.m. through the ShotSpotter detection system. According to police, Officers observed two subjects in a nearby alley, after which both individuals, later identified as Toledo and 21-year-old Ruben Roman Jr., ran from the police. Toledo was chased by an as-yet unidentified officer to the alley behind Farragut Career Academy High School and killed in what police claim was an armed confrontation. Roman was arrested and taken into custody, while Toledo was pronounced dead at the scene.

Elizabeth Toledo with her son, Adam Toledo .(Credit: GoFundMe)

No weapons were reportedly found on either Toledo or Roman, but officers shared a photo of a gun allegedly recovered at the scene. Democratic Alderman George Cardenas defended the CPD, speculating the boys death may have been justifiable, saying the citys Civilian Office of Police Accountability (COPA) informed him a weapon was found at the scene: COPA has told me a gun was found near his body.

A neighbor of Toledos family, Rafael Hurtado told the Chicago Sun Times, Its hard to take CPDs word for it that he was armed, especially with everything thats been going on with the police shootings in other places. Chicago police have a long history of corruption, of torturing people into confessions or plea deals and planting evidence. The comparatively minor charge for Roman, a misdemeanor for resisting an officer, is suspiciously light given the story police have tried to suggest about the circumstances that led to Toledos death.

Toledos mother, Elizabeth Toledo, and other members of his family have demanded answers from the police and are appealing for any possible witnesses to come forward. Toledo told BlockClub Chicago, I want the police report  and if anyone has seen anything, please come forward. I want justice for my son Adam. She also questioned why officers felt the need to use such force if, as they say, her son was running away.

Toledo, who had reported her son missing prior to the day of the shooting, was not informed of his murder until two days after his death. She initially thought officers were asking for a photo of her son because they were responding to a missing person report. Soon after sending a photo, police arrived at her home and asked her to accompany them to the Cook County Medical Examiners office. Toledo said, They told me I had to identify my sons body, and I couldnt even see him, they showed me a picture of my son Adam for just a couple of seconds.

Although the shooting was captured by police body cameras, footage has yet to be released due to stonewalling on the part of COPA and the Lightfoot administration, which fear another explosion of working class anger at the epidemic of police violence and murder.

COPA, created after the 2014 police murder of Laquan McDonald to replace the completely discredited Independent Police Review Authority, cynically cited Adam Toledos young age to prevent release of the footage. In a statement, COPA wrote: Due to the age of the victim, absent the issuance of a court order and pursuant to the Juvenile Court Act (705 ILCS 405/5-905(5)), COPA is prevented from publicly releasing videos involving a juvenile. Spokesman Ephraim Eaddy said the agency is making every effort and researching all legal avenues that will allow for the public release of all video materials which capture the tragic fatal shooting.

COPAs cynicism was topped only by Lightfoot, who wrote; As a mother of a 13-year-old myself, I can only imagine the incredible pain this boys parents are experiencing at this moment. My heart goes out to them. She continued, While the investigation is ongoing it is critically important that COPA release relevant videos first to the family, and then to the public, as quickly as possible, with appropriate protections, given his age.

However, Matt Topic, a lawyer who specializes in freedom of information cases and helped force the release of the footage of McDonalds murder, noted on Twitter: There is nothing to call for. CPD and the Mayor dont need COPAs permission and courts have repeatedly rejected COPAs interpretation of the Juv Ct Act.

In other words, it is entirely within Lightfoots power to release the bodycam footage immediately. That she has not indicates an attempt by her administration to aid in the police coverup, helping them to buy time at the very least. COPA admitted as much in a Friday afternoon statement which said, COPAs General Counsel concluded that the Juvenile Court Act does not bar publication of the body worn and third-party video camera footage the agency has obtained to date. The agency claimed officials were arranging a viewing of the troubling video footage for the family and the video would soon be made public.

It must be recalled that Lightfoot was herself brought back into Chicago politics by Rahm Emanuel in 2015 in order to clean up the image of the police. As president of the Chicago Police Board and head of the Chicago Police Accountability Task Force (CPATF), she was instrumental in drawing up a series of toothless recommendations for police reform, including the creation of COPA.

Rather than blaming the police who killed Toledo, Lightfoot instead shifted responsibility to society as a whole and even toward the boys family saying, We must ask ourselves how our social safety net failed this boy leading to the tragic events in the early hours of Monday morning.

It is true the social safety net Lightfoot refers to has been decimated. But primary responsibility for this in Chicago falls on the Democratic Party, which has dominated politics in the city and Illinois for many decades. Just recently, Lightfoot herself chose to allocate $281 million in federal pandemic funding, 70 percent of those discretionary funds, to police payroll.

Rather than being the result of the lack of a social safety net, in which police are forced to violently intervene in individual cases to maintain order, police violence and mayhem in Chicago, as elsewhere, is a response to vast levels of social inequality created by the capitalist system.

Little Village, a neighborhood where over 80 percent of residents identify as Hispanic, has a median household income of around $31,500 per year, and 34 percent of residents live below the poverty level, compared to 21 percent citywide.

The Chicago Police Department, like all police agencies, is given free rein by politicians to intimidate residents of working class neighborhoods like Little Village to prevent the emergence of political opposition to capitalist rule.
Metro Manila (CNN Philippines, April 3)  The Philippine Health Insurance Corporation (PhilHealth) on Saturday claimed that 98% of the 15 billion funds allegedly lost to corruption have been liquidated.

In a statement released on its Facebook page, the state-run insurer said that 14.7 billion of the controversial funds have already been liquidated, maintaining its stance that the multibillion-peso budget was not stolen by its former officials.

"Properly accounted po ito... Pinakinabangan ito ng mga pasyente at hindi ng bulsa ng sinoman," it said.

[Translation: This is properly accounted for... This has benefitted patients and not anyones pockets.]

The agency stressed that the funds were released to 711 hospitals under the interim reimbursement mechanism, a system where PhilHealth provides an advanced payment for insurance claims.

PhilHealth president Dante Gierran's stand on the liquidation issue, however, was questioned by two lawmakers in January. Sen. Panfilo Lacson said that "liquidated" funds do not necessarily mean that they were legally disbursed from the start.

RELATED: PhilHealth chief's 'liquidated' remark on missing funds questioned

"If public funds were spent not for Covid-19 as required under the IRM (interim reimbursement scheme), but for dialysis centers and infirmaries which are clearly not authorized, it can still be declared as liquidated, but it doesnt mean that funds were legally disbursed," Lacson previously said.

Bayan Muna Party-list Rep. Carlos Zarate said the so-called liquidation "will not just erase the fact that [the fund] was anomalous in the first place." He also called on the Commission on Audit to conduct a special audit on the matter.

The news about the massive fraudulent scheme broke in August last year after PhilHealth's former anti-fraud legal officer Thorrsson Montes Keith claimed that officials of the agency have stolen some 15 billion, covering unauthorized release of IRM, funds allocated to "fortuitous events" such as the pandemic, and "bloated" budget for IT equipment.

The government filed complaints against officials of PhilHealth, including its former chief Ricardo Morales, over the alleged anomalies.

READ: Whistleblower claims 15 billion stolen by PhilHealth execs in fraud schemes

READ: Duterte OKs filing of complaints vs. Morales, other officials over PhilHealth corruption
In 2020, the UN implemented projects with a total budget of $231 million in Ukraine.

This was discussed during the online meeting of First Deputy Foreign Minister of Ukraine Emine Dzheppar on coordination of activities between Ukrainian government agencies and UN organizations accredited in Ukraine, the press service of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs informs.

In particular, opening the meeting, Dzheppar and UN Resident Coordinator and Humanitarian Coordinator in Ukraine Osnat Lubrani pointed out the high level of practical cooperation between the Government of Ukraine and UN organizations.

"The UN system in Ukraine brings together 16 UN funds, programs and agencies that provide support for socio-economic reforms, assistance to the population affected by the ongoing Russian aggression, and contribute to overcoming the COVID-19 pandemic. In 2020, the budget of UN projects in Ukraine totaled $231 million. The UN allocated $128 million, covering almost 1.4 million people, to support the Ukrainian government's efforts to minimize the negative humanitarian consequences of Russian aggression," Emine Dzheppar said.

According to the Ministrys press service, the meeting participants identified a number of priority measures aimed at further effective cooperation between the executive bodies of Ukraine and organizations of the UN system under the general coordination of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs of Ukraine.

ol
Nay Pyi Taw, April 3 : Five people were killed across Myanmar on Saturday as the military continues to crack down on the ongoing protests against the February 1 coup.

Three people died when the armed forces suppressed a protest in Monywa, in the Sagaing region on Saturday morning, dpa news agency quoted the Myanmar Now website as saying in a report.

One protester was shot dead and 10 were arrested in Thahtone, Mon state, according to Bago Weekly Journal Online Page.

Soldiers took the body, it added.

An 18-year-old who was passing by was also shot and killed although he had not been protesting, the newspaper wrote.

Despite the threat of violence, people throughout the country turned out to oppose the military takeover, including in Mandalay, Mon and Kayah states and in the Sagaing and Tanintharyi regions.

Since the coup, at least 550 people have been killed, including 46 children, according to the Assistance Association for Political Prisoners (AAPP), a non-profit organization.

Currently, 2,751 people have been detained, and 126 arrest warrants issued.

On Friday evening, state media announced charges against 18 television celebrities, social media influencers and a journalist for "circulation of material intended to cause a member of the armed forces to mutiny or disregard their duty".

"They don't only arrest people who have been issued warrants. If they want, they even break the door and launch arrests. They don't shoot and kill only protesters who are on roads. If they want, they also shoot dead a 5-year-old child who was at home," Paing Pyoe Thu, a famous actress in Myanmar who was among those charged, wrote on Facebook.

Meanwhile, more than 12,000 people fled their villages following military air strikes targeting Mutraw District and Kler Htoo District between March 27 and March 30, Karen National Union, one of the strongest ethnic armed organisations in Myanmar, said on Friday.

The group warned that this had led to a "major humanitarian crisis".

The group urged the international community to stop selling "all explosive weaponry large and small, any advanced technology that is used to propagate war and jet fighters" to the armed forces.

It also called for "strong and effective sanctions against the military coup".
Carla Zampatti died on Saturday at age 78 - a week after falling down stairs at the opera in Sydney.

And stars including Samantha Armytage, Julie Bishop and Rebecca Gibney have remembered the designer as they knew her best - through her stunning gowns.

Samantha Armytage, 44, shared a number of photos to Instagram showing her in Zampatti's designs, including a red number she wore to the 2019 Logies.

Tribute: Samantha Armytage (pictured) has remembered Carla Zampatti who died on Saturday, sharing photos to Instagram of herself in the designer's dresses - including this red number she wore to the 2019 Logies, and calling her a 'creative genius'

She also posted an image of herself wearing another stunning white dress created by Zampatti as she posed alongside husband Richard Lavender.

Sam host had worn a gorgeous Carla Zampatti wedding gown the day she walked down the aisle.

The former Sunrise host and equestrian businessman Richard, 61, tied the knot at his 40-hectare property in the picturesque Southern Highlands in NSW on New Year's Eve, with Sam wearing a dress custom made by Zampatti for the occasion.

The dress appeared to be based on Carla's The White Elegance Dress, which retails on the designer's website for $629.00.

Moving: The former Sunrise host and equestrian businessman Richard (left) tied the knot at his 40-hectare property in the picturesque Southern Highlands in NSW on New Year's Eve, with Sam wearing a dress custom made by Zampatti for the occasion

All white: She also posted an image of herself wearing another stunning white dress created by Zampatti as she posed alongside her husband

Sam wrote in her caption: 'Absolutely devastated at the loss of my beautiful friend Carla Zampatti this morning.

'She was a creative genius, a wonderful generous elegant woman and very much a part of many of my favourite memories.

'She will be dearly missed, but never forgotten. And will live on forever in my heart, and my wardrobe. Vale Carla'.

Dresses: Former politician Julie Bishop, 64, likewise shared some of her favourite creations by the designer, including a sparkling silver dress. Julie and Carla are pictured

Pals: She posed opposite Zampatti in a number of images shared to Instagram on Saturday, one also showing her in a slinky black gown

Former politician Julie Bishop, 64, likewise shared some of her favourite creations by the designer, including a sparkling silver dress.

She posed opposite Zampatti in a number of images shared to Instagram on Saturday, one also showing her in a slinky black gown.

Julie wrote: 'Carla Zampatti was a truly great Australian who inspired generations of women with her style, grace and determination.

Favourite: A tribute from actress Rebecca Gibney (pictured) included her posing in a dramatic draped dress designed by Zampatti

'She was in a class of her own - #sprezzatura personified. It was a privilege to call her a friend. Vale Carla'.

A tribute from actress Rebecca Gibney, 56, included her posing in a dramatic draped dress designed by Zampatti.

'So shocked and saddened to hear of the passing of the extraordinary @carlazampatti,' she wrote.

Tragic: Carla tragically died a week after falling down stairs while attending the opening night of the La Traviata opera on Sydney Harbour

'I have worn Carla's designs in so many fashion shoots, to a multitude of awards nights - including the International Emmys - and most recently on the series Under The Vines currently shooting in New Zealand.

'The third photo was used only a few weeks ago to publicise the show and the character of Daisy Munro wearing a white Carla Zampatti suit and hat inspired by Carla.

'Sending so much love to Carla's family and friends at this very sad time. Rest In Peace.'

Late Australian fashion designer Carla Zampatti's daughter Bianca (right) shared a gutwrenching tribute after her mother's death on Saturday

Carla tragically died a week after falling down stairs while attending the opening night of the La Traviata opera on Sydney Harbour.

She was knocked unconscious after falling on the bottom steps of the staircase and was then rushed to hospital, but couldn't be saved.

Carla's daughter Bianca was one of the first to share her gutwrenching tribute after her mother's death on Saturday.

'Today I lost my mother, my inspiration, my mentor and my friend,' fashion designer Bianca wrote alongside two family photos on Instagram.

'I am lost for words and totally heartbroken.'

Powerful: 'Today I lost my mother, my inspiration, my mentor and my friend,' fashion designer Bianca wrote on Instagram. 'I am lost for words and totally heartbroken'

Her family addressed the designer's fall earlier this week, stating that Carla was in hospital for 'observation' following the accident.

A family spokesperson for Ms Zampatti told Daily Mail Australia on Monday: 'Carla Zampatti had a fall at the Opera on Sydney Harbour on Friday night and is currently in hospital for observation.

'Carla is very grateful for the support from medically trained members of the audience who assisted and for the excellent care from the team at St Vincent's Hospital.'

Opera Australia chief executive Rory Jeffes told The Sydney Morning Herald that staff looked after Ms Zampatti until an ambulance arrived on the scene.

Outpouring: 'Carla is Australia's most successful and enduring fashion designer, launching her eponymous label in 1965,' read a statement following her death

'My understanding is that they just cared for her, she appeared to be in and out of consciousness and therefore they just made sure she was comfortable until the ambulance arrived,' he said.

Carla Zampatti's name is synonymous with Australian fashion.

The high-end designer was born in Italy and immigrated to Western Australia in 1950 when she was about eight years old.

She previously said her desire to show her adopted country her talents was the driving force behind her successful career.
The Department of Mineral Resources and Energy (DMRE) has appointed Karpowership SA as a preferred bidder for power projects in the ports of Coega, Saldanha, and Richards Bay.

Karpowership SA is a subsidiary of Karadeniz Holding, a Turkish energy company which owns and operates power plants and powerships.

Karpowership SA will provide power to the national electricity grid under the Risk Mitigation Independent Power Producers Procurement Programme (RMIPPPP).

The bid offers electricity generation supported by a thermal energy solution using Liquified Natural Gas (LNG).

Our powerships, which are self-contained floating power stations that operate on regasified LNG, together with specialized floating storage and regasification units (FSRUs) for the LNG, are constructed and immediately available for deployment in South Africa, Karpowership SA said.

It is envisaged that Powerships will help to stop load shedding during peak periods and when unplanned breakdowns occur at other power plants.

Karpowership SA has committed that at least 65% of its workforce will be South African and employed from local communities.

Our economic development plan is weighted towards long-term jobs, skills development, and economic upliftment in local communities at each of the three ports where powerships will be stationed, the company said.

It added that it will maintain all local and international environmental codes and practices to preserve, protect and enhance South Africas oceans, ports, and sensitive environmental areas.

To find out more about this project, energy expert Chris Yelland interviewed Department of Mineral Resources and Energy Deputy Director General, Jacob Mbele, and IPP Office Acting Chief Operating Officer, Maduna Ngobeni.

This interview explored the rationale, outcomes and some of the details around the recently announced Risk Mitigation Independent Power Producer Procurement programme.

Government has been adamant that power projects should contribute to local manufacturing, localisation and jobs. 1220 MW of the 1845 MW of the RMIPPP programme to date (i.e. about two thirds) is from a single company, Karpowership. Where are these powerships manufactured and constructed? What is the local content of this major portion of the RMIPPP programme? Are these powerships and floating storage and regasification units (FSRUs) simply rented from foreign owners?

Maduna Ngobeni: We do not have information at our disposal as to where the powerships and FSRUs are manufactured. Indeed, we dont actually consider where they are manufactured. What we look at is the local content. In terms of the law, a ship is an item designated by the Department of Trade, Industry and Competition (DTIC) for local manufacture in South Africa. However, the DTIC has considered whether the powerships and FSRUs can be manufactured here, and has granted them exemption from compliance with South Africas local content requirements. Furthermore, the powerships and FSRUs that form part of the Karpowership bid are leased, and such lease costs are not considered in calculating local content  we look at other elements that can be done locally, and we use these to calculate the local content. So, based on what can be done locally  which excludes the powerships, FSRUs and imported LNG fuel  something like 63% of the remaining costs spent on preparing the ports, berths, connections to the grid and maintenance of the powerships and associated equipment will be the local content. Jacob Mbele: It should be noted that the local content exemption granted by the DTIC for the powerships and FSRUs was on condition that the maintenance, repair and overhaul of the ships is done in South Africa. Over the period of this project, substantial economic benefits arise from this. Yes, the significant majority portions of the Karpowership projects are imported, but they do comply with the requirement that 49% of the local IPP operating entities are South African owned, and that 30% of this local ownership is in Black hands. We must look at ownership wholistically. The Karpowership projects are not simply what one may call Turkish owned?

How does the leasing of 1220 MW of imported gas-to-power capacity from Karpowership, and the imported LNG required to operate this at a capacity factor of about 60 to 70% for 20 years, align with a just energy transition towards a low carbon future, that contributes to local industrialisation, manufacturing, localisation, jobs, skills development, reskilling and social development of workers, their families and their communities in the depressed coal mining areas of Mpumalanga and Kwa-Zulu Natal?

Maduna Ngobeni: With the introduction of renewables and battery energy storage, which are not necessarily the cheapest options, we still need to balance the system, and, at the moment, gas comes up as the one of the cheaper options. Once we have FSRUs at the ports, we will have the opportunity to bring in LNG, and we can then start an engagement on how we can utilise these facilities, and the gas, in other sectors of the economy. So, I think this is a good start, with infrastructure that can be used as a stepping-stone for the country. There is talk of running out of gas through the existing pipeline from Mozambique. Perhaps this new infrastructure could be used to feed gas into the pipeline. This was not part of the bid, but its something that can be looked at, should the need arise. The new gas supply infrastructure also opens discussions on the possibility of repurposing old Eskom coal-fired power stations to operate on gas, in the areas where there are concerns about the decommissioning of the old coal-fired power plants. From a maintenance perspective, there is also a commitment from Karpowership that all the maintenance of will be done in South Africa, meaning that there will be local job opportunities created during operation. Jacob Mbele: Chris, we also need to compare apples with apples. If we move back a few years, when we started with renewables, there was no local manufacturing industry to speak of. If we are about to start a gas industry in South Africa, we have to appreciate that were not going to manufacture everything locally from day one. Were going to have to start from scratch, and initially obviously rely on international suppliers. Similarly, on the fuel side. Yes, we currently dont have gas in South Africa. But there are explorations that are happening, and there are findings. It is likely that, in the future, the gas for these powerships will come from local fields. When local gas becomes available, I can see a situation where this local gas will become the cheapest option, because it will be sourced closest to where it will be required and used. So, we should not look at this with a static frame, but in a broader sense.

How does the procurement of energy from 1220 MW of gas-to-power from Karpowership, operating at a capacity factor of about 60 to 70% for 20 years, align with South Africas climate change commitments in terms of the Paris Agreement, and South Africas nationally determined contribution in respect of carbon emissions? Is the DMRE tying the hands of the Minister of Environment, Forestry and Fisheries at COP 26, and prejudicing other carbon emitting industries in South Africa?
Hopeful afternoon promises from the feds offer hope of economic recovery after the pandemic has devastated finances across the metro.

Read more . . .

KANSAS CITY, Mo. - Labor Secretary Marty Walsh joined 41 Action News on Friday for a discussion about the latest unemployment numbers and a new sweeping jobs plan proposed by President Biden. Walsh, who was previously the mayor of Boston, was confirmed by the Senate less than three weeks ago.
Santiago Mejia / The Chronicle

Three kite surfers were rescued near the San Mateo Bridge by Coast Guard and San Mateo County fire officials on Friday night, Coast Guard officials said.

Coast Guard officials first received a report of two kite surfers in the water around 7:30 p.m. Friday. After the wind reportedly died down in the area, their kites were in the water, so they werent able to move, said Command Duty Officer Pantelis Vasilarakis with Coast Guard Sector San Francisco.
BAD AXE -- Three students from the marketing program at the Huron Area Technical Center recently attended the Michigan DECA Virtual State Career Development Conference March 8-12 and qualified for the DECA International Career and Development Conference. At the DECA Virtual State Conference, JaCie Tyrrell (homeschooled senior) competed in the Merit Awards Program. Kylee Brandt (senior at Ubly) and Kendra Glaza (senior at Ubly) competed in Ethics Team Decision Making. Both competitions required a written entry and virtual presentation before a judge.

The Huron Area Technical Center DECA Chapter, advised by Marketing Instructor, Amber Blackstock, also received an award for 100 percent membership. DECA's International Career Development Conference will be held virtually April 19-23.
G7 countries are "seriously concerned" about alleged human rights violations in Ethiopia's conflict-hit region Tigray. In a joint statement, the G7 countries urged all parties to provide immediate and "unhindered humanitarian access" to Ethiopia's conflict-hit region. We, the G7 Foreign Ministers of Germany, France, Italy, Japan, Canada, the United Kingdom and the United States of America, as well as the High Representative of the European Union, are seriously concerned about recent reports of human rights violations and violations, as well as violations of international humanitarian law in Tigray, read the statement.

It further read, We condemn the killing of civilians, sexual and gender-based violence, arbitrary bombing and the displacement of residents of Tigray and Eritrean refugees. All parties must exercise the greatest possible restraint, guarantee the protection of the civilian population and respect human rights and international law. We acknowledge recent commitments by the government of Ethiopia to hold those responsible for such violations accountable and look forward to their implementation. "We note that the Ethiopian Commission on Human Rights (EHRC) and the Office of the United Nations High Commissioner for Human Rights (OHCHR) have agreed to conduct a joint investigation into the human rights abuses committed by all parties in the context of the conflict in Tigray. It is essential that reported crimes are investigated in an independent, transparent and impartial manner and that those responsible for these human rights violations are held accountable, the joint statement by the ministers released Friday said.

Ethiopia's leader acknowledges the atrocities

This comes after Ethiopias leader agreed that atrocities have been reported in Tigray region. The leader also admitted that troops from neighbouring Eritrea have gone into Tigray and their presence has inflicted damages on the regions residents. Abiy said, in an address before lawmakers, Reports indicate that atrocities have been committed in Tigray region.

He said, War is a nasty thing. He further added, We know the destruction this war has caused. The leader said that the soldiers who raped women or committed other crimes will be held responsible, even though he cited propaganda of exaggeration by the Tigray Peoples Liberation Front. Speaking about the soldiers, he said, The argument the Eritrean government presents for this is that it is a national security issue because Ethiopian troops are going after (Tigrayan) forces in other locations, so they want to keep controlling border areas. But they have told us they dont have the willingness to stay as long as we control trenches along the border."

UN urges to stop 'horrific sexual violence'

Recently, several UN officials were asked to stop indiscriminate and targeted attacks against civilians. In a joint statement, officials including UN aid chief Mark Lowcock, rights chief Michelle Bachelet and refugee chief Filippo Grandi, noted the reports of rape and other horrific forms of sexual violence. They called on the warring parties to protect civilians from human rights abuse, condemn sexual violence and hold perpetrators accountable.

(Image Credits: AP)
Demi Sims' girlfriend Francesca Farago will make her TOWIE debut on Sunday, but the loved-up couple are already making plans for their future abroad.

In an exclusive clip from Sunday's show, Francesca, 27, tells 22-year-old Demi: 'I already know how I'm going to propose to you' as the pair sip cocktails in a swanky Essex bar.

Before sharing a kiss, Demi - who is returning to TOWIE after being temporarily suspended for flouting lockdown with elder sister Frankie Sims and pal Harry Derbidge last month - tells Francesca 'I'll come with you' when she moves to LA.

Loved-up: Demi Sims' girlfriend Francesca Farago, 27, will make her TOWIE debut on Sunday, but the couple are already making plans for their future abroad (pictured sharing a kiss)

On the topic of marriage, Francesca tells Demi that she feels her sisters Frankie and Chloe Sims are concerned the couple are 'moving too fast' but adds: 'I feel like maybe your sisters are a little concerned that maybe we're moving too fast.

'But, I mean when you know you know. I already know how I'm going to propose to you. I told you, it's planned out in my head.'

The Canadian model then asks her other half: 'What are we gonna do after London?' to which Demi replies: 'You wanna live in LA, don't you?'

Francesca then clarifies 'for a bit', with Demi sweetly telling her: 'I'll come with you.'

Demi did however warn Francesca: 'There are going to be times when you might be in LA and I might not be there. I might be in Essex. But we will definitely make it work.'

Romantic: In a clip from Sunday's show, Francesca tells 22-year-old Demi: 'I already know how I'm going to propose to you' as the pair sip cocktails in a swanky Essex bar

Long distance: Demi warned Francesca: 'There are going to be times when you might be in LA and I might not be there. I might be in Essex. But we will definitely make it work'

Happy: The reality stars then toast to their future before sharing a kiss, as they settle into Essex life together as a couple

The reality stars then toast to their future before sharing a kiss.

Francesca certainly seems to have settled into Essex life very quickly.

In snaps from Sunday's show, loved-up couple Francesca and Demi are seen sharing another passionate kiss as they explore Essex as a duo and chat about their future together.

Demi will have to convince her sisters that Francesca is 'the one' and things aren't going too fast.

Settling right in! During the show Demi and Francesca also share a passionate kiss as they make their debut as a couple on TOWIE

Recently big sister Frankie and the siblings' pal Amy Childs warned her against rushing things with her new love, who she has been publicly dating since January.

While elsewhere in the show, Frankie and Ella Rae Wise see each other for the first time since revelations of Ella and Pete Wicks' secret snog.

Frankie will have to work out how she's going to keep her friendship with Ella despite the liaisons between her and her sister's ex.

Loved-up: The couple looked besotted with each other as Demi introduced Francesca to the cast and showed her around Essex for the first time

And Amy Childs will also sit down with her cousin Harry as they attempt to get their relationship back on track.

However, there's drama to sort out between them with Harry needing to ask himself if he's ready to accept Amy and Bobby's friendship, or will he insist she takes his side.

Last week, Chloe M and Courtney's attempt to bring Clelia and Amber together didn't go as planned, and now unsurprisingly Clelia's comments about Amber have made their way back to her.

Winning over the sisters: Demi will have to convince her sisters, Frankie and Chloe, that her new love is 'the one' and things aren't going too fast

Tough talks: Frankie will have to work out how she's going to keep her friendship with Ella Rae Wise (pictured) despite the liaisons between her and her sister's ex, Pete Wicks

The duo are set to come face-to-face in an awkward encounter but its still uncertain if they'll come out pals or continuing their ongoing feud.

Another romance hotting up is Gatsby and Dani's, with the latest duo going strong after a string of successful dates.

And Gatsby is ready to step things up a notch by introducing her to best mates Dan and Diags.

Francesca's cameo will no doubt cause tension after her and Demi's relationship was scrutinised in an earlier show.

Family ties: While Amy Childs will also sit down with her cousin Harry Derbidge as they attempt to get their relationship back on track

In the middle: Amy (pictured) doesn't want to upset her pal Bobby or cousin Harry

Demi was asked if she thought she was going 'a bit quick' with Francesca, but she said she likes 'taking things quick' in her relationships.

Speaking with her sister Chloe and friends Harry, 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.'

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!'

Drama: Amber Turner (pictured) is also set to have some stern words for Clelia after hearing she's been talking about her

Unimpressed: The duo are set to come face-to-face in an awkward encounter but its still uncertain if they'll come out pals or continuing their ongoing fued (Clelia pictured)

On theme: The girls are also set to enjoy some Easter themed activities during Sunday's show

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.'

Her sister then said: 'I think she's going to have a bit of a culture shock.'

Demi went public with Francesca back in January during a trip to Dubai and they moved into a new home together in London last month.

Bit of romance: Gatsby and Dani also seem to be going from strength to strength after a string of successful dates

Time to meet the boys: Gatsby is ready to step things up a notch by introducing Dani to his best mates Dan and Diags

Demi's return to TOWIE comes after she was were suspended from the show for flouting lockdown rules.

A video uploaded by Harry's fiance Dean Rowland in March showed him cuddling up to Francesca while Demi, Harry and Frankie mingled in the background in a party setting.

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.'

All together: Demi have been suspended from the show when she was caught flouting lockdown rules in a video uploaded by Harry's fiance Dean Rowland

After the suspension was lifted, the cast were allowed to resume filming after producing negative Covid tests.

The show has created its own little world to film in, so that viewers can still see the cast's real lives and stories, but while everyone is kept safe.

So, although the cast might be seen in pubs and restaurants, these businesses have opened just for the show and have put in lots of extra measures, so Lime Pictures and ITV can still bring viewers the TOWIE they love safely.

The Only Way Is Essex airs Sunday at 9pm on ITVBe.
TALLINN, Estonia, April 03, 2021 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) -- STEX announced today it is celebrating the 4th year as a leading global cryptocurrency exchange by offering a Birthday Trading Competition with a $30,000 USDC reward pool.



The top 10 traders can each earn $3000 in USDC in the competition, which runs from 04 April 2021 to 25 April 2021.

Our success over the past four years is largely due to the loyalty of our traders, STEX Founder Vadym Kurylovych (VK) said. Our Birthday Trading Competition is our way of showing our appreciation for their continued support of STEX.

The top 10 traders with total volume (buy plus sell) will receive a reward according to their ranking in the competition. Participants will be ranked in descending order of total trading volume on ANY trading pair. STEX will credit rewards directly to each winners USDC wallets on STEX accounts.

STEX welcomes traders to take part in the competition. To read more about the competition, visit stex.com

About STEX

Established in 2018, STEX is a licensed, regulated and centralized cryptocurrency spot trading platform based in Estonia and operated by Etna Development OU. Established with a strong belief in customer protection, transparency and responsibility of service, STEX has grown and scaled into a mature business with a wide network of partnerships. Following the path of pro-compliant market participants, STEX became an early presenter of tax reporting Smart Services integrations for its customers and prepared for GDPR, AML/CTF compliance ahead of its time.

The powerful STEX cryptocurrency exchange makes it easy to buy, sell and invest digital currencies from one fast, and convenient platform at low competitive rates. Users can choose from more than 400+ trading pairs, purchase crypto with credit or bank cards, and exchange fiat to crypto or crypto to fiat with a few swipes on their mobile device.

Website: https://www.stex.com

Twitter: https://twitter.com/StexExchangeR

Telegram: https://t.me/stexcomtg

Media Contact -

Bohdan

marketing@stex.com

A photo accompanying this announcement is available at https://www.globenewswire.com/NewsRoom/AttachmentNg/27b51362-70e5-4301-ae28-408c80c36001
New Delhi: Bihar Staff Selection Commission (BSSC) has released the list of candidates shortlisted for the Physical Test (PT) round in the 1st Inter Level Combined Competitive (Mains) Examination 2014.

Candidates can visit the official website bssc.bih.nic.in to check their results.

As per the official notification, a total of 4900 candidates have been shortlisted to appear for the Physical Test. For more information about the PT round, the candidates should keep a tab on the website for updates.

During the BSSC Inter-Level (Mains) 2014 result declared earlier, a total of 52,784 candidates had qualified for the same.

Follow these steps to check the list of qualified candidates:

1.Visit the official website bssc.bih.nic.in

2. Click on the 'Notice Board' section

3. Open 'Click here to view List of candidates Shortlisted for Physical Test'

4. Check and download the list and take a printout for future reference
New Delhi, April 3 : The Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI) on Saturday said that it carried out searches at four locations in Hyderabad and Delhi on the premises linked to Golden Jubilee Hotels Private Linited and its directors in connection with a bank fraud case.

A CBI spokesperson said that the agency sleuths carried out the searches led to the recovery of several incriminating documents.

The searches come after the CBI registered a case against Golden Jubilee Hotels Private Ltd., its directors Laxmi Narayan Sharma, Arjun Singh Oberoi, Neha Ghambir, Yasdeep Sharma and unknown public servants.

The spokesperson said it was alleged that the private company represented by its directors availed financial credit limits by way of term loan of Rs 678.89 crore and NFBL of Rs 50 crore under consortium arrangement led by Bank of Baroda, Hyderabad between 2009 to 2015.

He said it was also alleged that during the implementation of the project, the company indulged in fraudulent trading and carried outA suspicious transactions.

"The loan account became NPA on December 31, 2015 with outstanding amount of Rs 1,285.45 crore," he added.
The University of Nebraska at Omaha Student Government has announced its new student leaders and representatives for the 2021-2022 academic year following the March election.

Maeve Hemmer, a College of Arts and Sciences student who most recently served as UNO Student Governments Director of Diversity, Equity, Access, and Inclusion, will serve as student body president and student regent. Amy Lopez Hernandez, a College of Education, Health, and Human Sciences student who served as Student Senate speaker for the 2020-2021 academic year, will serve as student body vice president. The pair ran unopposed and were sworn into office Wednesday, March 31.

2021-2022 Representatives

The newly elected representatives for the 2021-2022 academic year are:

College of Arts and Sciences

Elsa Ramirez

Isha Dhakal

Kelsey Lowe

Steven Buer Jr.

Tristan Duin

College of Business Administration

Jack Lorkovic

College of Communication, Fine Arts, and Media

Abbie Russman

Robert Badura

College of Education, Health, and Human Sciences

Eryn Busenbark

Marisol Mireles

College of Engineering

Jon Keller

College of Information Science and Technology

Daniel Brinkman

Nathan Betzinger

College of Public Affairs and Community Service

Jair Alvarez

Travis Vo

Graduate Studies

Sam Khalil

Sarah Brumfield

Students also voted in support of funding for the Gateway and Maverick Productions.

Visit theSG-UNO websitefor more information about each of the 2021-2022 representatives and the full field of candidates.

Students who are interested in being on Student Government for in its Executive Council or in other capacities are encouraged to visit the SG-UNO website as well for more information about opportunities to get involved.
CAIRO  Downtown Cairo came to a near standstill Saturday night as 22 mummies were moved from a museum where they had resided for more than a century to a new home, transported atop custom-made vehicles in a glittering, meticulously planned procession.

The fanfare  broadcast live on state television and complete with a military band, a 21-gun salute and a host of Egyptian A-list celebrities  served as both a grand opening of sorts for the National Museum of Egyptian Civilization where the countrys oldest monarchs were set to land and an invitation to tourists to return to Cairo after the pandemic.

These are the mummies of kings and queens who ruled during Egypts golden age, said Zahi Hawass, a former minister of antiquities who supervised the discovery of tombs that date back thousands of years. Its a thrill, everyone will watch.

Everyone, except many Egyptians.

Along the five-mile path to the new museum lay stretches of working-class neighborhoods that were deliberately hidden from view ahead of the parade, a reminder of the jarring divide between Egypts celebrated past and its uncertain present.
Easter has always been a time of celebration in my family  Mass, Easter egg hunts, barbecue and, yes, cascarones. As I get older, I try to reflect less on the festivities and more on the mystery of faith and what it means in my life.

I was baptized and raised Catholic, and I am a member of a Christian church. I am not religious; some days I pray more than others, and I should read the Bible more. But I am faithful.

Since the COVID-19 pandemic began, I stopped going to church in person and started watching it online. I have friends, relatives and associates of different faiths and no faith. I understand that for most of us, faith is a complex, evolving personal journey.

But state Rep. James Talaricos powerful invocation March 24 in the Texas House, which sounded in the chamber and echoed through the Twitterverse and beyond, took me to church.

Like many, I first watched the video because it was the catalyst of a heated Twitter controversy after former state Rep. Jonathan Stickland lashed out, calling his prayer blasphemous.

Its Sticklands fundamentalist take on faith that pushes people away from church; a new Gallup poll published Monday found religious membership in the U.S. has fallen to just 47 percent among those surveyed  less than half of the adult population for the first time since Gallup began asking more than 80 years ago.

Talaricos prayer  what he describes as a radical love for the oppressed, the hungry, the homeless, and the sick  is what my God and faith are all about.

In this Easter season, after the dark year weve experienced, I hope people of all faiths or no faith find renewal, comfort and light in his words of inclusivity, love and hope.

Holy Mystery, you have so many names, Talaricos prayer begins. The Torah calls you creator, the Quran calls you peace. The Gita calls you destroyer, the Dharma calls you truth, and the first epistle of John calls you perhaps the most beautiful name of all: love.

In his prayer, Talarico speaks of a barefoot rabbi who embodied a perfect love, a crucified carpenter who gave only two commandments: love God and love thy neighbor, because there is no love of God without love of neighbor.

Grandson of a Baptist preacher, Talaricos upbringing and life experiences shaped his faith. He grew up dreaming of becoming a preacher and memorizing Scripture for fun. He grew up in Round Rock, going to nearby St. Andrews Presbyterian Church, where he is still active. He taught sixth graders at Rhodes Middle School on the West Side of San Antonio.

Beyond poetic words, his prayer encourages action and inspires commitment.

The Word of God is love. Let us not be hearers of your word, but doers of your word in our families, in our communities and in this chamber, he prayed. Not just with prayers, but with policies. Not just personal love, but political love. Because democracy is not just a constitution; democracy is a covenant.

He calls on us to love: Help us love, not just in word, but in action, help us honor, not just the name of Jesus, but the way of Jesus, help us free the oppressed, feed the hungry, house the homeless, heal the sick, release the prisoner, welcome the stranger, forgive the enemy and, above all, protect your creation. The Word of God is love

At 31 and Texas youngest legislator, he unapologetically focuses on the most vulnerable  children, prisoners and LGBTQ+.

Theres a famous gospel hymn called His eye is on the sparrow, that comes from the book of Matthew, based on the idea of keeping His eye on the sparrow, which is the smallest weakest bird, he said. Thats my take on policymaking.

Talarico crafted his prayer trying to speak to the time but also be timeless, keeping in mind that our state, nation and world need hope and light.

People listened. Democrats and Republicans, young, old, religious and nonreligious are still commenting and sharing his prayer. Many reached out to thank him for his prayer, his acceptance and love.

Nancy.Preyor-Johnson@Express-News.net
Diverse congregations in white neighborhoods have higher attendance: study

Email Print Img No-img Menu Whatsapp Google Reddit Digg Stumbleupon Linkedin Comment

Bucking findings from previous research showing multiracial congregations to be less stable, a new study has found that racially diverse Methodist churches, particularly those in white neighborhoods, attract higher attendance compared to homogenous congregations in those same neighborhoods.

While Methodist churches have decreasing attendance, we find that racial diversity inside a church is associated with higher average attendance by year and across years. Outside a church, percent white in the neighborhood positively predicts attendance, at least in the short term, researchers Kevin D Dougherty, Gerardo Marti and Todd W Ferguson explained in an abstract for their recently released study, Racial Dynamics of Congregations and Communities: A Longitudinal Analysis of United Methodist Congregations, 19902010, published in the journal, Social Forces.

The study tracked data from more than 20,000 UMC congregations over 20 years  from 1990 to 2010  then paired that information with census tract data for the period to examine the effect of demographic change on congregations.

And according to Dougherty, the findings were startling.

"This is a startling contrast to previous research that reported multiracial congregations are less stable," Kevin D. Dougherty, associate professor of sociology at Baylor University and lead author of the study, told phys.org.

The researchers also found that both white and non-white Methodist churches reflect higher attendance when located in white neighborhoods. White churches in non-white neighborhoods fared the worst and had the lowest attendance levels.

"Overall, our understanding of racial diversity and congregational participation remains ambiguous," Marti, the L. Richardson King professor of sociology at Davidson College, told phys.org. "In this study, we consider: What does the history of demographic change in local churches and their neighborhoods tell us about the potential for congregational survival over time?"

Marti further asserted that their findings challenge the popular assumption of the Church Growth Movement that churches grow by focusing on a single racial or ethnic group. For Methodist churches, reaching across racial lines proves a better strategy for growth."

Pew Research Center noted last October that the United States is now more racially and ethnically diverse than it ever has been, and it's projected to be even more diverse in the coming decades. More Americans, it was noted, now view this shift more positively, particularly minorities and younger people. White Americans were the least likely to see this growing diversity as a good thing.

More than 40% of black, Hispanic and Asian Americans view Americas growing diversity as a good thing, compared to just 14% of white adults.

Within generational groups, Gen Zers and millennials are more likely than older generations to view a black, Latino and Asian majority as a good thing, and millennials have become even more likely to hold this view compared with four years ago, Pew noted.

Researchers in the new study could not definitively explain why white neighborhoods preferred to have diverse churches, but the authors speculate that non-white or racially diverse Methodist churches may attract more participants because they offer an attractive alternative to typical white Methodist churches found in white neighborhoods.

In The Costs of Diversity in Religious Organizations: An In-Depth Case Study, researchers Brad Christerson and Michael Emerson concluded in their 2003 study that the same social dynamics that tend to produce internal homogeneity in volunteer organizations like churches, also produce high personal costs of belonging to multiethnic religious organizations. These personal costs generally weigh heaviest on the minority participants in the group.

It was noted that diverse volunteer groups like congregations are inherently unstable due to two processes known as the niche effect and the niche overlap effect. The niche effect means that members who are atypical of the group, leave faster than other members. Atypical members are also more likely to leave due to the niche overlap effect where different species are competing for similar resources in the same space.
A teacher at St Gerard's school in Bray said it is a 'disgrace' that some teachers at the prestigious school were vaccinated ahead of schedule.

Last week it emerged that the Beacon Hospital had vaccinated 20 teachers at St Gerard's School in Bray, which the children of chief executive Michael Cullen attend. Mr Cullen was reported to have contacted the school. It also emerged that childcare staff were vaccinated.

On Monday the board of the Beacon Hospital announced a review and apologised following the vaccination of teachers at a private school.

In a statement on Monday night the board makes no mention of Mr Cullen who Opposition politicians had asked to resign.

He remains in his post.

Former Managing Partner and Chairman of Arthur Cox Eugene McCague will conduct an independent review into the matter.

Expand Close Shocked: Deputy John Brady / Facebook

Twitter

Email

Whatsapp Shocked: Deputy John Brady

In a statement the board which met on Monday said it 'unreservedly apologises to our patients, staff and the wider community for the upset caused by the vaccination of teachers in the Beacon vaccination centre'.

'The Board is proud of the excellent standards of care maintained by our hospital and its adherence to the highest levels of governance and clinical excellence.

'In order to ascertain all of the facts associated with the operation of the Vaccination Centre and in line with our responsibility to ensure due process, the Board is appointing Mr Eugene McCague, former Managing Partner and Chairman of Arthur Cox and former Board member of the HSE to conduct an independent review on behalf of the non-executive Directors.

'Upon completion of the Review, the non-executive members of the Board will consider its findings and will at that time take any necessary actions required.'

As news emerged that the vaccines had been used to vaccinate teachers at St Gerard's Minister for Health, Stephen Donnelly, suspended the vaccination programme at the private hospital.

He said the provision of the vaccines to St Gerard's was 'entirely inappropriate and completely unacceptable'.

'Ireland's vaccination programme is the most important public health programme in living memory.

'It is essential that the programme is run in accordance with the agreed prioritisation in order to maximise the benefit of the vaccination programme and the speed with which Ireland can emerge from COVID-19 measures.

'The provision of vaccines by the Beacon Hospital to a school was entirely inappropriate and completely unacceptable.

'I have considered this matter carefully and have worked with the HSE to assess the operational implications of suspending vaccine operations at the Beacon Hospital in Dublin.

'I have now asked the HSE to suspend vaccine operations at the Beacon Hospital with the exception of those people who have already been scheduled to get their vaccine at the centre. Alternative arrangements are being put in place by the HSE. In addition, I have asked the HSE to appoint a senior official to immediately examine what happened and make recommendations regarding any actions or changes required.'

Yesterday (Tuesday, 30th) a member of the teaching staff at St Gerard's wrote an anonymous to Joe Duffy's Liveline programme.

The letter read: 'I am writing to you in relation to the Saint Gerard's /Beacon hospital scandal which broke on Friday. I am a teacher in the St Gerard's Senior School and I am utterly devastated and very angry by what has taken place.

'I just want to make the point that this is not all the teachers in St Gerard's, it is a very small minority of them and they have to live with this.

'The vast majority had no part in this and yet are being tarred with the one brush. The number of teachers and management who took this vaccine is 20. There are approximately 100 members of staff between the two schools. So approximately a fifth are involved in this affair.

'The chosen colleagues never told or shared this information with the rest of us. The rest of the teaching body and staff only learned of this appalling affair from the breaking news on Friday morning. Teachers and their extended family and staff innocent of this scandal have had to endure text messages and phone calls all weekend asking them if they had skipped the queue and taken the vaccine.

'We should not be expected to carry the can for them.

'I do not accept these vaccines were going to waste etc and I can swear I would not have taken the vaccine had i been offered it. I am fit and healthy and I am frustrated that my own elderly relatives have not yet been vaccinated.

'I am glad I did not get the call anyway as I would have then been left knowing that this was going on and then I too would have been complicit.

'It's a disgrace. It should not have happened.'

Sinn Fein TD for Wicklow John Brady TD said that the 'Beacon can longer hide behind reviews and that the Minister for Health needs to conduct a full independent investigation of the abuse of the vaccines by the Beacon'.

He said that the incident was without justification, and smacked of the well-heeled looking after the well-heeled.

'A private hospital giving vaccines to a private school smacks of the privileged looking after privilege; the well-heeled and well-connected looking after one another, jumping the queue ahead of those who need vaccines the most.

'Vaccines intended for frontline healthcare workers instead being administered to staff at a private school is a monumental kick in the teeth to the frontline doctors, nurses and other HSE staff who have put their lives on the line to protect us and our loved ones over the past 12 months.

'It is beyond shocking for any hospital or any facility to be distributing the vaccine without adhering to the strict guidelines that have been laid down by the HSE.

'I welcome the decision to suspend the vaccination programme at Beacon Hospital, however it needs to go further than this. A full investigation is needed to establish how deep the abuse of the vaccine rollout went.

'Last week we were informed by the Beacon that administering doses to the private school was a one off, shockingly more information has been drip fed which shows that the abuse of the vaccine which is publicly owned was more widespread.

'I believe that the position of the CEO of the Beacon is untenable, and he should go. I also believe that there should be sanctions imposed on the Beacon.

'After the scandals of office workers in HSE being vaccinated outside of the prioritisation order, and likewise with family members of staff at the Coombe and Rotunda Hospitals, we were assured that procedures would be put in place to ensure that this would not happen again.

'Well here we are again, except this latest incident is even more insulting to our frontline workers and the most vulnerable in our society, and further underlines the calamitous nature of the vaccine rollout.

'Public confidence in the vaccine rollout is fast-eroding. If there is a risk of vaccination waste, it is frontline workers and at-risk groups who must be fast-tracked.

'There is no justification for staff at a private school skipping the queue to receive so-called 'excess' vaccines.

'It's imperative that hospitals adhere to the Vaccination Allocation Sequencing laid out in the National Covid-19 Vaccination Programme.'
Watertown, NY (13601)

Today

Sun and clouds mixed. A stray shower or thunderstorm is possible. High 76F. Winds WSW at 10 to 15 mph..

Tonight

Some clouds. Low 64F. Winds SSW at 5 to 10 mph.
Knott's Foods flavorful dips, from mild to spicy, are perfect for enhancing recipes and anytime enjoyment. With our exciting new partnership with Walmart, Knotts products will be available for purchase in thousands of locations across the country.

Known for its acclaimed pimento cheese and spreads, Knotts Foods, Inc. is growing its brand with a line of flavorful dips, from mild to spicy and perfect for enhancing recipes and anytime enjoyment.

Offered in four flavors  Jalapeno Popper, Bacon Cheddar Ranch, Buffalo Chicken and Spicy Chicken Taco  the dips can be served hot or cold. They also add an extra kick to traditional dishes, such as macaroni and cheese, chicken wraps and tortillas. Recipe ideas may be found at knottsfoods.com/recipes.

Knott's signature homemade taste is in every product we create; because our dips are rich in flavor, they offer something special for every palate, Josh Knott, president of Knotts Food, Inc., said. With our exciting new partnership with Walmart, Knotts products will be available for purchase in thousands of locations across the country.

Knotts products are available in stores across the nation; they include not only variations of the iconic pimiento cheese and new dips but also chicken salad and pickled bologna and eggs.

A family-owned and operated business since 1947, Knotts Foods, Inc. began in the kitchen of Cedric and Mildred Knott in Paris, Tennessee. Currently, the third generation of the Knott family is at the helm, leading the West Tennessee team in the mission of exceeding customer expectations by providing the best product on the market. More information is available at knottsfoods.com, facebook.com/knottsfoods, instagram.com/knottsfoods or by contacting info@knottsfoods.com or 731-642-1961. Find the full line of flavorful dips and acclaimed pimento cheese and spreads at https://knottsfoods.com/#find.
Didi insulting people of Bengal by saying they were paid to attend BJP rally: PM Modi

Hooghly (West Bengal): Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee has insulted the people of West Bengal by alleging that they were paid to attend rallies of the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP), said Prime Minister Narendra Modi on Saturday, ahead of the third phase of the state assembly elections.

"Didi (Mamata) says that the crowd that attends BJP rallies does it for money. Didi, Bengalis are self-respecting people. Can citizens of Bengal sell themself? Can they be bought? These are self-respecting people. The entire British Sultanate could not do anything to the people of Bengal," PM Modi said at a public meeting in Tarkeshwar, Hooghly.

"You have insulted the people of Bengal with this statement," PM Modi added.

He expressed confidence of victory, saying that a glimpse of the state assembly elections results had been seen in Nandigram.

"Two days ago in Nandigram, we saw a glimpse of what is going to happen on May 2 (day of the result declaration. With every step of the election, Didi's sorrows will increase, the shower of abuse will also increase on me," he said.

"Didi, defeat is in front of you. Now accept it. Hear the voice of the people of Hooghly," he added.

Polling for the first two phases of the West Bengal polls were held on March 27 and April 1 respectively. The next phase of polling will take place on April 6.

Mamata Banerjee accuses BJP of playing "divisive" politics

Raidighi/UNI: West Bengal Chief Minister and Trinamool Congress supremo Mamata Banerjee on Saturday accused the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) of playing "divisive" politics in the state.

Addressing a public meeting here, Banerjee said, BJP has incentivised All India Majlis-e-Ittehadul Muslimeen (AIMIM) and Indian Secular Front (ISF) to play a part in the same.

The TMC supremo called upon Muslims not to "fall in the trap of a BJP-aided party from Hyderabad and its Bengal ally that are out to polarise votes."

"They had been given money by BJP to divide Hindus and Muslims. If you do not want to be divided, if you do not want NRC then do not vote for them," Banerjee said.

The chief minister claimed that if elected to power in the state, the BJP will implement the Citizenship (Amendment) Act and the National Register of Citizens (NRC), forcing 'many citizens to leave.

The chief minister said sitting Raidighi MLA and actor Debasree Roy joined the BJP after not getting a party ticket from the seat.

We don't involve such opportunists in our party, the TMC supremo said.

Banerjee promised to bring water to every household in Raidighi.

The chief minister said, "free medical treatment in government hospitals and private nursing homes too will be started."
The girlfriend of a Scottish man who jet-skied across the Irish Sea to see her on the Isle of Man last year has been charged with attacking a woman.

Dale McLaughlin, who became known as the Jet-ski Romeo, made headlines last year when he breached lockdown restrictions to make the 43km journey to see his girlfriend Jessica Radcliffe who had only met weeks earlier.

McLaughlin, who said he had never ridden a jet ski before, was given a one-month sentence for the stunt and subsequently said he did it for love.

Now Radcliffe has also found herself before the courts on the Isle of Man.

Read More

Local radio station 3FM reported that she appeared from police custody via a video link charged with causing actual bodily harm and two counts of criminal damage.

She has also been charged with breaching Covid restrictions.

At Douglas Courthouse on Thursday prosecutor Chrissie Hunt said it was alleged Radcliffe and her friend Leanna Bradley drove to the home of a woman they had a long-running online feud with and kicked and punched her as she screamed for her housemate to protect her children.

Bradley has also been charged with the same offences as Radcliffe and is also charged with assaulting a police officer.

They are also alleged to have smashed her phone as she tried to call 999.

No pleas have been entered and the women were released on bail to appear again on April 22.
GREENVILLE  If you listen to the voices of passersby, the sculptures of winged figures placed throughout Falls Park are jarring, uplifting, bizarre or introspective.

No matter the perspective, the "Wings of the City" traveling exhibit envisioned by renowned Mexican sculptor Jorge Marin will make Falls Park an outdoor museum for the work until October. It's the first stop for the nine-piece display on the East Coast.

Central to the display is the soaring pair of wings  called "Wings of Mexico"  that allows park-goers to step between and fill in the artwork.

City public works crews have spent the past week installing sculptures throughout Falls Park and the Peace Center campus. In the background is the Reedy River Falls, Liberty Bridge and the new Camperdown office tower.

The location of the piece is the exact spot that the visionary for Falls Park  late city landscape architect Tom Keith, dubbed as the "sweet spot" of the park before it was ever built, Mayor Knox White told a crowd gathered on April 2 for the exhibit's official introduction.

The exhibit comes to Greenville as a collaboration between the city, the Hispanic Alliance in Greenville and the Raleigh-based Consulate General of Mexico.

Sign up for our Greenville weekly update newsletter. Sign up for weekly roundups of our top stories, news and culture from the Upstate. This newsletter is hand-curated by a member of our Greenville news staff. Email

Sign Up!

The Liberty Bridge, the centerpiece of downtown Greenville, was designed in 2004 by renowned Guatemalan architect Miguel Rosales.

"This is going to be a very big thing," White said. "It's a great tribute to the Hispanic community to recognize this great artist in our city."

Marin is one of the most-decorated artists in Mexico and has participated in more than 300 collective exhibitions. Individually, his work has been exhibited elsewhere in Europe, Asia and South America.

While the exhibit's stay is temporary, perhaps there is a chance its presence will remain in some form, said Adela Mendoza, executive director of the Hispanic Alliance, standing beneath the wings framed by the falls.

"Wings of Mexico, this beautiful sculpture, has been through 35 cities, and 13 of them decided to keep a permanent piece," she said. "Who knows? We may, too."
A week after the Bahrain Grand Prix Helmut Marko looked back on the position Max Verstappen had to give back to Lewis Hamilton after his overtaking action just outside the track. It was unclear what was allowed and what wasn't and Helmut Marko has a solution for that. According to the Austrian, the run-off lanes should be smaller.

"Oh well, he had also made up a lot of time in the laps before that and Hamilton's tires were pretty much down. The point is just that: a five-second lead would still not have been a guarantee of victory," Marko told Motorsport-Total.com.

Read more Verstappen had to scale back Honda engine power during Bahrain GP

The Red Bull advisor went on to say that his stable were convinced that the stewards would always have decided that Mercedes driver Hamilton would take the win.

Hamilton would always have won

If Verstappen had driven far enough away after overtaking Hamilton, in all likelihood the FIA 's race committee would have handed out a higher penalty.

Read more Derating' causes Mercedes to lose a lot of time in Bahrain Grand Prix qualifying

"If Max was 5.8 seconds ahead, for example, they would have given us a ten-second time penalty. From that perspective, it wouldn't have helped to stay on the track ahead of Hamilton."

Red Bull's pit wall was immediately told by Michael Masi that Verstappen would have to overtake the spot on the track after Turn 4, when this was precisely the spot where Hamilton himself had gone off-track 29 times in the previous laps. It was very unclear what was allowed and what wasn't in terms of track limits, and that bothered Marko.

Marko advises wall

He does have a solution though. "It just happened this way, but it is completely unnecessary. There is more than enough space there. If we just put a wall there, it's solved. Anyone who crashes into the wall damages their own car. I don't understand why we have so many run-off lanes on circuits and why we don't create a clear boundary," Marko concluded.
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
Christians in the Holy Land are marking Good Friday this year amid signs the coronavirus crisis is winding down, with religious sites open to limited numbers of faithful but none of the mass pilgrimages usually seen in the Holy Week leading up to Easter.

The virus is still raging in the Philippines, France, Brazil and other predominantly Christian countries, where worshippers are marking a second annual Holy Week under various movement restrictions amid outbreaks fanned by more contagious strains.

Last year, Jerusalem was under a strict lockdown, with sacred rites observed by small groups of priests, often behind closed doors. It was a stark departure from past years, when tens of thousands of pilgrims would descend on the city's holy sites.

This year, Franciscan friars in brown robes led hundreds of worshippers down the Via Dolorosa, retracing what tradition holds were Jesus' final steps, while reciting prayers through loudspeakers at the Stations of the Cross. Another group carried a wooden cross along the route through the Old City, singing hymns and pausing to offer prayers.

The Church of the Holy Sepulchre, built on the site where Christians believe Jesus was crucified, died and rose from the dead, is open to visitors with masks and social distancing.

"Things are open, but cautiously and gradually," said Wadie Abunassar, an adviser to church leaders in the Holy Land. "In regular years we urge people to come out. Last year we told people to stay at home ... This year we are somehow silent."

Israel has launched one of the world's most successful vaccination campaigns, allowing it to reopen restaurants, hotels and religious sites. But air travel is still limited by quarantine and other restrictions, keeping away the foreign pilgrims who usually throng Jerusalem during Holy Week.

The main holy sites are in the Old City in east Jerusalem, which Israel captured along with the West Bank in the 1967 war. Israel annexed east Jerusalem and considers the entire city its unified capital, while the Palestinians want both territories for their future state.

Israel included Palestinian residents of Jerusalem in its vaccination campaign, but has only provided a small number of vaccines to those in the occupied West Bank, where the Palestinian Authority has imported tens of thousands of doses for a population of more than 2.5 million.

Israeli authorities said up to 5,000 Christian Palestinians from the West Bank would be permitted to enter for Easter celebrations. Abunassar said he was not aware of any large tour groups from the West Bank planning to enter, as in years past, likely reflecting concerns about the virus.

Pope Francis began Good Friday with a visit to the Vatican's COVID-19 vaccination center, where volunteers have spent the past week administering some 1,200 doses of the Pfizer-BioNTech vaccine to poor and disadvantaged people in Rome.

The Vatican City State bought its own doses to vaccinate Holy See employees and their families, and it has been giving away surplus supplies to homeless people. A masked Francis posed for photos with some of the volunteers and recipients in the Vatican audience hall.

Later Friday, Francis was to preside over the Way of the Cross procession in a nearly empty St. Peter's Square, instead of the popular torchlit ritual he usually celebrates at the Colosseum.

In France, a nationwide 7 p.m. curfew is forcing parishes to move Good Friday ceremonies forward in the day, as the traditional Catholic night processions are being drastically scaled back or canceled. Nineteen departments in France are on localized lockdowns, where parishioners can attend daytime Mass if they sign the government's "travel certificate."

Although a third lockdown "light" is being imposed Saturday, French President Emmanuel Macron has wavered on a travel ban for Easter weekend, allowing the French to drive between regions to meet up with family on Friday.

Fire-ravaged Notre Dame will not hold a Good Friday Mass this year, but the cathedral's "Crown of Thorns" will be venerated by the cathedral's clergy at its new temporary liturgical hub in the nearby church of Saint-Germain-l'Auxerrois.

In Spain, there will be no traditional processions for a second year in a row, and churches will limit the number of worshippers. Many parishes are going online with Mass and prayers via video streaming services.

In the Philippines, streets were eerily quiet and religious gatherings were prohibited in the capital, Manila, and four outlying provinces. The government placed the bustling region of more than 25 million people back under lockdown this week as it scrambled to contain an alarming surge in COVID-19 cases.

The Philippines had started to reopen in hopes of stemming a severe economic crisis, but infections surged last month, apparently because of more contagious strains, increased public mobility and complacency.


Ronan O'Meara has been scouring the TV schedules to find films to watch this Easter.

Here are 16 to choose from....enjoy!

BlacKkKlansman: Saturday, Channel 4 @ 9pm

In the 1970's an African American policeman managed to con his way into the Klu Klux Klan using the secret combination of a telephone and a Jewish co-worker. Yup, it sounds like a joke but Spike Lee's 2018 film is based on a true story. It's also superb watching that manages to be tense as hell and surprisingly funny while always feeling horrifyingly topical. John David Washington, Patrice Dumas and Adam Driver all do first rate work.

Personal Services: Saturday, Talking Pictures TV @ 10.45pm

A struggling waitress realises that she can supplement her income by catering to the strange needs of older men. Her services become popular fast but unwanted attention is coming her way too. This charming and insightful comedy drama might seem rather tame nowadays but it was actually banned in Ireland upon it's release 34 years ago. Julie Walters put in a stunner of a turn as Christine, a woman burnt by the hypocrisies of modern society.

Collective: Saturday, BBC4 @ 11.40pm

A Romanian nightclub goes up in flames and dozens are killed and hundreds are injured. Then in the aftermath dozens more die due to shoddy health care. An investigation into it all uncovers corruption that reaches the high echelons of society. This 2019 documentary is a jawdropper, a deep dive expose into the injustices that rattled a country and one that will remind you of just how ropey the people in charge really are.

Some Like It Hot: Easter Sunday, RTE One @ 1.50pm

Joe and Jerry have just witnessed the the St. Valentine's Day massacre and now they're running for their lives. To get out of town they disguise themselves as women and join an all woman music troupe heading for Florida. This is a classic that truly lives up to the hype. It's a scream, hysterical in parts and touching in others. Marilyn Monroe, Jack Lemmon and Tony Curtis are all on fire. A perfect Easter Sunday watch.

The Incredible Shrinking Man: Easter Sunday, The Horror Channel @ 5.50pm

A cocktail of radiation and insecticide has done a job on Scott Carey and he's starting to get smaller and smaller. Life becomes terrifying when the things he could once crush underfoot are now big enough to see him as an hors d'oeuvre. This scifi/horror may be 64 years old be it's as effective as the day it came out and it's use of metaphor to deal the fears of the 50's still feel topical today. Grant Williams does stellar work in the titular role.

Red Joan: Easter Sunday, BBC2 @ 10pm

Who's Joan and why is she red? Joan's an English woman working in atomic research. She's also a spy who's been giving the secrets of England's nuclear industry to communist Russia for a very very long time. Parts of this film are, without doubt, kind of pedestrian and dull but a committed turn from the always reliable Judy Dench as latter day Joan, and a story filled with intrigue, will keep you watching until the end.

The Thief Of Baghdad: Easter Monday, Virgin Media One @ 7.45am

A young Iraqi Sultan is betrayed by a member of his own side and thrown into a dungeon. There he meets a thief who's destiny is to set wrongs to right. This feast for the eyes is 81 years old and still as full of wonder as it was when it was first released, if you can get by some of the dubious casting choices that is. Sabu as the titular character is good fun and Conrad Veidt as evil Jaffar is an effective scumbag.

Alpha: Easter Monday, Film4 @ 2.45pm

20,000 years ago, during the last ice age, a teenage boy accompanied his father on a hunt for vital supplies and during a bison hunt had an accident and was feared dead. But he was very much alive, and about to make a new friend that would change the future of humanity. Alpha's a fine watch for the family, an exciting and beautiful looking history lesson that's enchantingly led by Kodi Smit-McPhee and Johannes Haukur Johannesson.

First Man: Monday, TG4 @ 9.50pm

July 20th. 1969. One small step for man. One giant leap for mankind. Words spoken by Neil Armstrong as he set foot on the surface of the moon. First Man is the story of how he got there. First Man is a solid film, one that takes an intimate look at an epic story, zoning in on the man instead of the mission. That said the moon landing is awe inspiring but it's the cast led by Ryan Gosling and Claire Foy that make it really work.

An American Werewolf In London: Tuesday, Sony Movies @ 9pm

Two American tourists ignore the warnings of locals and hike through the Yorkshire moors where they are attacked by something unnatural. An attack that has lingering effects. In my opinion this is the best horror comedy ever made. A film that gets the balance just right. The comedic aspects are riotous but the horror stuff is flat out terrifying. A brilliant movie with David Naughton and Jenny Agutter excellent as the leads.

It's All About Love: Wednesday, Film4 @ 1.50am

In the near future (actually 2021, this was made in 2003) climate change has doomed Earth to a horrible ending and in the midst of it all two estranged people decide that their relationship is worth fighting for. Thomas Vinterberg brings the quirkiness of the Danish films he's famous for to his first English language film and while it's not entirely successful, it's always interesting. Claire Danes and Joaquin Phoenix head a cast stuffed with faces you'll recognise.

Poor Cow: Wednesday, Talking Pictures TV @ 11.05pm

It's Wednesday night so it's time for a dose of Ken Loach realism with this story of a young woman and the effects the terrible decisions she makes have on her and her young son. 60's London on screen has always been flashy and exciting but here we see the dark side of it in all it's dingy, upsetting glory. You won't leave this one happy but you'll be glad you've watched it as Loach's humane approach to the story will stick with you. Carol White is a magnificent lead.

The Elephant Man: Thursday, BBC4 @ 9pm

The story of John Merrick, a lovely & gentle man, despised by the society he grew up in because of the way he looked and Frederick Treves, the doctor who treated him like a human. David Lynch's justifiably lauded 1980 drama is a heartbreaking look at a life ruined by a birth defect. A terribly sad but strangely beautiful film. John Hurt in the lead role does career best work while Anthony Hopkins and Anne Bancroft excel in support.

Cliffhanger: Thursday, ITV4 @ 10.05pm

The early 90's were a wicked time for action films and this is one of the most entertaining of the lot. Sylvester Stallone is in great form as a mountain rescue climber haunted by a past mistake who faces off against a team of murderous thieves who have crashed in the Rocky Mountains. Loads of nasty behaviour and crunchiness ensues. John Lithgow as the big bad is fantastically hammy and the scenery is lovely. What's not to like.

The Raid 2: Friday, Film4 @ 1am

In crime ridden Jakarta, a cop goes undercover in a crime gang to bring down it's leaders and to root out the corrupt cops involved with them. If you like action films & haven't seen this I'm extremely jealous. 2.5 hours of unreal fights and stunts and thrills and spills. It's blisteringly violent and won't be for everyone but if you are able for it, it will blow you away. Iwo Uwais rocks the lead role and director Gareth Evans' ideas and visuals will amaze you.

Hatchet: Friday, The Horror Channel @ 9pm

A group of New Orleans tourists take a boat ride into the bayou in search of the legend of Victor Crowley. They get exactly what they are looking for and more aside. Ok, if you are anyway squeamish avoid this like the plague but if you like your horror movies gooey and rib tickling then this homage to all things 80's will hit the spot big time. Tamara Feldman and Joel Moore are fun as the main characters.

As always visit hamsandwichcinema.blogspot.com/ for more film and tv chat.
An Australian academic who spent 804 days in one of Iran's toughest prisons on trumped-up spying charges has detailed abuse by an obsessive troll.

Kylie Moore-Gilbert, who was released by Iran in a prisoner swap deal in November, was accused of being an Israeli agent several times by Tim Anderson, who was sacked by Sydney University in 2019.

He in February labelled Ms Moore-Gilbert an 'Israeli zealot', claimed she had 'military and leadership training in Israel' and the government and 'war media' lied about her.

Kylie Moore-Gilbert (pictured above) spent more than two years behind bars in Iran after she was imprisoned on espionage offences

She is was accused of being an Israeli agent several times by Tim Anderson, who was sacked by Sydney University in 2019, in a campaign of harassment

Ms Moore-Gilbert fired back at pro-Syrian activist Dr Anderson, calling him an 'Iran-puppet and conspiracy theory zealot'.

Dr Anderson met with Syrian President Bashar al-Assad several times and is a well-known 'anti-imperialist' who often posts material in support of the Syrian regime on social media.

He has plenty to say about Dr Moore-Gilbert on social media, implying the spying charges were true despite being widely discredited.

Dr Moore-Gilbert was in Iran to attend a seminar on Shia Islamic studies and arrested by Islamic Revolutionary Guards as she prepared to board her flight back to Melbourne in September 2018.

She was previously married to a Russian-Israeli man, Ruslan Hodorov.

Dr Anderson made and repeated claims including that she helped organise 'repeated terrorist murders', and went on 'missions' to spy on the Iranian nuclear program.

Dr Anderson met with Syrian President Bashar al-Assad several times and is a well-known 'anti-imperialist' who often posts material in support of the Syrian regime on social media

He in February labelled Ms Moore-Gilbert an 'Israeli zealot', claimed she had 'military and leadership training in Israel' and the government and 'war media' lied about her

On Saturday, Dr Moore-Gilbert slammed Dr Anderson in The Weekend Australian, as 'a mouthpiece for these regimes', who was 'doing his job' by promoting them.

'It's not just him; there's quite a few useful idiots in Western countries who are happy to do a deal with these guys,' she said.

'I honestly don't see any logical explanation for his fixation on me, that months after my release he's still tweeting about me the same propagandistic stuff that was released by the regime.'

Dr Gilbert-Moore is understood to have blocked Dr Anderson on social media and some of his more 'aggressive' followers, who also abused her.

He is followed by 30,000 Twitter accounts.

Dr Anderson is a polarising figure who was convicted of ordering the 1978 Sydney Hilton Hotel bombing, but later acquitted.

He was fired from his job as a lecturer at Sydney University in 2019 after showing students an image of a Nazi swastika superimposed on the Israeli flag.

The Australian academic was released in November after spending 804 days in various hellhole prisons on trumped-up spying charges

Dr Gilbert-Moore supported Dr Anderson's firing because his 'anti-Semitic' remarks should be 'a fireable offence' in any workplace.

'We are, as academics, tasked with conducting research and teaching that is informed by data, and informed by the facts,' she said.

'The kind of narratives that this guy's promoting do not at all appear to me to be informed by any research basis or factual basis that an academic would be speaking from.'

Dr Gilbert-Moore added that she believed Dr Anderson's auidences with Bashar al-Assad were 'scandalous'.

Dr Anderson denied he was a troll, but was tweeting about Dr Gilbert-Moore 'because the corporate media, including The Australian, have been making this false argument there was no evidence about her being recruited by Israel  that's not true at all', he said.

'Iran has posted a substantial video which has been posted on a number of sites, citing the evidence about her receiving military and leadership training in Israel.'

There is no evidence to support these claims.

Daily Mail Australia approached Dr Anderson for comment.

He responded with a link to a new article he posted on his website, The Centre for Counter Hegemonic Studies, in which he claimed to be a target for government and corporate media 'propaganda'.
A police officer was killed and another injured after a man struck them with a car at the U.S. Capitol Building on Friday.

The man got out of the vehicle with a knife and continued to attack the officers stabbing one of them. The man was then shot by Capitol Police officers.

Capitol Police Acting Chief Yogananda Pittman told reporters, The suspect exited the vehicle with a knife in hand and lunged at the officers. She added, This has been an extremely difficult time for U.S. Capitol Police after the events of Jan. 6.

Both officers were hospitalized and one died from the injury. The suspect also died at a hospital. Officials have yet to identify the officer who died or the suspect.

However, they said that there was no longer an ongoing threat and that the attack did not appear to be related to terrorism.

No connection has been established between Fridays incident and the January 6 attack at the Capitol. Five people died in that incident including Capitol Police Officer Brian Sicknick.



Fridays incident took place at a security barrier about 91 meters away from an entrance to the Capitol Building. Congress is not in session as many lawmakers and employees are away for the Easter holiday weekend.

It comes as the capital city of Washington, DC is still recovering from the attack on Congress in January. A mob attacked the Capitol as Congress was voting to certify Joe Bidens presidential win.

Officials set up barriers and fences around the Capitol after the riot. But they have begun removing some of the emergency measures in recent weeks.

People in the Capitol complex were ordered to remain in place after Fridays shooting. Workers were told they could not enter or exit buildings. Video showed National Guard troops gathering near the area where a dark-colored vehicle had crashed into a barrier.

Senator Chuck Schumer, the majority leader, said on Twitter, Im heartbroken for the officer killed today defending our Capitol and for his family. Im praying for the officer injured and his family.

President Joe Biden had just left the White House for Camp David outside of Washington when the incident occurred. He is expected to receive an update on the incident.

Attorney General Merrick Garland has been notified about the incident. The FBI said in a statement that it is providing support to the Capitol Police.

Im Jill Robbins.

Hai Do wrote this report for VOA Learning English. Mario Ritter Jr. was the editor.

_______________________________________________

Words in This Story

exit v. to go out of a place; to leave

lunge v. to move or reach forward suddenly in a forceful way

in session phrase to be in formal meetings or series of meetings of a group of people such as a court or legislature

certify v. to officially say that something or someone has met certain requirements

We want to hear from you. Write to us in the Comments section, and visit our Facebook page.
Managing Editor

Having lived and worked in Indy on and off since 1977, and currently living in Carmel, I've seen the city change a great deal. I love covering the arts in all its forms, and the places where the arts and broader cultural issues intersect.
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.
KYODO NEWS - Apr 3, 2021 - 08:45 | All, Japan

Japan will offer up to 10 billion yen ($90 million) in a loan to an Indian financial institution in an effort to spur lending to businesses promoting environmentally friendly projects in the fight against climate change.

Under an agreement it signed with the Japan International Cooperation Agency, Tata Cleantech Capital Ltd. will provide "green loans" to companies that focus on energy efficiency, renewable energy and electric vehicles across India, the world's third-largest carbon emitter after China and the United States.

The March 25 deal comes as India has pledged to reduce greenhouse gas emissions per gross domestic product by 33 to 35 percent by 2030 from the 2005 level under the Paris Agreement, a 2015 U.N. carbon capping accord.

U.S. President Joe Biden has invited Japanese Prime Minister Yoshihide Suga, Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi, Chinese President Xi Jinping and other world leaders for a climate summit he will convene virtually on April 22 and 23.

Tata Cleantech Capital -- a joint venture between major Indian financial provider Tata Capital and the International Finance Corporation backed by the World Bank -- has contributed to the development of 9.8 million kilowatts renewable energy and the reduction of 15.1 million tons of carbon dioxide.

JICA said in a news release that the loan will support the Indian lender to mitigate the impact of climate change by offering green finance, leading to a decrease in carbon emissions.

The loan is co-financed with Sumitomo Mitsui Banking Corp., a major Japanese lender, according to the government-backed development agency.

"JICA will continue its support for climate change initiatives in the world and continue to mobilize finance for this sector," it said.
Nearly 663,000 Alabamians have now been fully vaccinated against the coronavirus. Thats 18 percent of the states adult population.

More than 1.1 million Alabamians have received at least one dose of a vaccine, or nearly 30 percent of adults. Those numbers have steadily increased over recent weeks. In mid-March, 22 percent of Alabama adults had received at least one shot, according to the Alabama Department of Public Health.

But Alabama is still giving vaccinations relatively slowly - this week the state once again found itself dead last in vaccine doses administered per capita, according to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.

Some Alabama counties are doing a better job than others at getting the shots into peoples arms.

[Cant see the map? Click here.]

Several counties in the Black Belt - one of Alabamas poorest regions - continue to lead the way in vaccination rate. Wilcox, Perry and Hale counties have fully vaccinated the highest percentage of their adult populations, and by a significant margin.

Wilcox leads the way - 24.4 percent of its residents have completed a COVID-19 vaccination series, according to ADPH. Perry and Hale have each fully vaccinated 24.1 percent of their adults. No other county has vaccinated more than 22 percent of adults.

Each of those three counties has a small population - only Hale has an adult population greater than 10,000. The relatively low number of eligible adults could help explain why those counties have fared better at rolling out the vaccine.

Nine other counties have fully vaccinated at least 20 percent of adults. Most are also small, but three notable, larger counties have reached the 20 percent threshold - Lee County, home to Auburn University; Cullman County, just north of Birmingham; and Houston County, home to Dothan in the states Wiregrass region.

The state has currently approved three vaccines, and two of them - the Pfizer and Moderna vaccines - require at two doses for full protection. About 30 percent of Alabama adults have received at least one dose, according to ADPH. That number shows the number of people who have gotten any shot, including a first dose of Moderna or Pfizer, or the singular dose of the third approved vaccine, Johnson & Johnson.

The Black Belt is also out front in that category. In Perry County, 36.5 percent of adults have received at least one dose.

In Jefferson County - the most populous county in the state and home to Birmingham - 17.7 percent of adults have completed their vaccination series and are considered fully vaccinated. 32.6 percent of adults there have gotten at least one shot.

Madison County, home of Huntsville, has also fully vaccinated 17.7 percent of its adult population, but trails Birmingham in total population receiving at least one shot. It matches the state rate in that category, at 29.9 percent.

Mobile County has fully vaccinated the highest percentage of adults among the states largest counties - 18.6 percent of adults there have completed their vaccination series - though just 29.8 percent have gotten at least one dose.

Montgomery trails in both categories - 15.8 percent of its adults are fully vaccinated - lower than the state as a whole. And just 28.3 percent of people 18 and older have gotten at least one dose.

The state is currently only vaccinating people 18 and older, but starting next week it will begin giving shots to people as young as 16.

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.
Following an in-person meeting in Annapolis, Maryland, officials from the US, South Korea, and Japan urged North Korea to curb its contentious nuclear and missile programs.

The US, Asian allies urged denuclearization from North Korea

Following recent warnings from Pyongyang against the new US administration, US National Security Advisor Jake Sullivan met with his counterparts from South Korea and Japan, Suh Hoon and Shigeru Kitamura. According to a joint statement, the three "shared their concerns over North Korea's nuclear and ballistic missile programs." They also promised concerted trilateral cooperation toward denuclearization.

After Pyongyang allegedly fired two ballistic missiles last month, the officials urged North Korea to follow UN resolutions on its nuclear programs. An analysis of US foreign policy against North Korea will be done shortly by the Biden administration. Biden has previously chastised North Korea for its missile launches but has also indicated that if diplomacy is necessary, he will do so.

Biden's response to North Korea varies significantly from his predecessor, former President Donald Trump, as per DW via MSN. While Trump and North Korean leader Kim Jong-Un were initially hostile, Trump later said that he "fell in love" with the dictator.

During his administration, Trump downplayed North Korea's missile testing and pursued a diplomatic settlement with Pyongyang to cement his foreign policy reputation. In exchange for removing US sanctions that were undermining North Korea's economy, the Trump administration hoped that North Korea would follow a road to denuclearization.

During the 2020 election campaign, Biden vowed a new strategy, saying he would not consult with Kim without preconditions. Biden previously referred to Kim as a "thug," while North Korea referred to him as a "rabid dog."

US President Joe Biden Does Not Intend to Meet with North Korea Leader, White House Claims

US, Japan, and South Korea express North Korea concerns

Following a string of short-range rocket launches last month that signaled a new threat from Pyongyang, the US, Japan, and South Korea raised concerns about North Korea's nuclear and ballistic missile programs. Ahead of the conference, a US official said Sullivan would use the opportunity to set out the Biden administration's evolving policy against North Korea after the president threatened "responses" if North Korea intensified following the resumption of missile launches. Biden will meet with Japanese Prime Minister Yoshihide Suga in person for the first time as president with a head of state, Bloomberg reported.

Following a gathering of top national security officials from the three countries at the United States Naval Academy in Maryland, one of the country's oldest military schools, the pledge was made in the form of a joint declaration. The face-to-face talks came a week after North Korea launched two ballistic missiles into the ocean in defiance of UN sanctions, a development seen as an early challenge for the Biden administration.

Australia Reveals Plan to Build Missile Guide to Boost Defense, Collaborates with the US

The officials said in the statement that they had agreed on the importance of the international community. Particularly North Korea's implementation of appropriate UN Security Council resolutions, avoiding proliferation and cooperating to reinforce deterrence.

The officials are also concerned with the preserve peace and stability on the Korean peninsula. They addressed "the value of reuniting divided Korean families and the rapid resolution of the abductions issue." The statement also refers to Pyongyang's kidnapping of Japanese nationals to train spies in the 1970s and 1980s.

The consultation, which was the Biden administration's first national security adviser-level meeting, expressed "the emphasis we put on broadening and expanding our cooperation on key issues. Also, it emphasize promoting our mutual stability through a free and transparent Indo-Pacific." National Security Council spokeswoman Emily Horne said. In a remarkable instance of in-person diplomacy during the coronavirus pandemic, US Secretary of State Antony Blinken and Defense Secretary Lloyd Austin visited Seoul and Tokyo last month, as per South China Morning Post.

Myanmar Protesters Urge 'Guerrilla Strikes,' Fears News Disruptions Amid Internet Blackout

@ 2021 HNGN, All rights reserved. Do not reproduce without permission.
So Russia has started the fines and will proceed with the next issues. Twitter will not remove children targeted propaganda and Twitter will soon be removed if they do not comply

MOSCOW, April 2. /TASS/. Moscows Tagansky District Court has handed Twitter a total of 8.9 mln rubles in fines ($116,778) for refusing to delete tweets urging minors to join an unauthorized and illegitimate event, the courts press service told TASS.

Source: Moscow court hits Twitter with $117,000 in fines over three federal violations  Society & Culture  TASS

This is a huge avenue to access kids in Russia to try to drive them to unauthorized rallies and such. It also is the avenue used by sicko people, mainly to hunt down children all over the world, not just Russian, to be perverted with.sick

WtR
Award-winning online wine supplier, The Nude Wine Co. has just launched their new virtual wine tastings for April to lift the mood for those looking to explore the wine regions of Europe.

Hosted by trained Sommelier and owner of The Nude Wine Co, Kildare-born Michelle Lawlor, these events have become very popular over the last year.

"We are delighted with the reception weve been getting for these online wine tastings. Everyone has a great night and learns a little something about their favourite wines, said Michelle.

9th April - A Portuguese Adventure: By popular demand, we are thrilled to host a

Portuguese wine tasting which explores the reds, whites and port styles of wine. This course

is perfect for those who are reminiscing over their holidays to Portugal and would like to

relive them with some wine and craic. We will taste and learn about the delightful Vinho

Verde, a rich red that will delight any Malbec lover and finish it off with a Tawny Port.

This box includes:

 1 bottle of Vinho Verde, 1 bottle of Casa da Passarella O Descoberta and 1 x 200mls

Grahams 10 year old Tawny Port

Price: 55 per household

10th April - Italian Reds: Our Italian Reds Course takes in Italys most important wine

styles. Compare the two king styles of Sangiovese and Ripasso and be impressed by a

thrilling Montepulciano dAbruzzo.

This box includes:

 1 bottle of Ripasso Valpolicella, 1 bottle of Montepulciano dAbruzzo, 1 bottle of

Organic Sangiovese

Price: 69 per household

16th April - Spanish Sensations; Take Rioja to the next level with a selection of Tempranillo

from its key producing regions. We discuss how to understand a Rioja label and how explore

some of Spains great red wines.

This box includes:

 1 bottle of Rioja Crianza, 1 bottle of Ribera del Duero, 1 bottle of Toro

Price: 55 per household

17th April - Wine for beginners: This is the perfect course for newbies to wine. Well taste a

sparkling wine, an alternative to Sauvignon Blanc and a Rioja Crianza. This is the perfect

way to pick up some pointers on how to describe what you like, and how to avoid what you

dont like.

This box includes:

 1 bottle of Frizzante Prosecco, 1 bottle of Picpoul de Pinet and 1 bottle of Rioja

Crianza

Price: 55 per household

Once you order the virtual tasting online, the wine will be delivered to your door with an accompanying zoom link. All the tastings begin at 8.30pm and last approximately 75 minutes.

All wines are organic and sustainably farmed - Wine as Nature Intended. For further information about these events and their products please go to www.thenudewineco.ie
After Muslim Syrian immigrant suspect Ahmad Alissa, who is also white, drove about 40 miles from his home to a supermarket in Boulder, Colorado to deliberately slaughter ten shoppers, employees, and a policeman, all of whom were also white but apparently not Muslim, some Muslims and other wokes worried about "backlash" against Muslims.

Fear of religious-based backlash after the mass shooting in Boulder on Monday has forced the city's Muslim community center to take security precautions, including temporarily suspending daily prayer services. "The person who murdered 10 people at King Soopers in Boulder does not represent the Muslim community," said Tracy Smith with the Islamic Center of Boulder at a city council meeting Wednesday. "He doesn't represent Islam. He just happens to have a Muslim name." The alleged shooter's name, Ahmad Al Aliwi Alissa, has stirred anti-Muslim sentiments in the community, Smith said. It's unknown whether Alissa practices any religion and no evidence he practices Islam specifically [sic!]. "I have spoken to some who are afraid to leave the house," she said. "Others are changing up the paths of their daily walks women who are fearful of wearing their hijabs in public and men with beards who feel they're going to be targeted because of an increased threat of backlash."

So far, a week later, this Muslim "backlash" has thankfully not occurred. Tellingly, though, there might have been another type of "backlash" in this horrifying event that hasn't been commented on because it is so politically incorrect. Why did Alissa drive so far to this specific supermarket when there are obviously numerous supermarkets closer to his home? Hmm, maybe because this supermarket is located in an area with a Jewish population where presumably many were preparing for the upcoming Jewish holiday of Passover  a holiday known for all types of elaborate special foods. Eager to accommodate its customers, King Soopers market proudly advertises that it is "Your One-Stop Shop For Kosher Groceries."

As Logan Ratick of NewsmaxTV asked:

The murders came at a time people are busy shopping for Passover. Do we have a motive? An attack on the Jewish community? Or a convenient soft target?

So far, there have been no answers to these questions. And if the target was the Jewish community, that will probably be downplayed. Or rationalized.

What was Black Muslim suspect Noah Green's motive violently ramming a police car and emerging with a large hunting knife in Washington, D.C. on the final days of Passover, which also happened to be the Christian holiday of Good Friday? Was it a coincidence? Or something more disturbing? His form of "backlash" against perceived slights? Will the truth be forthcoming?

Whatever the answers, please, no backlash against innocents, but hopefully some religious philosophies will curb their hate against those who believe differently.

Image: Martin Vorel via Libreshot.

You can find the MeWe post for this article here.
Shah Ardalan isnt shy about the immense pride he feels for the campus he leads for the Lone Star College system. In fact, he readily admits hes downright biased when it comes to University Park.

I think its one like no other in the country and one of the reasons is most of the 1,100 community colleges have been built based on location. This college was built on vision and a focus on the culture of innovation. In fact, we acquired the world headquarters for Compaq Computers which means innovation was in the DNA of this campus, this time in education and helping our community, the college president said.

On HoustonChronicle.com: Appraisal Review Board seeking Cypress applicants

Founded in 2012, the college has spent the last several years annually hosting Innovation Week and the next installment is planned for April 5-8. Ardalan said the week will showcase innovative practices currently being applied in various industries to prepare todays students for tomorrows evolving career opportunities.

The college will host virtually Americas Top Young Scientist and Time Magazines first Kid of the Year, Gitanjali Rao as the keynote speaker.

More Information INNOVATION WEEK SCHEDULE Innovation Week will be split into half-day sessions based on industry and will focus on identifying innovative practices that lead change, discovering new waves of professional trends, experiencing insider knowledge with real-life applications, and learning how to transition from a job to a career-oriented mindset. Industry sessions include: * Engineering, mathematics and sciences, Monday, April 5, 9-11 a.m. * Energy, manufacturing and construction, Monday, April 5, 1-3 p.m. * Business and professional services, Tuesday, April 6, 9-11 a.m. * Computer and digital technology, Tuesday, April 6, 1-3 p.m. * Social/behavioral sciences and education, Wednesday, April 7, 9-11 a.m. * Arts, humanities, communication and design, Wednesday, April 7, 1-3 p.m. * Health sciences, public safety and human/consumer services, Thursday, April 8, 9-11 a.m. See More Collapse

At only 15, Rao is internationally recognized as a leader in science, technology, engineering and mathematics STEM for her inventions, workshops and TED Talks.

Forbes honored her as one of their 30 Under 30 in Science in 2019 and received an Environmental Protection Agency Presidential Award for inventing Tethys, an early lead detection tool.

Leading in innovation is nothing new for the college.

Keri Porter, chief strategist of innovation and research for University Park, said one of their partners in the community had read Raos story in Time Magazine and felt like it would be a good fit for the conference.

On HoustonChronicle.com: Cypress music teacher set to open Bach to Rock studio

(The partner) reached out to us and said her message resonates with ours (regarding innovation), she said.

Porter said Rao is still in school and agreed to the talk virtually, but it would have to be after school. She lives in Lone Tree, Colorado.

In 2018, the college hosted the Texas Open Innovation Conference, one of the first in the Texas area.

It attracted people from across the country and outside of the U.S., Ardalan said.

They partnered with Houston Mayor Sylvester Turner in 2019 and changed the name to the Houston Open Innovation Conference. Turner opened the conference and Ardalan also introduced dignitaries such as the president of Rice University and CEOs from around the area related to innovation who shared their experiences.

The campus has earned a reputation and national recognition for their innovation and unique approach to education.

University Park also features services and equipment not usually found on college campuses.

We have a live automation manufacturing line and there is probably two or three like it in the country, where students can view up close how a manufacturing line operates.

There is also a three-story education rock wall.

The campus also boasts innovation labs that feature the latest in virtual reality.

For us, transitioning to a virtual world was a natural and easy one for us, he said back in the early stages of the pandemic.

For Ardalan, the conference is part of their mission to bring to the community.

We have a role to play for the Houston area and when things return to normal, whatever that will be, we have a talented faculty and students to lead, he said.

The conference came after the administration dealt with being the fastest growing college in the country.

It took us two or three years to get things going. We started this in 2015, he said.

Over the years theyve had different speakers and functions and now it has become a staple to the colleges life during the spring. Ardalan said the success of the conference is measurable.

People are coming back. The fact that they take time to come from other countries to participate in the events we have related to innovation is a good sign, he said.

But the results are also measured in assets.

When you talk about open innovation, that means in a collaborative way, we were the reason some smaller and bigger companies got connected and went on to create innovative products, the college president said.

Another result is enrollment.

We have seen an increase in the number of students that sign up for STEM classes because it makes the classroom come alive, Porter said.

It sounds like a buzzword, but our faculty and staff are actively looking for ways to make the classroom come alive and new every day. Theyre never satisfied with the way its always been done, she said.

Then, she said, people seek it out and the students are the beneficiaries.

It makes for a more attractive student and employee, Porter said.

Ardalan said over 99 percent of colleges in the country are experiencing low enrollment, while LSC is still growing.

A year ago, our numbers compared to now are 25 to 30 percent higher. Students are coming. Our students are transferring to Rice, Stanford, UT-Austin, all these Tier 1 universities and with scholarships, he said.

Another example of student success is the French embassy selecting one student from the whole United States to send to study in France up to a masters degree, and that student was from Lone Star College-University Park.

It shows how our students are not just competitive at a local but national level, he said.

Events such as the Innovation Week attract more partners interested in the mission of the college.

I will never ask a dime from you, but the connections they bring to us has brought award-winning partnerships, he said.

When we do it, we do it right. Its not about us, but about those partnerships we make in the community, and the students Ardalan said.

Rao will deliver the Innovation Week keynote Monday, April 5, at 4 p.m. The event is open to the communityparents, students, and teachers.

The week also showcases stimulating panel discussions, live chats and networking opportunities aligned with LSC-University Park degree and certificate offerings.

Rao and all of our speakers will lead our attendees in thought-provoking dialogue and leave us with inspiration to continue innovating, no matter the pathway one selects, Ardalan said.

During half day sessions, attendees will hear from a Microsoft program manager, and epidemiologist from MD Anderson, and a member of the Federal Bureau of Investigation who will address the agencies focus on digital transformation in fighting cybercrime.

For more details and free registration for Innovation Week, visit LoneStar.edu/UPInnovationWeek.

dtaylor@hcnonline.com
Advertisement

The latest deadly breach of the Capitols perimeter could delay the gradual reopening of the building's grounds to the public just as lawmakers were eyeing a return to more normal security measures following the Jan. 6 insurrection.

Capitol Police officer William 'Billy' Evans, an 18-year veteran of the force, was killed Friday when a man rammed his car into a barrier outside the Senate side of the building. The driver, identified as 25-year-old Noah Green, was shot and killed after he got out of his car and lunged at police with a knife.

The deaths came less than two weeks after the Capitol Police removed an outer fence that had temporarily cut off a wide swath of the area to cars and pedestrians, blocking major traffic arteries that cross the city.

The fencing had been erected to secure the Capitol after the violent mob of of then-President Donald Trump's supporters attacked the building Jan. 6., interrupting the certification of President Joe Biden's victory. The violence lead to the deaths of five people, including a Capitol Police officer.

And officers were seen reinforcing the fencing on Saturday following the latest attack, while members of the National Guard were seen on patrol.

Capitol Hill Police Officer tends to the reinforced gate at the U.S. Capitol on April 03. Democrats are calling for an extension to the fencing after a deadly attack left a veteran Capitol Police officer dead

Capitol Police officer William 'Billy' Evans, an 18-year veteran of the force, was killed Friday when a man rammed his car into a barrier outside the Senate side of the building. The driver, identified as 25-year-old Noah Green, was shot and killed after he got out of his car and lunged at police with a knife.

Police, who took the brunt of the assaults that day, have left intact a second ring of fencing around the inner perimeter of the Capitol as they struggle to figure out how to best protect the building and those who work inside it. That tall, dark fencing - parts of it covered in razor wire until just recently -- is still a stark symbol of the fear many in the Capitol felt after the mob laid siege two months ago.

Lawmakers have almost universally loathed the fencing, saying the seat of American democracy was meant to be open to the people, even if there was always going to be a threat.

But after Friday's attack, some said they needed to proceed with caution.

'It's an eyesore, it sucks,' Democratic Rep. Tim Ryan of Ohio said about the fencing in the hours after the two deaths. 'Nobody wants that there. But the question is, is the environment safe enough to be able to take it down? In the meantime, maybe that fence can prevent some of these things from happening.'

American flag is at half staff over the U.S. Capitol to honor the Capitol Police officer that was killed in the line of duty U.S. Capitol grounds

Workers clean up at the crime scene at the U.S. Capitol on April 03

Officers continue to reinforce the fencing surrounding the Capitol on April 3

National Guard troops stand guard after a car that crashed into a barrier on Capitol Hill in Washington, Friday, April 2, 2021

Authorities investigate the scene after a man rammed a car into two officers at the barricade on Capitol Hill in Washington, Friday, April 2, 2021

Ryan, chairman of a House spending committee that oversees security and the Capitol, stressed that no decisions had been made, and that lawmakers would be 'reviewing everything' after the latest deadly incident. His committee and others are looking at not only the fence but at the staffing, structure, and intelligence capabilities of the Capitol Police.

'The scab got ripped off again here today,' Ryan said. 'So we've got to figure this out.'

Despite the fencing, Friday's breach happened inside the perimeter. The driver slipped through a gate that had opened to allow traffic in and out of the Capitol and rammed a barrier that had protected the building long before Jan. 6. And there was no evidence that Green's actions were in any way related to the insurrection.

Members of the National Guard stand guard near the U.S. Capitol on April 03, 2021 in Washington, DC. The U.S. Capitol was briefly locked down Friday afternoon after a person reportedly rammed a vehicle into multiple Capitol Hill police officers

Members of the National Guard walk near the U.S. Capitol on April 03

The area blocked off due to the insurrection at the Capitol

The U.S. Capitol is seen behind security fencing after a car that crashed into a barrier on Capitol Hill in Washington, Friday, April 2, 2021

Still, it was a reminder that there is always a target on one of the country's most visible public buildings, especially as political tensions have risen since the insurrection and there has been broad public scrutiny of the security failures that day.

'This may just cause everybody to pump the brakes a bit on taking the fence down entirely because of the sense of security that it provides us,' said Democratic Rep. Jennifer Wexton of Virginia, another member of the spending panel that oversees the legislative branch.

As a lawmaker who represents the suburbs of Washington, Wexton said she wants to see the Capitol open again to visitors. While the indoor parts of the building have been closed to the public for the last year because of the coronavirus pandemic, the plazas, roads and sidewalks that surround the Capitol were only cut off after the riot, keeping the public completely away from the area.

'I would like to see it come down at the earliest possible moment,' Wexton said of the fencing.

While lawmakers were initially supportive of the fencing to secure the area, and the thousands of National Guard troops sent to the Capitol to back up the overwhelmed police force, they soon said they were ready for a drawdown.

'I think we've overdone it,' said Senate Republican leader Mitch McConnell of Kentucky last month. 'It looks terrible to have the beacon of our democracy surrounded by razor wire and National Guard troops.'

Missouri Sen. Roy Blunt, the top Republican on the Senate Rules and Administration Committee, said the fencing should come down because the next security problem is 'highly unlikely to be a carbon copy of the last problem.' Republican Rep. Carlos Gimenez of Florida told Fox News he believed Democrats were keeping the fence up for 'political reasons.'

U.S. Capitol Police officers investigate near a car that crashed into a barrier on Capitol Hill near the Senate side of the U.S. Capitol in Washington, Friday, April 2, 2021

The American flag at the U.S. Capitol flies at half-staff in honor of Capitol Police officer William Evans who was killed after a man rammed a car into two officers at a barricade outside the U.S. Capitol in Washington, Friday, April 2, 2021

Authorities clean scene after a man rammed a car into two officers at the barricade on Capitol Hill in Washington, Friday, April 2, 2021

But abhorrence of the fence is a rare issue on which the two parties can agree.

'It's just ghastly, it's an embarrassment,' said Illinois Sen. Dick Durbin, the second-ranking Democrat. 'If there's a better way to protect us, I want to see it. I want to work to get it.'

Security officials, though, say that the Capitol cannot return to what had been status quo.

In February, acting Capitol Police Chief Yogananda Pittman told lawmakers that 'the Capitol's security infrastructure must change.'

A security review requested by House Speaker Nancy Pelosi, D-Calif., in the aftermath of the riot and conducted by a task force recommended eventually replacing the barrier with mobile fencing and 'an integrated, retractable fencing system' that could be used as needed. But it is unclear whether such an expensive proposal could win approval from Congress.

Ryan said his committee was doing extensive research and even had a recent call with Israeli security officials to learn how they keep their government secure.

'We've got to figure out what the sweet spot is with the security,' he said.
Source: Xinhua| 2021-04-03 13:08:06|Editor: huaxia

Video Player Close

by Yosley Carrero

HAVANA, April 2 (Xinhua) -- Chinese tourists can help Cuba's tourism industry recover from the economic damage caused by the COVID-19 pandemic, a Cuban expert has said.

"The number of Chinese tourists who have visited the island over the past few years has increased, strengthening historical links between the two countries," Jose Luis Perello, a university professor and tourism industry analyst, told Xinhua recently.

"China continues to be a fundamental emerging market for the tourism sector in Cuba," he said, adding that the island nation is a Caribbean tourist destination preferred by some Chinese travelers.

The local tourism industry, said Perello, could take advantage of the opportunity when a major number of Chinese citizens travel abroad for holidays in a post-pandemic scenario.

"Due to the eradication of absolute poverty in China, and the subsequent increase of the purchasing power of its population, more Chinese people are likely to go on vacation overseas," he said.

"Meanwhile, the signing of agreements for hotel management with Chinese companies would also be very positive for the development of the local tourism industry in Cuba, which has been severely affected by the COVID-19 crisis," he told Xinhua.

"China has considerable expertise in managing hotel facilities and is playing a fundamental role in the development of the global economy and tourism," he added.

"Cuba could become a platform for Chinese tourists to visit other Caribbean destinations such as the Dominican Republic and Jamaica," said Perello.

Chinese companies could also provide Cuban hotel facilities with the supplies they need, he said, noting the importance of China as the island's second largest commercial partner.

Perello said that China will be the Guest of Honor at the International Tourism Fair of Cuba in 2022, adding that it sends a "clear message on the importance of Chinese tourists' arrivals for the tourism industry on the island." Enditem
Schuylkill County business owners receiving money to combat the effects of the COVID-19 pandemic say they are grateful to get it and will spend it immediately to help them stay in business.

Last year, we lost about ($500,000) in sales, Zachary Haas, operations manager of the Red Lion Cafe, Deturksville, which will receive $25,000, said Friday. Anything is helpful.

The Red Lion, a staple of dining for decades in the Pine Grove area, is one of 73 county motels, restaurants and other facilities scheduled to receive a COVID-19 Hospitality Industry Recovery Program Grant.

The county received $1.6 million from the state Department of Community and Economic Development to distribute, and designated the Northeastern Pennsylvania Alliance, a certified economic development organization, to evaluate applications and decide who should get the money.

The businesses had to demonstrate a COVID economic impact of a 25% reduction in sales, either for the year 2020 or at least one three-month period, Steve Ursich, NEPA vice president of business development services, said Friday.

NEPA announced the grants  which come in amounts of $5,000, $10,000, $15,000 $20,000 or $25,000  this week. It approved more than $1.47 million in grants, and Ursich termed the program 100% successful.

Haas said his family, which owns the Red Lion, already knows it will spend its $25,000 allocation on utilities and payroll.

Thats what that money will go for, he said.

Lisa Vernalis, owner of the Vernalis Restaurant, Shenandoah, also said her businesss $25,000 grant will go toward meeting payroll and utility expenses.

Were grateful. Its going to help tremendously, she said. We were shut down. We were doing takeout.

Vernalis said she also hopes the new rule, which takes effect Sunday, that increases capacity in restaurants to 75% will help her and other businesses.

It will go a long way, she said.

Daniel Leiby, owner of Leibys Ice Cream House & Restaurant, South Tamaqua, has not yet planned how to use the $25,000 grant, but he knows there are plenty of options.

Thats going to be a huge help, he said. Thats going to offset ... at least some loss.

Leibys is one of at least five county restaurants to receive grant money that were also identified by the state Department of Agriculture or Bureau of Liquor Control Enforcement in recent months as having violated COVID-related mandates issued by Gov. Tom Wolf. Others are Bums Rush, Orwigsburg; JTs Grill & Cue, Auburn; Pottsville Pub, Pottsville; and Romans Lounge and Catering Inc., Frackville.

Leiby said Friday he only ever received a warning letter from the state and he wasnt sure how that may have affected the grant decisions.

Ursich said NEPA did not consider such alleged violations.

We discussed it in the early stages, he said. At the end, we decided it was not going to factor into the decision-making.

Restaurants are not the only businesses that will benefit from the money.

Rajan Vesuwala, manager of the Comfort Inn, Pine Grove, said his establishment is looking forward to getting its $25,000 allocation.

Once we get the money, it will pay the bills, he said.

Vesuwala emphasized that the most pressing obligation for the motel are the property tax bills from the county, Pine Grove Township and the Pine Grove Area School District. Those are significant amounts that have not disappeared, he said.

Theyre collecting all the money, Vesuwala said, even if the value of his property suffered in 2020.

While the motel can always use more money, the allocation is a good one, he said.

It will help, Vesuwala said.

Commissioners Chairman Barron L. Hetherington said he likes the way the program is going.

I think it is a great program, he said. There are quite a few people who had fallen through the cracks. I commend the General Assembly for putting it together.

Hetherington is particularly happy that smaller independent restaurants are getting their share of the cash.

This is going to save quite a few of these restaurants, he said.

Hetherington said he and his fellow commissioners, George F. Halcovage Jr. and Gary J. Hess, along with County Administrator Gary R. Bender, went door to door to try to spur restaurateurs to apply for the money. He also praised the Schuylkill Chamber of Commerce and the Schuylkill Economic Development Corp. for their help in boosting participation in the program.
Over the past five years three hardworking and enterprising North Cork girls have made a world of difference to local charities by collecting unwanted clothing and converting it into cash.

Sisters Leah and Nicola Corkery are from Banteer. Leah, 20, is pursuing a Social Studies course at Munster Technological University, Nicola, 16, attends St Mary's Secondary School and their friend, 19 years old Jessica Barrett from Bweeng, is studying International Hotel Management and Business in Shannon.

On this Saturday, April 14th, the girls will host a 'Drop & Go Clothes Collection' at the Arches Bar car park in Mallow between 10am and 2pm. "If you have any unwanted clothes please bag them up and drop them in to us at the Arches car park, all monies raised as a result of the collection will go to local charities," Leah told The Corkman.

Instead of taking well deserved time off, the girls give up their free time every weekend. "Every Friday and Saturday we would head off collecting clothing. Recently, due to lockdown, we haven't been able to call to locals who want to donate and this has had a big impact on our collections for local charities," Leah said.

However, the girls, with assistance from their parents, have recently placed clothes bins in various locations such as Rathmore, Cullen, Banteer, Twohig's Car Park, Kanturk, Kilbrin, Dromina and Dromahane.

The girls have already presented cheques to the Irish Rapid Response Air Ambulance, Mallow Search & Rescue and Suicide Awareness, the latter having poignant relevance to the Corkery family with Leah and Nicola's uncle Paudie losing his life to suicide 10 years ago.

Funds raised also go to Mary Lynch of the Charleville Suicide Awareness Project. Mary, who tragically lost her brother and son to suicide, wants people to know that there are local groups who are willing to listen to people with mental health issues and offer them the advice and help they so desperately need.

Mary can be contacted at (087) 316 2257 and anyone wishing to donate clothing can contact Nicholas Corkery at 087 9796011.
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.
TAIPEI (Reuters) - European countries are providing help for Taiwan's indigenous submarine project, the island's defence ministry said, in a rare admission that the sensitive programme is not getting assistance solely from the United States.

Taiwan, which China claims as its own territory, has worked for years to revamp its submarine force, some of which dates back to World War Two. It is no match for China's fleet, which includes vessels capable of launching nuclear weapons.

The U.S. government in 2018 gave the green light for U.S. manufacturers to participate in the programme, a move widely seen as helping Taiwan secure major components, though it is unclear which U.S. companies are involved.

In a statement late Friday, Taiwan's Defence Ministry denied a report in U.S.-based publication The National Interest, which cited Taiwanese news reports from 2019, that North Korea had discussed helping Taiwan with the submarines.

"In the development of our submarines there has never been, there is not now and will never be any contact with North Korea; assistance is all provided by important countries in Europe and the United States," it said, without giving details.

European countries are generally wary of allowing arms sales to Taiwan due to fear of angering China, though in 2018 Taiwan said it was talking to a company based in the British territory of Gibraltar about the new submarine fleet's design.

Two of Taiwan's four active submarines were built in the Netherlands in the 1980s, though the country subsequently refused to sell further ones to the island.

France has also sold Taiwan frigates and fighter jets. Taiwan said last year it was seeking to buy equipment from France to upgrade the ships' missile interference system.

State-backed CSBC Corporation Taiwan began building the new submarines last year, aiming to deliver the first of the eight planned vessels in 2025.

Taiwan's defence minister said last month it that the United States had approved the export of sensitive technology to equip the fleet.

(Reporting by Ben Blanchard; Editing by William Mallard)
Very shortly, Connecticuts moratorium on utility shut-offs will end, and then what happens?

Though hope springs eternal, if utility companys past practices are any indication, things will not go smoothly.

It may be hard to believe, but not all states implemented such shut-off moratoriums during the pandemic, and unpaid utility bills have risen to an estimated $27 billion nationwide, according to Mark Wolfe, executive director of the National Energy Assistance Directors' Association. After reviewing shut-off data from around the country, the Center for Biological Diversity said roughly 765,000 households had power cut during the pandemic, with disastrous results. A paper from Duke University estimates that a federal ban (similar to the one in place on evictions) would have reduced COVID-19 infections by 4.4%, and deaths by 7.4%.

Though people have had a safe harbor in Connecticut, local activists and advocates worry about the thousands of state residents who are in jeopardy of having their service terminated after the moratorium is lifted, and customers cant expect utility companies will help much. The Public Utilities Regulatory Authority (PURA), the state agency charged with oversight of investor-owned utilities such as electricity and telecommunications companies, even wrote a script for utility customer service representatives - a script that was largely ignored, so customers are not told about existing affordable payment options.

In fact, PURAs Office of Outreach, Education, and Enforcement (EOE) recently asked to see a record of 20 random calls made to utilities by customers whod called looking for help. Sadly, customers were not screened for hardship, as they are supposed to be, and they were given bad information as to what the programs are available to them. Some of these customers are clients of Connecticut Legal Services Inc., Connecticut Legal Rights Project, and the Center For Childrens Advocacy, organizations that have done their best to make sure utilities act as they should.

Those organizations arent the only ones trying to get utilities to behave. Echoing Gov. Ned Lamont, Senators Chris Murphy and Richard Blumenthal sent a letter suggesting utilities not be allowed to consider terminating service until theyd complied with previous orders, though the bad behavior predates the pandemic, said Bonnie Roswig, of the Center for Childrens Advocacy. She said that in the winter of 2019, a client brought her newborn back to a house with no electricity. She called the company to say she wasnt able to pay her bill, only to be told there was nothing that could be done.

We cannot go to back to that place, said Roswig. The utility companies should be following PURA directives so that all residents can access existing protections.

Recently, because Eversource was not following the states orders, PURAs EOE recommended a fine of $6,000 - which (checking my math here) is roughly the kind of change youd find in the couch of a company that reported earning $1,205,000,000 last year (up from $909,100,000 the year before, which is a pretty healthy jump no matter your math skills). When activists objected to the paltry amount, the EOE raised it to the maximum violation allowed by law, $10,000 a violation, or $20,000 - still a small amount that just may not serve as any kind of motivation for change. PURA sent notice of the increase this week. The notice said that $19,500 of the fine is supposed to go to Operation Fuel, which spent about $3,291,000 on energy assistance programs last year. The notice also asked that Eversources customer service representatives be retrained.

But so far, rulings havent really worked, nor have hearings, letters from U.S. senators, and fines, so let me, a good citizen, step in and do what certain utility companies appear incapable of doing:

Dear Connecticut electric company customer:

During this difficult time, you are absolutely protected from having your power shut off. You can take advantage of multiple payment programs that can help you pay your bills, should you fall behind.

All Connecticut utility customers whose income is less than 60% of the state median income are eligible for affordable payment plans. Under many of these plans, if you pay your average monthly bill, the back bill can be wiped out. If you get disability, medical or other help from the state, you may be eligible for an affordable $50-per-month plan for a heat bill. Even when we arent in the middle of COVID, service cannot be turned off between November 1 and May 1.

In addition, last April PURA announced a COVID-19 payment program for everyone. Even if you make too much money to qualify for an low-income-based program, you can still take advantage of the COVID payment plan, where your back bill is divided into 24 payments. The program was an acknowledgement that no matter a household income, people could be adversely affected with pandemic shut-downs or slowdowns.

You, the customer, are not supposed to have to ask about specific programs when you call a utility company, but customer service representatives have proven notoriously bad at sharing this information, so feel free to mention the COVID and hardship plan by name. If the representative declines to agree with you about a plan, ask to speak to a supervisor. If the supervisor is similarly hesitant, ask for a company review officer.

If you still get nowhere, call PURA at 1-800-382-4586. They can be extremely helpful.

I offer a description of these options - in language as clear as possible -- as a free public service, though if Eversource wants to cut me a check for doing their job for them, Ill be waiting by my mailbox.
At least 50 people were killed and more than 150 were injured Friday when an express train emerged from a tunnel and derailed in eastern Taiwan.

Hundreds of passengers were aboard the Taroko Express, which was traveling to Taitung, in southern Taiwan, from New Taipei City. It derailed near Hualien on the east coast. An unattended construction truck slipped down a slope and collided with the fast-moving train, according to reports. Among the dead were the train driver and the driver's assistant. Dozens of survivors of the wreck were being treated in nearby hospitals. Several were reported in critical condition.

Widespread reports said there were nearly 500 passengers aboard, well beyond the train's 376-seat capacity, suggesting many passengers were standing at the time of the crash. An earlier video aired by Taiwan's United Daily News, however, included a statement by Taiwan Railway Hualien Transportation Department Director Wu Jintian that the train was nearly full.

Dozens of passengers were trapped inside rail cars inside the tunnel after the accident, but by 6.30 p.m. local time there were no passengers left in the cars. Recovery workers were seen taking bodies from the scene. Later, Hong Ming-hui, a nephew of a 55-year-old woman who died, spoke to VOA as he waited to identify his relative's body. "She is my aunt. She works as a shopkeeper at a wet market in Hualien," he said.

"I accompanied my mom to the scene. The rescuers successfully removed the body from the wreckage at around 2 p.m. today and at that time there were around 20 to 30 rescuers conducting the operation," he added. "My mom and I were unable to recognize her, since her face was severely damaged. The only thing [with which] I was able to confirm her identity was the bracelet around her hand. I feel really bad, but that's the reality we face. For now, we are waiting for the authorities to conduct [an] examination of the body."
Today a man named Noah Green attacked the U.S. Capitol, driving his car into a concrete barrier and then attacking Capitol police officers with a knife. He killed one officer before being shot by others.

Green was a follower of the Nation of Islam, as the New York Times grudgingly admits:

The suspect in the death of a Capitol Police officer described himself on Facebook as a follower of Louis Farrakhan, the leader of the Nation of Islam, who has repeatedly promoted anti-Semitism. The suspect, Noah R. Green, 25, was identified by two law enforcement officials and a congressional official. He was from Indiana and died after being shot by the Capitol Police. On Facebook, Mr. Green had posted speeches and articles written by Mr. Farrakhan and Elijah Muhammad, who led the Nation of Islam from 1934 to 1975, that discussed the decline of America. Two law enforcement officials confirmed that the Facebook page, which was taken down on Friday, had belonged to Mr. Green.

There are nuts, I suppose, of every political persuasion, but there are a whole lot more of them on the left. Most likely, Noah Green will join James Hodgkinson, Ahmad Al Issa, the men who murdered Donald Trump supporters in Portland and Denver, and many others in the media memory hole. Still, there is an outside chance that Congressional Democrats might include Mr. Green and his mentors in their 9/11 style investigation into attacks on the U.S. Capitol. After all, Green, unlike the mini-rioters of January 6, murdered a Capitol police officer.
With a view to supporting and encouraging each other, six businesses in Mallow got together and ran 'The Mallow Post Lockdown Treat', an online contest on Facebook and Instagram which saw lucky lady Helen Ramsden from Dublin scoop a wonderful collection of gifts to the value of over 500. The competition invited entrants to follow all six Instagram pages of the businesses involved, like the post, share it to their story and tag some friends.

Deirdre Duffy of Luna Bella Fashion Boutique came up with the winning concept of the competition; "I just thought it would be a lovely treat for some someone to look forward to during these difficult times and at the same time encourage people to support small businesses owned and run by local people. I want to thank my fellow business women for coming on board with me and when restrictions are lifted, the winner will be able to visit Mallow and enjoy a day of shopping and pampering" Deirdre told The Corkman.

Winner Helen Ramsden will receive a 100 voucher for Luna Bella Boutique and 100 voucher for O' Flynn Footwear. A voucher for Mallow Beauty and Skin Clinic and for Stunners Hair Salon to the value of 100 in both salons and finally a voucher for the Hibernian Hotel to the value of 100 and a bouquet from Parkwest Flowers.

Helen was revealed as the lucky winner last Friday outside Luna Bella Boutique at Park West Shopping Centre by Corrie O' Flynn (O' Flynn Footwear), Trina Scanlon (The Hibernian Hotel), Anne Collins (Mallow Beauty and Skin Clinic), Catherine O' Connell (Stunners Hair Salon), Deirdre Duffy (Luna Bella Boutique) and Rebecca Chavez (Parkwest Flowers).

These leading ladies of business shared their thoughts with The Corkman about the impact Covid restrictions have had on trade and reiterated how important community spirit and an optimistic outlook is as they look to a brighter future when 'normal life' resumes.

Trina Scanlon, Marketing Manager Hibernian Hotel

"The Hibernian Hotel was delighted to collaborate with the different businesses in Mallow to run this competition, now more than ever we need to look after, support and encourage each other. If this Pandemic has shown us anything, it is that community spirit is high and supporting local is the life blood of every town. It reminded us that you don't have to spend money to support a business, a recommendation, a follow, a thumbs up or a share on Social Media means so much to small businesses who are treading unchartered waters. Taking part in this competition gave us a chance to say thank you and give back to our community. Mallow is a wonderful town with so much to offer, there are many family run small businesses that provide employment, wonderful services, cutting edge products, unwavering support to local schools, community groups as well as regular sponsorship of local charities and teams. Undoubtedly the community as a whole is richer for their presence and by supporting local you keep this happening."

Anne Collins. Mallow Beauty and Skin Clinic

"The past twelve months have been horrendous for young and old. This initiative by Deirdre Duffy has enabled this small group of businesses to reward our loyal customers for their continued support both financially and emotionally. If Covid has taught me anything, it is that my customer base is like a second family to me and they have given me the strength to weather this crisis. It also proved to me how supportive businesses are to each other and how important it is to keep our business local. Thanks to all involved".

Catherine O' Connell. Stunners Hair Salon

"Stunners is a 5 star Hair Salon, in business for the past 23 years and employing 10 people. We are thrilled to be involved in this fabulous competition and delighted to be giving a prize to brighten up someone's day during these hard times. We are lucky to have amazing clients, sadly due to restrictions we haven't seen them in months, we hope they are all keeping well and we look forward to welcoming everyone back to the Salon when lockdown is lifted".

Corrie O'Flynn, O'Flynn Footwear

"We were delighted to be involved. It was a lovely way to say Thank You to our customers who have supported us during the last 12 months. We are putting our best foot forward at the moment trading through our Website www.oflynnfootwear.ie

Being able to showcase our collection of ladies and gents shoes online has helped us greatly and has allowed us to stay in touch with our customers and gain some new ones along the way. If anyone has any questions, please call us at 022 21248 or text 087 3646120. We offer a local delivery service and are so looking forward to welcoming our customers back into the shop".
NEW YORK - Add travel to the activities vaccinated Americans can safely enjoy again, according to new U.S. guidance issued Friday.

FILE - In this Wednesday, Feb. 3, 2021 file photo, a passenger wears a face mask during an airline flight after taking off from Atlanta. On Friday, April 2, 20201, the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention updated its guidance to say fully vaccinated people can travel within the U.S. without getting tested for the coronavirus or going into quarantine afterward. (AP Photo/Charlie Riedel)

NEW YORK - Add travel to the activities vaccinated Americans can safely enjoy again, according to new U.S. guidance issued Friday.

The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention updated its guidance to say fully vaccinated people can travel within the U.S. without getting tested for the coronavirus or going into quarantine afterward.

Still, CDC Director Dr. Rochelle Walensky urged caution and said she would advocate against general travel overall" given the rising number of infections.

If you are vaccinated, it is lower risk, she said.

According to the CDC, more than 100 million people in the U.S.  or about 30% of the population  have received at least one dose of a COVID-19 vaccine. A person is considered fully vaccinated two weeks after receiving the last required dose.

The agency has said it would update its guidance on allowed activities for vaccinated people as more people get the shots and evidence mounts about the protection they provide.

Outside a San Francisco convention centre, Kara Roache, a consultant with a tech company, welcomed the news after getting her second Pfizer shot.

Im thrilled that this summer there might be opportunities for us to go somewhere," she said.

Roache said she normally travels overseas for leisure at least twice a year. Since the pandemic started, shes only travelled to Utah and Texas for work.

Ill still be cautious. Im not looking to go on a cruise. Im not looking to be in mass crowds and Ill probably not go overseas," she said. But absolutely, if its open and the CDC says we can do it, Im looking forward to going somewhere in the states."

For people who haven't been fully vaccinated, the CDC is sticking to its recommendation to avoid unnecessary travel. If they do travel, the agency says to get tested one to three days before the trip, and three to five days after. People should also stay home and quarantine for seven days after travel, even if their COVID-19 test is negative, the agency says.

According to data through Thursday from Johns Hopkins University, the U.S. is averaging 66,000 daily new cases this past week, up from 55,000 two weeks ago.

The new guidance says:

 Fully vaccinated people can travel within the U.S., without getting tested for the coronavirus or quarantining. People should still wear a mask, socially distance and avoid crowds, the agency says.

 For international travel, the agency says vaccinated people do not need to get a COVID-19 test before leaving, unless the destination country requires it.

 For travellers coming into the U.S., vaccinated people should still get a negative COVID-19 test before boarding a flight, and be tested three to five days after arrival. They do not need to quarantine. The agency noted the potential introduction of virus variants and differences in vaccine coverage around the world for the cautious guidance on overseas travel.

Already, air travel in the United States has been picking back up. Although traffic remains down by nearly half from a year ago, more than 1 million travellers daily have been going through U.S. airports in recent weeks.

Airlines do not require COVID-19 tests or proof of vaccination for travel in the U.S.

The CDC cited recent research on the real-world effects of the vaccines for its updated guidance. Last month, the agency said fully vaccinated people could visit with each other indoors without wearing masks or social distancing. It also said vaccinated people could visit with unvaccinated people from a single household under similar conditions, as long as the unvaccinated individuals were at low risk for severe illness if infected.

The U.S. began its vaccine rollout in mid-December. Pfizer and Moderna vaccines require two doses given a few weeks apart. A one-shot vaccine by Johnson & Johnson was given the green light by regulators at the end of February.

AP reporters Olga R. Rodriguez in San Francisco, Dave Koenig in Dallas and Carla K. Johnson in Washington state contributed.

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.
Varanasi:

Prime Minister Narendra Modi on Friday released a postage stamp on different aspects of Lord Rams life at the historic Tulsi Manas Mandir and said he was a source of inspiration for every individual.

There have been many stamps on Lord Ram, but this is the first of its kind stamp, which depicts different aspects of his life. This has not been done in the past. I am happy that I have got the opportunity to do this from the holy soil of Manas, he said.

The Tulsi Manas temple has great historical and cultural importance in Hinduism as it was here that Hindu epic Ramcharitmanas was said to have been originally written by poet-saint Goswami Tulsidas.

The life of Lord Ram is a source of inspiration for every individual. If we look at the life of Mahatma Gandhi, we see Lord Ram became a mantra for him since his childhood. Every aspect of the life of a great man (mahapurush) and chetnapurush (man who awakens consciousness) like him (Lord Ram) motivates us.

The Prime Minister said he could have released the stamp either at New Delhis Vigyan Bhawan or his own residence, but then a thought came to his mind that it is the auspicious period of Navaratra, and in the life of Lord Ram, Navratra and Vijayadashami hold special significance.

A place where memories of Tulsidas are still alive.... There cannot be a better place than this Manas Mandir for releasing the postge stamp, he said.

He said postage stamps the world over contained history. A collection of such stamps would show what transformations a country went through, he said.

The prime minister later visited the Durga Mata Mandir.

For all the Latest India News, Download News Nation Android and iOS Mobile Apps.
The role of the dams in reducing the damage during the 2018 floods in Kerala is looked at. Responding to the critiques, the authors note that the dams have produced enormous social, economic and even several ecological benefits and point out that benefits of the dams can be enhanced by improving weather forecasting capabilities.

It might sound very strange for a person who knows the basics of hydrology and hydraulics, or for that matter the simple mass balance equation (that is, inflowstorage=outflow) when some environmentalists and some anti-dam activists started blaming the large dams in Kerala for the floods in the state which had a devastating effect in terms of loss of human life, damage to infrastructure, disruptions in life and economic activities (Thakkar 2018). So once again, the dams and those who build them became the soft target of attack.

It has already been officially stated that the rains which occurred in Kerala during August 2018 were the highest of the last 100 years. Against a mean monthly rainfall of around 258 millimetre (mm) for August, the catchments of the flood-affected river basins received around 750 mm of rainfall, that too within a short period of sixseven days. The intensity of the rainfall was unimaginably high, given the relatively longer duration for which it occurred (a few days against a few hours for which high intensity monsoon showers normally occur in this region). The catchments of Idukki, Pamba, Kakki, Kuttiyadi and Idamalayar received 811, 344, 915, 954 and 644 mm of rain, respectively, in a matter of four days. That was one-third of the annual rainfall. At such a high intensity of downpour, the entire precipitation got converted into surface flows (with the soil strata lying under saturated condition with no space to absorb the infiltrating water).
After his state legalised recreational marijuana, expunged criminal convictions and opened a pathway to a billion-dollar cannabis industry in an effort to reverse the damage from the ongoing war on drugs, Senate Majority Leader Chuck Schumer is reviving his push to legalise it at the federal level  with or without support from the White House.

Now leading a Congress with a razor-thin Democratic majority, the New York senator  who first introduced legislation to do so in 2018  is preparing another round with senator Cory Booker and Ron Wyden, Politico reports.

The war on drugs has been a war on people, and particularly people of colour, Senator Schumer announced on Saturday. Im working in the Senate to end the federal prohibition on marijuana and to repair the damage done by the war on drugs.

President Joe Biden has not supported arguments to expand legalisation at the federal level.

I certainly will have an ongoing conversation with him, and tell him how my views evolved. And hope that his will to, Mr Schumer told Politico.

But at some point were going to move forward, period, he added.

Read more:

New York is now among 15 states and Washington DC that have legalised marijuana for recreational use.

Governor Andrew Cuomo signed legislation into law on Wednesday that provides justice for long-marginalised communities, embraces a new industry that will grow the economy, and establishes substantial safety guards for the public, he said in a statement.

New Yorkers aged 21 and older are now allowed to possess up to three ounces of cannabis for recreational use, or 24 grams of concentrated forms. The state will implement a regulatory framework for future use in the coming months.

The law also creates automatic expungement of previous marijuana convictions for possession that is no longer criminalised  a reversal that will impact thousands of New Yorkers.

It also aims to help people with previous convictions as well as people involved with selling marijuana illegally to participate in the states burgeoning legal market.

After the White House announced that five staffers were fired for past marijuana use, a group of congressional Democrats has urged the president to clarify your employment suitability policies, remove past cannabis use as a potential disqualifier, and apply these policies with consistency and fairness.

Repercussions for cannabis use have always been unequal and those with the most power have always faced the fewest consequences, they added. We ask that you dont allow that pattern to continue within your administration.
Unionist politicians have slammed he violence which erupted in Belfast last night which saw eight police officers injured and seven people arrested.

Petrol bombs, bricks, bottles and masonry were thrown at police last night as rioting returned to the streets of the city.

Protests had been arranged on social media across Northern Ireland as tensions in the loyalist community, a community already angered by the Northern Ireland protocol situation following Brexit, rose to fever pitch after the decision of the PPS during the week not to prosecute 24 Sinn Fein members in attendance at the funeral of party member Bobby Storey for breaching Covid-19 regulations last summer.

DUP MLA, Christopher Stalford, who has a constituency office in the Sandy Row area asked people to abide by the law.

Expand Close Police also came under attack on consecutive nights in loyalist areas of Derry / Facebook

Twitter

Email

Whatsapp Police also came under attack on consecutive nights in loyalist areas of Derry

In reference to the PPS decision made earlier in the week, and the attendance of Sinn Feins Michelle ONeill who was present at the funeral, he added: Given the actions of the deputy First Minister, some may think that its all right to break Covid guidance in relation to public gatherings  that is not the case.

Former UUP leader Mike Nesbitt said the rioting was a huge error and must not be repeated.

He added: I would say to anybody who was involved in taking part, or indeed planning, what happened yesterday, you are making a huge strategic mistake. Tell me any time that street violence has advanced the cause that you purport to support.

While violence mainly erupted in the Shaftesbury Square and Donegall Road areas, sources in the nearby Sandy Row area voiced their deep frustration about the violence to SundayWorld.com this morning.

One said: There is a lot of anger from locals that these kids were coming from different areas into Sandy Row just looking for trouble. This violence should never have happened, nobody wanted it.

There is a lot of anger among loyalists in the area about the PSNI and the PPS and the protocol, that cannot be denied, but any protest was supposed to be peaceful.

These kids didnt even know if they were rioting about the Irish Sea border, the chief constable or Rangers winning the 55. They havent a clue.

Ulster Unionist MLA for Upper Bann, Doug Beattie, posted on Twitter in response to reports of the violence.

Read More

He said: Stop please. This is not going to help anyone or change anything. It damages and endangers your own community, it undermines any grievance you might have and it will achieve nothing.

His party leader, Steve Aiken, UUP MLA for South Antrim, said: Please stop this violence, it will not achieve anything, and undermines the legitimate concerns that you have and is damaging our own communities.

Other politicians echoed Unionist calls to end the violence.

Sinn Fein MP Paul Maskey condemned what he called running skirmishes between young people and the PSNI.

He added: It is always sad to see young people being used by sinister elements to advance their regressive agenda.

He also accused the DUP and Unionism of failing unionist working class communities through dangerous and irresponsible rhetoric.

A spokesperson for the Police Federation of Northern Ireland also voiced the organisations anger at the pressures being faced by police officers given the current political turmoil in Northern Ireland.

They said: Once again the workings of political flux in Northern Ireland results in our PSNI colleagues being attacked.

No excuse for violence and condemnation across the political spectrum would be welcome.

In recent evenings there has also been violence on the streets of Derry.

It is understood the unrest began on the same day as the PPS decision not to prosecute Sinn Fein politicians over the Storey funeral was announced,

Anti-PSNI and Northern Ireland protocol graffiti has appeared in the small loyalist enclaves of the city and on consecutive nights violence erupted in the Waterside areas of Lincoln Courts and in the Tullyalley area on the outskirts of Derry.

Like in Belfast, it is understood most of those involved in the violence were youths.

Petrol bombs were thrown at the police, who also seized 15 prepared petrol bombs on Wednesday.

During the disturbances wheelie bins were set alight in the middle of roads, while a digger parked at a construction site was burned and the Fire Service were attacked when they responded to the incident.

DUP MLA for Foyle, Gary Middleton, said that frustrations in the city should only be expressed in a democratic and peaceful way. Thats the only way we are going to achieve anything.
Before the pandemic, the cedar plankhouse called Cathlapotle would have been full of stories and fire. Every winter, the Chinook Indian Nation and neighboring tribes hold their annual gathering here, on their ancestral lands on a Columbia River floodplain, where red-winged blackbirds sing from the cattails and yellow-and-orange-eyed sandhill cranes strut on stilted legs. Its not far from the remnants of a village also called Cathlapotle, a major Chinookan trading town established around 1450 that once held as many as 16 plankhouses.

On sunny days when Cathlapotle is in use, the cedar beams glow warmly in the shafts of light streaming through the roofs smoke holes. People gather round the fires at the center, with a row of chairs for elders and children. The air echoes with talk and songs, and the smell of sweetgrass filters in from outside. But this winter, Cathlapotle was silent, nestled in untrodden green grass and fog, its doors closed.

Like other communities, Chinook tribal members have had to adapt to pandemic-induced isolation. Though scattered throughout the Pacific Northwest, people have recently gathered most Thursdays on Zoom, joined by members of the Confederated Tribes of the Grand Ronde and others.

One Thursday afternoon in early March, a group of Chinuk Wawa language teachers, basket-weavers and storytellers called in from their homes on the Grand Ronde Reservation, in Portland, Eugene and Willapa Bay, to share ikanum, or traditional stories. In consonant-heavy Chinuk Wawa, they caught up with each other and read aloud an ikanum translated from the Kathlamet dialect of Chinook. It recalled a time of hunger on the edge of spring, when the salmon people went up the Columbia and met with their aunties, the big and little wapato, and their uncles, the skunk cabbage and the rushroot.

The stories are important for cultural continuity and the way they bring people together. It really defines the whole way we look at the world, Tony Johnson, chairman of the Chinook Indian Nation, told me outside tribal headquarters in the tiny town of Bay Center, in southwestern Washington. Every landform here, every creek, every inlet has a connection to these stories. So if you know these stories, you see this place in a very different way.

For over 120 years, the Chinook Indian Nation has been trying to prove its sovereignty to the United States government by seeking formal federal recognition. Official status acknowledges the tribes sovereignty and the federal governments obligations to it as generally outlined in treaties. With federal recognition comes health care through the Indian Health Service, education through scholarships, and access to land through creation of a reservation. Today, there are 574 federally recognized tribes. Hundreds of others are unrecognized, though, with varying claims of legitimacy. The process for the Chinook has involved decades of litigation, petitions, congressional legislation and appeals to presidents  yet the tribe is still unrecognized. The impersonal bureaucracy obscures the personal urgency and pain that tribal members feel as time moves on, elders pass and children grow up.

The pandemic has exacerbated the Chinooks lack of the kind of social safety net recognized tribes possess. While the COVID-19 mortality rate of Indigenous people is almost 2.5 times that of white people, unrecognized tribes have not received any of the $8 billion in government aid passed by Congress last spring. Nor have they received priority for tests or vaccines. Instead, they have to rely on neighboring tribes like the Grand Ronde and the Shoalwater Bay Tribe to vaccinate their elder knowledge-keepers. Chinook tribal members sometimes refer to the lack of recognition as slow-motion genocide. Explain how its not genocide, Johnson said to me. Someone explain to me how its not.

Chinook Chief Cliff Snider tells stories about the history of the Chinooks, the arrival of Lewis and Clark, and the life of his ancestor Ilchee, whose sculpture at right is the centerpiece of the Ilchee Plaza at Columbia Shore. Joel Davis/The OregonianLC- THE OREGONIAN

THE CHINOOK INDIAN NATION is composed of five different bands: the Lower Chinook, Clatsop, Wahkiakum, Kathlamet and Willapa. Their ancestral lands stretch from Willapa Bay in Washington, across the Columbia River, and south through Oregon to Tillamook Head, along the Pacific Coast. Today, however, the nation has no reservation. All five bands signed treaties with the U.S. government in the 1850s that were supposed to establish multiple small reserves. But the Senate never ratified the treaties, so the tribes landholdings are small and scattered, like the 10 acres of land near Tansy Point, in Oregon, where some of the treaties were signed. Another plot lies just north of the Astoria-Megler Bridge, where a Chinookan flag of a salmon and a face snaps above a sign reading WELCOME TO UNCEDED CHINOOKAN TERRITORY. A few feet to the left is another sign: Welcome to Washington.

The tribal office is in Bay Center, surrounded by the nutrient-rich mudflats that have made Willapa Bays oysters famous; their sun-bleached, discarded shells create mounds the size of compact houses next to the processing warehouses.

Tony Johnson was born 20 minutes from here, in South Bend. Leadership is in his blood: He is descended from a Chinook treaty signer, and in 1899, his great-great-grandfather hired the first attorneys to help the tribe clarify its land rights, an early step in the battle for recognition. Johnsons father, Gary, was tribal chairman during a period in the early aughts when the Chinook were briefly recognized. Tony Johnson has continued his tribes campaign to regain that recognition.

Johnson speaks with gravity, but when he talks about recognition, its with a noticeable edge of impatience. Hes clearly had to talk about it a lot. He was first voted onto the tribal council in the 1990s, and has been tribal chairman since 2013, all the while working as a language and culture educator for other federally recognized tribes.

Johnson, who is 50 now, has seen the effects of the tribes lack of recognition firsthand: Chinookan elder knowledge-keepers get sick with cancer and die without proper treatment because they dont have health care; children are removed from their homes because the Indian Child Welfare Act doesnt protect them; community members with mental health or substance use disorders cannot access the resources available to recognized tribes. The current federal recognition process was originally created in the late 1970s as a way to undo the damage wrought by the Termination Era, a series of policies in the 1950s and 60s that ended the governments political relationship to targeted tribes and took even more land from Indigenous hands. Todays treatment of the Chinook recalls that time, when there was little legal protection from the countrys explicitly genocidal and assimilationist policies.

Any petitioning tribes claims clearly require verification, but the process involved  in which a colonial empire chooses whether to formally acknowledge an Indigenous nations sovereignty  is as problematic as it sounds. The wait time, which can last up to 40 years, requires evidence from the very people and institutions involved in the history of subjugation. Historical accounts by non-Native newspapers and anthropologists from as far back as 1900 can help prove a tribes legitimacy but the process doesnt always take into account how U.S. policy contributed to the very same historical erasure that today is seen as a deficiency in a tribes petition.

Some states also have their own recognition process, in which they treat a tribal nation similarly to how they would other federally recognized tribes. Not in Washington, however. If the Chinook want to repatriate an item, for example, they often have to partner with a federally recognized tribe to receive assistance. And state recognition is no replacement for federal recognition. We dont need the government to tell us were Indian, Ray Gardner, a former Chinook chairman, used to say to his fellow council members. We just need them to honor the treaty our ancestors signed. Gardner died in 2015, after a long battle with lung disease.

We dont need the government to tell us were Indian. We just need them to honor the treaty our ancestors signed.

The Chinook Indian Nation's Middle Village at Lewis and Clark's Station Camp, with St. Mary's McGowan behind, at Ilwaco, Washington. Terry Richard/The Oregonian LC- Terry Richard/The Oregonian

THE FEDERAL GOVERNMENT recognized the Chinook Indian Nation once, in 2001. It lasted for just 18 months, from the tail end of President Bill Clintons administration into the first year of President George W. Bushs. The nation has pursued multiple paths towards recognition, including a petition started in 1981 through whats now known as the Office of Federal Acknowledgment. In late 2000, Chairman Gary Johnson received a call from Kevin Gover, the assistant secretary of the Interior for Indian Affairs, inviting Johnson and the tribal council to Washington, D.C. Govers last act as secretary was to approve Chinooks petition for recognition.

Around a dozen Chinook tribal members attended the ceremony in D.C. in January 2001. Johnson wore a wool vest the colors of a desert sunset, his white hair in braids. Gover beamed as they signed the recognition papers in front of a quilted morning star hanging on the wall. Gover, a citizen of the Pawnee Nation of Oklahoma, apologized to Johnson for the decades it had taken. For those Chinooks who refused to leave, who refused to assimilate, and who sought to preserve the heritage of their grandmothers and grandfathers, this is their day, too, Gover said.

At home, the news came as a relief. There was a noticeable tension released from our territory, Tony Johnson said. It was this massive weight taken off of us. Chinook leadership knew there would be a comment period; a neighboring tribe, the Quinault Indian Nation, had opposed Chinook recognition over territorial rights in the past and might do so again. And that is what happened: Just days before the deadline, the Quinault objected. Eventually, the Bush administration retracted Clintons acknowledgment. I dont think weve recovered from the smothering feeling, Johnson says now. It has been the polar opposite of this collective breath. It brought back a ton of historical trauma in the community and then multiplied it.

A few years later, in 2005, Rachel Cushman, a tribal member who was finishing high school in Portland, Oregon, began applying to colleges and scholarships around the country. She was a finalist for the prestigious Gates Millennium Scholars Program, which would have supported her entire academic career, wherever she went. But ultimately, her Chinook certificate of Indian blood disqualified her: Her nation was not federally recognized. Losing the fellowship changed her life, Cushman says now. There were times where I was homeless, she told me. There were times where I had to make the choice: Do I buy my schoolbook and get that grade, or do I have a roof over my head?

In 2010, Cushman did graduate, from the University of Oregon. She gave the commencement speech wearing green robes and a woven cedar bark graduation cap, and she introduced herself in Chinuk Wawa, a creolized Chinookan language that once spanned from southern Oregon to Southeast Alaska. Today, she still lives in Eugene, part of the Chinook diaspora, and serves on the tribal council. Being on the tribal council, you are responsible for representing your people, and you then begin to have a greater understanding of how youre treated differently than recognized Indians, she said. And as a parent, I realized what opportunities my kids would have based on their status. Cushmans husband is an enrolled citizen of the Oneida Nation in the Midwest, so her young children have access to more educational opportunities than she did. The kids are already aware of their tribes status, and Kanim, her 7-year-old son, has participated in letter-writing campaigns seeking recognition. Although her children deeply identify as Chinook  they attend gatherings, their names are Chinookan, and Kanim was born during a Chinook potlatch  the government considers them solely Oneida.

Federal laws designed to protect Indigenous rights, including the Indian Child Welfare Act, dont apply to unrecognized tribes. As of 2015, Native children in Washington were put in foster care at a rate nearly four times higher than they are represented in the states general population, removed for problems that the tribe struggles to address: houselessness, incarceration and poverty. A decade ago, a research group in Washington found that Native children in the state were five times more likely to be removed from their families than white children. Cushmans own relatives in Oregon had children removed, though fortunately they were placed with a non-Native family who does keep in touch with the tribe and brings the children to cultural events. That doesnt always happen to kids who are adopted or fostered out; many never reconnect with their tribe or family. The families still struggle today because of past government policy, Cushman says. The governments refusal to recognize the tribe did not prevent it from taking Chinook children to settler-colonial boarding schools and subjecting them to federal Indian policy. Its cyclical, and its all (a) product of not being federally recognized, she said.

In 2013, the first of four canoes paddled by members of the Chinook Indian Nation arrive for a lunch stop at Vancouver, Washington. They were on a five-day canoe journey down the Lower Columbia River to honor ancestors and celebrate the river. Faith Cathcart/The Oregonian LC-

AS A CHILD, TONY JOHNSON often fished with his uncle and went clamming with his amily in the waters of Willapa Bay. Its an expansive, remote place, where gray skies still constitute a beautiful day. Johnsons family traveled for council meetings or community events and often visited Bay Center, a sleepy town without a grocery store, school or gas station, where many of Johnsons elders lived. As a kid, Tony absorbed their stories, peppering them with questions and listening to them speak Indigenous languages like Lower Chehalis and Chinuk Wawa.

He returned to South Bend after college, where he majored in silversmithing and studied anthropology and American Indian studies, but he didnt stay long. In 1997, he moved to Oregon when he got a job helping the Confederated Tribes of the Grand Ronde build a language program. At that time, only about a dozen people still spoke Chinuk Wawa, which was verging on extinction. Johnson, who is fluent in Wawa, worked on a 500-page dictionary, and in 2002, helped Grand Ronde launch a Chinuk Wawa immersion school. The schooling starts 30 days before a child turns 3, and continues five days a week through preschool and kindergarten. Students are entirely immersed in Chinuk Wawa. Throughout elementary school, a maintenance language program remains part of their regular education, keeping them fluent. The schools atmosphere is familial: Teachers are referred to as uncle, auntie or grandma, and the curriculum combines the place-based and cultural knowledge of the elders. Theres a whole unit on cedar and another on rushes that blend botany with music and history lessons. The unit on hazel notes that the best time to gather and peel hazel shoots for basket weaving is in spring, when buds are the size of a squirrels ear.

In 2005, Johnson married Mechele, a woman hed known since high school and a Chinook descendant enrolled with the Shoalwater Bay Tribe. Four of their five kids were enrolled in the Grand Ronde program. But the couple were homesick: In late 2010, they relocated to Willapa Bay, to be closer to relatives and work toward tribal recognition. Leaving the school he helped build was difficult for Johnson, whose younger kids would no longer have the same access to language immersion.

Cultural influences run deep. Sam Robinson, vice chairman of the Chinook Indian Nation, has the type of kindness about him that you can sense even from six feet away behind a surgical mask. When Robinson was a kid, his family frequently visited his great-aunts and uncles in Bay Center. In spring and fall, as soon as they turned off the highway and the bay came into view, he could smell the rich scent of fish in smokehouses. When his family went fishing, they didnt need state licenses; their blue cards, issued by the Bureau of Indian Affairs, recognized Chinook fishing rights. But that changed after a federal court decision in the 1970s, when fishing rights were quantified for recognized tribes in the Pacific Northwest. Unrecognized tribes, like the Chinook, were left out. Fifty years later, Robinson still has his dads blue card. He loves to be out on the water in Willapa Bay or the Columbia River, putting in thousands of paddle strokes on canoe journeys from Suquamish to Tulalip. But he doesnt fish anymore; he refuses to pay the state for a license to do something he believes that Indigenous people like him have the right to do.

IN THE SUMMER OF 2002, 18 months after the Chinook were formally acknowledged by the Clinton administration, Gary Johnson and his wife, Cristy, received an envelope from the Bush White House, addressed in looping script, inviting them to D.C. to commemorate Lewis and Clarks Voyage of Discovery. They attended with the other tribes whose ancestors had met Lewis and Clark during the expedition, bringing gifts including a 19th century hand-carved cedar canoe filled with a long string of beautiful beads. In the East Room of the White House, they listened to remarks by President George W. Bush and historians and tribal leaders. Two days later, while they were sight-seeing in D.C., Johnson got a phone call: Neal McCaleb, Bushs assistant secretary of the Interior for Indian Affairs, had rescinded Chinook recognition following the Quinault Indian Nations opposition.

The Quinault had argued that even though Chinookan families existed before 1951, they did not constitute a tribe with a united community and political authority. During a recent House of Representatives hearing about reforming the petition process, the Quinault objected to proposed changes, specifically citing the Chinooks petition. The Quinault maintain that they do not oppose the right of any group to seek a political relationship with the federal government. Rather, the tribe is against any federal action that could jeopardize its own treaty rights or sovereignty. In 2011, Pearl Capoeman-Baller, who was then the Quinault president, told The Seattle Post-Intelligencer: If the Chinook will permanently waive any rights to hunting, fishing, gathering and other treaty rights, she said. And if (they) will also waive any claims that the Chinook share government authority over the reservation, then the Quinault will withdraw objection to (federal) acknowledgment. (The Quinault Nation did not respond to questions about how Chinook recognition might jeopardize its treaty rights or sovereignty.)

In the final decision, McCaleb noted one reason for the reversal: As people who had been closely connected as children and young adults died, the succeeding generations interacted less often and intensely until the community of Chinook descendants became indistinguishable from the rest of the population  an ironically apt description of the stated purpose of past U.S. policies.

Ripples of shock and anger followed the news. Tony Johnson cut his hair in mourning. One prominent Chinook elder, elated by recognition, was close to death at the time. His family couldnt bring themselves to tell him that the decision had been reversed; they let him go believing the Chinook held their formally recognized status.

Tribal disagreements over recognition are not uncommon, especially given the rise of the gambling industry in the 1990s. States, federally recognized tribes and businesses all have competing interests and rights over land, water and wildlife. That can be compounded by the lack of funding in Indian Country by Congress.

The Quinault have opposed Chinook recognition since the Chinook first formally sought it, in 1981. (The Quinault also fought a petition by the Cowlitz Tribe in the 1990s.) A coastal nation comprising two tribes and descendants from several others, the Quinault live about 100 miles north of Bay Center. Their relationship with the Chinook is complicated; during one treaty negotiation, Chinook leaders made it clear to the U.S. governments representative that they did not want to move north onto the Quinault Reservation, in part because of past conflicts. Despite this, in the 1930s, the courts designated some of the lands on the Quinault Reservation for the Chinook and other tribes.

Today, a number of Chinook have moved north and enrolled as Quinault, and the two tribes share plenty of friends and relatives. In an oral history interview in 2012, though, Gary Johnson said that it was the Quinault government and its attorneys who knifed us in the back, adding that will be a hard one for Chinooks to forget. Years later, the opposition still hurts. Without that (ruling), we would be a totally different community 20 years later, one that is thriving, Johnson said in March. Knowing all that it has cost our family and our Chinook citizens, we live every day seeing the overall hurt of having that recognition rescinded.

ELIZABETH PICKERNELL, Tony Johnsons great-grandmother, was born when the salmonberries were in blossom. She was one of the last people born in a village of Wahkiakum Chinook, on the north side of the Columbia in the Pillar Rock area. Because the treaties signed by Chinook leaders called for a reservation in Willapa Bay, Pickernells family moved from the banks of the Columbia north to Bay Center, where they lived on Johnson Beach. Its a small, shell-covered beach on the west side of the little peninsula, which looks southwest across the bay toward Leadbetter Point, a hazy blue-gray ombre of hills in the distance. As a child, Pickernell was sent to Chemawa boarding school about 160 miles south in Salem, Oregon. Later, she tried to sign up for Social Security but didnt have a birthdate or certificate. The federal government told her to find witnesses to verify her birth. It was a surreal situation: having to prove something so self-evident. Its the same sensation that unrecognized tribal nations experience when required to go through the recognition process.

In 2009, the Little Shell Tribe of Chippewa Indians, then a tribe of around 4,300 based in the area of Great Falls, Montana, received a response to their petition for acknowledgment: 31 years after beginning the process, $2 million spent, and an amount of paperwork 35 feet high, and the government told them they wouldnt be recognized.

A week after the decision, the Senate Indian Affairs Committee held a hearing on the federal process, with some describing it as broken. Little Shell President John Sinclair emphasized that during the long petition process, an entire generation of elders had passed, while a generation of children had grown to adulthood. If we have a tribal recognition process that by and large gives answers after a lot of people are dead, it is not a process that works very well, Committee Chairman Sen. Byron Dorgan, D-N.D., said. A decade later, the Little Shell Tribe was finally recognized in Congress through an amendment attached to a must-pass spending bill.

The Chinook have attempted the congressional route themselves, three times since 2008. That year, Rep. Brian Baird, a Washington state Democrat, first introduced legislation in the House. But none of the bills advanced out of the House, nor were any introduced in the Senate. When youre advocating for one tribe, in one little corner of one state, Baird said, youre that one guy, unless you can build some national momentum. Sens. Maria Cantwell, D, Patty Murray, D, and Rep. Jaime Herrera Beutler, R, currently represent the tribe, but none have introduced legislation on its behalf. Herrera Beutler says the Chinook deserve to be heard, and she remains open to working with the tribe. A spokesperson for Murray says she is monitoring ongoing litigation and continues to listen closely to the voices of her constituents on this matter. (Cantwells office did not return requests for comment.)

Unless members of our congressional delegation are an active part and a champion of righting this wrong, then they are to some degree culpable for perpetuating the wrong, Baird told me over Zoom from his home in Edmonds, Washington. We need them to say in this time of social justice  them being the whole Washington state delegation  to say that for moral reasons, for legal reasons, for historical reasons, its time to reinstate Chinook recognition.

Since the Little Shells success in 2019, the Chinook have refocused on the congressional route. (Johnson and Little Shells president confer regularly.) Now theyre engaged in another letter-writing campaign, together with some of their allies, and working on new legislation to possibly introduce in the next Congress, depending on Cantwell, Murray and Herrera Beutler. At the same time, the tribe is pursuing legal action and, in 2020, it won a court case allowing it to re-petition the Office of Federal Acknowledgment.

AT TRIBAL GATHERINGS, whether council meetings or community events at the Cathlapotle plankhouse, there is always a front row of seats for tribal elders. Its a row that changes over time, with the passing years and then decades. When Sam Robinson, the nations vice-chairman, speaks with elders about the tribes latest recognition strategy, theyll often reply that they dont know if it will get done in their lifetime. Every time a new bill is introduced, or a petition moves forward, Robinson reassures them that this time its looking good. But then time passes, and the elders die. Robinson has been on the tribal council for 21 years now, and today he is in his 60s, an elder himself. You think youre going to be there and its going to happen, Robinson said. Gary Johnson, who turns 80 this spring, is still on the tribal council, too. Hes proud of the fourth generation of Chinookan tribal leaders, including his son Tony.

Tony Johnson also feels the pressure of passing time. I dont want another front row to pass away without seeing their birthrights acknowledged by a federal government who has reaped all the benefits of taking their familys lands, he told me. If you know there is a grave injustice and choose to do nothing about it, youre complicit.

He sometimes tells the ikanum of Pillar Rock, 22 miles upriver from the mouth of the Columbia, where Pickernell and the Wahkiakum part of his family comes from. In that story  which has many variations  a boy falls in love with a girl. He decides to visit her without a canoe and tries instead to wade across the Columbia River, but is turned to stone to teach him a lesson about adulthood. He formed Pillar Rock, a monolith some 75 to 100 feet tall, depending on the tide. In the 1800s, the rock was blasted with dynamite to serve as a shipping marker; its now just a small mound of what it once was. Its a crime, really, that they did that, Johnson said. These are crimes against a culture and against a people.

I want to think that if people invested themselves or had respect for these teachings and stories, and actually took a moment to focus on them and learn about them, that maybe theyd treat (us) differently, Johnson said. And Im hoping theres a time coming that thats true.

Anna V. Smith is an assistant editor for High Country News. This story was originally published at High Country News (hcn.org) on April 1, 2021.
ADVERTISEMENT

The National Drug Law Enforcement Agency (NDLEA) says it has intercepted illicit drugs worth over N12 million within the first quarter of 2021.

The NDLEA State Commander, Josephine Obi, stated this in a report in Ibadan on Saturday.

The report was signed by the commands Public Relations Officer, Mutuiat Okuwobi.

She said the seizure comprised of 580.4024kg of Cannabis sativa and other narcotics substances.

According to her, operatives of the command within the period under review, also arrested 95 people including, 88 men and seven women suspected of committing various drug offences.

She noted that during the period, 19 suspected traffickers were convicted for various drug offences.

She identified peer influence as a major contributing factor to increased drug abuse among youths and called for collaborative efforts to fight illicit drug trafficking in the state.

We have taken sensitisation programmes to schools as part of our efforts against the production, trafficking and consumption of illicit drugs and other illegal substances in the state.

We encourage those whose children and wards are involved in drug abuse not to give up on them as treatment works.

ALSO READ: NDLEA intercepts over N2bn illicit drugs at Lagos airport

They should visit the NDLEA office where we can take them in or refer them to other centres in the state for treatment and rehabilitation.

Between January and March, the command gave brief counselling to 13 people who used drugs while five are presently undergoing residential rehabilitation, she said.

She added that reducing drug trafficking and abuse would go a long way in reducing crimes and insecurity in the state. (NAN)
Bill Gates reads 50 books a year. But you can read four books a day. Well, not whole books. But enough to get the main takeaways.

You can learn about rocket science over breakfast, stock trading over lunch, and The Seven Habits of Highly Effective People over dinner, says a blurb from Blinkist, one of a host of popular apps designed for readers eager for knowledge but short on time to acquire it. This way, you can become a learning machine!

Sally Tabner, director of Bookoccino Bookshop. Credit:James Brickwood

But for some, the idea of becoming a learning machine calls into question the whole purpose of reading books.

For Sally Tabner, who is the director of Bookoccino Bookshop on Sydneys northern beaches, the trend is part of the bastardisation of knowledge.
The civilian death toll in the crackdown by the Myanmar junta has reached 550 since the February 1 coup, a human rights group has said.

Of those, 46 were children, according to Myanmars Assistance Association for Political Prisoners.

Some 2,751 people have been detained or sentenced, the group added.

Threats of lethal violence and arrests of protesters have failed to suppress daily demonstrations across Myanmar calling for the military to step down and reinstate the democratically elected government.

Expand Close Anti-coup protesters throw garbage to block a road as a form of a silent protest in Yangon (AP) / Facebook

Twitter

Email

Whatsapp Anti-coup protesters throw garbage to block a road as a form of a silent protest in Yangon (AP)

Late on Friday, armed plainclothes police took five people into custody after they spoke with a CNN reporter in a Yangon market, local media reported. The arrests occurred in three separate incidents.

Two women reportedly shouted for help as they were being arrested, Myanmar Now news service reported.

One police officer, who was carrying a gun, asked if anyone dared to help them, a witness told the news service.

They pointed their pistols at everyone  at passers-by, and at people in the store, a witness said of two police officers who forcibly took away two other women in the market.

Meanwhile, the Karen National Union representing the ethnic minority rebel group that has been fighting the government for decades condemned non-stop bombings and air strikes against villages and unarmed civilians in their homeland along the border with Thailand.

Expand Close Security forces stand by on Hledan road in Kamayut township of Yangon (AP) / Facebook

Twitter

Email

Whatsapp Security forces stand by on Hledan road in Kamayut township of Yangon (AP)

The group said in a statement: The attacks have caused the death of many people including children and students, and the destruction of schools, residential homes, and villages. These terrorist acts are clearly a flagrant violation of local and international laws.

In areas controlled by the Karen, more than a dozen civilians have been killed and around 20,000 displaced since March 27, according to the Free Burma Rangers, a relief agency operating in the region.

About 3,000 Karen fled to Thailand, but many returned under unclear circumstances.

Thai authorities said they went back voluntarily, but aid groups say they are not safe and many are hiding in the jungle and in caves on the Myanmar side of the border.

A five-year-old boy was amongst those killed by security forces on 27 March in #Myanmar. Military leaders must be held accountable for these atrocity crimes. The people of Myanmar must be protected. pic.twitter.com/yaYLM53DkM  Amnesty International (@amnesty) March 30, 2021

More than a dozen minority groups have sought greater autonomy from the central government for decades, sometimes through armed struggle.

Several of the major groups  including the Kachin, the Karen and the Rakhine Arakan Army  have denounced the coup and said they will defend protesters in their territories.

On Friday, After weeks of overnight cut-offs of internet access, Myanmars military shut all links apart from those using fiberoptic cable, which was working at drastically reduced speeds.

Access to mobile networks and all wireless  the less costly options used by most people in the developing country  remains blocked on Saturday.

The coup reversed years of slow progress toward democracy in Myanmar, which for five decades languished under strict military rule that led to international isolation and sanctions.

As the generals loosened their grip, culminating in Aung San Suu Kyis rise to leadership in 2015 elections, the international community responded by lifting most sanctions and pouring investment into the country.
Canadas third wave of the COVID-19 pandemic is now surging across the country. Yet Canadas governments, from Doug Fords hard-right Tory regime in Ontario to John Horgans purportedly progressive New Democratic Party administration in British Columbia, are refusing to take the emergency measures needed to stop the pandemics spread.

With ICUs reaching capacity, and health experts warning that the new more contagious and lethal COVID-19 variants are now driving the pandemic, governments at all levels are pursuing a policy of social murder. Prioritizing business profits over human lives, they are keeping virtually all workplaces and schools open.

The callous indifference of Canadas elite to working peoples health and lives was epitomized by Thursdays announcement from Ontario Premier Ford of a four-week shutdown that is anything but. While Ford talked of applying an emergency brake, he did little more than ease his ample weight on the accelerator, with the boldest step a ban on in-person dining and drinking.

A member of the Canadian Armed Forces working at a Quebec nursing home during last springs first wave. (Canadian Dept. of Defence)

Even sections of the corporate media felt compelled to admit that virtually nothing will change, especially in the areas of that province that have been hardest hit by the current surge in infectionsMetro Toronto, the adjacent Peel Region, Hamilton, Sudbury and Thunder Bay.

Ontarios schools will remain open, even though dozens have had to be ordered closed in recent weeks due to major COVID-19 outbreaks. The same is true of industrial workplaces, although they are being ravaged by COVID-19 as exemplified by the numerous outbreaks at Peel Region warehouses and factories, including the outbreak that has sickened hundreds of workers at Amazons 5,000-strong Brampton Heritage Road facility since January.

The toll the more infectious and deadly variants is taking on the working class is shown by the ever younger average age of patients ending up in ICUs. According to Macleans, the number of ICU patients in Ontario under 60 is 50 percent higher than it was on December 26, near the peak of the second wave.

Overall, the new variants are proving far more dangerous. Ontarios Science Table recently reported that they pose a 63 percent higher risk of hospitalization, a 103 percent higher risk of ICU admission, and a 56 percent greater risk of death.

Ontarios seven-day average of new daily COVID-19 infections reached 2,340 on Thursday, up from 1,600 just 10 days before. Meanwhile, the number of ICU patients rose to a record 421. During the winter, the provincial government repeatedly warned that any rise above 350 ICU patients with coronavirus would make it extremely difficult to provide adequate care to other patients.

Directly repudiating the scientific evidence, which indicates that schools are a major vector in the transmission of the new variants, Fords widely-hated Education Minister, Stephen Lecce, asserted Thursday that schools remain safe. There are no plans to order school closures province-wide, he added, even though a growing number of medical experts are warning that this is the only way to avoid a total collapse of the health care system. As Dr. Nathan Stall, a researcher at Torontos Mount Sinai Hospital and a member of Ontarios Science Table, bluntly put it in an interview with CTV News, When you do not act to control the pandemic early, swiftly, and get things under control, and you push your healthcare system this far and you try and compensate not by preventing people from getting sick, but by building field hospitals and opening new hospitals, you are going to end up in this predictable situation where eventually, you can no longer cope.

In neighbouring Quebec, Premier Francois Legault has enforced further school openings even as virus cases spike. Last week, he told English-language school boards in the Greater Montreal area to bring all students back for in-person learning, and followed up this week with a government decree that ordered the school boards to force all high school students to return to class full-time.

Skyrocketing infections nonetheless compelled his government to announce the closure Wednesday of schools in three areas, including Quebec City and Gatineau. Yet Legault plans to keep them closed for a mere 10 days, i.e., less time than the lifespan of a single virus infection.

Alberta recorded its highest daily increase in cases Wednesday since mid-January, when Jason Kenneys United Conservative Party (UCP) government was forced to open field hospitals in Edmonton and Calgary to cope with the overwhelming of hospitals. Albertas test positivity rate was 6.52 percent on Wednesday, the 10th day in a row that it had exceeded 5 percent. The World Health Organization advises that test positivity rates of 5 percent or more indicate that a pandemic is out of control.

Alberta, whose UCP government has repeatedly boasted of its support for an open economy, currently has the highest per capita infection rate of any province. Although the government claimed that its rush to reopen schools and the economy in January and February was tied to a drop in the number of ICU patients below 300, this figure was breached this week with no new restrictions being announced.

In BC, cases are also rising dramatically, driven by close to 200 confirmed cases of COVID-19 variants. On Wednesday, the province recorded more than 1,000 daily infections for the first time since the pandemic began.

John Horgans NDP government continues to refuse to close schools, and is still using a fraudulent system to inform the public about infections in education institutions. This consists of counting every outbreak in a school as an exposure, regardless of the number of infections it has caused. Due to this suppression of critical information, the full extent of the virus spread is totally unclear. There have been numerous reports of parents only finding out by accident that their child has been exposed to the virus.

Illustrating the rapid increase in infections across the country, active cases in Canada shot up from around 36,000 on March 23 to over 46,000 one week later. The peak of the first wave, which claimed over 8,000 lives, was around 34,000 active cases in late May 2020.

Presiding over and facilitating this disastrous state of affairs is the Trudeau Liberal government. It spearheaded the reckless reopening of the economy, beginning in April 2020, and egged on the right-wing, anti-worker provincial governments to dismantle COVID-19 restrictions. The federal government provided them up to $19 billion in additional funding last year that was tied to reopening schools and the economy. Its September throne speech bluntly declared that any future lockdowns should be short-term and implemented at the local level, i.e., totally ineffectual. Meanwhile, the Trudeau government has lavished over $650 billion in emergency bailout funds on Canadas big banks and corporations to ensure the protection of their profits and vast wealth.

Trudeau has all but washed his hands of any direct responsibility for the shambolic public health response to the virus second and third waves, which have driven total COVID-19 deaths to more than 23,000. His government has refused to eliminate Stephen Harpers austerity cap on health care transfers to the provinces, which have starved hospitals of funding for years, helping create the abysmal conditions health care workers confront.

Like the provinces, the Liberal government is relying on the various vaccines to suppress the third waveweeks or even months henceand effectively telling the population, above all the working class, to fend for themselves till then. This under conditions where Canadas vaccine rollout has been plagued by disorganization and shortages. According to Our World in Data, as of April 1, just 13.8 percent of Canadians had received a first dose and less than 2 percent were fully vaccinated.

The criminality of the ruling elite is confronting mounting opposition in the working class.

Six out of nine schools in the Sir Wilfred Laurier School Board in Greater Montreal rejected Legaults order to return to full in-person learning. Students at Westmount High School in Montreal wore signs on their clothing this week to denounce the governments reckless policy.

At Heritage School on Montreals South Shore, students walked out Wednesday in protest over the governments plan. We arent a game to be played, were not lab rats. Our lives matter, remarked protest leader Desreen Howell. We could catch COVID and have no choice. And the government, rather than doing whats best for the students or teachers, is doing what will line their pocket.

An Ontario teacher contacted the World Socialist Web Site to describe his recent experiences in Brampton, the epicentre of the pandemic in Canadas most populous province. My kids elementary school had an outbreak on Tuesday, but they didnt close the school, he said. We kept them home yesterday and today. One of the students in my class asked for an extension for his assignment yesterday. When I asked why, he said he and his whole family came down with COVIDa family of five in Brampton. The dad is in a bad way. How are schools safe?

The government strategy to keep schools open so parents can go to work and maintain business profits is not working for us, added Michael, a caretaker for the Toronto District School Board. The resurgence merits a lockdown but the federal and provincial governments are staying status quo. They should have closed all non-essential workplaces and the big drivers of the infection rateAmazon fulfillment centers and big plants. It is a losing battle because they wont do the big lockdowns that are needed. The big giants, the Amazons, the President Choice warehouses, are profiting big time. There is a lack of financial support for people to stay at home to get the cases down.

The only way the looming catastrophe produced by the ruling elites ruinous policies can be averted is through the independent political intervention of the working class.

Workers must fight for a lockdown worthy of the name, including the closure of all schools to in-person learning, the shuttering of all nonessential production, and the paying of full wages to all workers and families affected until the pandemic is over. The resources to fund such urgent measures, including the provision of billions of dollars to the health care system, must be seized from the super-rich and redistributed to meet social need.

To fight for such a program, workers must form rank-and-file safety committees in every workplace and neighbourhood, independent of the pro-capitalist trade unions, which have sided with the ruling class policy of reopening the economy and suppressed struggles by teachers and other sections of workers to secure safe working conditions.
When Mitt Romney complained on Twitter that President Joe Biden was not practising enough bipartisanship, one prominent gun control activist was not impressed.

Who is being partisan? Fred Guttenberg replied. Your party has made it clear they will not do what Americans want.

Mr Guttenberg has publicly advocated for stricter gun laws since 2018, when he lost his 14-year-old daughter, Jaime, in the Stoneman Douglas High School shooting in Parkland, Florida.

A Senate evenly split between both parties and a bare Democratic House majority are hardly a mandate to go it alone, the Republican senator wrote . The President should live up to the bipartisanship he preached in his inaugural address.

Read more:

Ok @MittRomney, lets try this, Mr Guttenberg responded . Background checks are supported by 90% of Americans & a bipartisan House vote. Every Republican, including you, will likely vote against [it] in the Senate.

Studies have shown that large majorities of Americans, including gun owners, support background checks for firearm purchases, as well as other regulations . Its also true that the House of Representatives recently passed two bills to expand background checks, with the support of some Republican members  but not many.

As of Saturday, Mr Romney had not responded to Mr Guttenbergs tweet. Other Twitter users did, however.

I couldnt have said it better, one wrote. Thank you, Fred.

This is such a perfect response, another said. Watching from North of the border I cannot figure this guy out. Every time he shows a glimmer of decency he then always takes a step back.

Mr Romneys record on guns is complicated. As governor of Massachusetts, he extended a ban on assault weapons and publicly distanced himself from the National Rifle Association . As a candidate for president in 2012, however, he became a lifetime member of the organisation and said he opposed any new gun control measures.

Mr Romneys office has not yet responded toThe Independents request for comment.
Around 270 migrants trying to cross the Mediterranean are in "critical" shape after passing merchant ships refused to rescue them, a migrant charity said on Saturday

Rome, (APP - UrduPoint / Pakistan Point News - 3rd Apr, 2021 ) :Around 270 migrants trying to cross the Mediterranean are in "critical" shape after passing merchant ships refused to rescue them, a migrant charity said on Saturday.

"The situation of the ~270 people at sea is still critical," tweeted Alarm Phone, a volunteer-run Mediterranean rescue hotline.

"They have all been abandoned at sea for many hours at risk of drowning. We don't want another Easter tragedy!" the group posted.

The three boats -- two with approximately 110 people on board each, and the other carrying around 60 -- were within or near the confines of Malta and Italy's search-and-rescue zones, according to Alarm Phone.

Yet Malta's armed forces and the Italian coast guard had refused to assist or coordinate rescue by passing merchant vessels, the group said -- an account that could not immediately be verified.

Neither authority immediately responded to requests for comment by telephone and email.

Alarm Phone first signalled the presence of three boats carrying migrants late Friday.

Another humanitarian group, Sea-Watch, wrote on Twitter late Friday that its aircraft had located the three boats signalled by Alarm Phone.

The German migrant rescue group similarly appealed to two nearby merchant ships to rescue those on board.

On Saturday morning, Alarm Phone reported that people aboard the smaller vessel told them water was now beginning to enter the boat, while the approximately 100 people in another boat were "in panic", without food and water for 40 hours.

Alarm Phone said it had lost contact with the third boat carrying about 110 people southwest of Malta.

"With the criminalisation and hindering of #NGO rescue operations, merchant vessels are the only potential rescue assets at sea," Alarm Phone wrote.

"Yet, both Maltese and Italian authorities refuse to order them to rescue or to organise any form of assistance."More than 1,200 migrants died last year trying to reach Europe by crossing the Mediterranean, according to the International Organization for Migration (IOM).

Since January, about 300 migrants have died or gone missing during the dangerous journey, the UN agency said.
Serious concerns have been raised about the prospect of a mass gathering in Limerick, as a "genuine risk" of a fourth wave remains.

The gathering, understood to be a protest, is part of a larger campaign of 'freedom walks' which look set to take place in various locations across the country on Easter Sunday.

A spokesperson for the Department of Public Health Mid-West said it is not aware of any organised public events.

However, while it said it acknowledged the exercise of free speech and fair comment, it said it would be seriously concerned about any gathering of any kind at such a critical time in the ongoing effort to stamp out Covid-19 in the community.

The current restrictions and public health guidelines are in place to protect the entire population," said the spokesperson.

There is a genuine risk of a fourth wave, which would lead to another increase in illness, hospital admissions, and death.

The only way we can protect our most vulnerable is by adhering to the guidelines collectively. This is because the B117 variant of Covid-19 is more transmissible than previous strains, and quickly moves from one setting to another when we drop our guards."

Meanwhile, University Maternity Hospital Limerick has urged anyone who is aware of problems accessing the facility safely to contact hospital management.

It comes after reports of ongoing protests outside the hospital. A spokesperson for UL Hospitals Group said it had not received any complaints from service users or staff about protests.

The first priority for hospital management is to ensure the safety of our patients, and we are mindful of anything that would hinder or impede access to our site and the services we provide there, said the spokesperson.
The World Bank has committed a third of its funding to fight climate change. (Photo: Johannes P. Christ/REUTERS)

The World Bank Group has committed 35% of its financing over the next five years to supporting the objectives of the 2015 Paris climate agreement and expects to complete this realignment by July 1, 2023,

World Bank President David Malpass said 85% of new investments by the International Finance Corporation and the Multilateral Investment Guarantee Agency would be aligned by this date, and 100% by July 1, 2025. Both IFC and MIGA are members of the World Bank Group.

In addition, Malpass pledged the World Bank's assistance to developing countries striving to achieve measurable reductions in greenhouse gas emissions. He also vowed to mobilize large-scale resources to aid the transition out of coal.

Malpass said these moves are part of the bank's new "Climate Change Action Plan" focused on taking urgent action to mitigate climate change. The new plan commits the bank to make financing decisions supporting efforts to limit global warming.

Malpass said 50% of the bank's climate financing would support climate adaptation and resilience. The bank will back transformative investments in energy, food systems, transport, and manufacturing. It will also significantly increase loans to countries seeking to transition away from coal.

"Our collective responses to climate change, poverty, and inequality are defining choices of our age," said Malpass.

He said the new plan emphasizes the need to "help countries maximize the impact of climate finance, with measurable improvements in livelihoods through adaptation, and measurable reductions in greenhouse gas emissions through mitigation."

He pointed out the bank has provided $83 billion in climate finance over the past five years. These huge sums reached their highest at $21.4 billion in 2020, and the new plan will see those levels increase even more.

The bank will adopt new metrics that facilitate a greater focus on reducing greenhouse gas emissions, adaptation, and resilience, and expand its climate diagnostics through new Country Climate and Development Reports.

The new plan builds on a major set of climate targets for 2021-2025 set in 2018. The old plan doubled the bank's five-year investments to $200 billion to encourage countries to take ambitious climate action as they battle climate change.

It significantly boosted support for adaptation and resilience measures, and recognized mounting climate change impacts on lives and livelihoods, especially in the world's poorest countries.

The $200 billion consists of $100 billion in direct finance from the World Bank and $100 billion of combined direct finance from IFC, MIGA and private capital mobilized by the World Bank Group.
New Delhi, April 3 : Vidyamandir Classes, a premier national institute for IIT/JEE and NEET preparation is organising, a series of lectures with a various renowned faces in the field of medical in India called "Lectures by Legends".

The first lecture will be held on April 4 with Padma Shree Awardee K.K. Agarwal, President of Elect Confederation of Medical Association of Asia and Oceania.

The focus of this series is to encourage aspiring doctors by guiding them with the correct approach of preparation for different medical entrance examinations, the future of medical and surgical fields in India and the present advancement in medicine.

Agarwal will also guide the frontline corona worriers and all others on how to protect themselves from Covid-19 and on the vaccine.

The World Health Organization (WHO) recommends a standard ratio of 1:1000 (doctor to population ratio).

Data shows that only eleven among India's 28 states meet the WHO recommendation, while none in the public healthcare sector are a part of this data.

Hence, there is a need to address the demand-supply gap and this series is an initiative towards bridging the gap by enlightening the students on the importance of the medical profession.

This event will be held virtually and approximately 1,000 doctors and 7,000 students are expected to attend it.

Saurabh Kumar, Director Academics Vidyamandir Classes, will be hosting the event and will further help the medical aspirants to figure out the right stream according to their abilities.

Speaking on this occasion, Brij Mohan, Founder, Vidyamandir Classes added: "We provide the best quality education to our students who in turn make us proud with their results. Hence, we are starting this series to make the students further aware on the practicality of the medical field. This enlightening series will not only help the students but also the present practitioners of the industry."
Police in Ho Chi Minh City have carried out the deportation of 59 foreigners who made illegal entries into Vietnam.

According to the police, these illegal immigrants entered Vietnam through small trails in the northern border region under the organization of some Vietnamese people.

They then traveled by passenger bus to Ho Chi Minh City in transit to Cambodia for work.

All of them completed quarantine period and tested negative for the novel coronavirus before being expelled from Vietnam by the Ho Chi Minh City police on March 31.

In another case, the municipal police on March 22 took legal proceedings against and arrested Tran Anh Tai, 47, from District 10, Dong Duy Tri, 40, from Go Vap District, and Trinh Minh Hoang, 34, from southernmost Ca Mau Province for organizing the illegal stay of foreigners in Vietnam.

The decisions of legal proceedings and arrest warrant had been approved by the People's Procuracy of Ho Chi Minh City.

Through specialized tasks and the report of local people, Ho Chi Minh City police determined that Tai, in collaboration with Tri and Hoang, who are the two co-owners of Symphony hotel in District 1, had allowed many Chinese people to stay at the hotel before their traveling to southern An Giang Province to enter Cambodia.

The citys and District 1s police arrested 35 Chinese people at Symphony hotel on March 6 and sent to the quarantine facility in Cu Chi District.

During the investigation into the case, Tai, Tri, and Hoang admitted their illegal act.

Like us on Facebook or follow us on Twitter to get the latest news about Vietnam!
Wexford County Council (WCC) has been urged to provide parking for visiting motorhomes this summer or risk a repeat of the 'bedlam' which occurred in coastal resorts last year.

Speaking at the monthly meeting of the Gorey Kilmuckridge Municipal District (GKMD), Cllr Mary Farrell said she was already receiving queries from prospective visitors to the county, motorhome owners who hoped to holiday in Wexford this summer.

'I'm getting a lot of questions about motorhomes and about them not having a safe space to pull in at night in the north of the county,' she said.

'I put this to planning and was told there was very strict guidelines in place, that we would have to have fully certified sites and it is not going to grant permissions to any ad-hoc sites.'

Although WCC is accepting applications from those who wish to set up sites in the district, Cllr Farrell said there simply wasn't enough time for someone to find 'the funding and resources to develop a fully serviced site at this stage.'

'The cost in that is going to be huge for any individual who is even thinking about it,' she continued. 'This is a contradiction, we're trying to encourage tourism to the area and yet, when we try and come up with a solution, the obstacle is planning.

Expand Close Call for facilities: Cllr Pip Breen / Facebook

Twitter

Email

Whatsapp Call for facilities: Cllr Pip Breen

'We're encouraging people to come and we're not providing the facilities for them. Nobody is asking to open up a field and just let people into it, a lot of these motorhome owners are self-sufficient; they have their own toilets, shower facilities, cooking, all they need is somewhere to empty their waste and maybe have a fresh water supply.'

'But the issue is the parking, where are they going to go? When they do pull up and park they're creating problems, they're taking up spaces.'

With restrictions unlikely to have eased enough for Irish people to travel abroad this summer, Councillor Pip Breen feared a repeat of the scenes witnessed at beaches last summer.

'This will be the big summer for the camper van because no one will be going outside the country,' he said. 'There were days last year when there was more the 20 camper vans parked in Cahore, the whole place was bedlam.

'And it's going to be the very same all the way from Castletown to the Hook and back. People need to get away and if they're coming here we need to find somewhere for them to stay. This is essential, we have to do this, we're obliged to do it if they're here.'

Having previously raised this issue with Tom Enright, CEO of WCC, Cllr Fionntan O Suilleabhain said he had been given 'assurances that local developers could send in their proposals'.

'I would like a message to go out to them that they would be facilitated,' said Cllr O Suilleabhain. 'Could we get clarification from Tom Enright that applicants will be facilitated because it's absolutely crucial to this year's tourism season that we have camper van or motorhome facilities?'

Agreeing with Cllr Farrell's suggestion that a letter be written to Head Office, Cathaoirleach Cllr Joe Sullivan asked why the many pub car parks across the district couldn't be temporarily used to house motor-homes.

'We have a situation where you have publicans with large car parks, if they allow 3-4 camper vans to stay overnight, is planning going to be approaching them halfway through the summer and telling them they have no planning permission so you can't have motor-homes there?' he asked. 'We have to find out what the attitude to this is at executive level and see how tolerant they're going to be this year. We need to live in the real world for a small bit, for a year or two, until we get the pandemic sorted.'

And Cllr Breen warned that failure to provide parking for motorhomes would lead to further chaos down the line.

'People are going to come to Wexford anyway, they'll park wherever they can find a spot, they did it all last summer, and there'll be even more of them this summer,' he said.

'If we don't provide them with a place to park you'll have people calling the guards saying they shouldn't be there and then there'll be rows. We need a short-term fix, this won't be the case next year or the year after. If we're interested in tourism we have to cater for them.'

As a publican himself, Cllr Willie Kavanagh was more than open to the suggestion that his premises could be used for those visiting the area in the holiday season.

'There's plenty of pubs along the coastline with big car parks that could accommodate four or five camper vans any night,' he said. 'They like to pull into pub car parks because they can have a drink and something to eat, use the toilet facilities the next morning, have their breakfast and go on their way.

'Maybe we should be turning a blind eye to it if they're parking in pub car parks and not have them clogging up the car parks down at the seaside?'

District Manager Liz Stanley confirmed that a letter regarding the issue would be drafted and sent to the CEO.
Michelle ODowd pictured arriving with her family at the Crowne Plaza Hotel in Dublin last Friday (26th) to begin the quarantine period

A Sligo woman and her family who arrived home to Ireland and have to quarantine for 12 days have been moved to larger rooms.

Michelle O'Dowd, a native of Easkey, had raised issues surrounding the suitability of their accommodation at the Crowne Plaza Hotel close to Dublin Airport.

Ms O'Dowd, along with her husband Ciaran O'Reilly and three children Muireann, Saoirse and Cadhla, arrived back in Ireland last Friday having been in Perth in Australia for the last five years. She will start work as a nurse in Sligo University Hospital in the coming weeks.

The family have to spend time in quarantine as their return to Ireland included a brief stop over to change planes in Dubai , which is part of the United Arab Emirates. The UAE is currently on a list of red countries which require a period of mandatory quarantine on return to Ireland.

It's understood their stop-off in Dubai was for less than 90 minutes. They had planned to spend time in isolation in a house in Easkey, but only realised shortly before they were due to leave Perth that they would have to book mandatory time in quarantine in Ireland due to regulation changes introduced by the government here recently.

Having gone into the facility at the Crowne Plaza Hotel, Ms O'Dowd told media outlets over the weekend that the rooms given to the family were not suitable. She said there was no place to eat or exercise, and the rooms were too small.

Expand Close The family werent happy initially with the accommodation provided at a Dublin hotel in quarantine / Facebook

Twitter

Email

Whatsapp The family werent happy initially with the accommodation provided at a Dublin hotel in quarantine

However, the family have now been moved to more appropriate rooms. They have also urged the authorities to ensure there is no repeat of their experience for those who will have to quarantine in the weeks ahead. Appeals by the family to forego the quarantine in the hotel in Dublin were unsuccessful.

There is a significant cost attached to a period of quarantine. A 12-night standard rate inclusive of all services at the is 1,875 per person. It is then 625 for another adult or child over 12, while the rate for children between 4 and 12 is 360.

In response to the story over the weekend, the Department of Health said: "If a passenger believes they are not required to undergo quarantine or are required to leave quarantine early, they may request a review," a spokesperson stated.

"The Department of Health is in constant contact with Tifco Hotel Group about all issues relating to the management of mandatory hotel quarantine.

"At all times, our priority is to ensure that everyone completing their period of mandatory quarantine is comfortable and secure. The department and Tifco continue to work together to ensure this is the case."

Speaking to Susan Keogh on Newstalk Breakfast on Sunday morning, Ms O'Dowd said her issues were not with the idea of quarantine itself - rather the suitability of the accommodation.

"I've absolutely no problem with hotel mandatory quarantine, I think it should have been implemented a year ago and it should have been implemented for everybody.

"I want to make extremely clear it's not mandatory quarantine I have an issue with, it has worked extremely well for Australia and as a result we have lived normal lives for the last year. So it does really work."

She said their new surroundings were more comfortable.

"This morning is a very different morning because we've been actually upgraded to suites, we moved up yesterday at 6.30pm," Ms O'Dowd said.

"The hotel have been very helpful, but there will be other families arriving going into the rooms that we left yesterday and there will be lots more families coming to this facility. So it's of massive concern.

"The room we were in yesterday, there is absolutely no room for any children to play, which is taking away their basic right as a child, protocols weren't followed properly from the minute we landed, there was no test on arrival which we believed. There was just a litany of disasters to be honest."

Deputy Marc MacSharry told The Sligo Champion that he agreed with the idea of quarantining, but that 'an element of common sense needed to be applied to exceptional circumstances and I think this applied in this case'.
Source: Xinhua| 2021-04-03 04:43:21|Editor: huaxia

Video Player Close

A Palestinian policeman works on a road in the southern Gaza Strip city of Khan Younis amid a lockdown, on April 3, 2021. The Islamic Hamas movement, which is in control of the Gaza Strip, tightened on Friday precautionary measures to battle the fast spread of the coronavirus. According to a statement by the Hamas-run interior ministry, a night lockdown is imposed from 9 p.m. until 6 a.m. every day, and on Fridays and Saturdays, traffic, public markets, and shops are closed except bakeries and pharmacies. (Photo by Yasser Qudih/Xinhua)

GAZA, April 2 (Xinhua) -- The Islamic Hamas movement, which is in control of the Gaza Strip, tightened on Friday precautionary measures to battle the fast spread of the coronavirus.

The Hamas-run interior ministry said in a statement that the tightened measures came after the local health authorities recorded the first cases of the new variants of the virus.

The statement said a night lockdown is imposed from 9 p.m. until 6 a.m. every day, and on Fridays and Saturdays, traffic, public markets, and shops will be closed except bakeries and pharmacies.

The new measures also included the closure of wedding halls and the banning of indoor and outdoor wedding parties at home or on the streets, but schools will remain open from Sunday to Thursday, according to the statement.

The Gaza Strip has recently witnessed an unexpected surge in daily COVID-19 infections after the detection of more contagious strains in the besieged Palestinian enclave.

On Friday, the Ramallah-based Palestinian health ministry said 2,248 new COVID-19 cases and 16 deaths were registered across the Palestinian territories during the last 24 hours. Of the total infections registered, 1,063 were from the West Bank while the remaining 1,185 were in the Gaza Strip.

Vaccination campaigns have been carried out across the West Bank and the Gaza Strip. So far, 89,933 people have received their first jab of the vaccine in the West Bank and the Gaza Strip, while 10,146 have received the second dose, according to the health ministry. Enditem
By William Schwartz | Published on 2021/04/02

Byeong-soo (played by Kwak Do-won) is a bumbling Daejeon police officer, a sort of regional cop in the Joe Don Baker mold of being a crude loudmouth but not necessarily bad at his job. At least that was my initial impression. Then "The Golden Holiday" decided to get focused on a plot that is somehow simultaneously convoluted yet also really boring. The short of it is, Byeong-soo takes his family on vacation to the Phillipines with the secret motive of hunting down Japanese gold.

Somewhat incredibly, most of that summary doesn't even matter when it comes to the story. Byeong-soo's family never actually does anything. They just have a vacation while Byeong-soo is running around in the underworld, and seem underconcerned when they finally do find out what he's been up to. And the whole Japanese gold thing is incredibly silly, as are other turnabouts involving Byeong-soo being heavily in debt and corruption in his local police department.

Really, writer/director Kim Bong-han could have trimmed a lot of the fat off this movie by just having Byeong-soo's secret motivation to be to clear the name of his wrongly accused friend Yong-bae (played by Kim Sang-ho). Instead plot details trickle down at a generally inscrutable pace. Extended sequences involving not terribly funny gags that go nowhere are abruptly ended by sudden coincidences or bouts of competence that threaten to end the story then and there so another contrivance pops up to further delay the runtime.

Why does this movie even exist? Well that's no mystery- because writer/director Kim Bong-han got money to make a movie in the Phillipines, and the script was written backwards from the location shooting. We get to see all the funnest sites in that country, including but not limited to- mango juice stalls, jeepneys, scuba diving, sinister abandoned warehouses, jails, illicit nightclubs, and unhelpful embassy officials. Did I mention that Byeong-soo gets all of his stuff stolen at one point?

"The Golden Holiday" has a lot of mixed messages. I wouldn't necessarily call it racist. Save for the more touristy elements nearly all of these plot points can and do feature in crime movies set in South Korea. But the cumulative effect is still to make the Phillipines not look like a very nice place to have a vacation. Byeong-soo teaming up with loser expat Man-cheol (played by Kim Dae-myung) just accentuates this seedy quality, making it hard to imagine why anyone would want to live there.

I could, with effort, apply a more sympathetic reading to the movie. The addition of two local goofballs to the entourage later on, coupled with the later revelation they are hypercompetent in regards to one specific skill set, suggests there is more to the Phillipines than meets the eye. The trouble is, "The Golden Holiday" itself is so lacking in depth and motivation it's hard to muster much enthusiasm about whether the characters succeed in any of their goals. There aren't any dramatic stakes. Worse, the movie simply isn't funny, despite clearly attempting to be a comedy.

Review by William Schwartz

___________



"The Golden Holiday" is directed by Kim Bong-han, and features Kwak Do-won, Kim Dae-myung, Kim Hee-won, Kim Sang-ho, Shin Seung-hwan, Shin Dong-mi. Release date in Korea: 2020/09/29.



DVD (TW - English Subtitled)
Officers were chasing at least one person in the 3500 block of North Laramie Avenue about 12:15 a.m. when the fatal confrontation took place, according to a statement from police earlier this week.
ADVERTISEMENT

A driver on Friday rammed a blue sedan car into police officers at the north barricade of the U.S. Capitol, sparking fears of security concerns in the building.

This is the second time in less than three months that an attack would be targeted at the United States legislative headquarters, although authorities said the incident does not appear to be terrorism-related.

Acting chief of the U.S. Capitol Police, Yogananda Pittman, said the suspect then emerged from the vehicle with a knife in hand and ran towards the officers, injuring two, before an officer opened fire.

One of the officers has now died of the injuries he sustained, the police said. The suspect also died at the hospital shortly after he was taken into custody.

Authorities are yet to identify the suspect. But according to CBS News, he was a U.S. citizen and was not previously known to the police or known to have committed any sort of crime or be on a terror watch list.

Lawmakers, who are currently on recess, have been sending messages of calm to citizens.

House Speaker Nancy Pelosi has ordered flags at the Capitol to fly at half-staff, according to the BBC.

Todays incident at the Capitol reminds us of the threats still facing our nation, Michigan Republican Fred Upton tweeted.

Today's incident at the Capitol reminds us of the threats still facing our nation. Info is still coming in and the event is unfolding, but we commend the swift response and pray for a speedy recovery for the Capitol police officers who were injured today. https://t.co/HBIxRz58nJ  Fred Upton #WearYourMask (@RepFredUpton) April 2, 2021

My thoughts are with these brave officers and their families, Democrat Eric Swalwell noted. Theyve sacrificed a tremendous amount over the last few months and we are forever indebted to them.

My thoughts are with these brave officers and their families. Theyve sacrificed a tremendous amount over the last few months and we are forever indebted to them. https://t.co/Mq1RgvFNMW  Rep. Eric Swalwell (@RepSwalwell) April 2, 2021

Two attacks in three months

On January 6, a pro-Trump mob stormed the Capitol in contention of the 2020 presidential election which former President Donald Trump lost.

The attack coincided with the day lawmakers were certifying President Joe Bidens election victory.

But the incident turned violent when the protesters broke into the Capitol building, attacking police officers and searching for lawmakers.

Not fewer than five people died from the raid, over 100 officers were injured and millions of dollars worth of items were damaged.

The riot would lead to Mr Trumps second impeachment by the Democrat-dominated House of Representatives. He was, however, acquitted by the Republican majority Senate.
Mogadishu, April 3 : At least 23 people were killed on Saturday Islamist attacks on two military bases in Somalia.

Two suicide car bombers struck two army positions in the district of Awdhegle and Bariire village in the volatile Lower Shabelle province, dpa news agency reported.

"Al-Shabaab attackers carried out a complex attack on two military bases in Lower Shabelle province this morning," government spokesman Ismael Mukhtar said here.

Shortly after the bombings, the heavily-armed insurgents tried to storm the army bases.

Gunfire was exchanged until the morning, when the Somali armed forces said they had killed 19 militants in both attacks.

"We have repelled the terrorists who wanted to cause havoc on our army. We have lost 4 soldiers and scores of others were wounded," army commander Abdullahi Rage told dpa.

He said soldiers were pursuing the attackers and further information about casualty numbers would be provided later.

Residents also said civilians had been injured by stray bullets.

The Islamist group al-Shabaab claimed the attack through its Andalus radio station, saying numerous soldiers had been killed.

Al-Shabaab has been fighting for dominance in the Horn of Africa country for years.

The terrorist group controls large parts of the south and centre and repeatedly carries out attacks on civilians and security forces.
The blowup of the private investment firm Archegos last month has not set off a crisis of the global financial system. But the type of highly speculative operations in which it was engaged, financed to the tune of tens of billions of dollars by some of the worlds biggest banks, certainly have the potential to do so.

In the wake of the debacle, a number of questions arise: how many more, much bigger, time bombs are out there ticking away? Where are they located, and what could set them off?

Traders work on the floor of the New York Stock Exchange. (AP Photo/Richard Drew)

Writing in the Financial Times, columnist Gillian Tett noted that when an avalanche takes place on a snowfield, the root cause is not an idiosyncratic shock, but instability in the underlying snowpack.

The immediate trigger of the Archegos avalanche was the decisions by the US media group ViacomCBS to take advantage of the near tripling of its share price over the past yearone of many companies whose shares have skyrocketed as a result of the trillions of dollars pumped into the financial system by the Fedto issue a further $3 billion worth of stock.

This set off a fall in the companys shares which hit Archegos because it had made big bets on the share price continuing to rise, together with similar bets on other companies, including Chinese tech stocks, which also had started to fall.

Archegos, a so-called family firm set up in 2012 by Bill Hwang, who had been convicted of illegal share trading and forced to pay a $44 million fine, had financed his deals with funding provided by major banks using a derivative known as total return swaps.

Under this system, the banks purchased shares, in return for a lucrative fee, which they held, agreeing to pay Archegos what it would have received had it actually owned the shares. If the price went up or dividends were paid, then the bank paid a return to Archegos. But if the investment failed, then Archegos would have to pay the bank.

The extent of the leverage was extraordinary. Attracted by the fat fees from such services, the banks enabled Archegos to amplify its buying power, sometimes by as much as eight times its own capital.

When the share price of ViacomCBS and other stocks bought on behalf of Archegos began to fall sharply, the banks made a margin call, requiring Archegos to put up more collateral to the banks. When it was unable to do so, there was a rush for the exits as the banks then sought to sell off the stocks they held in order to try to minimise their losses.

Goldman Sachs and Morgan Stanley were first out the door and managed to escape with relatively little damage. But the Japanese investment bank Nomura and Credit Suisse were not as fast and now face losses of $2 billion and $3 billion to $5 billion, respectively. Total losses incurred by the banks that financed Archegos could reach as much as $10 billion.

The use of derivatives has proved very popular among banks in recent years because it has enabled them to obtain fees without having to report their dealings.

According to a report in the Financial Times, in 2019 global banks earned an estimated $11 billion from equity financing via the use of derivatives, including total return swaps used by Archegos, double the level in 2012. And the rate of their use has been accelerating.

The New York Times reported that there has been a sharp rise in the use of stock-related derivatives in the recent period. The amount of outstanding equity derivatives has more than doubled since 2015, rising from $50 billion to more than $110 billion in the first half of 2020, according to calculations by the Bank for International Settlements.

The implosion of Archegos as a result of a margin call draws attention to the significant expansion of this form of speculation over the past year as banks have sought to take advantage of the ultra-cheap money provided by the Fed.

The Sydney Morning Herald reported that according to the US Financial Industry Regulation Authority, margin loans have risen from $479.3 billion a year ago to more than $813 billion, outstripping even the accelerated growth in the market capitalisation of Wall Street.

The Archegos debacle has brought forward the now familiar calls following every incident of financial turmoil for greater oversight and regulation by authorities. The Securities and Exchange Commission issued what amounted to a pro forma statement that it was monitoring the situation.

Democratic Senator Elizabeth Warren, one of the partys advocates for greater oversight, said in an emailed statement that the Archegos meltdown had all the makings of a dangerous situation.

We need transparency and strong oversight to ensure that the next hedge fund blowup doesnt take the economy down with it, she said.

But such calls, based on the illusions promoted so assiduously by the Democrats over decades, that the capitalist financial system can somehow be regulated and made to work in the interests of society, have been exposed by long experience.

There were similar calls after the implosion of Long Term Capital Management in 1998. But then came the tech wreck of 2000-2001 and the collapse of Enron. This was followed by the sub-prime mortgage speculative bubble that sparked the global financial crisis of 2008.

The response of the Democrats in the Obama administration was to bail out the banks. The Fed, under the chairmanship of Ben Bernanke and then Democrat appointee Janet Yellen, now Treasury Secretary in the Biden administration, provided the banks, hedge funds and Wall Street speculators with trillions of dollars of essentially free money to continue the very activities that led to the 2008 crash.

And as for the Dodd-Frank legislation, introduced under the claim that it would prevent a recurrence of the 2008 collapse, the increased use of derivatives at the centre of the Archegos debacle, was the outcome of the efforts by the banks and Wall Street to get around the very minor restrictions it imposed.

As the managing principal of the financial consultancy firm Finadium, Josh Galper, told the Financial Times that the growth of the equity swap market at the centre of the Archegos operations developed as the natural outgrowth of the Dodd-Frank regulations.

The outcome of this process has been that rather becoming more transparent, the system has become even more opaque. The increased use of financial derivatives means that several banks can provide financing to a single client without other banks being aware of it. Consequently, if a bank thinks it can reduce its exposure by offloading it to another bank it can find that the bank is also exposed to the same fund.

The Archegos event is not a one-off isolated incident, but another indication of broader trends. It comes in the wake of the Wirecard debacle last year and Greensill meltdown earlier this year, both of which involved major banks.

Fuelled by the endless supply of money from the banks, used to finance ever-increasing speculation, the entire global financial system is heading at ever greater speed towards a disaster.

One indication of that speed came on Thursday when Wall Streets S&P 500 index set a new record high of 4000 in the midst of the largest decline in global growth, triggered by the COVID-19 pandemic, since the Great Depression. It took 1227 trading days for the S&P to advance 1000 points from 2000 to 3000, but the advance from 3000 to 4000 was achieved in just 434.

The threat of another financial disasterthe consequences of which will far outstrip the devastation of the 2008 crisisnow hangs over the entire global economy. The answer is not calls for greater regulation to try to contain the explosive contradictions of the financial system for experience has shown that is impossible.

The only viable and realistic perspective is the fight for a socialist programthe taking of political power by the working class, ending the domination of society by the financial oligarchy, and the complete economic reorganisation of society starting with the bringing of the entire financial system into public ownership under democratic control.
States can and already are using an important constitutional tool to resist and rein in the escalating unconstitutional abuses coming from Joe Biden and the U.S. Congress, international journalist Alex Newman explains in this interview on Newsmaxs popular Chris Salcedo show.

The host, Salcedo, opens the segment by asking how nullification can help protect states and freedom from the America Last policies being pursued by the increasingly radical Biden administration. Many states are already doing it.

In the interview, Newman explains the concept and urgency of state nullification. He also points out that Democrats used it very effectively for the last four years to resist Trump, and even before that to nullify federal prohibition on marijuana.

Also joining for the interview was American Policy Council chief Tom DeWeese, a leading expert on sustainability and how the American people can push back. He explained that states do not even need to pass a law to nullify unconstitutional federal decreesthey can simply ignore the pretended act.

Before the interview on Newsmax, Newman joined DeWeese to discuss nullification for his APC webinar teaching local activists how to preserve liberty. You can watch that webinar below:

What originally prompted the whole discussion on nullification was this episode of Behind The Deep State in which Newman offers nullification as one of the many ways patriots and those who value the rule of law can resist the growing Deep Stata assault on freedom coming from DC.
Former Dreamworks TV Animation and Nickelodeon evp Mark Taylor is also involved with Schwalbes venture. Together with Taylor, Schwalbe will raise equity finance for highly branded animated films with animation studios in Asia.

In addition, The Co-Production Company has formed a pact with Hannah Montana creator Michael Poryes, with whom it will develop programming for the international marketplace. It has also partnered with Pukeko Pictures (New Zealand), August Media (Singapore), Chatrone (Brazil), Anima Estudios (Mexico), and Dreamworks Animation Television.

At Dreamworks, Schwalbe structured and managed co-production arrangements for properties for Netflix, TFI/CBS All Access, Nickelodeon/Teletoon, France Televisions, and Universal Kids. He also structured development deals with Sky, Peacock, and CBC.

He was previously evp, managing director, at Classic Media and founder of the production and distribution company Splendid Television. He has also served as international distributor for Miramax Television and held sales roles at HBO, MGM International Television, and Twentieth Century Fox International.
Local carpenter James OBrien who undertook the restoration of the centres 190-year-old Gothic style doors, the frames of which were found upon close examination to be dangerously rotten

While things may have appeared quiet over the past few months at the St George's Arts and Heritage Centre in Mitchelstown, a lot of important restoration work on the landmark former church has been taking place behind the scenes.

Bill Power, chair of the Brigown Arts and Heritage Project committee said restoration work on the roof of the 220-year-old building is nearing completion.

"Last year contractors Brigown Construction did a fantastic job on restoring the front and back sections of the roof. This year we will restore the remainder of the roof over the auditorium, with work commencing this month," said Mr Power.

"It is anticipated that this will be completed by June and for the first time in decades the building will have a 100% dry and insulated roof," he added.

While the work on the roof may go largely unnoticed by the public, a more obvious change to the building has been the restoration of its imposing 190-year-old Gothic style front doors.

Mr Power a close inspection of the door frames had revealed they had become "dangerously rotten" and following the discovery that one of the doors was being held by just a single hinge it was decided they were in urgent need of work.

Expand Close Workers began the process of restoring the roof of the 220-year-old building last year. It is envisaged that work will be completed this summer / Facebook

Twitter

Email

Whatsapp Workers began the process of restoring the roof of the 220-year-old building last year. It is envisaged that work will be completed this summer

The committee engaged local carpenter James O'Brien to undertake the restoration.

"While James is well known for the fabulous stairs he makes, his real passion is restoration, something that shines though in his work on the doors. He has done an astounding job on them," said Mr Power.

He said that while doors were in good condition, they needed to be stripped and sections of wood replaced. In fact, one door was found to be 5cm shorter than the others as someone had cut off the bottom of it to stop it scraping the floor as it sagged.

"James is a collector of old carpentry tools, many of them very specialised items, which he was able to use to re-curve the detailing on sections that had to be replaced. His attention to detail and careful replacement of decayed timers is one of the notable elements of the restoration because only a trained eye would the where new pieces of wood have been spliced in," said Mr Power.

New custom made door hinges have also been installed to replace the old worn ones and the donation of antique door handle and knocker has completed the project.

Within the coming days the committee is set to lodge a planning application to make the disability friendly, which will include new toilet facilities and adaptations to entry points to the building.

"It has been an embarrassment to us that we have not had disability access but other demands on our funding have meant we were not in a position to deal with this issue until now," said Mr Power.

"To help us do this work, we have received 15,000 in grants from Cork County Council and an additional 3,500 from Bord Failte. We are optimistic that additional funding may also be received from other agencies," he added.

Mr Power said that funding the restoration work has been a major issue for the committee, with the Covid pandemic forcing the cancellation of many fundraisng activities. He said that all grants they received have to be match funded to the exact same amount from the committees own finances.

"This is very hard on organisations at the moment and places additional pressure on us as we have not been able to put together a full programme of concerts and fundraisng events since last March," he said.

However, the centre was able to host five concerts last August thanks to local artists who donated their services, the 2021 calendar proved to be a success and the 'Donate A Slate' campaign managed to raise 30,000 towards the cost of restoring the roof.

"Besides the restoration work we still have ongoing expenses such as insurance, electricity and water charges which have to be covered from our reserves," said Mr Power.

"We could not have done any of the restoration work or covered our everyday bills without two things. Clann Credo Community Finance has provided us with loans for the rood works and other smaller projects and, just as importantly people, have been very generous with donations - although more are always appreciated," he added.

One anonymous donation has allowed for the porch and 'schoolroom' in the building to be plastered in Diasen, a specialist conservation lime plaster.

"The plaster come from Italy and is highly insulated, so visitors will be welcomed by an inviting porch and reception room when they arrive at Saint George's. The reception operated for many years as a schoolroom, hence the name. It has a fireplace which will be restored as part of the work," said Mr Power.

He said that while they do not know when they will be able to again hold vital fundraising concerts and events at St George's, they are hoping that with the Covid vaccine roll-out it might be possible to hold some concerts in the autumn and maybe a Christmas Market.

"People have seen what this project at St George's has done for Mitchelstown in terms of raising awareness of our local culture and heritage and showing people what can be achieved with a bit of imagination and a lot of hard work," he said.

"We need to be able to get back the point where we can start raising funds to complete this magnificent project."
Source: Xinhua| 2021-04-03 17:33:26|Editor: huaxia

Video Player Close

A citizen watches online tomb-sweeping services on a smartphone in Harbin, capital of northeast China's Heilongjiang Province, April 4, 2020. (Xinhua/Zhang Tao)

BEIJING, April 3 (Xinhua) -- The Tomb-sweeping Day, or Qingming Festival, is a Chinese festival when people pay tribute to the dead and worship their ancestors by visiting tombs and making offerings.

Traditionally, people used to burn incense and paper money to honor the memory or worship the dead. However, sparking public concerns have been raised such as traffic jams and environmental costs caused by the surge of travelers for tomb sweeping. Meanwhile, practices including burning incense and setting off firecrackers as part of a typical ritual may trigger fire hazards.

A citizen pays tribute via an online memorial platform in Beijing, capital of China, on April 3, 2021. (Xinhua/Li Yahui)

Other factors also encourage people to adopt new tomb-sweeping activities. In an era when more Chinese people opt to migrate to big cities for better career prospects, many find it difficult to make it to their ancestors' graves in their hometowns and pay their respects during the Qingming holiday. As a result, tomb sweeping by proxy enabled by the prevalence of social media and short video sharing platforms is not something new but has gained more and more popularity among Chinese people.

Flowers are laid on tombstones by cemetery staff in Qiongshan Cemetery, Nanchang City, east China's Jiangxi Province, April 1, 2020. (Xinhua/Peng Zhaozhi)

During last year's Tomb-sweeping Day holiday, more than 26.3 million people in China opted to mourn the deceased through online platforms, as the country limited onsite tomb-sweeping visits due to COVID-19.

The new tomb-sweeping activities are in line with China's decision to promote green development as well. According to the Ministry of Civil Affairs, efforts to promote green and low-carbon tomb-sweeping activities are encouraged and welcomed ahead of the traditional Qingming Festival which falls on April 4 this year.

Cemetery staff members offer memorial services while recording the whole process for the customer in Lanzhou, northwest China's Gansu Province, on March 27, 2020. (Xinhua/Zhang Wenjing)

Agencies in charge of funeral services have been asked to provide high-quality online tribute-paying services by creating mourning websites and other commemorative platforms on the internet, the ministry said in a statement.

Graveyards should encourage the public to forsake the outdated practice of burning paper money during the mourning ritual and embrace a greener way of paying tribute, such as offering flowers, the ministry said.




Warnings not to gather this Easter weekend have been made by public health officials, politicians and gardai, who say that breaking lockdown now could result in a fourth wave of the virus.

Gardai have responded to multiple outdoor social gatherings across Cork City over the last 24 hours in what the Lord Mayor of Cork Joe Kavanagh described as "bedlam".

The lord mayor said more than 150 people were around Bell's Field on the city's northside of the city on Thursday night.

Concerns have also been raised about large gatherings at The Lough in the south side of the city.

Gardai have warned they will be out patrolling at public amenities, parks and beauty spots across the country this weekend.

Anti-lockdown protest

Despite warnings against public gatherings, an anti-lockdown protest is still planned for Saturday at 2pm on the Grand Parade in Cork.

Diarmaid O Cadhla, who is involved in the protest, said: I want to ask the Taoiseach if the Universal Declaration of Human Rights has been suspended here?

Our Government is doing its absolute best to deny those rights. People are being deprived of their liberty everywhere."

Ireland's deputy chief medical officer Dr Ronan Glynn and Northern Ireland's chief medical officer Dr Michael McBride have issued a joint appeal to people across the island to celebrate safely this Easter.

"Do not give this virus the opportunities it is seeking to spread," they said.

"There are much brighter days ahead.

Sense of hope

This message was echoed on the streets of Cork City on Friday, as people shared a sense of hope that the worst of lockdown may soon be over.

Im feeling fabulous, Margo Ann Murphy, proprietor of the Roughty Foodie in the English Market said, as she sat outside in the sun to eat her lunch.

Im always positive. Just get on with it and get out there and lets all be responsible for ourselves and stay safe.

She said people have rediscovered the English Market over lockdown, with more people learning to value quality Irish food.

Business has been great at the English Market. Weve been getting a lot of customers who never shopped with us before. People are realising the value of our local, Irish produce."

Sophie Crosbie with her dog Leila. Picture Denis Boyle

Sophie Crosbie sat nearby, surrounded by shopping bags with her dog Leila.

She said lockdown has taught people to rediscover their local area.

Its amazing what youll find on your doorstep if you go looking," she said.

We found amazing wildflowers in the lanes around our house.

We bought kayaks at the start of the summer and now our neighbours have them too.

I got out kayaking in the Douglas estuary this morning, so Im feeling much better after that."

Path out of the pandemic

Teachers Niamh OSullivan and Mike Kirby said getting back into the classroom, along with a vaccine rollout, has given them hope that we now have a path out of the pandemic.

Im very grateful that were back in the classroom. Home learning is tough going for everyone. And I'm grateful that I had a job throughout the pandemic, Ms O'Sullivan said.

It feels like theres light at the end of the tunnel now. And the sun definitely makes Covid restrictions easier.

And were lucky that Cork is such a big county, we have lots of places to go when county travel is allowed again."

Andre Toulouse, originally from Canada, believes the current public health restrictions are 'difficult but necessary'. Picture: Denis Boyle

Andre Toulouse, originally from near Montreal in Canada, has been living in Cork for 17 years. He believes the current public health restrictions are difficult but necessary.

He has noticed an increase in people gathering in groups in the city centre and has some concerns that a fourth Covid wave may be coming.

The fact that we are not able to drop below 500-600 cases a day means that we are at the point that we could easily tip the other way," he said.

Clodagh and Irene Foley enjoying lunch in the sun. Picture Denis Boyle

Clodagh and Irene Foley enjoyed lunch in the sun before Clodagh returned to work in UCC Library and focused on her final year exams in her degree in genetics.

Clodagh said she has twice been verbally abused at work by people when she asks them to follow Government guidelines, like wearing masks in the library.

Its only happened twice but every time I ask someone to follow the rules now I prepare to get shouted at. Im not the bad guy here, Im just doing my job. I want to be able to go to college as usual, to be able to go home to my family, to go back to a normal life too.

Vespa scooter owners Gavin Buckley and Peter O'Donovan at the fountain on the Grand Parade. Picture: Denis Boyle

Peter ODonovan and Gavin Buckley of Munster Scooter Club met at the fountain on the Grand Parade with their gleaming vintage scooters.

Usually our calendar is packed with rallies, but theyve all been cancelled, Mr Buckley said.

Im a social animal. Im losing my mind with the lockdown. As soon as this lifts Ill be like a greyhound out of a trap.

But Mr O'Donovan warned that despite peoples frustrations, Covid should be taken seriously.

I got it myself in January and Im still very tired from it. I wouldnt advise anyone to belittle it. I was laughing about it myself until I caught it.
As I key this in on April Fools Day, I find I have completely run out of jokes! Even those crude Covid ones. Theres nothing hahaha  HOHOHO out there, and even our smartest, wittiest stand-up comics are struggling to come up with quips that make us laugh about the absurdity of it all. Black humour? Ill take it! Black, purple or polka dotted  who cares? Im up for a giggle  I mean, watching the West Bengal polls, would have been amusing had it not been this ugly. I am sick to death of Didis dadagiri -- and the shabby tactics adopted by the BJP to counter her! At the moment Didi is winning the Big Bully race! This is a bit too rich, given that Amit Shah is Indias biggest Dada  but cracking West Bengal is not all that easy, Amitbhai. Analysts can trot out all the numbers, charts and graphs at their disposal. Foreign observers of Indian origin can roll into the various districts to get a feel of what they believe is the ground level reality. Most of these experts are wealthy, well-meaning public intellectuals doing their job and filing detailed reports that nobody understands. But West Bengal operates with a logic all its own that defies standard deconstruction. Only one thing can be said with a level of certainty  Bongs are for Bongs. Simple!

For a true blue Bengali, it is only other 100 per cent Bengalis who make the cut  everybody else falls into the outsiders classification. Being born Bengali is the biggest binder  no matter where the Bengali lives. Even those Bengalis who have been away from West Bengal most of their adult lives, identify passionately and exclusively with the Bengalis of their home state. They live Bong. Eat Bong. Think Bong.

At the moment, opinions on the outcome of the polls vastly vary, depending on which Bengali television channel is being watched. It is commonly agreed that the elite English channels are not giving the polls in West Bengal sufficient importance. Meaning, they are stupid enough to believe there is life beyond Bengal, and actually flash world news. The Suez Canal crisis over Hooghly hooliganism It goes without saying, Bengalis do not watch Hindi channels, since Hindi is as good as a foreign language. This makes it a little difficult for those not blessed by Ma Kali to be born to Bengali parents (please understand -- both parents have to be Bengali we do not accept a concept called half Bengali!) to figure out the hyper sensitvities of voters. What are the actual dynamics dictating this fiery poll? It is not the economy  thats for sure. For most Bengalis, the crucial issue is a matter of their Bong identity. Is it intact or getting eroded? You can promise the Bengali just about anything  food, jobs, security, prosperity, rice and fish for life, sandesh on a daily basis  it still wont impress the Bong voter. Had all these basics mattered, West Bengal would not be where it is today  in such a monumental mess.

One has to understand the emotional quotient of the Bengali to figure out why self-punishment seems to hold such an appeal! There is no such creature as an unemotional Bengali! Anything can trigger off a dramatic and exaggerated outburst. Mamata Banerjee is the queen of histrionics  she knows exactly which buttons to press and when. Her timing is unbeatable and when she throws one of her infamous, mother of all public fits  wow! Playing to the galleries comes naturally to Didi  she revels in high decibel acts during which she attacks opponents using offensive, crass street language  the kind lapped up by her loyal constituency. Didi cares a flying eff for what the bhadralok intellectuals make of her low-level barbs. They can sniff and snort derisively for all she cares  she knows those lofty men and women are not her core supporters. She probably consoles herself at such rare moments of self-doubt, with the thought that they could not be Amit Shah/BJP fans either! Which may be about right!

The club kaalture in Kolkata is unique and specific  the members are mainly antiquated boxwallahs desperately hanging on to vestiges of the Raj, while sipping gimlets on the well-tended lawns. They have zero idea about the other reality. Till the shoe pinches, of course. So far, their pedicured toes have been spared. The reason being simple  these relics really dont matter to any political party! For all their inflated egoes and self-importance, even Didi knows she doesnt need to court this lot.

Besides, as the Next Gen figured ages ago, these old stodgy families who go on and on about class  may have their comical version of class, but no money! Theyre broke! Most of them ran out of dosh two generations ago. When Didi needs funds, she doesnt waste a moment on these fine people  she goes straight to those who have the requisite lolly  the Marwaris of Kolkata. They are a pretty canny lot, and far from emotional, not being fully Bong-Bong. They are willing to play footsie with whichever neta can further their business interests. They had no problems getting into bed with the Commies  and flourishing. So it will be in this election as well. God knows what Amit Shah has promised the fat cats. This is how it works in Gujjuland  and perhaps traditional Bongs dont quite get it. Maar-peet, murders and threats, playing the communal card  all this is so passe. Didi can appease, appease, appease all she wants and say namaz in public five times a day to win over a large and influential Muslim votebank. But it is really the clandestine money deals, that have already been brokered (according to those who claim to be in the know!), which will be the significant game changers in this bloody battle. Its all about bijness and dhanda  something the bhadralok Bong-Bongs have still to master. Till the results in May  just keep watching the khela!
Theyre all remarkable buildings, he says. Some are better than others, but they were all the most remarkable buildings in their communities. They towered over the neighborhood. They had tremendous meaning for the people who put them up. These were the central institutions in these communities. Without that anchor in the community, where does the community go for connectedness? I dont think Facebook affinity groups quite fill that role.
Andrew Yang, Democratic candidate for mayor of New York City, speaks to the press about attacks on Asian Americans following a campaign appearance (Photo : REUTERS/Brendan McDermid/File Photo)

Andrew Yang, a candidate for New York City mayor, has been hospitalized due to what appears to be a kidney stone, his campaign manager said on Friday.



Yang went to an emergency room after experiencing abdominal pain and is now at the hospital with his wife, Evelyn, co-campaign manager Chris Coffey said on Twitter.



Advertisement

"His events for the day are cancelled, but he looks forward to getting back out on the trail soon," Coffey wrote.



Yang built an ardent grassroots following during his attempt to become the Democratic Party's nominee for the presidency last year with a pledge to create a universal basic income that would pay every American $1,000 a month.



More than a dozen other candidates have also launched campaigns in the New York race, including Brooklyn Borough President Eric Adams, New York City Comptroller Scott Stringer and Maya Wiley, a civil rights activist and lawyer who previously worked for current Mayor Bill de Blasio.



Registered Democrats will vote for their nominee on June 22, ahead of the general election on Nov. 2.



A native New Yorker and an Ivy League-educated son of Taiwanese immigrants, entrepreneur Yang would be the city's first Asian-American mayor.


New Delhi, April 3: The OPEC+ cartel agreed on Thursday to gradually ease its production cuts from May which is likely to lead to a softening of oil prices in the days ahead.

A telephone call from the new US administration to Saudi Arabia to keep oil prices affordable is seen to have played a role in softening the hawkish stand of the cartel. The US call on the eve of the meeting is also a continuation of the Trump era practice to have a say in the oil markets.

Major consumers including America and India have been calling on OPEC+ to keep prices under control.

India, which is the third largest importer of crude in the world, has in fact sounded the Gulf countries that it would look for alternative sources for crude supplies if prices are not reduced.

U.S. Energy Secretary Jennifer Granholm held a telephone conversation with Saudi energy minister Prince Abdulaziz bin Salman to reaffirm the importance of international cooperation to ensure affordable and reliable energy for consumers, she said on Twitter.

Indian Oil Minister Dharmendra Pradhan had also held a video conference with the US Energy Secretary in the run-up to the OPEC+ meeting. Both countries are worried as surging oil prices hurt the economic revival process as countries struggle to reverse the devastating impact of Covid-19.

While India has increased imports from the US and Africa in recent months it is still dependent on Gulf crude for a major chunk of its requirement for which it has signed long term contracts.

The fact that shipping costs work out much lower from the Gulf, is being fully exploited by these oil producers.

Pradhan has also held a meeting with United Arab Emirates' minister of state and chief executive of Abu Dhabi National Oil Co (ADNOC), Sultan Ahmed Al Jaber on the issue.

The minister recently said African nations could play a central role in India's oil diversification plan. The country is looking at signing long-term oil supply deal with Guyana and exploring options to raise imports from Russia as well.

Iran could emerge as another source, if the US sanctions are eased, India has been buying crude at a concessional price from Iran and the imposition of sanctions by the Trump administration had come as a major setback.

Now with the Biden administration gearing up for talks on the nuclear issue again, the status quo ante may be restored in the coming months.

India imports more than 80% of its crude requirement and domestic prices of fuels shoot up when international prices rise. The government is also heavily dependent on taxes that it levies on petroleum goods such as petrol and diesel to mobilise resources for the social welfare of the poor and healthcare schemes. However, the flip side is that these levies add to the price spiral.

A few days before Thursday's talks, OPEC+ delegates had said the group would likely keep most existing cuts in place, given uncertainty about the demand outlook. So the decision to increase output has come as a welcome relief.

(This content is being carried under an arrangement with indianarrative.com) --indianarrative/
KYODO NEWS - Apr 3, 2021 - 08:45 | All, Japan

The organizing body of the 2025 world exposition in Osaka has signed tie-up agreements with two government-backed bodies as part of efforts to boost external communications and attract more countries to the event.

The Japan Association for the 2025 World Exposition will collaborate with the Japan International Cooperation Agency and the Japan External Trade Organization in promoting the Expo 2025 Osaka, Kansai, Japan, through their international networks, such as offices they run abroad.

As of March, only 14 countries and two international organizations announced their participation in the 2025 event, a far cry from the association's goal of 150 countries and 25 international institutions.

JETRO said it will provide the organizers with its experience and expertise in information gathering and human resource development related to the management of world expositions.

The trade promotion agency has operated the Japan Pavilion at past international expositions overseas and will run one at the Dubai Expo slated for October 2021 in the United Arab Emirates.

By joining forces for a successful 2025 expo, the three parties will also aim to achieve the U.N. sustainable development goals and promote Japan's Society 5.0 initiative for incorporating innovative technologies, such as artificial intelligence and robots, into society.

The theme of the 2025 expo in Osaka in the Kansai region in western Japan is "Designing Future Society for Our Lives," and the achievement of the SDGs and the realization of the Society 5.0 will be reflected in the theme.

Japan was selected as the 2025 host in November 2018 during the Bureau of International Expositions general assembly after member states cast votes, defeating bids by Russia and Azerbaijan.

The event will be held on Yumeshima, an artificial island in Osaka Bay, from April 13 through Oct. 13. It will mark the sixth official international exposition to be held in Japan following the 2005 event in Aichi Prefecture.

Osaka also hosted a World Expo in 1970 and 1990.
Iran's government wants the United States to lift all sanctions on its country and rejects any "step-by-step" easing of the restrictions, Iranian state broadcaster Press TV reported on Saturday (April 3).

The two countries said on Friday (April 2) they would hold indirect talks in Vienna from next week as part of broader negotiations to revive the 2015 nuclear deal between Tehran and global powers. The U.S. State Department said the focus would be on "the nuclear steps that Iran would need to take in order to return to compliance" with that agreement.

Iranian foreign ministry spokesman Saeed Khatibzadeh said on Saturday that Tehran was opposed to any gradual easing of sanctions.

"No step-by-step plan is being considered," Khatibzadeh told Press TV. "The definitive policy of the Islamic Republic of Iran is the lifting of all U.S. sanctions."

The aim of the talks in the Austrian capital is to reach an agreement within two months, according to a senior official with the European Union, the coordinator of the deal.

Former U.S. President Donald Trump pulled out of the nuclear pact in 2018 and reimposed sanctions on Iran, prompting Tehran to breach some of the accord`s nuclear restrictions.

Trump's successor Joe Biden wants to revive the agreement but Washington and Tehran have been at odds over who should take the first step.

Iran, China, Russia, France, Germany and Britain - all parties to the 2015 deal - held virtual talks on Friday to discuss the possible return of the United States to the accord.

Live TV
Senate Majority Leader Chuck Schumer, (D-N.Y.), speaks to the media, on Capitol Hill in Washington on March 2, 2021. (Jacquelyn Martin/AP Photo)

Schumer Says Senate Will Move Forward With Marijuana Legalization Regardless of Bidens Stance

Senate Majority Leader Chuck Schumer (D-N.Y.) said that he and other Democrats are ready to advance the controversial marijuana legalization cause.

[President Joe Biden] said hes studying the issue, so [I] obviously want to give him a little time to study it. I want to make my arguments to him, as many other advocates will, Schumer said in an interview with Politico. But at some point were going to move forward, period.

During Bidens presidential campaign, he didnt endorse legalizing marijuana, and after taking office, reportedly disqualified staffers because they consumed the drug.

President Joe Biden speaks during an event in Pittsburgh, Pa., on March 31, 2021. (Jonathan Ernst/Reuters)

Schumer introduced a bill in 2018 to legalize the drug, as part of a pitch for voting Democrat in the then-upcoming election.

When a few of the early statesOregon and Coloradowanted to legalize, all the opponents talked about the parade of horribles: Crime would go up. Drug use would go up. Everything bad would happen, Schumer told the outlet. The legalization of states worked out remarkably well.

Many experts, however, disagree with Schumers statements, stating that the legalization of marijuana has caused numerous problems (pdf), including increased crime rates and medical conditions in their patients.

Emergency room doctors in Colorado told The Epoch Times last October about the negative effects marijuana legalization has had on their community.

They said they have seen an increase in all drug use, not just marijuana. Methamphetamine use was up 143 percent, opiates up by 10 percent, and cannabis up by 57 percent, according to data from the ER drug screens over the past seven years.

If you pump a community full of drugs, youre going to have to expect everything thats associated with them. Youre going to have to expect the crime, addiction, said Dr. Karen Randall.

Were the canary in the coal mine. Our kids are failing, our kids are using drugs more. I cant find health care for them. I cant find rehab, I cant find places to put the kids in foster care.

THC (tetrahydrocannabinol), the main psychoactive ingredient in todays marijuana products, is now being extracted to reach a potency of more than 80 percent. In the 1990s, the average potency of a joint was around 4 percent THC.

Dr. Brad Roberts said hes seeing more and more patients with psychosis who have no previous psychiatric history and are testing positive only for THC.

Charlotte Cuthbertson contributed to this report.
Here is the latest Hamilton County arrest report:

BAILEY, ALISON FRANCES

528 SEMI CIR CHATTANOOGA, 37415

Age at Arrest: 32 years old

Arresting Agency: Chattanooga

CONTRABAND IN PENAL INSTITUTIONS

POSSESSION OF MARIJUANA FOR RESALE (41G)

POSSESSION OF LEGEND DRUGS W/O PRESCRIPTION

FAILURE TO REPORT ACCIDENT

DRIVING UNDER THE INFLUENCE

---

BAUGH, TANYA RENA

15123 DAYTON PIKE SALE CREEK, 37373

Age at Arrest: 48 years old

Arresting Agency: Hamilton County

DOMESTIC ASSAULT

---

BRIDGES, DARRYL LEWIS

16101 HIXSON PIKE SODDY DAISY, 37379

Age at Arrest: 34 years old

Arresting Agency: Hamilton County

POSSESSION OF DRUG PARAPHERNALIA

REGISTRATION, EXPIRED

---

BROWN, LAKIZZIE QUINYETTA

3604 WILCOX BLVD CHATTANOOGA, 37406

Age at Arrest: 40 years old

Arresting Agency: Chattanooga

DOMESTIC ASSAULT

---

CAPP, ALEJANDRO BRADLEY

932 STONE CREST CIR CHATTANOOGA, 37421

Age at Arrest: 23 years old

Arresting Agency: Chattanooga

DRUGS GENERAL CATEGORY FOR RESALE

POSSESSION OF CONTROLLED SUBSTANCE

DRIVING UNDER THE INFLUENCE

---

CASEY, AUNDRIA NICCOLE

HOMELESS SODDY DAISY, 37379

Age at Arrest: 50 years old

Arresting Agency: Hamilton County

DRIVING ON REVOKED, SUSPENDED OR CANCELLED LICENSE

POSSESSION OF DRUG PARAPHERNALIA

---

CHRISMAN, JUSTIN ROSS

1711 BROADVIEW DR HIXSON, 37343

Age at Arrest: 30 years old

Arresting Agency: Chattanooga

PUBLIC INTOXICATION

---

COYNE, REBECCA LYNN

1621 CHEN LANE HIXSON, 37343

Age at Arrest: 37 years old

Arresting Agency: Hamilton County

DRIVING UNDER THE INFLUENCE

POSSESSION OF CONTROLLED SUBSTANCE-OXYCODONE

---

DAVIS, RUSSELL NOAH

8949 BROOKHILL DRIVE HIXSON, 37343

Age at Arrest: 44 years old

Arresting Agency: Soddy Daisy

Booked for Previous Charges or Other Reason(s)

---

DOZIER, ELIJAH A

3001 DAYTON BLVD APT E9 RED BANK, 37415

Age at Arrest: 26 years old

Arresting Agency: Red Bank

AGGRAVATED CHILD ABUSE

RESISTING STOP, FRIST, HALT, ARREST OR SEARCH

---

EDWARDS, JUSTUS CAIN

HOMELESS CHATTANOOGA, 37411

Age at Arrest: 36 years old

Arresting Agency: Chattanooga

ASSAULT

PUBLIC INTOXICATION

---

FARRISS, FARRELL KEITH

5433 DAYTON BLVD RED BANK, 37415

Age at Arrest: 52 years old

Arresting Agency: Chattanooga

DRIVING WITHOUT DRIVERS LICENSE / EXPIRED LICENSE

FINANCIAL RESPONSIBILITY

VIOLATION OF REGISTRATION LAW

---

FRAGIADAKIS, SAMANTHA ANN

1904 GEORGETOWN RD.

CLEVELAND, 37311Age at Arrest: 30 years oldArresting Agency: Hamilton CountyHOLDING PERIOD BEFORE TRANSFER OR ALTERATION OF PU---GARNER, BETTY FAYE127 SHEARER ST SODDY DAISY, 37379Age at Arrest: 68 years oldArresting Agency: ChattanoogaBURGLARY---GREENLEE, JORDAN NORRIS405 ORIOLE DR CHATTANOOGA, 374115126Age at Arrest: 29 years oldArresting Agency: ChattanoogaEVADING ARRESTPOSSESSION OF METH (SELL, DEL. OR MANUFACTURING)POSSESSION OF CONTROLLED SUBSTANCE---HACKLER, DEVON LEE8918 GANN ROAD SODDY DAISY, 37379Age at Arrest: 29 years oldArresting Agency: Red BankPOSSESSION OF CONTROLLED SUBSTANCEPUBLIC INTOXICATIONPOSSESSION OF BUPRENORPHINE---HUBLER, LEVI DANIEL5724 DAHNEY LANE HIXSON, 37373Age at Arrest: 25 years oldArresting Agency: Hamilton CountyFUGITIVE (ARREST FOR CRIME IN NEWAYGO CO, MICH)---JENKINS, LADARREL DEWAYNE5256 USHER DRIVE CHATTANOOGA, 37410Age at Arrest: 38 years oldArresting Agency: Hamilton CountyAGGRAVATED ASSAULTAGGRAVATED BURGLARY (OCCUPIED HABITATION)---KINSEY, JEREMY LEE2085 MOUNT PISGAH RD RINGGOLD, 30736Age at Arrest: 31 years oldArresting Agency: Hamilton CountyPUBLIC INTOXICATION---KNOX, TIONNA DESHON314 MCBRIEN RD CHATTANOOGA, 374114830Age at Arrest: 26 years oldArresting Agency: Hamilton CountyBURGLARY---LEMING, JUSTIN MICHAEL11029 EUSTICE RD SODDY DAISY, 37379Age at Arrest: 27 years oldArresting Agency: Red BankPOSS OF MARIJUANAPOSSESSION OF METH (SELL, DEL. OR MANUFACTURING)---LOFTIES, JOURNEE DEVELLI7310 STANDIFER GAP RD CHATTANOOGA, 37421Age at Arrest: 29 years oldArresting Agency: ChattanoogaVIOLATION OF ORDER OF PROTECTION OR RESTRAINING ORVIOLATION OF ORDER OF PROTECTION OR RESTRAINING OR---MARTI, LAURIE ELIZABETH8925 QUAIL RUN DRIVE CHATTANOOGA, 37421Age at Arrest: 65 years oldArresting Agency: Collegedale PoliceBooked for Previous Charges or Other Reason(s)---MARTIN, TRAVIS MARICE1909 TOMBRAS AVE EAST RIDGE, 374122727Age at Arrest: 31 years oldArresting Agency: ChattanoogaTHEFT OF PROPERTY OVER $1,000THEFT OF PROPERTY-UNDER 1000---MILLER, CHRISSY RENA1418 E 46TH ST CHATTANOOGA, 37407Age at Arrest: 32 years oldArresting Agency: Hamilton CountyFUGITIVE (ARREST FOR CRIME IN ANOTHER STATE)---MITCHELL, ANTHONY JOSEPH3303 PROVENCE ST CHATTANOOGA, 37411Age at Arrest: 61 years oldArresting Agency: ChattanoogaDOMESTIC ASSAULT---MOON, AMANDE JEWELL16 CHARLES DR CHATTANOOGA, 374215801Age at Arrest: 36 years oldArresting Agency: ChattanoogaFOLLOWING TOO CLOSELYDRIVING UNDER THE INFLUENCEIMPLIED CONSENT LAW - DRIVERSFINANCIAL RESPONSIBILITYDRIVERS TO EXERCISE DUE CARE---PEREZ-ROBLERO, JAIME OLIDAM12 BELLFLOWER CIRCLE, APT. 1 CHATTANOOGA, 37411Age at Arrest: 19 years oldArresting Agency: East RidgeDRIVING WITHOUT DRIVERS LICENSE / EXPIRED LICENSEDISOBEDIENCE TO OFFICER DIRECTING TRAFFIC---POLK JR, JAMES1816 E 3RD ST CHATTANOOGA, 37404Age at Arrest: 26 years oldArresting Agency: East RidgeDOMESTIC ASSAULT---POSCHMANN, PAUL139 HENDRICKS BLVD CHATTANOOGA, 37405Age at Arrest: 41 years oldArresting Agency: Red BankCRIMINAL TRESPASSING---RHODES, TRENTON KYLE326 DEPOT ST SODDY DAISY, 37379Age at Arrest: 33 years oldArresting Agency: Collegedale PoliceBooked for Previous Charges or Other Reason(s)---RODRIGUEZ CANTU, BRANDON EDWARD5495 OAKDALE AVENUE CHATTANOOGA, 37412Age at Arrest: 19 years oldArresting Agency: East RidgeSIMPLE POSSESSIONCONTRIBUTING TO A MINOR---SAUNDERS, JORDAN ROYCE1418 E46TH STREET PLACE CHATTANOOGA, 37407Age at Arrest: 22 years oldArresting Agency: ChattanoogaPOSSESSION OF CONTROLLED SUBSTANCELIGHT LAW VIOLATIONDRIVING WITHOUT DRIVERS LICENSE / EXPIRED LICENSE---SIMONDS, LE ANN K2149 CRESENT CLUB DR HIXSON,Age at Arrest: 56 years oldArresting Agency: ChattanoogaTHEFT OF SERVICES UNDER $1,000---SMITH, DYLAN SETH214 MARSHALL AVE RED BANK, 374151853Age at Arrest: 29 years oldArresting Agency: ChattanoogaASSAULT---TAYLOR, JOHN CHARLES1416 AUGUST DR HIXSON, 37343Age at Arrest: 63 years oldArresting Agency: ChattanoogaAGGRAVATED ASSAULT---TURNER, XAVIER MARQUELLE1602 OAK ST CHATTANOOGA, 37406Age at Arrest: 30 years oldArresting Agency: ChattanoogaRESISTING ARREST OR OBSTRUCTION OF LEGAL PROCESS---WALKER, HERSHEL DEMETRIUS3604 WILCOX BLVD CHATTANOOGA, 37406Age at Arrest: 31 years oldArresting Agency: ChattanoogaDOMESTIC ASSAULT
The Lagos State Governor, Babajide Sanwo-Olu, has mourned the passage of the National Publicity Secretary of the pan-Yoruba socio-cultural organisation, Afenifere, Yinka Odumakin.

Governor Sanwo-Olu in a statement issued on Saturday and signed by his Chief Press Secretary, Gboyega Akosile, described the late human rights and pro-democracy activist, as a great nationalist, passionate leader and champion of a true Nigeria that would work for every citizen.

He said the Afenifere spokesman lived a selfless life, adding that Mr Odumakin will not be forgotten in a hurry.

It is with deep sense of sorrow but with a heart full of gratitude to God for a good life spent by the late Yinka Odumakin that I write to commiserate with the family, friends and associates of the late Yinka Odumakin.

Odumakin was undoubtedly a great nationalist, passionate leader and champion of a true Nigeria that would work for every citizen.

Odumakin as civil rights activist was selfless. He spent the greater part of his life in the service of humanity, particularly the emancipation of the Yoruba people, the development of the South West region in particular and the nation in general.

Governor Sanwo-Olu also stated that Mr Odumakin stood firmly behind the attainment of constitutional democracy and fiscal federalism as the basis for sustainable development and lifting the masses out of poverty.

As spokesman for the Afenifere, Odumakin made his mark and became a reference point as major voice for the development of the Yoruba race. He will surely be missed.

I personally followed the late Odumakin and found his principled position and capacity to speak truth to power as crucial for Nigerias political and economic development.

The Governor also condoled with wife of the deceased, Joe Okei-Odumakin, Afenifere and the entire Yoruba race over the death of the civil rights activist.

In his statement, Governor Rotimi Akeredolu of Ondo State described the late Afenifere spokesman as a nationalist who gave his all to Nigeria.

In a statement by the state Commissioner for Information and Orientation, Donald Ojogo, the governor said Mr Odumakin was a true nationalist who placed the Yoruba race on a pedestal of honour and high regards.

His roles in the enthronement of popular democracy, as well as his fiery advocacy for the rule of law, remain undoubtedly legendary.

We recall his fiery beginning in the struggle as the Publicity Secretary of Obafemi Awolowo University Student Union where he discharged his duties creditably.

He represented a memorable era having participated actively in the passion and action for a better Nigeria in his lifetime. Those left behind will find great inspiration in Yinkas legacies to continue with the struggle.

To his immediate family, Yinka created an irreplaceable vacuum; he indeed left an open wound of scary spots for his colleagues with whom shared moments were always with eyes on a united Nigeria of justice for all.

Even those who had reasons to disagree with Yinka on issues will feel the absence of intellectual engagements. Countless losses, indeed.

Along the trajectory of the path to service, Yinka defied his age, incurably in quest for knowledge and more wisdom from older generations to enrich and equip himself. The entire Yoruba race has lost an enigma in pursuit of a just society.

ADVERTISEMENT

Notwithstanding the pains, ours is to pray that our departed brother, colleague and associate finds comfort in the bosom of his creator until the resurrection day, Mr Akeredolu said.
Photo: (Photo : Photo by Ketut Subiyanto from Pexels)

Though the COVID-19 vaccine for kids is now on its way, some parents oppose its use, and here are the reasons why.

More than a quarter of American parents do not want to vaccinate their children against COVID-19, and about the same number reject school-mandated coronavirus shots, study shows.

According to the researchers, this COVID-19 vaccine for kids opposition was more common among mothers than fathers and was particularly prevalent among white mothers who identified as Republican or Republican-leaning.

Jessica Calarco shared that women are more likely than men to obey expert medical advice for avoiding health risks because they act as family health managers within the family. She is a study co-author and Indiana University Bloomington sociology professor.

READ: Pfizer's COVID-19 Vaccine Is Safe for Kids, Some Are Skeptical





The strain women face to monitor risks on the COVID-19 vaccine could be leading them to overwhelmingly reject some recent attempts to improve public health, given the onslaught of misinformation surrounding the coronavirus.

Researchers included Calarco's Pandemic Parenting Report and a survey of nearly 2,000 U.S. parents in the research. There were 64 mothers from various political, economic, and ethnic backgrounds who took part in the study.

The preliminary results were published on the preprint server SocArXiv without being peer-reviewed.

In total, 34% of mothers said they would not vaccinate their children against COVID-19. The percentage of white mothers who identified as Republican or Republican-leaning was higher by 47 percent. Just 17% of fathers, on the other hand, said they do not intend to vaccinate their children, according to the findings.

Overall, 33 percent of mothers reject school-mandated coronavirus vaccines, including 54 percent of white Republican and Republican-leaning mothers, according to the study. In contrast, one out of every five fathers is a single parent.

ALSO READ: COVID-19 Vaccine: What To Do If You Are Vaccinated, and Your Kids Are Not

Results and reasons of COVID-19 vaccine opposition

Calarco expressed surprise at the gender gap, believing that women are more likely to seek medical experts' advice.

"We want people in the United States to take responsibility for their own wellbeing by avoiding health risks. Mothers, in particular, are under a lot of pressure to keep risks to their families' health under control, "she said.

Calarco expressed surprise at the gender gap COVID-19 vaccine opposition, believing that women are more likely to seek medical experts' advice.

Because of widespread confusion, many mothers believe they can monitor the risks of COVID-19, including by wearing masks, but not the dangers of vaccines. As a result, rather than relying on the vaccine, they intend to minimize their children's exposure to the virus Calarco continued.

Parents without a college diploma were also substantially more likely than others to refuse school-mandated immunizations. In general, black parents are more likely than white parents to reject school-mandated vaccinations.

READ MORE: Sinovac's COVID-19 Vaccine Is Safe for Kids, According To Initial Data



According to the study, parents who had COVID-19 were slightly more likely than others to reject school-mandated shots and mask mandates.

Though mothers were more likely than fathers to oppose mandatory school shots, they were less likely to oppose mandatory school masks. Approximately 70% of parents say their youngest school-aged child wears a mask the entire time they are out in public, and 47% say the same for their youngest preschooler.

According to Calarco, these results have significant consequences for the virus's effectiveness, including school-based public health programs.

"Changing the current culture of pressure and blame on mothers to a culture of community support is one way we can help turn this around," Calarco said. "Vaccines are all about treating children's health and wellbeing as a collective responsibility, not an individual one."
A Nomura logo is pictured at the Japanese company's office in the Manhattan borough of New York City, New York, U.S. (Photo : REUTERS/Carlo Allegri/File Photo)

U.S. investor Sung Kook "Bill" Hwang was looking for a second chance on Wall Street after falling from grace and shutting his multibillion-dollar hedge fund firm. Japan's Nomura Holdings Inc gave him one.



Nomura had previously had a relationship with Hwang's Tiger Asia Management LLC before the investment firm shut down in 2012 after being punished by U.S. and Hong Kong regulators over insider trading of Chinese stocks.



Advertisement

Like other banks, it initially did not resume the business relationship with the Korean-American investor's new family office, Archegos Capital Management, according to one person familiar with the situation. But Hwang's appetite for huge bets on technology, media and other company stocks in the United States and Asia proved too lucrative to resist.



"It was 'They paid their fines, everything's settled ... they are open for business'" said a former Nomura employee with knowledge of the revived relationship. "It was like 'OK ... what are you looking to do?'"



It took time for executives in Tokyo to approve the renewed relationship, in around 2016, the person said. But once they did, Archegos grew to become one of the ten most profitable clients for the bank's U.S. operations, according to the same two people.



A U.S. spokesman for Nomura declined to comment on the relationship with Hwang.



Hwang and Archegos did not respond to requests for comment. A representative of the family office previously said in a statement that "This is a challenging time for the family office ... our partners and employees."



The story of how Hwang worked his way back in to Nomura's good graces with the promise of a lucrative trading relationship, details of which are reported here for the first time, underscores the risks Nomura was prepared to take to make headway in the world's most competitive capital market.



This story is based on interviews with nearly a dozen people with knowledge of Hwang and Archegos and their relationships on Wall Street, including two people familiar with Nomura's dealings with the fund.



Last week, that relationship was looking like a terrible miscalculation as a plunge in the shares of ViacomCBS Inc left Archegos - which had a highly leveraged bet on the stock - facing a massive margin call from its banks looking to cover the increased exposure.



Those banks, including Goldman Sachs and Morgan Stanley, which had helped finance Hwang's trades, initially discussed holding off on unwinding them.



But as the shares that underpinned Hwang's positions continued falling, his banks quickly began scrambling to sell off those stocks to try to stem losses.



Two banks - Credit Suisse and Nomura - are facing billions in losses.



NOT ABOUT THE MONEY



Bankers on Wall Street describe Hwang as a down-to-earth and polite person. Married with children, he was not seen indulging in a flashy lifestyle, said Wall Street sources who knew him.



Hwang, who has said he is inspired by his Christian faith, lives in a house in the New York City suburb of Tenafly, New Jersey, with an estimated value of $3.1 million, according to Zillow, where he was photographed this week according to the Daily Mail https://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-9424195/Bill-Hwang-Billionaire-Archegos-founder-lived-modestly-despite-worth-10billion.html. That is modest compared with many billionaire fund managers.



Hwang did not need to "buy mega mansions and be on TV," said the same source.



"I'm not afraid of death or money. The people on Wall Street wonder about the freedom that I have," Hwang said in a video https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=VcO5QVVtYiQ posted by his foundation in 2019. "Ultimately, the most important thing is the Bible."



That contrasts with Hwang the investor, who was "super aggressive" and "considered a guy who was willing to do incredibly bold things," said a professional hedge fund investor who has tracked his career.



Hwang used leveraged to amplify his bets, holding stock positions worth over $50 billion while his funds had assets of about $10 billion, three sources familiar with the trades said.



He did that by buying derivatives known as total return swaps, which allow investors to bet on stock price moves without owning the underlying securities, according to the sources. Instead, the bank buys the stocks and promises the investor a performance-related return. That client, in turn, posts collateral to secure the trades with the bank.



One banker said Hwang's business, producing "staggering returns," was a highly profitable account for banks.



Another of the sources said Hwang would exploit his status as a top client to push banks to reduce their collateral requirements - a key way banks mitigate risks posed by clients.



Competition to win Hwang's business was particularly fierce among banks trying to challenge the dominance of "top tier" prime brokers such as Goldman Sachs and Morgan Stanley.



That included Nomura, which currently ranks 23rd on Preqin's global ranking of prime brokers. After deciding to once again deal with Hwang, the Japanese bank rapidly increased its business with him, seeing it as a strategy to win more business from other large U.S. hedge funds.



A bigger market share in the United States is key for the ambitions of Japan's biggest brokerage to become a global investment bank, a goal fueled by its acquisition of Lehman Brothers' operations in Europe, Asia and the Middle East after the decade-ago financial crisis.



"The relationship really blossomed in the last four to five years as that tied in with (Nomura's) push to get a bigger share of the market in the United States," said another person familiar with Nomura and Archegos.



Representatives for Credit Suisse, Goldman and Morgan Stanley declined to comment on Friday.



BIG BUSINESS, BIG RISK



Archegos' risk-taking was heightened because it had trading relationships with multiple banks. That meant its leverage was amplified on particular stock positions, with exposure on some of Hwang's trades reaching up to 20 times the collateral he had pledged against them, the sources said.



As a family office, Archegos had limited disclosure requirements, so banks may not have been aware of the full extent of how leveraged it was, the source said.



Still, some banks had approached Archegos more cautiously.



Bank of America did not take on Hwang as a client in recent years because of the family office's leverage, concentration in certain securities and Hwang's brush with regulators, according to a person familiar with the bank's thinking.



Compliance executives at Goldman had been wary of Hwang and the bank only agreed to start dealing with him again last year, providing that his positions were highly collateralized, one of the sources said.



As some banks smart from the fire sale, attention is now focusing on whether prime brokers need to step up their due diligence on clients.



Japan's finance minister said on Friday the government is looking into the financial losses incurred by Japan's Mitsubishi UFJ Financial Group (MUFG) and Nomura, and will share information on the matter with the Bank of Japan and overseas authorities.



The U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission and Britain's Financial Conduct Authority have also launched preliminary probes into the Archegos meltdown, according to a different source familiar with the situation. The SEC declined to comment on Friday and the FCA did not immediately respond.



At Nomura, the question of whether the bank fell down on client due diligence is especially acute after it fired risk and compliance professionals in the United States in 2019. One of the sources familiar with matter linked those cuts to risks the bank took with Archegos.



"They probably felt they could manage the risk," said the source. "They were wrong."


Every year on Easter weekend, many gather to take the time to celebrate Jesus' life, death, and resurrection. Whether through corporate worship, Bible study or the observance of Lent, many activities during this season help people get a better understanding of the significance of the Savior's life, death and resurrection.

To this day, however, there are many non-believers who question the authenticity of Christ and demand proof of His existence. Now, leading Biblical apologist and author Alex McFarland reveals just how the Bible provides proof of Christ's life compared to other historical figures.

An author, speaker, and Focus on the Family contributor, McFarland is the current Director of the Christian Worldview Center at North Greenville University in South Carolina. He also previously served as the President of the Southern Evangelical Seminary for five years until 2011. He also served as the Director of Teen Apologetics at James Dobson's Focus on the Family. He recently spoke to CBN News to discuss the ways people can discover proof of Christ's life compared to other historical figures through the Bible.

McFarland explained that there are four kinds of testimony required by historians to prove the existence of a historical person. These are eyewitness testimonies, multiple testimonies, early testimonies, and hostile testimony. According to the biblical apologist, eyewitness testimonies and early testimonies can be found in the Gospels Matthew, Mark, Luke, and John, all of which were written by men who either knew Jesus personally or collected facts from eyewitnesses such as Mary, the mother of Jesus. He also noted that Paul's epistles were written by a man who personally encountered Jesus Christ after His resurrection.

"We have got the Gospels coming to us less than 10 years after the cross," McFarland, who also leads the nationwide ministry Truth for a New Generation, explained. He argued that the authenticity of the 643 ancient copies of Homer's Iliad is never questioned by historians, "but from the time of the writing to the copies we have: it was more than 500 years. In fact, around 900 years."

The Biblical apologist argues that the annals of Caesar, which were distributed in the dozens, whose early copies were retrieved by historians were from "nearly a millennia, a thousand years [ago]." McFarland compared this to the Biblical accounts of the Savior, pointing out, "The core of Jesus' identity, message, credentials was in circulation regularly within eight weeks after the cross."

With new technology improving the way historians conduct research, there's more proof of Christ's life compared to other historical figures. History reported that aside from the Bible, the first-century Jewish historian Flavius Josephus is believed to be the "best source of information about first-century Palestine" (modern-day Israel). Josephus also mentioned Jesus twice in his massive 20-volume history of the Jewish people, titled "Jewish Antiquities" that was written in 93 A.D. Josephus was a wealthy, well-connected aristocrat and military leader who wrote accounts of how the early church began and knew people who personally knew Jesus, which testimonies fall under McFarland's "eyewitness testimonies" category.

According to History, University of North Carolina religious studies professor Bart D. Ehrman believes that while texts from non-Christian sources may not shed much light into Jesus' life, it is still "useful for realizing that Jesus was known by historians who had reason to look into the matter. No one thought [H]e was made up."
The first phase of Australias coronavirus vaccine program could finish up to two months late, according to federal Health Department documents, as the Morrison government scrambles to hire more providers to deliver jabs across the country.

The Sunday Age can reveal the federal government has advertised for further assistance  in every state and territory across the country  to roll out the vaccine to residential aged care staff and other people in the phase 1a cohort of 700,000 people.

The documents suggest phase 1a will not be completed until the end of May, rather than early April as initially suggested by federal Health Minister Greg Hunt.

Health Minister Greg Hunt, Tim Wilson MP, Dale Austin (patient) and Dr Nick Kokotis at the Bluff Road Medical Centre in March. Credit:Joe Armao

Deputy Chief Medical Officer Michael Kidd said on Saturday the delivery of the locally produced AstraZeneca vaccine would proceed despite a rare blood clotting condition being found in a Melbourne man who received a dose in March.
BRAZIL, Ind. (WTHI) - Walmart in Brazil celebrated its 30th year in business on Friday.

The store opened its doors in 1991.

They marked the occasion with a celebration and even goodies for customers. There were also donations to local organizations.
The family of a Black teenager who said Stockton, California, police "viciously beat" him during a 2020 arrest filed a federal lawsuit against the city and four officers.

The teen, Devin Carter, was left with bruises on both eyes as well as scratches on his face and back after he was arrested following a Dec. 30, 2020, traffic stop. Two officers, Michael Stiles and Omar Villapudua, were fired over the incident.

John Burris, an attorney for the family, released photos of Carter's bruises as well as police body camera video.

The footage shows an officer yelling at Carter to "take his f------ seat belt off."

"OK, OK, OK. I'm down," Carter responds as he's pulled from his car and forced to the ground. "I'm not resisting," the 17-year-old repeatedly says.

In the video, Carter can be heard screaming in pain and repeatedly saying "ow" as officers place him in handcuffs.

Images released by Carter's attorney show the extent of his injuries. (Courtesy Law Offices of John Burris)

Burris said the officers acted like a "pack of wolves and "without any provocation or cause, pulled the young black man from his car and viciously beat him."

He said he had not seen a police beating this violent since Rodney King, a Black man who was beaten by Los Angeles police in March 1991. The city erupted in riots in 1992 after a jury acquitted four white officers seen in video footage beating King.

"Devin was afraid that the officers were going to beat him to death," the attorney said in a press release.

The lawsuit, which was filed Friday, says that Carter was driving to his father's house when officers began following him in an attempt to pull him over for speeding. The teen was initially unaware that police were behind him, the suit states.

The lawsuit accuses officers of using a "pursuit intervention technique" to get Carter to stop, which caused another vehicle to swerve. The car was hit by a police vehicle, according to the suit, which states that Carter was unaware of the accident.

Story continues

The teen eventually stopped and waited in his car with his hands "visibly raised above the steering wheel," the lawsuit says. He was then pulled from the car and slammed to the ground, according to the lawsuit.

"Devin Carter immediately curled up in a fetal position as multiple officers gathered around him and viciously beat him with their closed fist and feet," it says. "Devin Carter was kneed in his face by an officer and was struck in the face a number of times. Additionally, Devin Carter was kicked and kneed in his side and back."

The lawsuit says that Carter posed no threat to officers while he was restrained on the ground and did not resist.

Stockton police said that the pursuit began when officers saw Carter driving "erratically and speeding in excess of 100 mph." The department accused the teen of turning off his headlights and leading police on a roughly three-minute pursuit.

He stopped after crashing when he lost control on a turn, police said. He was booked into juvenile detention facility on charges of evading and resisting arrest.

Four officers used force during the arrest, according to Stockton Police Chief Eric Jones. They were initially placed on administrative leave, but the chief said in a statement Tuesday that "several" officers had been disciplined.

Officers Stiles and Villapudua were fired for acting "well outside the scope of both our policy and training," Jones said.

"Our department has policies that state we should make attempts to avoid striking an arrestee around the head and neck area when possible. Given this set of circumstances, I cannot and will not condone any excessive force," he said in a statement. "Additionally, any use of profanity is considered unwarranted and not professional."

The San Joaquin County District Attorneys Office is also reviewing the case.

The Stockton Police Department, the city attorney, and the Stockton Police Officers' Association did not immediately return a request for comment Saturday.

Mayor Kevin Lincoln said he was "deeply saddened and concerned" about what took place during Carter's arrest.
New Delhi: Railway Minister Piyush Goyal on Saturday penned a letter to around 13 lakh rail employees, thanking them for their work during the coronavirus crisis.

He said the last year was unlike anything that was experienced before.

"While the loss of our own would never be forgotten, it was the grit, determination and resolve of Rail Parivaar which had emerged victorious in the wake of the unprecedented pandemic," he said.

Goyal said that during the COVID-19 pandemic, the "Railway family" devoted itself to the service of the nation. "While the world came to a standstill, railwaymen never took a day off, and worked even harder at a great personal risk to keep the wheels of the economy moving," he said.

The minister added that due to the commitment of all, the railways could ensure uninterrupted supply of essential goods, be it coal for power plants, fertilizer for farmers or foodgrains for the consumers across the country.

"With your sheer willpower and resilience, we turned this crisis into an opportunity," he wrote.

Goyal said 4,621 Shramik Specials were run to unite families and carry more than 63 lakh stranded citizens. "Despite limitations during the lockdown, 370 major safety and infrastructure works were completed. Kisan Rail Services became the medium to connect our 'Annadatas' directly with bigger markets. You, through your service, made this possible and in turn touched the hearts and lives of lakhs of people," the Railway minister said.

"It is a matter of immense pride for me that the railways, with its exemplary work, has spearheaded the economic recovery," he said, adding 1,233 million tonnes of originating freight has been loaded, "which is the best ever for any year".

He also said 6,015 RKM (Route Kilometer) of rail electrification work has been achieved in the last financial year. "As they say, records are meant to be broken and no one does it better than the Indian Railways," the minister said.

Goyal added that now, the railways has become a customer-centric and is taking numerous steps for improving its speed as well as operational efficiency.

"This is visible as the average speed of freight trains has almost doubled to 44 Kmph and punctuality of the passenger trains has been maintained at a level of 96 per cent. There have been zero passenger fatalities and a drastic reduction in number of consequential train accidents in last two years," he said in the letter.

"I thank you for your dedication and stupendous efforts. I can say with confidence that with this motivated team, we will continue breaking records, achieve bigger targets, set examples for others with our performance, and contribute to the growth of Indian Economy," Goyal said.

Live TV
An effort to ensure the COVID vaccine is equitably shot into arms made its way Saturday to East Oakland, where a line to get vaccinated outside the Brookins AME Church stretched down 73rd Avenue, around the corner and halfway down Arthur Street.

Political, community and labor leaders said the turnout was testament to the need for community clinics.

The line has gotten longer every day; its growing as word gets out, said the Rev. JoeDavid Sales, pastor of the church. The demand is here.

This was the third out of four scheduled days that the churchs parking lot served as a mobile community clinic, one of a series of such clinics touring Oakland neighborhoods hit hard by the coronavirus but lagging behind in the number of people getting vaccinated. Organizers cited residents challenges getting appointments online or getting to clinics without transportation or assistance. The mobile clinics are an attempt to bring shots to the people instead of forcing people to track down the shots.

The big thing is that were actually in the communities that are being impacted disproportionately, not just by sickness and death but in an economic sense with job loss and businesses closing, Sales told The Chronicle. Having this kind of access to vaccinations really makes a difference.

Victor Ramirez, 49, of East Oakland stood near the end of the 130-person line for people without appointments. He said he heard about the clinic from a neighbor and wanted to get a vaccination because he needs to stay healthy to take care of his two grandkids and a stepdaughter with Downs syndrome.

I thought Id come down and give it a try, he said, even though he was warned he might have to wait 90 minutes and wasnt guaranteed one of the 500 doses of the Johnson & Johnson vaccine the clinic expected to inject on Saturday.

Im a caregiver, so its important. And J&J is a good vaccine because it only requires a single dose, Ramirez added.

The clinic was a collaborative effort between the Federal Emergency Management Agency, California Office of Emergency Services, county health officials and Service Employees International Union, Local 250, a labor union that represents in-home caregivers statewide, including 20,000 in Alameda County. Many live and work in East Oakland, according to a union spokeswoman.

During a news conference to encourage people from diverse communities to get their shots, Oakland City Councilman Loren Taylor said many Black and brown people have had bad experiences with the health-care system and are skeptical about trusting advice to get the vaccine. His own grandmother, he said, was among them.

But we were able to convince her and she got her vaccination two weeks ago, he said, encouraging others to follow her example. Data and science is real. We need to make sure all of us are vaccinated. It is that collective effort that will allow us to overcome this pandemic.

While Black and brown people are getting vaccinated at lower rates across the Bay Area, its not clear that vaccine hesitancy is to blame. A study by the Kaiser Family Foundation found that Black and Latino adults who were hesitant about the vaccine were still more responsive than White adults to certain pro-vaccine messages and information.

Oakland Mayor Libby Schaaf said the community clinics may be even more important than the big vaccination sites like one at the Oakland Coliseum, which will close April 11 after federal officials declined an Alameda County request to keep it open. The Coliseums towering light standards can be seen from outside the Brookins AME Church a couple of miles away.

This is how we are going to get this done, Schaaf said. By coming to the places where the people are.

Michael Cabanatuan is a San Francisco Chronicle staff writer. Email: mcabanatuan@sfchronicle.com; Twitter: @ctuan
New Delhi, April 3 : The average assets of 90 re-contesting MLAs fielded by various political parties in Assam, including Independent nominees, grew by 76 per cent in the last five years between 2016 and 2021 -- a hike of around Rs 1.91 crore -- according to the data released by Assam Election Watch and the Association for Democratic Reforms (ADR).

Of these 90 MLAs, three BJP leaders are in the top five list showing maximum increase in assets, followed by one from the All India United Democratic Front (AIUDF) and another from the Bodoland People's Front.

Assam Election Watch and ADR made the revelations based on the analysis of the self-sworn affidavits of these 90 MLAs who are contesting the ongoing three-phase Assam Assembly elections which began on March 27.

The third and final round of polling will be held on April 6, while the results will be declared on May 2.

"The average assets of these 90 MLAs in 2016 was Rs 2.52 crore. Now, their average assets range is Rs 4.44 crore. The average asset growth for these MLAs, between the Assam Assembly elections of 2016 and 2021 is Rs 1.91 crore," the data said.

BJP MLA from the Dhakuakhana (SC) constituency, Naba Kumar Doley, has declared maximum increase in assets with a rise of Rs 18.22 crore, from Rs 7.30 crore in 2016 to Rs 25.52 crore this year.

The assets of Nijam Uddin Choudhury of the AIUDF from the Algapur constituency increased by Rs 11.10 crore, from Rs 2.71 crore in 2016 to Rs 13.81 crore this year.

Of the other two BJP leaders, assets of Himanta Biswa Sarma from Jalukbari constituency has risen by Rs 10.89 crore, from Rs 6.38 crore in 2016 to Rs 17.27 crore in 2021.

Ashok Singhal is another BJP leader from the Dhekiajuli constituency whose assets grew by Rs 9.82 crore, from Rs 7.23 crore in 2016 to Rs 17.06 crore this year.

The assets of Bodoland People's Front MLA Chandan Brahma from the Sidli (ST) constituency has risen by Rs 6,57 crore, from Rs 9.58 crore in 2016 to Rs 16.15 crore this year.
Rapper DMX has been admitted to the hospital after reportedly suffering a drug overdose at his home.

The 50-year-old rap artist, whose real name is Earl Simmons, is said to be in a 'vegetative state' after purportedly suffering a heart attack brought on by the OD, TMZ reported Saturday.

Sources told the tabloid DMX overdosed around 11pm Friday and was rushed to the hospital in White Plains, New York, where he is now in critical care.

He has been described as having 'some brain activity,' but doctors reportedly fear he may not pull through, according to the outlet.

DMX has been hospitalized after allegedly suffering a drug overdose at his home Friday

The 50-year-old rapper is reported to be in a 'vegetative state' after suffering a heart attack triggered by an OD. DMX's last known rehab stint was in October 2019. He had been photographed in public (right) as recently as February

His attorney Murray Richman released a statement on Saturday afternoon confirming DMX was on life support after having a heart attack but did not say if it was triggered by an overdose.

'I received a call this morning that Earl Simmons was in the hospital, at the White Plains Hospital, and that he had had a heart attack, and I'm not sure how it was induced and that he's on life support,' Richman said.

'I've spoken to the family and the family and I are quite close with each other. I am concerned about his well-being and mindful of his significance. I have known Earl for over 25 years and I believe that his music is quite poignant, very important. He's truly a poet of our time.'.

DMX, who is considered one of the biggest artists of the 90s and early 2000s rap era, has battled substance abuse in the past and has checked into rehab several times over the years.

His last known stint was in October 2019, ten months after his release from prison, but was seen performing on stage again just two months later.

The rapper is not known to have shown any signs of a potential relapse since, and he had been photographed at a public event as recently as February.

DMX has had a number of brushes with law involving drugs and other crimes over the years.

In January 2019, he was released from a West Virginia federal prison after serving a year behind bars for tax fraud.

He pleaded guilty in November 2017 to evading $1.7million in US tax payments between 2002 and 2005. On top of jail time, the Internal Revenue Service ordered him to pay $2.3million in restitution.

Prosecutors said the star had dodged taxes by living on cash, without maintaining a bank account or filing required tax returns to the IRS.

The native of Yonkers, a suburb of New York, was ordered to be under supervised release for three years.

The rap artist, whose real name is Earl Simmons, was released from federal prison in January 2019 after serving a year behind bars for tax fraud. He is pictured leaving court with his attorney in 2017

DMX's gravelly voice and dark, often violent lyrics catapulted him to fame in the early 90s. The rapper has a colorful criminal history and has been

DMX was said to have been preparing for a comeback during his first year as a free man and had signed a new record deal with Def Jam Records in September that year.

But the following month, just 10 months after his release, the star took to social media to announce he was checking into rehab for an unspecified amount of time.

'In his ongoing commitment to putting family and sobriety first, DMX has checked himself into a rehab facility. He apologizes for his cancelled shows and thanks his fans for their continued support,' the post read.

It is unclear how long DMX was in treatment, but by late December he was seen back on stage in Las Vegas where he performed at the Hakkasan Nightclub.

The rapper appeared to be in good spirits and addressed his troubles during the show with a rousing address between songs.

'When you fall down, get back up, everybody here has been through some s**t and you never know what God is willing to do for you until you need him to do something for you,' he said to the crowd.

DMX, is famously a father of 15. He is pictured above with Desiree Lindstrom, who gave birth to his youngest child in 2016

The rapper starred in a number of big films in the late 1990s and early 2000s. He is pictured above with actor Steven Seagal in a promo shot for 2001 film Exit Wounds

'You won't know if he's willing to pick you up unless you fall down. You won't know if he's willing to help you find your way, unless you get lost,' he added.

DMX, whose deep, gravelly voice and dark, often violent lyrics catapulted him to fame in the early nineties, has a colorful criminal history.

The father of 15 has been arrested for a variety of offenses over the years including drug possession, reckless driving, animal cruelty and failing to pay child support.

Artistically he is best known for his 2000 smash hit 'Party Up (Up In Here),' in which he belittles other rappers.

This is a developing story. More to come.
Thiruvananthapuram, April 3 : Kerala Chief Minister Pinarayi Vijayan on Saturday came down heavily on Prime Minister Narendra Modi and several other top Congress leaders for portraying Kerala in poor light and added that such remarks can't stop the Left from retaining its power.

"With the election campaign reaching its peak, the BJP's top brass, including Prime Minister Narendra Modi, and other senior Congress leaders, have been portraying Kerala in a poor light," said Vijayan and recalled Modi's comparison of Kerala to that of Somalia during his 2016 Assembly campaign here.

Modi was in Kerala for the election campaign on Friday where he appealed to the people to give an opportunity to the BJP-led NDA for the development of the state, which he said the Left and the Congress had "failed" to achieve.

On the other hand, several Congress leaders also have been going hammer and tongs against the Vijayan government and the way it functioned in the past five years.

Vijayan said, in the past five years, Kerala came under numerous disasters and the Centre failed to come to the state's rescue.

"During the floods, the Central forces were here and after they returned, we had to pay the bill for their services. None will forget the work of our own army - 'fishermen', who were chipped in and they had never sent a bill for their services rendered. The Centre then gave us food grains along with its bill. Besides, none will forget, how the Centre failed to give us the nod to receive aid from rebuilding Kerala in the aftermath of the floods. People know everything and they will not forget anything," said Vijayan.

The CM also repeated his stock statement which he has been making everyday about the Kerala model of a new relation between the BJP and the Congress.

"Everyone knows here that the BJP and the Congress have a 'bhai bhai' relation and even when the central agencies were after the government, the Congress stood as a silent supporter," he added.

Vijayan further said that people in Kerala know how and what was done by their government in the past five years and that was what the various poll surveys revealed.

"We know how the Congress party after being elected by the people in various states gifted the governance to the BJP. Kerala is not going to go that way, even as the Congress party here is trying to do that, but the people are going to teach the Congress a lesson in the elections. This is the general perception of the people and that's why we are going to retain the power," the CM added.

-- The story has been published from a wire feed without any modifications to the text
STATEN ISLAND, N.Y.  New York lawmakers want you to smoke weed.

In fact, they want you to smoke a lot of weed.

Thats the fine print were seeing now that New York has formally legalized recreational marijuana for those aged 21 and over.

The first thing that makes your eyes go kind of wide is that the law signed by Gov. Andrew Cuomo allows New Yorkers to possess up to three ounces of marijuana.

Three ounces? Thats a lot of weed for merely recreational purposes.

Its been a couple of decades since I was a chronic toker, but I remember an ounce of weed being enough to keep me and my stoner pals high and munching on Rice Krispie cakes for a good long while.

As I recall it, you could roll maybe 40 to 50 decent-sized joints out of an ounce of weed. Your mileage may vary, of course. You could also keep the bong or hash pipe plenty stoked with an ounce of ganja.

Now multiply that by three and youll see just how stoned Cuomo et al want New Yorkers to get.

It makes sense. Maybe then we wont care so much about the govs sex scandals. Or his book scandal. Or his nursing home death scandal.

And whos kidding whom here? Nobody in state government is interested in busting anybody for a weed offense ever. Do you think any cop is going to frisk anybody for marijuana? Whats to stop someone from carrying four ounces of marijuana? Or five? Or ten?

They call that marijuana justice. More on that later.

But what really stunned me was that the new law allows New Yorkers to have up to five pounds of weed in their homes.

Five pounds. I wondered if I was stoned myself when I read that. But no.

I cant imagine how long it would take a mere recreational user to smoke that much weed. The only people who keep that kind of weight laying around are traffickers. Or road managers for the Grateful Dead.

The black market has continued to thrive in every state that has legalized weed. And the New York law, with these amounts, almost guarantees that the same will be the case here.

Traffickers can store five-pound bales in any number of places in the Empire State and not have to worry. Heck, they can probably store 15 or 20 pounds and never run afoul of the Weed Police. Because there is no Weed Police.

Its an invitation to increased trafficking, including from Mexico, even though Mexico also recently legalized weed. Not that thats going to change anything. You think the cartels are going to suddenly burn their marijuana fields and get into an honest line of work? Please.

And if you want to get into the weed business in New York but dont want to wait the agonizing time its going to take for the states legal system to be up and running, you can just buy five pounds of marijuana from someone now and go into business for yourself.

Nobodys going to break your door down. Politicians arent interested in enforcement, especially in communities of color that have borne the brunt of weed enforcement in the past.

Or at least thats what they say when theyre pandering to certain interest groups, talking about expunging the records of those arrested for weed offenses and crying out that legalizing weed is a social justice issue.

As if legalizing weed wont harm some of the very same communities of color that have historically borne the brunt of addiction and drug-related violence. Thats the most craven, sinister and cynical part of all this.

Id rather Cuomo and the rest just be honest with me: Were hoping to make a lot of money by encouraging people to smoke at lot of weed.

Thats the real bottom line.
Whether shes wearing a T-shirt and jeans or a peasant dress, her chocolate tresses cascading beneath a floral bandana as she kneads Sicilian brioche or stirs an Abruzzo soup, actress, opera singer and food presenter Silvia Colloca cant help but embody the domestic goddess ideal. Her fourth television series is returning for a second season  filmed in her home kitchen, her three children with husband actor Richard Roxburgh hovering for a lick of the spoon  and it is a joyous and practical guide to treasured dishes from across Italy.

You dont have to be an Italian to cook like one. You can shop and stock your pantry like one, you can think about food like one, and then you can cook like one. I dont think its really about the food. Its about the moment it creates. I hope that people can select a few recipes from this season to become their personal favourites that they do over and over again.

While Roxburgh never appears on his wifes cooking shows (We try to keep our professional lives separate), this season includes bittersweet Zoom appearances by her parents and brother in Italy.

This time last year all the Italians were singing from the balconies and having coffee with the neighbours. Its not happening this time around. Theyre just so exhausted.

Traditional dishes such as chicken diavolo, a spicy roast spatchcock that can be put straight on the table for everyone to demolish; zupetta di pesce; risotto; calzone; and breakfast focaccia are lovingly prepared, with nifty Nonna tips thrown in. Theres an episode devoted to cooking with children (its a bit messy but it encourages a good relationship with food); and one for the gluten intolerant: There are Italian recipes that just so happen to be gluten free.

Cook Like an Italian is a long way from Collocas second, and perhaps her most unintentionally well-known series, made for the ABC in 2016, five years after she migrated to Australia after meeting Roxburgh on the set of vampire movie, Van Helsing. Infused with celebrities and filmed on location in a glistening North Sydney beachfront apartment, Silvias Italian Table was lambasted by online critic Helen Razer as fatuous property porn and a misuse of taxpayers money. To that unfortunate chapter, Colloca assumes Mariah Careys infamous I dont know her response.
TROY - In a bid to help reduce the spread of COVID-19 in Troy, Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute will now preside over weekly testing of students, faculty and staff at Emma Willard School, according to an announcement from RPI.

This collaboration between the local schools streamlines the testing process and reduces the wait time for results for Emma Willard, and it demonstrates the capability of Rensselaer to help external partners fight the pandemic, the new release states.

In the fall, Emma Willard School, with the help of a variety of partners, began weekly testing of day students and employees as a part of its COVID-19 mitigation measures. In January as youngsters began returning to the all-female campus, the number of people being tested rose and the school began exploring ways to improve the process.

RPI had already been conducting widespread surveillance testing on campus since August in an effort to limit the spread of the virus.

Two months later, RPI announced it was teaming up with St. Peters Health Partners to establish a lab at the school under the St. Peters license, a designation that allows tests conducted by Rensselaer to be used as diagnostic tests for public health reporting.

Additionally, it paved the way for the university to offer testing to other institutions and organizations in the Capital Region.

Officials at Emma Willard reached out to RPI and that led to the first full-scale surveillance testing program at Rensselaer. So now, students, faculty, and staff at Emma Willard are tested once a week, with results returned within 24 hours of when they arrive at the Rensselaer lab.

The partnership has been extremely positive, said Emma Willards Director of Nursing Jennifer Bliss in the news release. Our turnaround time for testing has been greatly reduced and having a local partner has alleviated the need for shipping samples to a testing facility.

Curtis Powell, Rensselaers vice president for human resources, stated that the partnership with Emma Willard will serve as a model for other surveillance testing programs we plan to launch, and we are very excited about the optimism it brings for our collective future.
BC-US--Governors-State and Local Taxes

Seven Democratic governors are calling on President Joe Biden to lift the $10,000 cap on state and local tax deductions that was a part of former President Donald Trumps massive 2017 tax law. In a letter sent the Democratic president Friday, they argued that Democratic-run states and their taxpayers were disproportionately targeted. The letter comes a little more than a week after U.S. Treasury Secretary Janet Yellen agreed to work with Congress on a way to remedy the inequities the cap has caused. The governors of Connecticut, New Jersey, California, Hawaii, Illinois, New York and Oregon sent the letter.
Havas Formula sets up shop in Denver, its sixth U.S. location. The Denver office will be headed up by senior vice president Alexis Anderson, who manages many of the agencys high-profile public relations clients, and Amy MacFarlane, account director in its experiential and activation division, Havas Street. While the agency is currently operating virtually, Havas Formula CEO Michael Olguin says that it will be looking to settle on a physical location later this year. The Rocky Mountain states provide a tremendous opportunity in the food, technology, health and wellness industries, said Olguin. In addition, there is a tremendous amount of talent currently residing in the area. Headquartered in New York, Havas Formula also operates offices in Chicago, Los Angeles, Miami and San Diego.

The Center for Public Interest Communications at the University of Florida receives funding for two projects aimed at offering science-informed tools to combat COVID-19 vaccine hesitancy. In November, the Center released the Guide to COVID-19 vaccine communications: a practitioner's guide to the principles of COVID-19 vaccine communications for the United Nations Verified initiative, and the principles outlined in that plan will serve as the foundation for the two new projects. The Center will work with the Manufacturing Institute on its This Is Our Shot project to create a strategy for U.S. manufacturers to help answer the questions and concerns that their workers have about the vaccines. It will partner with the Robert Wood Johnson Foundation on an evidence-based guide will help people talk to skeptical family members, friends, church members or colleagues.

Jon Goldberg

PRSA names Jon Goldberg, founder and chief reputation architect of New Jersey-based Reputation Architects, to serve as 2021 chair of its Counselors Academy. Goldberg has served on the executive committee of Counselors Academy since 2014 and he is also a director-at-large of PRSAs New Jersey chapter and co-chair of the societys National Civility Task Force. The opportunity to collaborate with and learn from other highly successful professionals with a shared commitment to the PR profession and our collective business success has been nothing short of transformational, said Goldberg. PRSA has also named four new members the executive committee: Curley Company president and CEO Jennifer Curley, RENEWPR president Ben Finzel, Inspire PR Group founder and president Hinda Mitchell, and Precise Communications president and CEO Alexis Davis Smith.
Man rams car into 2 Capitol police; 1 officer, driver killed View Photo

WASHINGTON (AP)  A Capitol Police officer was killed Friday after a man rammed a car into two officers at a barricade outside the U.S. Capitol and then emerged wielding a knife. It was the second line-of-duty death this year for a department still struggling to heal from the Jan. 6 insurrection.

Video shows the driver of the crashed car emerging with a knife in his hand and starting to run at the pair of officers, Capitol Police Acting Chief Yogananda Pittman told reporters. Authorities shot the suspect, who died at a hospital.

I just ask that the public continue to keep U.S. Capitol Police and their families in your prayers, Pittman said. This has been an extremely difficult time for U.S. Capitol Police after the events of Jan. 6 and now the events that have occurred here today.

Police identified the slain officer as William Billy Evans, an 18-year veteran who was a member of the departments first responders unit.

Two law enforcement officials told The Associated Press that investigators initially believed the suspect stabbed one of the officers, but it was later unclear whether the knife actually made contact, in part because the vehicle struck the officers with such force. The officials were not authorized to publicly discuss the investigation and spoke on condition of anonymity.

Authorities said there wasnt an ongoing threat, though the Capitol was put on lockdown for a time as a precaution. There was also no immediate connection apparent between Fridays crash and the Jan. 6 riot.

Law enforcement officials identified the suspect as 25-year-old Noah Green. Investigators were digging into his background and examining whether he had any mental health history as they tried to discern a motive. They were also working to obtain warrants to access his online accounts.

Pittman said the suspect did not appear to have been on the polices radar. But the attack underscored that the building and campus  and the officers charged with protecting them  remain potential targets for violence.

Green described himself as a follower of the Nation of Islam and its longtime leader, Louis Farrakhan, and spoke of going through a difficult time where he leaned on his faith, according to recent messages posted online that have since been taken down. The messages were captured by the group SITE, which tracks online activity.

To be honest these past few years have been tough, and these past few months have been tougher, he wrote. I have been tried with some of the biggest, unimaginable tests in my life. I am currently now unemployed after I left my job partly due to afflictions, but ultimately, in search of a spiritual journey.

President Joe Biden said in a statement that he and his wife were heartbroken to learn of the attack and expressed condolences to Evans family. He directed flags at the White House to be lowered to half staff.

The crash and shooting happened at a security checkpoint near the Capitol typically used by senators and staff on weekdays, though most were away from the building for the current recess. The attack occurred about 100 yards (91 meters) from the entrance of the building on the Senate side of the Capitol. One witness, the Rev. Patrick Mahoney, said he was finishing a Good Friday service nearby when he heard three shots ring out.

The Washington region remains on edge nearly three months after a mob of insurrectionists loyal to former President Donald Trump stormed the Capitol as Congress was voting to certify Bidens presidential win.

Five people died in the Jan. 6 riot, including Capitol Police officer Brian Sicknick, who was among a badly outnumbered force trying to fight off the intruders seeking to overturn the election. Authorities installed a tall perimeter fence around the Capitol and for months restricted traffic along the roads closest to the building, but they had begun pulling back some of the emergency measures. Fencing that prevented vehicular traffic near that area was only recently removed.

Evans was the seventh Capitol Police member to die in the line of duty in the departments history, according to the Officer Down Memorial Page, which tracks deaths of law enforcement. In addition, two officers, one from Capitol Police and another from Washingtons Metropolitan Police Department, died by suicide following the Jan. 6 attack.

Almost 140 Capitol Police officers were wounded in that attack, including officers not issued helmets who sustained head injuries and one with cracked ribs, according to the officers union. It took hours for the National Guard to arrive, a delay that has driven months of finger-pointing between that days key decision makers.

Capitol Police and National Guard troops were called upon soon afterward to secure the Capitol during Bidens inauguration and faced another potential threat in early March linked to conspiracy theories falsely claiming Trump would retake the presidency.

Today, once again, these heroes risked their lives to protect our Capitol and our country, with the same extraordinary selflessness and spirit of service seen on January 6, House Speaker Nancy Pelosi said in a statement. On behalf of the entire House, we are profoundly grateful.

The U.S. Capitol complex was placed on lockdown for a time after Fridays shooting, and staffers were told they could not enter or exit buildings. Video showed Guard troops mobilizing near the area of the crash.

Video posted online showed a dark colored sedan crashed against a vehicle barrier and a police K-9 dog inspecting the vehicle. Law enforcement and paramedics could be seen caring for at least one unidentified individual.

___

Merchant reported from Houston. Associated Press writers Eric Tucker, Mary Clare Jalonick, Lisa Mascaro, Mark Sherman and Lolita C. Baldor in Washington contributed to this report.

___

This story was first published on April 2, 2021. It was updated on April 3, 2021 to correct the reference to Louis Farrakhan. He is the longtime leader of the Nation of Islam, not its founder.

By MICHAEL BALSAMO, NOMAAN MERCHANT and COLLEEN LONG

Associated Press
- By GF Value





The stock of Magna International (NYSE:MGA, 30-year Financials) appears to be significantly overvalued, according to GuruFocus Value calculation. GuruFocus Value is GuruFocus' estimate of the fair value at which the stock should be traded. It is calculated based on the historical multiples that the stock has traded at, the past business growth and analyst estimates of future business performance. If the price of a stock is significantly above the GF Value Line, it is overvalued and its future return is likely to be poor. On the other hand, if it is significantly below the GF Value Line, its future return will likely be higher. At its current price of $89.57 per share and the market cap of $27 billion, Magna International stock is estimated to be significantly overvalued. GF Value for Magna International is shown in the chart below.





Magna International Stock Appears To Be Significantly Overvalued

Because Magna International is significantly overvalued, the long-term return of its stock is likely to be much lower than its future business growth, which averaged 3.7% over the past three years and is estimated to grow 0.56% annually over the next three to five years.

Link: These companies may deliever higher future returns at reduced risk.

Companies with poor financial strength offer investors a high risk of permanent capital loss. To avoid permanent capital loss, an investor must do their research and review a company's financial strength before deciding to purchase shares. Both the cash-to-debt ratio and interest coverage of a company are a great way to to understand its financial strength. Magna International has a cash-to-debt ratio of 0.54, which which ranks in the middle range of the companies in Vehicles & Parts industry. The overall financial strength of Magna International is 6 out of 10, which indicates that the financial strength of Magna International is fair. This is the debt and cash of Magna International over the past years:

Story continues

Magna International Stock Appears To Be Significantly Overvalued

It poses less risk to invest in profitable companies, especially those that have demonstrated consistent profitability over the long term. A company with high profit margins is also typically a safer investment than one with low profit margins. Magna International has been profitable 10 over the past 10 years. Over the past twelve months, the company had a revenue of $32.6 billion and earnings of $2.49 a share. Its operating margin is 4.44%, which ranks in the middle range of the companies in Vehicles & Parts industry. Overall, GuruFocus ranks the profitability of Magna International at 7 out of 10, which indicates fair profitability. This is the revenue and net income of Magna International over the past years:

Magna International Stock Appears To Be Significantly Overvalued

Growth is probably the most important factor in the valuation of a company. GuruFocus research has found that growth is closely correlated with the long term stock performance of a company. A faster growing company creates more value for shareholders, especially if the growth is profitable. The 3-year average annual revenue growth of Magna International is 3.7%, which ranks in the middle range of the companies in Vehicles & Parts industry. The 3-year average EBITDA growth rate is -10.1%, which ranks worse than 69% of the companies in Vehicles & Parts industry.

Another method of determining the profitability of a company is to compare its return on invested capital to the weighted average cost of capital. Return on invested capital (ROIC) measures how well a company generates cash flow relative to the capital it has invested in its business. The weighted average cost of capital (WACC) is the rate that a company is expected to pay on average to all its security holders to finance its assets. When the ROIC is higher than the WACC, it implies the company is creating value for shareholders. For the past 12 months, Magna International's return on invested capital is 5.96, and its cost of capital is 9.11. The historical ROIC vs WACC comparison of Magna International is shown below:

Magna International Stock Appears To Be Significantly Overvalued

Overall, the stock of Magna International (NYSE:MGA, 30-year Financials) shows every sign of being significantly overvalued. The company's financial condition is fair and its profitability is fair. Its growth ranks worse than 69% of the companies in Vehicles & Parts industry. To learn more about Magna International stock, you can check out its 30-year Financials here.

To find out the high quality companies that may deliever above average returns, please check out GuruFocus High Quality Low Capex Screener.

This article first appeared on GuruFocus.




Engineering Project Manager - Identity and Access Management Santa Clara Valley (Cupertino) , California , United States Software and Services Summary

Posted: Apr 1, 2021 Weekly Hours: 40 Role Number: 200233442 Apple is seeking an Engineering Project Manager to join our premier Identity and Access Management Services team, working in a constantly evolving, fast-paced environment. Candidates will work with technical and business teams to develop software from its design to release. They must have solid project management skills in both waterfall and agile environments. We need someone who can prioritize issues, manage details, and see the big picture. You should be able to think on their feet and efficiently debate the validity of a given approach for any aspect of projects under their control. We are looking for a professional was is a detail-oriented, organized self-starter, who is self-motivated, with a strong sense of ownership and personal responsibility. A background in identity and access management concepts is very desirable. Key Qualifications Hands-on experience with information security in large enterprise environments

5+ years of general IT/IS and systems development experience.

4+ years of project/program management experience, working with application design, integration, and deployment in a global IT environment.

Communication: Extraordinary written and verbal skills and the ability to present to all levels of an organization. Candidates have the ability to lead and encourage collaboration across participating teams.

People: Strong social skills to drive meetings and discussions about requirements, design, progress, and status. Candidates can empower decisions, influence people, and resolve conflicts.

Critical thinking: Excellent analytical thought process and attention to detail, especially in predicting and preventing potential future challenges.

Technical knowledge: Familiarity with Java, SOA, J2EE, Object Oriented Programming and Oracle, with an emphasis on Identity Management solutions like Kerberos, SSO, OAuth, SAML, Encryption, and PKI.

Budgeting: Ability to manage project constraints including time, cost, and quality. Description Drive and ship large projects that involve multiple features and groups at Apple Drive functional and technical design for business requirements Lead all aspects of multiple concurrent feature development including scope, requirements, and timelines Collaborate with a variety of team members from a diverse array of groups across the company Lead multi-functional projects with only consultative direction from management Plan and prioritize a portfolio of projects, setting priorities, measurable objectives, and deadlines Deliver communications on status and concerns to team members, management, and other project partners Collect and review business requirements, and set expectations for requested services Education & Experience BS degree in computer science or information management or an MS degree.


Contributed / Photo courtesy of the Daughters of the American Revolution /

Contributed / Photo courtesy of the Daughters of the American Revolution

The Cos Cob Fire Police Patrol, one of the most specialized units in the state, is seeking vital support for its work.

On three upcoming weekends, patrol members will be stationed at intersections, where supporters can stuff donations in firefighter boots that they will be carrying.

The fundraising effort comes amid the ongoing COVID-19 crisis. In a regular year, the patrol sees about $40,000 a year in private donations, with the funds used for modernizing and maintaining equipment and training members.

The pandemic forced the patrol to cancel its 2020 spring benefit, and now public support is needed more than ever at the nonprofit. The patrol held a smaller scale event during the Christmas holidays, with patrol members delivering gifts to kids from its truck. But it still needs more support.

The majority of our fundraising comes from that March or April benefit so to not have it two years in a row is pretty devastating from a fundraising standpoint, said Stephanie Dunn Ashley, president of the patrols board of directors.

Its also important for the community to meet the patrol members and find out about their work. Also due to the pandemic, the patrol hasnt been able to offer open houses or host family birthday parties, which lets residents see the trucks and the equipment.

We want people to see the faces behind the trucks, Dunn Ashley said. Every member of the patrol is a volunteer and they all live in town.

The Fire Police Patrol is an all-volunteer nonprofit organization that has been in place since 1927. It does traffic and scene control at emergencies as well as firefighting and salvage operations, working both with the public and with other first responders.

The patrol is one of the few remaining organizations that specializes in salvage operations. Members are specially trained to go into a fire and protect valuable personal property from a home or a business that might be destroyed or damaged by flames, water or smoke. It responds to an average of 1,000 calls a year.

A nonprofit, the patrol relies heavily on private donations to cover its annual operating budget.

Patrol members will be out from 9 a.m. to 4 p.m. April 17, May 1 and May 15 at the intersections of East Putnam Avenue and Sinawoy Road as well as the intersection of Indian Field Road and Sound Shore Drive to collect donations in the stuff-a-boot campaign.

The patrol is also hoping to have a fundraising event over the summer but details are not yet finalized. Donations can also be made online at ccfpp.org.

Riverside

The Parish of St. Catherine of Siena and St. Agnes is calling on the community to aid Inspirica, a Stamford-based nonprofit working to break the cycle of homelessness by getting people into stable and permanent housing.

The parish is seeking donations of new bedding and cleaning supplies for Inspirica. Donations can be dropped off at the churchs vestibules at 4 Riverside Ave. before Masses on April 10 and April 11.Donations can also be left at St. Agnes Church at 247 Stanwich Road.

New sheets in all sizes are needed as well as new pillows, pillowcases and comforters. Needed supplies include all-purpose cleaners, sanitary wipes and glass cleaner.

The drive was organized by the parishs Social Justice Committee, which is chaired by Betsy Parker, who said they have a long-term partnership with Inspirica.

Our Social Justice Committee selects three or four nonprofits that we routinely give to, Parker said. Inspirica is one of them.  Their motto is from homelessness to home so they are helping people every step of the way. They provide not only food, clothing and shelter but they provide the means by which these people can then get their own food, clothing and shelter.

An Amazon wish list of items needed at Amazon is set up at https://smile.amazon.com/hz/charitylist/ls/7U8ASQZ6N01K/ref=smi_ext_lnk_lcl_cl. For more information about Inspirica, visit www.inspiricact.org/.

Central Greenwich

The new chapter of the Daughters of the American Revolution recently donated bags of candy to health-care workers at Greenwich Hospital, both in recognition of the Easter and Passover holidays and for their hard work during the COVID-19 pandemic.

Several chapter members presented the candy to Julie Lapin, the hospitals senior communications officer; Marc Kosak, executive VP and chief operating officer; and Karen Santucci, senior VP and chief medical officer. The candy was placed throughout the hospital for everyone to enjoy.

The new DAR chapter is looking for members who have a desire to support our community in a variety of ways. The DAR is a nonprofit and nonpolitical volunteer womens service organization dedicated to promoting patriotism and preserving American history.

Anyone interested in becoming a charter member of the chapter can contact Jolene Mullen, Connecticut state chair for chapter development at the CTDAR, at jolenem@aol.com.

Downtown

The celebration of the Greenwich Police Departments 125th anniversary is underway, and shoppers at Alice + Olivia on April 8 can take part in a benefit event for the GPD.

The clothing store at 335 Greenwich Ave. will offer a 10 percent discount to shoppers that day and contribute an additional 10 percent to the Greenwich Police Departments Scholarship Fund.

We all need to bring some new style to our wardrobes after a year of in-home sheltering, store manager Brianna Forchetti said. Come in and see our latest arrivals and support the students of the Greenwich Police Department. Wardrobe flair meets community support, what a great combination.

A similar fundraising event was held at Funky Monkey Toys & Books. Also, NicholsMD will donate 5 percent of the sales of its product of the month in June to the scholarship fund. Miku Sushi will sell a special September menu item as a fundraiser, and Vineyard Vines will make a donation from a back-to-school sale. Other events, including a car show and a policemans ball, will be held to celebrate the anniversary.

The fund gives scholarship money to qualifying students of GPD officers. This school year, 26 scholarships have been funded and that number is expected to increase next year.

Greenwich has such a strong sense of community and were very appreciative of the communitys support to our scholarship fund, Chief of Police James Heavey said.

For more information about the scholarship fund, call 203-622-7844 or visit www.gpdscholarshipfund.org.

kborsuk@greenwichtime.com
New Delhi:

The main opposition party Congress on Saturday demanded an explanation from Narendra Modi government over absconding don Dawood Ibrahims wife Mehjabin Shaikh visiting Mumbai undetected last year.

In a video message, Congress leader Randeep Singh Surjewala said, Wife of [Dawood] Ibrahim, Mehajabin Shaikh came to meet her father in 2016 in Mumbai and the Modi government kept on sleeping.

Surjewala questioned the investigative agencies and asked what CBI and RAW were doing when she visited Mumbai and left quietly.

Wife of a terrorist, who is wanted in many terror cases arrives in India to meet her father and then goes back.

Why she was not arrested? Why no action was taken against her? he asked.

Also Read | Raj Thackeray claims Dawood Ibrahim in talks with Modi-govt, wants to surrender

The Prime Minister (Narendra Modi), defence minister (Nirmala Sitharaman) and home minister (Rajnath Singh) must give answers, Surjewala said.

Earlier on Friday, Iqbal Ibrahim Kaskar, brother of Indias most wanted don told investigators that Mehjabin Shaikh visited Mumbai in 2016 to meet her father Salim Kashmiri.

A Maharashtra anti-extortion cell headed by former encounter specialist Pradeep Sharma had arrested Iqbal Kaskar from Mumbai in an extortion case.

For all the Latest India News, Download News Nation Android and iOS Mobile Apps.
MCL, a subsidiary of Coal India Ltd, on Friday said it has posted a record production of 148.01 million tonne and achieved the highest-ever dispatch of 146 million tonne in the 2020-21 fiscal.

These achievements by the Odisha-based miner will help Coal India, a Maharatna PSU, strengthen its foundation to meet the one billion production target by 2024, an official said.

Mahanadi Coalfields Ltd also registered a record of 174.5 MCuM of overburden removal in the last fiscal, its chairman-cum-managing Director P K Sinha told reporters.

Overburden removal is a process of removing topsoil and rock to expose coal seams in open cast mines.

He said Mahanadi Coalfields Ltd spent Rs 2,300 crore as capital expenditure, which was the highest among all Coal India subsidiaries in FY21.

"MCL is committed to supply clean coal with minimum impact on the environment. The company is implementing nine projects to provide a pollution-free rake loading system with a total expenditure of Rs 3,600 crore," Sinha said.

He said MCL had signed an agreement with the Odisha government and SUM Hospital for setting up medical facilities in Bhubaneswar and Talcher for the treatment of COVID-19 patients.

The company also established a dedicated COVID Health Centre in Jharsuguda, he said. The miner had spent Rs 193 crore for its corporate social responsibility programme in the last fiscal, he added.

Also read: NTPC records highest-ever power generation of 314 BU in FY21
PHILADELPHIA, April 2, 2021 /PRNewswire/ -- Attorney Richard Golomb of Golomb & Honik, P.C. in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania is an official member of the International Academy of Trial Lawyers (IATL). He was first invited to the prestigious organization in 2020.

No more than 500 Fellows in the United States can become members of the International Academy of Trial Lawyers, which intentionally limits membership. The 500 who are chosen join a limited selection of members from dozens of other countries, forming an impressive international catalog of eclectic trial attorneys.

To become a member, a trial attorney must meet the IATL's high standards of excellence in legal knowledge, case results, and reputation. The organization finds and reviews potential members, rather than requesting applications from attorneys. Reviews are primarily handled by peer reviews from other trusted trial attorneys, but judicial reviews are also possible. Unlike many other legal organizations, IATL members can primarily represent plaintiffs or defendants in either criminal or civil trials.

The International Academy of Trial Lawyers was first founded in 1954, marking it as one of the longest-running international legal organizations. From the beginning, it held the goals of advancing and improving the law and courtroom procedures by creating an environment in which legal professionals could share experiences, gain knowledge, trailblaze, and take action together. It is a high honor for Attorney Richard Golomb to be a part of this groundbreaking organization.

More information about the International Academy of Trial Lawyers can be found at www.iatl.net/. Interested parties can learn more about Attorney Richard Golomb and Golomb & Honik, P.C. in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania by visiting www.golombhonik.com.

SOURCE Richard Golomb

Related Links

https://www.golombhonik.com


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.
A four-day working week has been suggested after new figures showed hundreds of civil servants at Stormont have been struggling with work-related stress throughout the Covid emergency.

Figures obtained by the Belfast Telegraph show that there were 370 absences due to the problem last year. They also record 1,464 absences listed under 'anxiety, stress, depression or any other psychiatric illness'.

Across Stormont's nine departments and the Public Prosecution Service (PPS), there are almost 23,000 workers.

Of the 370 work-related stress absences last year, Stormont's largest department, the Department for Communities (DfC), had the highest number of absences at 113. DfC was followed by the Department of Justice (DoJ) at 95 and the Department for Infrastructure (DfI) at 53.

The PPS had 'less than 10' due to work-related stress, while the Department of Education (DoE) had five.

Alliance Party health spokesperson Paula Bradshaw said her party has been calling for Stormont's mental health strategy to be brought forward "more swiftly than is currently the case".

"Not least so we have a clear policy framework for dealing with issues such as anxiety and depression among the workforce. It is our view the pandemic only makes this more urgent, not less so," she added.

"Such a strategy should be not just about services, but also about what we can all do to support each other."

People Before Profit MLA Gerry Carroll, a member of Stormont's Health Committee, said the Executive needs to examine new ways of addressing workplace stress.

"The scale of these figures is very worrying and really goes to show the pressure and stress that frontline workers are under," he said.

"Not only do we need to ensure that every worker is supported with access to counselling and other talking therapies but these figures should really focus the attention of Executive ministers on tackling long hours for low pay that many unfortunately face.

"I would urge ministers to urgently look at the benefits of implementing a four-day week without loss of pay as a way to assist tackling anxiety, depression and other mental health pressures people are experiencing."

The Department of Finance, which is responsible for personnel matters in the Northern Ireland Civil Service (NICS), said: "The health, wellbeing and welfare of all our colleagues is very important and we offer a range of support including a welfare support service; access to a free, 24-hour counselling service; access to a health and wellbeing support hub; and mental health awareness training for staff and managers.

"Arrangements are in place to quickly identify colleagues experiencing stress and to offer support including dignity at work/mediation services.

"In many cases there is an immediate referral to our Occupational Health Service and trained welfare officers will make contact to offer support and to signpost colleagues to specialised support if this is required."

This week the Belfast Telegraph reported that around 16% of all Civil Service workers on the Hill were self-isolating during the pandemic. Figures show that there were 3,603 cases of staff absences due to self-isolation from February 2020 to March 2021.
Christian actress Oluwaseyi Omooba, who is better known as Seyi Omooba is now facing more than $414,000 in legal fees after judges with the Employment Tribunal London decided that her case will not move forward.

Omooba claimed "discrimination, breach of contract, and harassment" against Leicester Curve Theatre and Global Artists Agency, which removed her from the production of "The Color Purple," in which she landed the lead role in 2019. She was fired from the production when Facebook posts of hers were uncovered, in which the Christian actress spoke of a Biblical stand on homosexuality.

Omooba was set to play Celie, a lesbian role in the production, who was in a relationship with another female character named Shug. According to BBC, Omooba told the tribunal that while she read the book in school and watched the film adaptation by Steven Spielberg featuring Whoopi Goldberg, she believed that the film downplayed the lesbian relationship between Celie and Shug onscreen. The Christian actress claimed that in the film, Celie's sexuality was ambiguous and that she would have not played the part if she was explicitly told that Celie was gay.

Goldberg, who once portrayed the role of Celie, herself described the character as "Not really about feminism, or lesbianism, despite the fact that Celie finds out about love and tenderness from another woman....It has nothing to do with lesbianism. It has to do with, her eyes are opened, now she understands," CBN reported.

In March 2019, the Christian actress' Facebook post biblical stand on homosexuality was uncovered and it partially read, "I do not believe you can be born gay, and I do not believe homosexuality is right, though the law of this land has made it legal doesn't mean its [sic] right."

Omooba was fired after the post was made known to the production. The Christian actress took her case to court and was seeking about $6,000 from the theater and an additional $34,500 for "injury to feelings and reputational damage." From her agents, she claimed up to $136,000 for "loss of earnings, future losses, injury to feelings and reputational damage."

However, the panel rejected her demands and argued that "There is no financial loss because she would not have played the part." She was then ordered to pay costs to her former agency and to the Curve Theater in Leicester, England, where she was supposed to perform. She now faces up to $414,000 in fees.

According to CBN News, Christian Legal Centre lawyers represented Omoobi, arguing that the "lesbian theme is not present at all" and that the Christian actress "was never asked explicitly to play this character as a lesbian." Christian Concern Chief Executive Andrea Williams also argued that Omoobi's case is "merely another example of anti-Christian censorship and discrimination in modern Britain."

Williams said that Omooba was "dismissed because of her Christian beliefs, and that is the end of the matter - the law does not accept any excuses for that" and that the "woke Establishment" fought against her "so fiercely" under the flag of "ferocious propaganda" against Christians.

"The Tribunal has effectively joined the campaign of 'canceling' Seyi for her Christian beliefs. She and we are not intimidated and have appealed this shocking judgment which is a travesty of reality," Williams concluded.
In a series of Tweets, Owaisi reminded Banerjee that the Trinamul chief had voted against a resolution in Parliament condemning the then Prime Minister Narendra Modi, then the Chief Minister of Gujarat, after the 2002 Gujarat riots. (Photo: AFP)

Hyderabad: AIMIM president Asaduddin Owaisi has lashed out at West Bengal Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee for her instruction to voters that they should not allow the Hyderabadi man to come and play politics there.

She reportedly asked the voters as to why they should care for someone who had supported the NDA in the past.

In a series of Tweets, Owaisi reminded Banerjee that the Trinamul chief had voted against a resolution in Parliament condemning the then Prime Minister Narendra Modi, then the Chief Minister of Gujarat, after the 2002 Gujarat riots.

Owaisi said that, on April 30, 2002, as the riot victims were huddled into camps, the Lok Sabha was discussing a motion to condemn the Gujarat pogrom. Mamata Banerjee voted against it. For the BJP, she sold off Gujarat's victims. Was it for a price, was it for free or was it for a ministerial position, Owaisi asked Banerjee.

Taking a jibe at Banerjees recent 'gotra' proclamation, he said, Since I'm not part of this criminal syndicate, it's natural that Mamata is rattled. You can't buy people who have no gotra. You can't scare people who know no fear. Only criminal gangs divide up territories between themselves and attack each other when someone enters, he said.

Owaisi asked Banerjee what exactly had she done as CM for Bengal's Muslims. Some 15 per cent of Bengal's Muslims are outside the formal education (the 3rd highest after UP & Bihar), 80 per cent live on less than Rs5000 a mongh, some 38.3 per cent in rural Bengal earn Rs2,500 a month.

More than three-fourth of Muslims have no land. Why are one-third of Murshidabad's people struggling with arsenic-related diseases? Or, did they forfeit the right to have clean drinking water because the CM has more important games to play (sic)?

Owaisi said. You compared proud Indian Muslims to cows, to be milked. But we're human and we weren't born just to make Mamata win. We want dignity, education, health care and political empowerment.

While she was hobnobbing with the RSS-BJP in 2003, we were opposing it. She became minister, CM etc after that, but what did we, the Muslims, get, he asked.

The MIM chief claimed that it'll take 60 years for Muslims to get proportional representation in government jobs.

Mamata went from being RSS's favourite to a self-proclaimed secularist, while a whole generation of Muslims grew up as being landless, poor and illiterate. No Hyderabadi Muslim is responsible for this. Will we continue voting for old BJP allies in exchange for the indignity and humiliation, Owaisi asked.

We will not, if this Hyderabadi Muslim has anything to say about it. So I'm going to question the West Bengal chief minister for doing nothing for Muslims other than creating fear. We fear and we have hope only from the Almighty, the AIMIM leader said.
Kolkata, April 3 : With over one-fourth of the booths registering a polling percentage above 90, West Bengal's Nandigram has seen the highest turnout in recent years.

Election Commission data on Saturday shows that Nandigram registered a polling percentage of 88.01, marginally better than the last three elections in the state.

A booth wise detailed summary released by the Commission showed that though East Midnapore district recorded a polling percentage of 87.4 but Nandigram had a voter turnout of 88.01 per cent, which is a shade better than the district average. Not only the district average but the democratic euphoria of the people has overshadowed its performance in the last few elections.

In the Lok Sabha polls in 2014 and 2019 Nandigram recorded a polling percentage of 85.7 and 85 respectively and in the last Assembly polls it had a polling percentage of 86.9. Only in the 2011 Assembly polls when Mamata Banerjee swept to power riding on the land reforms movement, Nandigram with 88.3 per cent fared better than this election.

"There is no doubt that the high-voltage election duel between Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee and Suvendu Adhikari mobilised the voters to polling booths but there are other factors that also should be taken into consideration. There are around 25,7,000 voters in Nandigram of which 22,7,000 voters have turned out to exercise their franchise.

According to the data available, of these voters, 54,000 are Muslim voters and the rest 1,73,000 are Hindu voters. This itself shows that 83 per cent of Muslim voters have cast their franchise where more than 92 per cent Hindu voters have exercised their democratic right. In a place like Nandigram, where the voters have been polarised this will definitely become a deciding factor," psephologist Biswanath Chakraborty told IANS.

A factual analysis will also support the theory. If we go according to the election commission data, 89 of the 355 booths of Nandigram registered a polling percentage above 90 and interestingly enough, most of these booths are located in Hindu-dominated areas.

EC data shows that Veturia Kohinoor SSK in Nandigram Block 1 recorded the highest turnout of 96.4 per cent followed by Julpai Gopalkrishna Ambika Golap Smriti Vidyamandir, Barunisnan Primary School, Bar Nakchirachar primary school that recorded a polling percentage of 94. In addition to this, there are at least 15 more polling centres that recorded a polling percentage of above 93.

Interestingly enough, Birulia Paschim Primary School where CM Banerjee had an accident during her election campaign, recorded a polling percentage slightly more than 90. Alternatively, the Boyal Mukhtar Primary School, where the Chief Minister spent two hours on the day of the election and also had a heated exchange of words with the central forces, had a polling percentage of 88.

So far as the districts are concerned, Bankura had a polling percentage of 86.9 followed by South 24 Parganas and West Midnapore that had a polling percentage of 86.7 and 83.8 respectively. So far as the constituencies are concerned, Katulpur AC in Bankura had the highest polling percentage of 90, followed by Indus (89.3 per cent) in Bankura; Chandipur (89.2 per cent) and Nandakumar (89.2 per cent) in East Midnapore and Pingla (89 per cent) in West Midnapore.

-- The story has been published from a wire feed without any modifications to the text
InterMiles, a leading loyalty and rewards programme, has published results of their second travel survey in the Consumer Sentiment Index Report (Travel) 2.0. Based on responses received from over 11,500 InterMilers across India in January 2021, the report showcases insights and changing consumption patterns of the evolved Indian traveller.

Key Insights:

Leisure travel leads the way in 2021, with close to 65% respondents craving to travel and break away from monotony as they explore new places

While the year 2020 witnessed the rise of the essential traveller, the new and evolved 2021 Indian traveller is looking for adventure and is keen on exploring new destinations, in an attempt to leave behind the monotony of 2020. The roll-out of vaccines and pragmatic innovations across the travel chain seem to have contributed to this increase in consumer confidence. Almost 65% Indians have shown intent to travel for leisure and adventure in 2021.

After spending almost a year distancing socially, 54% Indians say they want to travel to meet family and friends.

Business and corporate travel, which was anticipated to be one of the first segments to recover, is surprisingly third on the list of traveller priorities. However, business travel is anticipated to pick-up through the course of the year, with 85% consumers in favour of considering business/ work travel in 2021.

The workcation trend is also picking up steam in India, with travellers looking for a change of scenery as they fulfill their work obligations. Armed with their laptops and the Internet, these digital nomads are more likely to stay away from touristy locations, and head to offbeat places. Mirroring and supporting this trend, India is already seeing the advent of several backpacking hostels, budget-friendly work-centric rentals, camper vans and workation packages.

Over 60% Indians expressed confidence in domestic, local and hyperlocal travel

In what is good news for an industry battered by the pandemic, InterMiles has seen a significant increase in positive travel sentiment across various verticals in 2021  which is expected to be the year of travel revival in India.

A comparison between InterMiles maiden Consumer Sentiment Index (based on responses collected in October 2020) and the recently published Consumer Sentiment Index (Travel) 2.0 (based on responses collected in January 2021), clearly displays an increase in intent to travel.

Additionally, 60% respondents are now also comfortable with remote or offbeat short stays.

Consumers most confident with air travel, after personal vehicles

Fuelling the self-drive trend that emerged last year, highest levels of comfort continue to be witnessed with personal vehicles. In contrast, 39% respondents are still not comfortable with any mode of public transport, including taxis, autos, trains and buses.

Flexibility in date changes and last-minute free cancellation policies are key factors when making travel decisions

While travel post-COVID-19 has predominantly been dependent on visual and actual assurance through safety & hygiene measures along with travel advisories issued by destinations, flexibility seems to be the new buzzword on the block. Given the unpredictability and arbitrary nature of the COVID-19 virus, consumers want to ensure their travel plans are as flexible as possible at minimum cost.

According to the survey, 64% respondents will look for flexibility to change dates before making concrete travel decisions, while 62% will look for last minute free cancellations.
Humanitarian aid agency, GOAL, has rounded up top experts from the worlds of sport, nutrition, health and science, to lead on its virtual 'Good Vibes' Wellness Week from April 26 to April 30.

The motivational wellness initiative - which will include online sessions from immunologist Professor Luke O'Neill, Ballymaloe chef Rory O'Connell, and Olympian Ciara Mageean - is aimed at giving people a much-needed boost during these challenging times.

Companies across Dublin are being encouraged to get their employees signed up to help them connect, stay healthy and boost morale.

The event will culminate with a raffle, with each participating organisation awarding an extra day's annual leave and wellness prizes to one lucky winner.

Event participants will gain access to a week-long calendar of pre-recorded virtual wellness events, which can be accessed anytime during the week, and hosted by top experts in their fields.

They include immunologist Professor Luke O'Neill, Chair of Biochemistry at Trinity College Dublin, sharing his advice on staying protected from the virus; chef Rory O'Connell, founder of The Ballymaloe Cookery School; Olympian Ciara Mageean, a GOAL ambassador and Irish middle-distance runner; personal trainer Niamh Cullen, founder of The Monday Club; sleep expert Deirdre McSwiney; yoga teacher Sarah Jordan; surfer Dr Easkey Britton; and author and speaker, Pat Divilly.

GOAL Ambassador, Ciara Mageean, said she was delighted to be part of the wellness event which will benefit thousands of people all over Ireland: 'COVID-19 has been very challenging for everybody, but for those working from home it has been especially difficult.

'It is so important to take time from the daily routine to look after your mental and physical health. I am looking forward to sharing tips on running to stay fit, and how to incorporate it into your daily or weekly routines and to make it fun.'

GOAL's Director of Fundraising and Marketing, Eamon Sharkey, said: 'The event is the perfect opportunity for people working at home to connect with their colleagues. The events are pre-recorded and can be accessed at any time.'
He's currently in Australia to film the next Marvel blockbuster Thor: Love and Thunder alongside muscle man Chris Hemsworth.

And this week, Matt Damon enjoyed a well-deserved holiday to surf haven Noosa in Queensland alongside his family and friends - including Chris' younger brother, Liam, 31.

According to the Courier Mail, the group was also made up of Matt's wife Luciana and their children, and close pals Luke and April Munro - who described the trip as 'magical'.

From Hollywood to Queensland: Matt Damon (left) enjoyed a holiday to Queensland this month alongside Liam Hemsworth. Matt even took a photo with elated ice delivery driver Rob Gough (right), who said he was a 'top bloke'

Noosa is a regular haunt for both the Hemsworth brothers and Matt, who have all been spotted spending time at Double Island Point and Rainbow Beach in the area years prior.

Chris and Matt first holidayed at the tourist hotspot together in 2018, while the siblings enjoyed a trip there last July alongside Chris' wife Elsa Pataky and their children; India, Sasha and Tristan.

This week, Matt and Liam even went for a cheeky surf at Rainbow beach.

The Good Will Hunting actor took a photo with elated ice delivery driver Rob Gough on the day, who described Matt as a 'top bloke'.

Joy: The pair's pal April Munro shared a photo of Liam Hemsworth enjoying a surf, captioned: 'Just never gets old for these two!'

'Magical': April later shared a stunning image of the entire gang enjoying a night under the stars, captioned: 'A magical night on the water, by the fire, under the moon'

'What a privilege it was to meet and share waves with these guys,' he said.

April shared a photo of Liam in his surfing gear, captioned: 'Just never gets old for these two!'

She also shared a stunning image of the entire group around a campfire, captioned: 'A magical night on the water, by the fire, under the moon.'

It's possible that Chris couldn't attend due to his hectic film schedule for the new Thor movie.

Matt had made a brief cameo in Thor: Ragnarok, where he played Thor's brother Loki in a short skit.

Family holiday: Chris and Matt first holidayed at the tourist hotspot in 2018, while the siblings enjoyed another trip there last July alongside Chris' wife Elsa Pataky and their children India, Sasha and Tristan. Also present on their trip were April and Luke Munro and their kids

In the 2017 film, the play was called 'The Tragedy Of Loki' and featured four celebrity cameos - Matt Damon as Loki, Luke as Thor, Sam Neill as Odin, and Cate Blanchett as Thor's evil sister Hela.

The latest installment of Thor is being filmed in Australia after receiving a $24.1million location incentive grant from the Federal Government.

Directed by Taika Waititi, the film is expected to bring more than $178million to the local economy, create 2,500 jobs and enlist services from about 1,650 businesses.

Thor: Love and Thunder is due for cinematic release in May 2022.
Around $1 million worth of cocaine was seized just before 4 p.m. Thursday from a car eastbound on Interstate 72 at the Jacksonville exit after the driver failed to obey traffic laws.

There was a construction crew and he didnt move over, Morgan County Sheriff Mike Carmody said, explaining that the driver was not following Illinois Move Over Law.

The driver, Cid C. Robinson, 46, of Stevensville, Montana, was booked into the Morgan County jail on charges of possession of a controlled substance and trafficking in a controlled substance and was being held without bail as of Friday morning.

About 10 kilograms  or 22 pounds  of cocaine was found in the car; Carmody estimated its value at $1 million.

It depends on how its broken up, but its about $1 million, he said.

Carmody said the Morgan County sheriffs deputy was suspicious of Robinson once he was pulled over and had cause to search the car. Robinson cooperated with the deputy, Carmody said.

It went down without any incidents, he said.

Officers from the Jacksonville and South Jacksonville police departments and the Central Illinois Enforcement Group assisted the deputy.

You never know whats going to happen, Carmody said, explaining why they took the precaution of calling in other departments.

Its too soon to determine the origin of the cocaine and where it was headed, Carmody said, but he believes it is part of a larger drug ring.

If I would venture to guess, it would be cartel, Carmody said, adding that drug traffickers tend to stay away from interstates 55 and 57 because of the heavier police presence there and drivers tend to find alternate routes.

Deputies have made similar arrest on Interstate 72 in the past.

Weve had several arrests with large amounts of marijuana and fentanyl, Carmody said.

Carmody was quick to commend the arresting deputy and for following through with suspicions.

The work by this deputy is just phenomenal, he said.
New Delhi:

The Chinese Consul General, Ma Zhanwu, said that both China and India are working together to "take forward" their relationship leaving behind the Dokalam episode.

According to Ma Zhanwu, cooperation and exchanges between two countries can be further enhanced by working together.

"India and China are working together. Prime Minister Narendra Modi and President Xi Jinping had a meeting on September 5 to discuss how to enhance the relationship," Zhanwu said here last night while addressing an event to mark the 68th anniversary of the founding of the People's Republic of China.

"As long as the two countries work together, we will able to enhance and develop exchanges and cooperation," he said.

On commenting the Dokalam episode, Zhanwu said: "Yes we have left that behind and are working together to take forward the bilateral relationship".

Also Read | Another setback for Pakistan, China advises to resolve Kashmir issue through talks with India

At the 9th BRICS Summit, Prime Minister Narendra Modi had met President Xi. Both the leaders had agreed to put more effort to strengthen the cooperation between their security personnel and ensure that the incident such as Dokalam does not reoccur.

Since June 16 the Chinese and Indian troops were engaged in a prolonged standoff in the Dokalam area of the Sikkim sector after the Indian side stopped the construction of a road by Chinese Army.



On August 28, India's External Affairs Ministry announced that New Delhi and Beijing have decided on "expeditious disengagement" of their border troops in the disputed Dokalam area.

Also Read| Dokalam standoff ends, Chinese troops left with bulldozers: Official

For all the Latest World News, Download News Nation Android and iOS Mobile Apps.
When one of Britain's top police officers last week described the outpouring of allegations in schools and colleges as the 'next big child sexual abuse scandal to hit the country', he left us in no doubt where he stands.

Simon Bailey, who is the National Police Chiefs Council's lead on child protection and Chief Constable of Norfolk, said this sudden surge of complaints was our education system's 'MeToo moment'  a powerful reference to the campaign that has been galvanised worldwide and has seen survivors of sexual harassment or violence speak out about their experiences so as to expose and combat sexual misconduct.

Every police force in the country, Mr Bailey said, should launch investigations, including into those allegations dating back many years. In fact, he suggested that the 8,000 allegations that have been made to the Everyone's Invited website are probably just the tip of an iceberg.

'There's got to be an inquiry and it has got to get going very fast. This is serious,' he urged, calling for victims to come forward and for parents to turn in their sons to the authorities if they knew they had been guilty of sexual assault.

Considering the failures by police to tackle child sexual exploitation, Mr Bailey's reaction might seem reasonable.

Simon Bailey, the National Police Chiefs Council's lead on child protection and Chief Constable of Norfolk, said the surge of complaints was the education system's 'MeToo moment

But is it wise for a chief constable to judge as fact the anonymous, as yet unproven, accounts of teenagers? Also, in effect, to endorse the shocking view of the website's founder that there is a 'rape culture' in British schools and colleges?

I believe that it takes only a moment's reflection to realise this might trigger unforeseen and dangerous consequences.

The fact is there is a huge amount at stake with such allegations including the wellbeing of any children and teenagers who might subsequently be involved in police inquiries, with the emotional and mental damage that this could cause.

We have already experienced similar issues, of course, with Operation Midland, the Metropolitan Police Service's mishandled inquiry into what were baseless sex allegations against several prominent men, which cost 2.5 million of taxpayers' money.

Without a shred of evidence, the police had initially described claims of this 'VIP paedophile abuse ring' as 'credible and true'.

In the end, the fantasist behind all the allegations, a man called Carl Beech, was jailed for 18 years for his 'hideous and repugnant' lies. But his imprisonment came too late for men such as Lords Bramall and Brittan, whose reputations were disgracefully and wrongly smeared.

Meanwhile, diverting or wasting resources can, sadly, lead to the truly guilty escaping scot-free.

As a trained teacher and having been both Home Secretary and Education Secretary, I know that children's development is complicated and that society and the justice system must treat it with the utmost care.

For a proper response to these new claims of sexual abuse, it is vital to understand how society has changed over recent decades.

We should look at the corrosive impact of online pornography on early-teenage boys. Research suggests that it leads some young men to become confused about their masculinity and about how to treat women and that normal adolescent development can be detrimentally affected.

We should understand, too, that boys and girls grow up at different speeds. Some young men, through inadequacy or simply a lack of confidence, are clumsy, inept and  in some cases, it would appear  can behave offensively.

Laddishness, in all its ugly forms, is nothing new.

Coarse behaviour  verbal or physical  is deeply unpleasant and can lead to something much worse. But it doesn't automatically follow that it will.

Role models are crucial in young men's development, particularly during adolescence. Indeed, it is a challenge for many to come to terms with masculinity in a world where traditional 'male' jobs have diminished. It is crucial that parents and teachers make sure they spot the signs if something starts to go wrong.

Of course, this issue is not just about boys. Female rappers, whose language and imagery is sexually provocative are complicit.

And, yes, youngsters must be taught how to behave. Personal, social, health and economic education, together with citizenship classes, when taught effectively in schools and colleges, should provide the opportunity to explore these issues sensitively. Disturbing as the abuse claims are, it is not right that police chiefs pronounce guilt without the evidence  suggesting that sexual abuse is rampant and endemic in our education system.

The implication that boys in general are guilty  and should be made to confess to their inadequacy  borders on the absurd.

Such an approach shows just how far we have to go in understanding what is needed to help young people through what is, undoubtedly, the most difficult time of their lives.

I had already been thinking a lot about these issues, particularly when taking part in Lords debates on the Domestic Abuse Bill, which aims to protect victims  principally women  from the violence, coercion or controlling behaviour of their partners.

This vital piece of legislation offers, for example, some protection to women from men who have used 'non-fatal strangulation' as a means of exerting power.

So, yes, the protection of the vulnerable must be at the very forefront of our thoughts.

That is why we need a genuine effort to ensure that the most serious allegations, including rape, are investigated thoroughly. It is also, though, the reason why an examination of lower-level, crass behaviour should be accompanied by a proper analysis of what we do about it, rather than just railing against it.

We need a world where inappropriate touching, or ugly, suggestive language, is dealt with swiftly and effectively. A world where young men and women can explore, together, how best to relate to each other.

There is no shortage of fuel for the fires we are fighting. The emergence of 'identity politics' based on race, disability or gender is pushing us into an all-or-nothing, in-or-out, for-you-or-against-you world of easy answers and quick solutions.

This propels people into taking sides and adopting a 'stand'. It also allows others to exploit the bewilderment, bemusement and sense of alienation which is so often felt in our fast-moving world.

George Bernard Shaw famously once said to a friend: 'I wish I was as certain about anything, as you are about everything!'

Not being able to see, I know the challenge of dealing with uncertainty. Remembering back, I was all too aware of the fact that I couldn't catch the eye of a girl who I found attractive. So I had to take other signals as to whether an approach would be welcome. An appreciation that flirting and sensuality weren't always meant as a come-on.

I often got it wrong  and so do young men today.

No one should excuse boorish, let alone criminal, behaviour. But there are better ways of tackling this challenge than rushing to judgment.
Capitol Police Officer William "Billy" Evans was killed in an attack at U.S. Capitol on Friday.

Capitol Police Officer Killed Friday Was Drury Grad

US Capitol Police officers salute as procession carries the body of William "Billy" Evans, an 18-year-veteran of USCP who was killed in a vehicle attack at the US Capitol on Friday afternoon.



 Jose Luis Magana / APhttps://t.co/cjOGplNHqI pic.twitter.com/RCi2Qk1hrL  NBC News (@NBCNews) April 2, 2021

NORTH ADAMS, Mass.  The police officer killed outside the U.S. Capitol on Friday grew up in North Adams and was a 1998 graduate of Drury High School.

Capitol Police Officer William "Billy" Evans was one of two officers struck when a man rammed his car into them around 1 p.m. He then crashed the small sedan into a barrier on the north side of the Capitol building in Washington, D.C., got out and lunged at officers with a knife and was shot and killed. Evans was taken to a hospital where he succumbed to his injuries. The other officer's name and condition have not yet been released.

Congress was not in session and the building and grounds were locked down for about two hours.

A procession of police and emergency vehicles escorted the Evan's body from the hospital and President Biden ordered flags be lowered to half staff.

"Jill and I were heartbroken to learn of the violent attack at a security checkpoint on the U.S. Capitol grounds, which killed Officer William Evans of the U.S. Capitol Police, and left a fellow officer fighting for his life," the president said in a statement. "We send our heartfelt condolences to Officer Evans' family, and everyone grieving his loss. We know what a difficult time this has been for the Capitol, everyone who works there, and those who protect it."

Evans earned a degree in criminal justice from Western New England College in 2002. He had been a member of the Capitol Police for 18 years, beginning on March 7, 2003. He also had been a member Capitol Division's First Responder's Unit.

He was reportedly the sixth member of the Capitol Police force to die in the line of duty. The barriers and fences around the Capitol were in response to the insurrection on Jan. 6 that killed Capitol Police Officer Brian Sicknick and injured nearly 140 others. Two other officers took their own lives in the days following the riot.

"This has been an extremely difficult time for U.S. Capitol Police after the events of Jan. 6 and now the events that have occurred here today," The force's acting Chief Yogananda Pittman said. "So I ask you to keep the U.S. Capitol Police family in your thoughts and prayers."

The suspect was identified as Noah Green, 25, of Norfolk, Va., said to be a follower of the Nation of Islam.
Just over two months after voting to rename 44 schools, the San Francisco school board is poised to reverse that decision Tuesday to avoid costly litigation.

The upcoming vote represents the latest development in a months-long initiative that culminated amid the pandemic. In late January, the board voted 6-1 to change dozens of school names associated with slavery, oppression, genocide and colonization as public schools districtwide remained closed.

The process began in 2018 with a resolution to create a committee to advise the board. The committee ultimately recommended changing 44 school names, including Lincoln, Washington, Mission and Balboa high schools, as well as Alamo, Jefferson and Serra elementary schools.

Many communities supported the effort, with parents saying it was hurtful to have their children wearing school sweatshirts with the name of James Denman, a former district superintendent who denied education to Chinese students, for example.

Others considered the effort too far-reaching and expensive, with no cost estimate on what it would take to rebrand more than three dozen school sites. Examples across the country put the price tag at somewhere between $20,000 and several million dollars per school, depending on the schools size, signage and other items related to the previous name, like band uniforms.

A civil lawsuit filed in San Francisco Superior Court said the school boards decision violated the Brown Act, the states open meeting law, given the publicly noticed agenda item said the vote would decide on a list of potential schools to be renamed.

The notice was inadequate and misleading, and the agenda item associated with the renaming issue gave no indication that the Board was going to make a final decision to rename 44 San Francisco public schools in a single vote at the meeting, the lawsuit stated.

Laurence Tribe, a Harvard University professor emeritus who has argued 35 appellate cases before the U.S. Supreme Court, joined attorneys representing the plaintiffs, which include district high school alumni associations.

Im definitely on board that sometimes names ought not to be preserved, Tribe told The Chronicle. I think it goes dangerously far when the Great Emancipator is treated as insufficiently woke.

Tribe said the renaming process was arbitrary and lawless, lacking community-based, information-rich debate.

I get outraged when people are trampled on, said Tribe, who has fought for gay rights, animal rights and the constitutional personhood of corporations during his lengthy career. Whether they are trampled on by jackbooted federal officials or well-meaning local idiots, it seems we have to fight back.

The process was widely panned as lacking in historical accuracy and reliant on Wikipedia rather than experts. The renaming advisory committee conflated the name of Alamo Elementary School with the Texas battle rather than the Spanish word for poplar tree. Such a tree was a stopping point for travelers in San Francisco, located at what is now the citys Alamo Square.

The renaming committee was expected to bring back a recommendation on new names for the sites in April. School board President Gabriela Lopez, however, paused the process in late February amid criticism that the board was not focused on reopening schools.

In a public opinion piece in February, Lopez acknowledged mistakes were made in the selection of schools to be renamed, saying that the district would move in a more deliberative process involving historians in future discussions.

Yet the boards January decision to rename the schools still stands and requires each school site to suggest a new name by mid-April, with a formal recommendation submitted to the board by a renaming committee after that.

San Francisco Superior Court Judge Ethan Schulman issued a ruling last month calling on the district to do what is requested in the lawsuit  to rescind the vote and dissolve the committee  or show cause later this month on why they shouldnt be compelled to do so.

The end result of this incredible obstinacy and refusal to take responsibility has been an enormous waste of time and resources by all concerned, when the Board should have been focused on getting kids back to school, rather than creating a legal mess that private citizens have had to clean up by resort to the courts, Paul Scott, the plaintiffs lead attorney, said via email.

The resolution up for a vote Tuesday, however, does not acknowledge critics concerns about a faulty process or the need for historians. Instead, it denounces the lawsuit.

Petitioners lawsuit is nothing more than a transparent attempt to thwart a lawful and duly-noticed action with which it disagrees, states the resolution before the board. The board is deeply grateful for the work of the panel, but wishes to avoid the distraction and wasteful expenditure of public funds in frivolous litigation.

The vote will also occur under a cloud  during the first meeting after board member Alison Collins sued five of her six colleagues over their decision to strip her of the vice presidency and her roles on committees over racist tweets she posted in 2016 against Asian Americans.

The resolution calls on the district to revisit the renaming of schools after students have returned to in-person learning full time.

Jill Tucker is a San Francisco Chronicle staff writer. Email: jtucker@sfchronicle.com Twitter: @jilltucker
NEW YORK, April 3, 2021 /PRNewswire/ -- The CRM Software market will register an incremental spend of about USD 47.41 Billion, growing at a CAGR of 13.10% during the five-year forecast period. A targeted strategic approach to CRM Software sourcing can unlock several opportunities for buyers. This report also offers market impact and new opportunities created due to the COVID-19 pandemic. Download free sample report

Key Highlights Offered in the Report:

CRM Software Market Procurement Research Report

Information on how to identify strategic and tactical negotiation levels that will help achieve the best prices.

Gain information on relevant pricing levels, detailed explanation on pros and cons of prevalent pricing models.

Methods to help engage with the right suppliers and discover KPI's to evaluate incumbent suppliers.

Get a free sample report for more information

Insights into buyer strategies and tactical negotiation levers:

Several strategic and tactical negotiation levers are explained in the report to help buyers achieve the best prices for the CRM Software market. The report also aids buyers with relevant CRM Software 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 3.00%-6.00%.

Identify favorable opportunities in CRM Software 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 CRM Software suppliers listed in this report:

This CRM Software procurement intelligence report has enlisted the top suppliers and their cost structures, SLA terms, best selection criteria, and negotiation strategies.

Salesforce.com Inc.

SAP SE

Oracle Corp.

Microsoft Corp.

Adobe Inc.

IBM Corp.

Verint Systems Inc.

NICE Ltd.

IQVIA Holdings Inc.

Constant Contact Inc.

To get instant access to over 1000 market-ready procurement intelligence reports without any additional costs or commitment, Subscribe Now for Free.

Table of Content

Executive Summary

Market Insights

Category Pricing Insights

Cost-saving Opportunities

Best Practices

Category Ecosystem

Category Management Strategy

Category Management Enablers

Suppliers Selection

Suppliers under Coverage

US Market Insights

Category scope

Appendix

Get access to regular sourcing and procurement insights to our digital procurement platform- Contact Us.

About SpendEdge:

SpendEdge shares your passion for driving sourcing and procurement excellence. We are the preferred procurement market intelligence partner for 120+ Fortune 500 firms and other leading companies across numerous industries. Our strength lies in delivering robust, real-time procurement market intelligence reports and solutions.

To know more: https://www.spendedge.com/request-for-demo

Contacts

SpendEdge

Anirban Choudhury

Marketing Manager

Ph No: +1 (872) 206-9340

https://www.spendedge.com/contact-us

SOURCE SpendEdge
Inaction on the part of the authorities has been blamed for a potential Covid-19 superspreader event in New Ross on Saturday when a popular young man from the Travelling community was laid to rest.

Around 400 people attended the funeral service, with many gathering outside St Mary & St Michael's Parish Church on Saturday morning, prior to the funeral cortege leaving for Irishtown. The remains of the young man were carried from opposite St Mary's secondary school to the cemetery where hundreds of people gathered, despite current restrictions limiting funeral attendances to ten people.

Gardai said the funeral was impossible to police, while other funerals have also been reported to the gardai over recent times, this newspaper has learned.

Cllr Michael Sheehan said: 'First things first, like everyone else I would like to express my condolences and sympathies to the man's family who should have been offered every opportunity to grieve privately like any other family. The problem I have is when you have people who are not connected with the family coming in from outside; from all parts of the country to pay their respects. That is not on.'

Cllr Sheehan said he was informed that over 400 people attended the funeral.

'There were few facemasks and little or no social distancing. I know the family would never want to cause trouble but people with no connection to the area had no business coming.

'I do have an issue with the HSE and the enforcement of the funeral. Official Ireland should have been more on the ball by highlighting that they did not want large crowds gathering,' said Cllr Sheehan. 'People who drove to New Ross should have been sent home from the ports and checkpoints. I am concerned that a similar situation as happened in Ramsgrange before Christmas is going to happen again. We know all too well that funerals can be superspreader events.'

He said the stronger English variant of covid is far more transmissible that the other variant previously spreading through the community, adding that even though there was no malicious intent from mourners, simply by virtue of attending there could be a massive spike in cases within the county following the funeral.

'We are all equal before the law but official Ireland did not do what it should have. It's not just the guards, I would be very surprised if the HSE wasn't aware that a large crowd was going to attend this funeral.

'The family are wonderful people. They are private and then you have all of these people coming in from outside of the county,' said Cllr Sheehan.

He received complaints on Saturday about the funeral and again on Sunday about a gathering at the cemetery.

'I received complaints of a large gathering at the graveyard the day after the funeral and that really is not on. We are having ongoing issues in Irishtown and the graveyard is being used a drop off point for young people. They are entitled to grieve and express their emotions in whatever way possible but it's not a drop in centre. That was exacerbated by a festival atmosphere with music and littering going on in the graveyard.

'People are frustrated when they see people breaking the law; see large crowds of people congregating and on top of that you have litter and loud noise and all sorts of activities which lends itself to anti-social behaviour. Whether they did it or not is academic because they are going to get blamed for it.

'We are all trying to do our best and then you have the people who are blatantly breaking the rules of society and official Ireland isn't pursuing them. I think the family will be horrified to have seen all of these people turning up.'

There was a garda presence in Irishtown on Saturday morning, with no fines or arrests made, this newspaper understands.

Monsignor Joe McGrath said around ten people attended the funeral rites at the church on Friday night and Saturday morning, adding that a crowd only began to gather on the church grounds when the young man's remains were being removed to the graveyard. He said the church was in contact with gardai prior to the funeral, adding that everyone who stepped inside St Mary & St Michael's church was very well behaved.

'They were exceptionally well behaved in every way possible. You couldn't even imagine what they were going through. You have to function in the circumstances you are given and you have to make the most of where you are at a time when there are so few allowed into the church. We have had 22 funerals since Christmas and we haven't had any problems once we explained that ten is the most allowed inside.'

Supt John McDonald said: 'It was a tragic situation. We engaged with the clergy, the undertaker and the family. They are cognizant of the advice surrounding public health and compliance.'

Supt McDonald said gardai received no complaints regarding the crowd at the funeral.

'As with any funeral we engage with people, explain the rules and encourage them prior to enforcement. I had minimal reports of issues over the weekend in Irishtown. There were incidents but whether or not they were connected with the funeral it's hard to say. If there were hundreds of people up there that wouldn't tally with what we explained to people.'

He said it is very challenging for gardai to police a large funeral. 'You are trying to respect the family who has gone through such an horrific situation and trying to get people to engage and comply. We are aware of people travelling distances to wakes and funerals and we explain to them the difficult they are putting people in.'

Supt McDonald said people can say anecdotally that covid outbreaks occur in areas, but hard proof is another matter.

'If people witnessed incidents and a person wishes to make a complaint in relation to the funeral, we will pursue it as best we can but we need hard facts and evidence to bring a prosecution and in an environment around funerals we are trying to do what is right and at the same time you are trying to get people to cooperate and engage. As you can appreciate these circumstances means it's very difficult to police them but obviously we try.'

He said there were garda checkpoints in the county in the days prior to the funeral and the town was monitored on Friday night and Saturday, prior to gardai being called away to two other incidents.

A HSE spokesperson said: 'The HSE/South East Community Healthcare does not comment on individual situations.'
It takes only two people to say I do. However, the numbers wrapped around getting the 2.3bn Irish wedding industry back on track are daunting.

Easter traditionally marks the start of the wedding season here, but with no clarity on when numbers will increase from six people, couples are now postponing their nuptials for the third, fourth and even fifth time.

Every year in Ireland, an average of 21,000 people tie the knot. An estimated 8,500 weddings took place last year with reduced numbers.

With a carry-over of 12,000 postponed weddings  plus the wedding celebrations from those couples who opted for the marry now, party later formula in 2020  there is a bottleneck of up to 40,000 rolled-over weddings or nuptial celebrations.

Wedding planner Tara Fay says the fact that the weddings sector does not come under any one Government department only adds to the level of confusion and anger with regard to guidance on restrictions.

Of course everybody is very grateful that they are allowed to have any weddings at the moment, but there are so many grey areas around it and restrictions are open to interpretation, she says.

Take, for example, the current figure of six people allowed at a wedding. According to Ms Fay: Some venues will say that is six plus the couple. Others say it is six including the couple, while others say it is six including the couple and the celebrant.

I have written to the Department of Tourism a number of times. They issued guidelines about music and said that for the reception, no live music was permitted.

However, some venues and churches will allow an instrumental, such as a string quartet, but others are saying absolutely not. So, you can see there is massive confusion.

Refunds are also proving challenging for couples who are cancelling or moving locations because their service providers  of which there could be up to 25 involved, from photographers to florists and band  cannot be aligned.

Couples are playing a giant game of Jenga trying to juggle roll-over weddings, adds Ms Fay.

She wrote to the Department of Enterprise and Employment twice in February, because it manages service providers in the wedding sector. In her correspondence, she suggested the introduction of antigen testing at weddings here to give an added layer of safety.

They replied and said there were no plans for this.

The dreaded Covid kilo has worried couples trying to plan rescheduled weddings without access to clothes fittings.

Louis Copeland is doing wedding masterclasses on Zoom and the tailoring company have introduced software, similar to facial recognition on phones, for grooms and the bridal party.

The men take two photographs of themselves in their underpants. A computer builds an avatar or a mannequin of the customer. Copeland gets the final body measurements on which the made-to-measure suit is based.

Meanwhile, Dublin couture wedding designer Sharon Hoey yesterday responded to the continued closure of bridal salons by creating a new service in which she sends out cotton toiles to use at home to pre-fit your wedding dress.

Ms Hoey also launched a new affordable online range of traditional gowns. The range offers flexibility and prices start from 395.

There will be no restrictions for weddings in Britain from June 21. In Northern Ireland, 50 people can attend a ceremony but they are not allowing receptions.

Italy, a popular destination for international weddings, is accepting bookings for this summer and autumn, but the luxury hotel sector here can only watch and wait.

In New York, from March 15, 150 people have been allowed at weddings with social distancing. They introduced antigen testing as part of their measures to allow for safer weddings.

Kate OShaughnessy and her fiance, David OReilly, got engaged in December 2019. They have already postponed their wedding twice and now their big day  scheduled for September 16 in Slane, Co Meath, looks like it is going to be pushed again, says Ms OShaughnessy.

The lack of clarity is really unfair, she said. We would have something to look forward to and thats the problem for all brides and grooms out there at the moment.

You live in fear of moving the date. As I said to a friend, remember planning your wedding and the stress of that? Now think of doing that four times.

The important thing for Kate and David is the celebration of their union with 150 friends and family, and their two young daughters, Alice and Lucy. Kate says: Our wedding is going to happen, we just dont know when.

The countrys wedding registrars have come in for considerable praise for doing a phenomenal job. They are moving dates left, right and centre because the paperwork, once it has been issued for a marriage licence, is only in date for six months, says Ms Fay.

However, lifting the guest numbers wont be enough to get couples rapidly down the aisle. Thats because of Irelands legal requirement to file three months notice for weddings.
FOR Deo Persad, who knew nothing but family, work, and church, life was complete.

That was evident in the trademark grin on his resting face, hence his nickname Smiley Boboy.

Then one day, his heart-warming and comforting smile, even when he was angry, was lost, and the man who never took a vacation day in his life walked out of his familys home on August 6, 2020, leaving confusion, hurt and grief at their doorstep.

On Deos 53rd birthday on December 14 last year there was nothing but hope that he would walk back into their lives.
While working together at Book Riot, Swapna Krishna and Jenn Northington bonded over their love of Mary Stewarts Arthurian saga. Now, they bring their enthusiasm for stories of the once and future king to Sword Stone Table (Vintage, July), which PWs starred review praised for its breathtaking breadth, depth, and creativity. Here, the editors of the inclusive anthology discuss the enduring appeal of Camelot and what happens when you tell a cross-genre assortment of authors, Do whatever you want with it.

When did each of you first discover the Arthurian tales?

Krishna: We used to take family trips to India in the summers and I would only be able to bring x number of books, because e-readers werent a thing yet. So Id always bring the biggest books I could. One summer I took Mary Stewarts Merlin trilogy, the hardcover thats like this big, with me. I read it that summer and then I never stopped reading it.

Northington: I would tear through the library as a kid, constantly running out of books. And then the librarians would say, Here, take Bulfinchs Mythology. Take T.H. White. I read a couple of other Arthurian series retellings, and then when I hit Mary Stewart, I was like, Oh, this is the stuff! And its so male, its so European-centric, but even so, it was the feelings of those characters that really caught me.

How did the anthology come together?

Krishna: The way I approached this was, Heres a pen, heres the subject of King Arthur: go forth and write something. I wanted to know what different people had to say among different genres. We didnt restrict people necessarily, but we asked them to tell us the characters they were writing, because we didnt want 12 Merlin stories. We wanted people to explore different parts of the legend. Other than that, we just asked, What about this legend, or what about this myth, intrigues you?

Northington: I wanted it to be not just inclusive in terms of ethnic background or sexuality or gender, but also in terms of genre. We knew, for instance, that we really wanted a mystery/crime story, and we approached Ausma Zehanat Khan, who writes both fantasy and crime. But otherwise, it was, Do whatever you want with it. And we were so surprised to see some of the stories that came in. It would never have occurred to me to ask for something like Maria Dahvana Headleys muckraking, yellow journalism, labor union story. And Alexander CheeI would never have asked him to write a story set on Mars.

What was the thinking behind organizing the pieces into Once, Present, and Future?

Krishna: Jenn, me, and our amazing editor at PRH, Anna Kaufman, had a really long email chain on, How do we want to do this? It clicked for all three of us at the same time.

Northington: We saw how distributed the timelines werewe had a bunch of historicals, a bunch of contemporaries, and then we had some that were future-yso we said, Hes the once and future king! Lets just go with that.

Why, hundreds of years later, do writers continue to find inspiration in the Arthurian legends?

Krishna: These charactersits Joseph Campbells The Power of Myth, its the heros journey. Arthur is this tragic figuretheres the mythical Camelot, the hope, but also the downfall. Its a compelling story no matter how or when its told.

Northington: Theres this huge cast, and there are so many different ways you can approach how they all fit together around this central figure, who is a classic underdog story. Arthur is like an OG underdog, and how all these supporting characters interact with thatits so ripe for exploration and reinterpretation.

Correction: An earlier version of this article misspelled Anna Kaufman's name.

Return to the main feature.
A 42-year-old Springfield man was sentenced Friday in U.S. District Court in Springfield to serve 10 years in federal prison.

Luis Velez had pleaded guilty to a single count of possession of stolen firearms in court on Jan. 12.

According to federal prosecutors, Velez was arrested July 5, 2019, with three firearms in his possession, a .22-caliber rifle and two revolvers. All three firearms were reported stolen, and authorities say he knew it.

Judge Mark Mastroianni sentenced Velez to serve the 10-year sentence, followed by three years of supervised release.
LONGUEUIL, Quebec, Dec. 17, 2020 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) -- Reunion Gold Corporation (TSX-V: RGD) (the "Company") is pleased to announce that Barrick Gold Corporation ("Barrick") has opted to include the NW Extension Project in Suriname in the Strategic Alliance. The 925 square kilometres NW Extension Project area sits within the Northern Greenstone Belt of Suriname, 60 kilometres to the west-southwest of the capital, Paramaribo, and 70 km northwest of the Rosebel mine (Figure 1).



The interpretation of available geophysical data indicates that the large, greenstone belt-scale geological structures associated with gold mineralization at the Rosebel gold deposit extend to the northwest under cover of recent sediments, underlying the project area footprint. To refine this observation and generate targets, the Alliance partners are planning to conduct a detailed airborne magnetic survey in the first quarter of 2021. Targets generated by the survey may be tested by drilling later in 2021.

As per the Strategic Alliance Agreement, the exploration costs spent on the project will be funded on a 50:50 basis between the Company and Barrick.

The mineral rights related to this project are under option from a Surinamese company for an initial period of 11 years. Upon exercise of the option to acquire 100% of the project, the rights holder would retain a 0.25% net smelter royalty.

The technical information in this press release has been reviewed and approved by Carlos. H. Bertoni, P.Geo., the Company's Acting CEO. Mr. Bertoni is a qualified person under Canadian National Instrument 43-101.

Neither the TSX Venture Exchange nor its Regulation Services Provider (as that term is defined in the TSX Venture Exchange policies) accept responsibility for this press release's adequacy or accuracy.

Cautionary statement

This news release contains "forwardlooking information or statements" within the meaning of applicable securities laws, including statements about the conduct of exploration work on the NW Extension Project and other statements relating to technical data. Although we believe the expectations expressed in such forward-looking statements are based on reasonable assumptions, actual results may differ materially from those in forward-looking statements. Forward-looking statements are based on the beliefs, estimates and opinions of our management on the date the statements are made. The Company undertakes no obligation to update these forward-looking statements except as required by law.

About Reunion Gold

Reunion Gold Corporation is a leading gold explorer with a portfolio of projects in Guyana, Suriname and French Guiana, all located in the Guiana Shield, South America. The Company's common shares are listed on the TSX Venture Exchange under the symbol 'RGD.' Additional information about the Company is available on SEDAR (www.sedar.com) and the Company's website (www.reuniongold.com).

For further information, please contact:

REUNION GOLD CORPORATION

Carlos Bertoni, Acting CEO

Paul Fowler, Manager, Corporate Development

Telephone: +1 450.677.2585

Email: info@reuniongold.com

Figure 1: Location map of the NW Extension Project permits, showing the greenstone belts of eastern Suriname (green) with interpreted geological structures related to gold mineralization in the region (dashed grey lines). Also shown are the Rosebel, Saramaca and Merian gold deposits.
WEST HAVEN >> The city will pay $3 million to the estate of slain Turkish immigrant Shengyl Rasim to settle a lawsuit that accused police officers and dispatchers of negligence and ethnic discrimination in their response to calls in what ultimately became a murder-suicide in 2010.

Rasim was shot and killed by her husband, Selami Ozdemir, just hours after Ozdemir posted bail following his arrest on a domestic violence complaint. After shooting his wife, who was 25, Ozdemir, who was 42, then killed himself.

Rasims estate sued West Haven and its Police Department in federal court in 2011. The money will support the late couples two young sons, who now live separately with relatives in Turkey, said the estates lawyer, Joel Faxon.

The two boys, who live in a town north of Istanbul, see each other on weekends, said Faxon. One son lives with his maternal grandmother; the other with his paternal uncle.

Faxon said the settlement is pending probate court approval. The story was first reported by The Associated Press.

While there was significant documentation in the police files that they were making jokes about her national origin and that they were treating her in a bigoted fashion. ... The settlement accomplishes making sure that the kids are taken care of for the rest of their lives, Faxon said.

The citys insurance company actually will pay the award, attorneys for both sides said.

Its a tragic case. Its basically the destruction of a family, said Faxon. If the police had done their job, Shengyl would be alive, her husband would be in jail. The children would be safe and they would be living in West Haven.

Stamford attorney Catherine Nietzel, who represented the city and the Police Department, said the city managed to accomplish a lot before settling the case, including getting former Police Chief Colleen Smullen and the city itself removed as defendants.

What remained were what Nietzel called an equal protection claim against the police officers  Faxon called it a discrimination claim  and a negligence claim, said Nietzel, a partner in the firm of Ryan Ryan DeLuca.

What the plaintiffs attorney interpreted as bigoted comments on radio transmissions actually were officers on the scene correcting dispatchers, Nietzel said. The dispatchers believed Rasim, who did not speak English, spoke Spanish. The officers, who had been there before, said she spoke Turkish, Nietzel said.

The city settled to avoid exposure on the negligence claim, she said.

Dispatchers, who received two calls of a man on his way to his wifes apartment, assumed the second one actually was the same as the first  when, in fact, he likely went to the house, left and then returned, Nietzel said.

They failed to alert officers who were already on the scene because dispatchers assumed that it was the same call, she said.

How the case might have gone in court would have depended on six people, Nietzel said. So you make a decision to protect your client.

While $3 million may seem like a lot, its balanced against the value of a human life, she said.

The Connecticut Coalition Against Domestic Violence said in a press release Tuesday afternoon that the case reminds us of the importance of strengthening our laws to protect victims of domestic violence.

It is alarming how quickly some domestic violence offenders are able to get out of jail after posting bond, sometimes after paying a certain portion of the bond up front, and other times having paid nothing, the coalition said.

The offender in the case was released from jail following an arrest for assault on his wife and he returned to their home and killed her less than twelve hours after the arrest, the release said.

The period immediately following the arrest of an abusive individual on charges related to domestic violence can be particularly volatile as the abuser has completely lost control of the victim, said Karen Jarmoc, the coalitions chief executive office.

Ensuring protections that prevent offenders from immediately returning to the scene of the crime are crucial, Jarmoc said. Victims need time to plan for their safety and that of their children, which may include fleeing to a safer location.

The General Assembly is considering implementing a temporary hold for certain domestic violence arrestees when law enforcement officers identify evidence-based risk factors for fatal violence, Jarmoc said.

The case previously spurred changes in state domestic violence laws.

A report on the murder-suicide by the states attorneys office in May 2010 uncovered several troubling revelations about the incident, including that 911 tapes showed dispatchers did not communicate important information to police officers who responded to the scene.

Two police officers and two dispatchers were later docked vacation time after an internal affairs investigation found they mishandled the response to the incident.

Rasims family sued the Police Department, the dispatchers and the officers in March 2011. The suit was withdrawn and refiled two months later with Smullen included on the list of defendants.

In February 2013, the states victim advocate criticized the states attorneys office, saying prosecutors had failed to protect Rasim by allowing Ozdemir into a Family Violence Education Program for a previous arrest even though he had a criminal history.

Milford States Attorney Kevin D. Lawlor strongly criticized that report, saying parts of it were inaccurate.

In September 2014, a judge ruled the lawsuit by Rasims family should proceed to trial.
Bengaluru: The Karnataka government on Saturday ruled that the order capping the seating capacity in theatres at 50 per cent in certain districts would now be applicable from April 7, this decision was taken following a request from the Kannada film industry.

"The Karnataka Film Chamber of Commerce has made a request to the Chief Minister to allow cinema halls to run due to the fact that advance online bookings have been made because of non-receipt of advance notice," an order issued by the Karnataka government stated.

"It is now decided that the said restriction will be made applicable with effect from 00:00 hrs of April 7, 2021," it said.

On Friday, the government had issued a new set of guidelines and had ordered the closure of gyms and swimming pools while capping the seating capacity in theatres at 50 per cent in districts like Bengaluru Urban and Rural, including BBMP, Mysuru, Kalaburagi, Dakshina Kannada, Udupi, Bidar and Dharwad.

These rules have come into effect from April 2 and would be in force till April 20.
A man serving a life sentence in prison for murdering an 18-year-old woman expressed remorse and regret during multiple conversations with a prison chaplain, a Brandon courtroom heard.

Advertisement Advertise With Us

A man serving a life sentence in prison for murdering an 18-year-old woman expressed remorse and regret during multiple conversations with a prison chaplain, a Brandon courtroom heard.

Sister Peter Mary, a nun, testified on Thursday for the defence. She said she worked as the site-based chaplain in the medium and minimum security unit chapels at Stoney Mountain Institution during Michael Bridges time in the federal prison.

"We talked about his past, we talked about his crime," Mary said under questioning from defence lawyer Carley Mahoney. She wore a grey sweater and wooden cross around her neck while on the witness stand.

"We talked about his past as a child dealing with abandonment and abuse, all sorts of things," she said.

Thursday marked the fourth day of Bridges faint hope clause hearing. He was convicted in 2005 of first-degree murder in the 2002 killing of Erin Chorney, when he was 24 years old. He was sentenced to spend 25 years in prison without parole but is applying to be allowed to ask for parole earlier under a now-repealed section of the Criminal Code called the faint hope clause.

Bridges spoke about not fitting in with his family, Mary said, and having to rely on himself made him turn inward. He also spoke to the chaplain about the night in 2002 he killed Chorney and the subsequent events of burying her in another persons grave.

"He talked about his regret and he talked about how he would do things differently if he had the opportunity to go back in time," she said.

"I think his big thing was he was so worried about being rejected and his anger to that and not actually looking at his victim and being able to speak out his fears and his anger."

The court heard earlier in the hearing Bridges and Chorney argued the night of the murder about assault charges Bridges had for previously assaulting Chorney.

Mary said Bridges appeared remorseful during their weekly one-on-one sessions. Only approximately 20 per cent of inmates in the prison go to chapel as it has a negative stigma.

Under cross-examination by Crown attorney Joel Myskiw, Mary said she had no way of verifying what Bridges told her during sessions. They spoke in confidence, but she said she was able to look on prison systems to get the details and charges inmates had been sentenced for.

For many who commit murders, Mary said the victim is like a "ghost" on their shoulders. She told Myskiw she tries to get inmates to instead think of their victims as "guardians" who they remember and who help steer them away from similar behaviour in the future.

Thursday was the end of the first of two weeks scheduled for the faint hope clause hearing.

The hearing started with Crown attorney Mark Lafreniere reading an agreed statement of fact, which outlined how Bridges killed Chorney, buried her in another persons grave, and the RCMP sting operation leading to his confession two years later.

On Tuesday, Joshua Beatty, the Stony Mountain Institution manager of assessments, testified on the Correctional Service of Canada report summarizing Bridges more than 17 years in Stony Mountain Institution.

In his testimony, he outlined the progress prison employees say Bridges has made so far in his sentence.

On Wednesday, Tara Verbling, a correctional programming facilitator, testified on her interactions with Bridges during a high-intensity family violence program he took while in prison.

Verbling said Bridges talked about a wide range of issues stemming from his childhood including neglect and witnessing abuse. She said those issues followed him to the night he murdered Chorney.

The faint hope clause was repealed from the Criminal Code in December 2011, but Bridges can still apply under it as he was convicted before it was removed.

The clause, otherwise known as S.745.6 of the Canadian Criminal Code, was a statutory provision that allowed offenders sentenced to life imprisonment with a "parole eligibility period of greater than 15 years to apply for early parole once they have served 15 years."

The hearing is scheduled to carry on Monday as the defence continues to call witnesses to testify.

 dmay@brandonsun.com

 Twitter: @DrewMay_
Engineering For Public Health

Partnership brings safer drinking water to Madagascar

By Donna Campisano | College of Public Heatlh

USF COLLEGE OF ENGINEERING Professor James Mihelcic was visiting Tamatave on the east coast of Madagascar to see the work some of his former graduate students were doing on water sanitation and hygiene. Thats where he stumbled upon local artisans building hand pumps used to access shallow groundwater.

Right in front of us, one of these artisans melted down old lead car batteries over a charcoal fire, he says. He poured some molten lead into a small depression in the ground hed made from a soda pop top. Then, bingo. He had a piece for the two check valves you find in a suction pump.

Troubled Waters

Just watching the demonstration was enough to tell Mihelcic and his colleagues that lead in the drinking water probably exceeded the World Health Organizations (WHO) recommended amounts, but they tested samples anyway. Some of them came back at 100 micrograms per liter, 10 times what the WHO says is acceptable.

Lead in drinking water is neither a new problem nor one unique to developing countries like Madagascar. Consider the public health crises surrounding drinking water in places such as Flint, Mich., Newark, N.J., and Jackson, Miss. Lead is a toxic chemical pervasive in the environment. How long and how significant ones exposure determine the severity of the health problems it causes, but overall lead exposure can damage the brain, kidneys and nervous system and slow physical and intellectual development in children.

Pumping Iron

With the help of funding from a variety of sources, including Water Charities, Pure Earth, a USF Strategic Investment Pool award and his own personal savings, Mihelcic and his team developed a training program for local manufacturers of hand pumps that would teach them how to replace lead components with locally manufactured iron ones.

The team consists of Assistant Professor Mahmooda Khaliq Pasha, PhD 16, from USFs College of Public Health, Professor Jeffrey Cunningham and Assistant Professor Katherine Alfredo from the College of Engineering, and some dedicated graduate students. Theyre partnering with Ranontsika, a Malagasy non-governmental organization whose aim is to improve public health by promoting access to high-quality drinking water. Local health clinics are also involved in testing the blood levels of children in the community and educating their parents about the health problems associated with lead exposure.

After our intervention of retrofitting hand pumps with iron valve components, lead water concentrations were reduced below the WHO drinking water guideline of 10 micrograms per liter in 98 percent of pumps, says Mihelcic, who also directs USFs Engineering for International Development program. The percent of pump systems that had lead concentrations reduced below our analytical detection level increased from 9.6 percent to 64 percent. Its quite a striking improvement for a very simple fix.

Changing out the lead components to iron ones costs about $4 per pump, Mihelcic says  a worthy expense when you factor in what lead poisoning can cost a community.

When you consider how a countrys economy suffers because of the loss of IQ of its children, the return on the investment is extremely high, Mihelcic says. Prior to the intervention, we estimated that 35 percent of exposed children had a blood lead level greater than the CDC action level [5 micrograms per deciliter or less] and after the intervention we estimated only 14 percent of exposed children possessed elevated blood lead levels.

Selling Safety

Turns out engineering a non-leaded valve replacement was the easy part. Getting the local technicians to use it  and the community to demand it  proved harder.

Thats where Pashas expertise came in.

Pasha is an expert in social marketing, which is behavior change  founded on commercial marketing principles  that brings about social good. Shed been collaborating with Mihelcic and some current and former students on the project on an informal basis but got more involved when she applied for an internal College of Public Health grant inviting collaboration across strategic areas.

As you can imagine, in a community with not a high level of understanding of lead and its health consequences, sudden change in the norm can create a sense of unease, Pasha explains. Thats especially true if its initiated by folks who arent necessarily representatives of your community.

Pasha and her team decided to target their social marketing campaign to the technicians locals used to fix and maintain their water pumps.

They spoke to the technicians and translated their findings into a strategy and branded initiative, holding informational and technical sessions and providing in-the-field assistance. After their training, the technicians received certificates signed by the Ministry of Health and Water along with T-shirts and overalls with the projects branding -- all important signals to the community that the project was professional and the technicians trustworthy, Pasha says.

With technicians on board, Pasha and her team are now turning their attention to the community.

We found that sometimes the technicians didnt want to use lead, however, a customer would insist on it because of the look of the metal or the perception that its heavier and better for the pump, Pasha says. We have intervened midstream through our work with the technicians, and now well focus our work downstream so that theres a common understanding among the community. Our project is a model for translational science. Any work that the engineers do in the future is complemented by the expertise of behavioral scientists who work to better position the product, service or behavior.

View more information about this international, interdisciplinary project.
Rajasthan Chief Minister on Friday alleged that the BJP misuses central agencies for its political interest and toppling governments in states.

Misusing ED, CBI & IT for their political interests during attempts of toppling governments and at times of elections has become the BJP's modus Operandi, Gehlot tweeted.

We all know using this method, the BJP has brought a large number of TMC leaders to its party in West Bengal, he added.

In another tweet, he also demanded investigation into an EVM controversy in Assam that erupted when a polling party carried an EVM after voting in a vehicle that belonged to the wife of a BJP candidate.

Gehlot said the Election Commission should take the petition filed by former law minister Ashwani Kumar seriously.

(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| 2021-04-03 03:19:58|Editor: huaxia

Video Player Close

Chinese Ambassador to Mongolia Chai Wenrui (2nd L) speaks at the handover ceremony of the COVID-19 vaccines at an airport in Ulan Bator, Mongolia, on April 2, 2021. Mongolia on Friday received the first batch of COVID-19 vaccines it has purchased from China as part of the efforts to curb the spread of the COVID-19 pandemic. (Xinhua/Asigang)

ULAN BATOR, April 2 (Xinhua) -- Mongolia on Friday received the first batch of COVID-19 vaccines it has purchased from China as part of the efforts to curb the spread of the COVID-19 pandemic.

Speaking at the handover ceremony of the 300,000 doses of vaccines, Chinese Ambassador to Mongolia Chai Wenrui said that Mongolia is one of the first receivers of COVID-19 vaccine from China within the framework of both donation and procurement. This shows that China and Mongolia have traditionally friendly relations that help each other and overcome difficulties together, said Chai.

"Since the start of the COVID-19 outbreak, Mongolia and China have provided each other with material and emotional support, and overcome difficulties together," Mongolian Foreign Minister Batmunkh Battsetseg said at the ceremony.

"Vaccine is considered to be the most effective way to fight the pandemic. I would like to express my sincere gratitude to relevant Chinese government organizations for coordinating vaccine procurement and donating vaccines," she added.

Mongolia launched a COVID-19 vaccination campaign across the country on Feb. 23, and more than 323,600 people have been vaccinated so far, according to the country's health ministry.

The country plans to vaccinate at least 60 percent of its 3.3 million people using four types of COVID-19 vaccines, and 20 percent will be vaccinated under COVAX, a global initiative for equitable access to COVID-19 vaccines, said the ministry.

In February, Mongolia received 300,000 doses of China-donated vaccines.

So far, Mongolia has registered more than 9,300 COVID-19 cases, with 14 deaths.

In recent days, more than 300 infections have been reported on a daily basis in Mongolia, mostly in the capital Ulan Bator, home to over half of the country's total population.

Domestic transmissions of the virus have been reported in the capital city and 16 of all 21 provinces of the country.

It is estimated that about 60 percent of the country's total population is at high risk of infection. Enditem
The European Union condemned the start of conscription into the Russian armed forces in the occupied Crimea.

Today, the Russian Federation has launched yet another conscription campaign in the illegally-annexed Autonomous Republic of Crimea and the city of Sevastopol to draft residents of the peninsula in the Russian Federation Armed Forces. This is another violation of international humanitarian law. The Russian Federation is bound by international law, and obliged to ensure the protection of human rights on the peninsula, reads the statement by EUs Spokesperson on the conscription campaign in Crimea, released on April1.

As noted, the European Union is unwavering in its support for Ukraines independence, sovereignty and territorial integrity within its internationally recognised borders.

The EU does not and will not recognise the illegal annexation of the Autonomous Republic of Crimea and city of Sevastopol. The European Union calls on Russia to stop all violations of international law on the Crimean peninsula, the statement underscores.

In March, human rights activists recorded 12 new criminal "cases" opened in the occupied Crimea for so-called evasion of service in the Russian army.

According to the Crimean Human Rights Group, for the entire period of occupation of the peninsula, 201 "criminal" cases over evading service in the Armed Forces of the Russian Federation were submitted to the "courts". Sentences were passed in 186 of them, the rest are currently pending.

Drafting residents of the occupied territories in the army of the occupying power, as well as conducting propaganda aimed at securing voluntary enlistment in the Armed Forces of the Russian Federation in Crimea violate Article 51 of IV Geneva Convention Relative to the Protection of Civilian Persons in Time of War.

ol
New Delhi:

The death toll due to swine flu in Madhya Pradesh stands at 87 from July 1 this year till now even as 129 persons are being treated for the disease in different hospitals, officials said on Friday.

Health Department Director K.L. Sahu told news agency IANS that, two persons suffering from swine flu died in two Indore hospitals on Thursday.

The disease is spreading continuously as approximately one person is dying every day due to the disease. The toll from July 1 to September 21 is 87, he added.

He also informed that 529 persons were found to be suffering from the H1N1 virus in the given period. All hospitals and clinics have formed separate wards for treatment of patients suffering from the disease.

For all the Latest India News, Download News Nation Android and iOS Mobile Apps.
A cartoon of Prophet Muhammad that sparked furious protests at a Yorkshire school was shown to pupils a 'week before row by another member of staff', a parent has claimed.

The picture, believed to be one from French satirical magazine Charlie Hebdo, was, according to The Times, shown by another teacher a week before the unrest at Batley Grammar School, West Yorkshire.

Furious protesters rallied outside the school gates for two days last week chanting 'shame on you' after a teacher, who has not been named, produced the cartoon as part of an RE lesson on blasphemy.

Protesters stand outside Batley Grammar School in West Yorkshire after pupils were shown a cartoon of the Prophet Muhammad

One parent of a pupil at Batley Grammar School (pictured) has claimed the school had shown the cartoon in lessons a week before the protests

A large group of protesters rallied outside the school gates for two days last week chanting 'shame on you' after the incident

Three teachers are being investigated for the incident and were suspended at the same time when a pupil complained to their parents.

The teacher, in his late 20s, who is not being named, has gone into hiding with his partner and their four children after receiving death threats with head teacher Gary Kibble quick to announce that he had been suspended pending an investigation.

One parent has claimed the image tied up with the row was shown in an RE lesson before the latest outcry and said it was 'ridiculous' the school has not mentioned it.

She said: 'This is why me and my husband, and lots of other parents, have said: "Why has this come out now and not the week before?"

'My son said the lesson was fine. They got told that there would be some images and if people didnt want to see them, they didnt have to look.'

Batley Grammar School has been approached for comment.

A school source told MailOnline this week that the blasphemy row had been part of the curriculum but that Mr Kibble and the school hierarchy had not authorised showing of the cartoon. A Muslim pupil was offended by the lesson and their parents complained.

A source confirmed to MailOnline: 'Two other teachers are also being investigated but the school has been trying to keep it secret because they don't want attention being drawn to the fact that this went beyond the actions of one person.

An independent investigation will probe how pupils at the school were shown the cartoon and three teachers have been suspended

Last week dozens of furious parents protested outside the historic school and called for the teacher to be sacked

'They were not in the class at time but were aware that offensive material was going to be used, it is claimed.'

The source added: 'Blasphemy features on the school curriculum and images have been used before by teachers. But not this one. This was the first time that this particular image was shown during a lesson.

'This picture was not part of the approved teaching materials and we do not know why the teacher chose it. It appears, there were no proper checks in place.

'There is nothing to suggest that either of them used this particular image themselves in lessons, but they knew what was going on and it points to a breakdown in the system.'

The source added that in previous years, depictions of the Prophet Muhammad have been shown during lessons on blasphemy, but teachers often forewarn their pupils about it and allow those who may be offended to leave the class.

The mother believes placing all the blame on the teacher, in his 20s, is wrong.

For Muslims, any depiction of the Prophet Muhammad, or any of the other prophets of the faith is strictly forbidden.

Pictures - as well as statues - are thought to encourage the worship of idols, which is strictly prohibited.

The Batley Grammar School teacher sparked fury by allegedly showing pupils cartoons of the Prophet Muhammad in a RE lesson. Pictured: Protesters outside the school on Friday

It prompted a wave of protests last week with those taking part in a prayer outside the school in Batley, West Yorkshire. The school was shut down and the unnamed teacher was suspended

But there is no specific ruling in the Koran explicitly against depicting the Prophet with many experts claiming that it stems from the Hadiths, the book about his life and sayings.

Batley Multi Academy Trust, which runs Batley Grammar School has announced an independent investigation, which is set to begin on April 12 and aims to conclude by the end of May.

An inquiry panel is being established to drill down into the 'context' of the episode.

All three suspended teachers will be grilled about their role in the affair and could face possible dismissal, if it finds that they broke rules on how lessons should be delivered.

The names of teaching staff have been removed from the schools website to prevent the three teachers from being identified and other teachers being targeted by those angry at recent events.

The Trust said in a statement: 'We understand everyone will want clarity as soon as possible.'

It added: 'We're grateful for the constructive engagement with all our stakeholders over the last few days with regard to Batley Grammar, one of the schools within our trust.

Batley Grammar School had to delay its opening and told pupils to stay at home amid chaotic scenes at its gates earlier this week

'We believe the right way forward is for an independent investigation to review the context in which the materials (which caused offence) were used, and to make recommendations in relation to the Religious Studies curriculum so that the appropriate lessons can be learned, and action taken, where necessary.'

The father of the RE teacher who showed the cartoon told MailOnline earlier this week how his son fears he will be murdered - and feels that he can never go back to his old life.

The father said: 'He is worried that he and his family are all going to be killed.

'He knows that he's not going to be able to return to work or live in Batley. It's just going to be too dangerous for him and his family.

'Look what happened to the teacher in France who was killed for doing the same thing. Eventually they will get my son and he knows this. His whole world has been turned upside down. He's devastated and crushed.

'When he starts speaking, he just breaks down and cries. He's become an emotional wreck.'

One of the teacher's neighbours told MailOnline: 'He's a nice man. I see him go off to school, but not today or the day before.'

He was described by another neighbour as a 'local lad' who studied close to home and decided to teach in the area he was born and raised.

Mufti Mohammed Amin Pandor, a local Muslim scholar, told the crowd in Batley this week that the teacher has been suspended

Police descend on Batley Grammar School in West Yorkshire today as dozens of furious Muslim parents protest outside

The neighbour said: 'He's a good, honest Yorkshire lad. Likes his rugby and always had a smile for us.'

Earlier this week Mr Kibble, headteacher of the school founded in 1612 by the Reverend William Lee, said the RE teacher has been suspended, and went on to issue a 'sincere' and 'unequivocal' apology.

He called the image 'totally inappropriate' and said the school had 'immediately withdrawn teaching on this part of the course'.

In a televised statement, he added: 'It is important for children to learn about faiths and beliefs, but this must be done in a respectful, sensitive way.

'The school is working closely with our governing body and community leaders to help us resolve this situation, and we continue to do so.'

The protests in Yorkshire this week come five months after history teacher Samuel Paty was beheaded on the street near his school in a Paris suburb by an Islamic extremist last October after showing Prophet Muhammad cartoons to his students.

The killing shocked the country and led to a fresh debate about freedom of speech and the integration of France's large Muslim population.

It also brought back memories of a wave of Islamist violence that started with the Charlie Hebdo massacre, sparked by the same cartoons in the satirical magazine in 2015 when gunmen killed 12 people.

A few days ago it was revealed the union representing the teacher had donated money to the charity that went on to oust him.

The National Education Union's (NEU) Kirklees branch, in West Yorkshire, had donated 3,000 to the charity Purpose of Life who went on to publish the teacher's name online.

The Islamic charity, which has now removed the teacher's name from its online post, has since been accused of 'endangering his safety' and acting in a 'reckless' manner and have been reported to the Charity Commission.

An NEU spokesperson said: 'The NEU is fully supporting its members at Batley school, and has been since the start.'

They added: 'While the National Education Union is extremely disappointed that this organisation published the statement, it has now withdrawn the name and apologised.

'We would ask all organisations including those on social media to allow the school to conduct its investigations out of the media spotlight and for our member to be given the privacy that they should be entitled to.'
EIR LEAD EDITORIAL FOR SATURDAY, APRIL 3, 2021

An Alliance for Development Can Succeed

April 2 , 2021 (EIRNS)Next Tuesday, April 6, based in Vienna, talks are slated to take place involving the principals of the Joint Comprehensive Plan of Action (JCPOA) to move things in some way out of the present danger zone, including the potential to lift the sanctions against Iran. This came out of an online meeting today, based in Vienna, among five of the original six JCPOA principals (the P-5 plus one)China, France, Russia, United Kingdom, and Germany, without the U.S.), and Iran, hosted by the European Union, which issued a statement on the April 6 meeting as the next step. The EU said the April 6 meeting will take place, in order to clearly identify sanctions lifting and nuclear implementation measures, including through convening meetings of the relevant expert groups. EU officials are to confer with the U.S. separately.

In the abstract, this dialogue could be good, though in practice it comes in the context of fierce conflicts stoked by the London geopolitical axis. Positive initiatives will continue to go nowhere, except to war, without the initiation of development in the greater Southwest Asia region, and other locations now devolving into horrible humanitarian catastrophes.

The perspective of development, and concrete programs were put forward at the March 20-21 international Schiller Institute conference, whose dialogue process is presently expanding tremendously. Panel 3, on March 21 was titled, The Indo-Pacific, the Caucasus, Eastern Europe and Southwest Asia: Pivots for War, or Peaceful Development with the New Silk Road. The 10 speakers came from Syria, Iraq, Yemen, Pakistan, and elsewhere.

A full report on the panel will be published in EIRs April 9 issue.

Yesterday, Hussein Askary, EIR Arabic Editor, gave an online briefing in Arabic to an audience of over 3,000 people, mostly in Iraqwith 6,600 views within 24 hourswhich focused on the development perspective, in two ways. First, as the necessary reaction to the hopeless strategic conflict situation. Secondly, Askary spoke of the meaning of development corridors as presented by economist statesman Lyndon LaRouche, and as distinct from transportation corridors, which are routes of trade, not development. Despite the terrible suffering, there is hope and excitement for actual development to happen.

It is notable that on March 30, Wang Yi, Chinas Foreign Minister and State Councillor, finished a week-long trip to six countries in this Southwest Asian/Persian Gulf region. At his first stop, he issued a five-point program in an interview with Saudi media, the last point of which stressed Chinas commitment to economic cooperation in development projects. Speaking to Al Arabiya, Wang said, China has signed documents on Belt and Road cooperation with 19 Middle East countries and carried out distinctive collaboration with each of them.... As it fosters a new development paradigm, China is ready to share with Middle East countries its market opportunities, work with Arab countries to actively prepare for the China-Arab states summit, promote high-quality Belt and Road cooperation, and expand new areas of growth, such as high and new technologies....

Despite all the terrible losses and obstacles, development is finding its place on the world agenda. This is reflected in the continued circulation of the statement released March 21 at Panel 3 of the conference, by Helga Zepp-LaRouche, entitled, Declaration of China Experts from All Over the World. There is no denying the reality of Chinas commitment and record to implement developmentfrom lifting over 800 million people out of poverty, to reacting swiftly to defend against COVID-19, and aid nations around the globe.

President Xi Jinping tweeted about this today, with sharp humor: We built a high speed rail system in the same amount of time it takes Congress to figure out an excuse for not doing anything. Down horrendous

What is the likelihood such a positive, action-outlook can prevail? Zepp-LaRouche addressed the question yesterday in her weekly strategic webcast for The LaRouche Organization, after reporting on the upcoming crazed deployment by U.S. Presidential Special Envoy for Climate John Kerry to India, U.A.E., and Bangladesh, to attempt to coerce them to shut down their economy, for the purpose of cutting carbon emissions to save the planet. She also blasted the lies about so-called human rights violations in Xinjiang, which is a geopolitical fraud aimed at destabilizing China.

Zepp-LaRouche concluded her webcast: I think people realize that this is an effort to regulate everything in the direction of a green dictatorship, which will make life impossible to billions of people. So I think this Great Reset can be defeated and it can be replaced by an alliance for development, which is needed. We need European countries and the United States, hopefully, to work with Russia, China and India, to develop Southwest Asia, to develop Africa, Latin America, and say No to this policy of genocide. Because there you find the genocide and not in Xinjiang.
Location As A Service Market Investments, Competitive Analysis, Leading Players, Regional, And Global Industry Outlook To 2027

Key Market Insights

Location as a service market 2020 is moving ahead with a massive USD ~99 Billion and project to redevelop at ~32% of CAGR amid novel coronavirus pandemic. The figures for the market has been studied and accumulated by Market Research Future. The novel growth would be happening between 2017 and 2023 (forecasted period).

Get a Free Sample @ https://www.marketresearchfuture.com/sample_request/4251

Top Grossing Factors

Location as a service proposes a wide range of opportunities owing to its abilities to provide information related to a particular location or place. Location-based services are used with the help of real-time data through mobile devices that keep track of the geographical location of the phone. The surged use of smart devices and location-aware technologies compel the growth of the Location-based service market.

The privacy and security improved operational efficiency, reduce costs, increased customer engagement, and better returns on investments are also significant factors that primarily drive the location as a service market worldwide. The location as a service market has gathered valuations from businesses and government sectors. The uses of location-based services include proximity-based marketing, emergency services, store location, roadside assistance, travel information, fraud prevention, and mobile workforce management have substantially increased the value, which has contributed to the market?s growth. The growing awareness of the advantages of location as service analytics among organizations has further boosted the market growth and is estimated to boost in the forecast period as well.

Furthermore, MRFR also finds that with advancements in technology, several industries from global-end are willing to adopt new systems, mainly to perk up their transportation efficiency. With the initiation of cloud and IoT systems, the enterprises are now able to automate most of their operations. The healthcare sector is also anticipated to observe a significant number of applications. The upward IoT applications, devised with healthcare requirements, are projected to contribute to the growth of the Location as a Service Market Share. In the case of point, Texas Health saved USD 412,000 using the real-time location-based system. Medical equipment is now easily located and analyzed.

Segmentation of Market: Location as a Service

The global location as a service market is segmented on segments of component, location type, and end-users.

The location as a service market in terms of components: Comprise of Software, Android, Hardware, iOS, and Windows.

The location as a service market in terms of technology: Comprise of GPRS, GPS, GIS, and RFID.

The location as a service market in terms of connectivity: Comprise of wired and wireless.

The location as a service market in terms of deployment: Comprise of on-premises and on cloud

The location as a service market in terms of end-users: Comprise of BFSI, consumer electronics, retail, government, automotive, transportation, and healthcare.

Region-Wise Outlook

Europe is likely to grasp a leading position in the market and is anticipated to expand at a remarkable CAGR till 2023. Europe is measured as one of the most technologically advanced regions, owing to the existence of key players working in the location as a service market. Well-known players in this region are making new investments in location as a service.

Asia Pacific is placed to be the fastest-growing region in the global location as a service market in terms of CAGR. The rising demand for a location as a service in the transportation and logistics industry will support the growth of the market in the Asia Pacific. Apart from this, rising infrastructure development in commercial offices, localities, and shopping malls will also offer lucrative growth opportunities for an indoor location as a service facility in the future.

North America is also in the line of expectations to witness a significant share for the location as a service market owing to the increasing smartphone penetration and the growth of IoT technology. The North American region is the second-largest marketplace for in-vehicle navigation systems, with a leading manufacturer of aircraft, as well as one of the largest manufacturers of aerospace and maritime navigation services.

Top Market Players

The well-known players in the global location as a service market are listed as Google Inc. (U.S.), Cisco Systems (U.S.), IBM Corp. (U.S.), Ericsson (Sweden.), Location Labs (U.S), Qualcomm (U.S.), Microsoft Corp. (U.S.), LocationSmart (U.S), Esri (U.S), Oracle Corp. (U.S.), Accelerite (U.S).

Browse Complete Report @ https://www.marketresearchfuture.com/reports/location-as-a-service-market-4251

About Market Research Future:

At Market Research Future (MRFR), we enable our customers to unravel the complexity of various industries through our Cooked Research Report (CRR), Half-Cooked Research Reports (HCRR), Raw Research Reports (3R), Continuous-Feed Research (CFR), and Market Research & Consulting Services.

MRFR team have supreme objective to provide the optimum quality market research and intelligence services to our clients. Our market research studies by products, services, technologies, applications, end users, and market players for global, regional, and country level market segments, enable our clients to see more, know more, and do more, which help to answer all their most important questions.

Contact:

Market Research Future

+1 646 845 9312

Email: sales@marketresearchfuture.com
STATEN ISLAND, N.Y.  Fully vaccinated people can safely travel, as the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) updated its guidance Friday, but the agency still recommends against traveling unnecessarily.

The fully vaccinated dont need to be tested before or after travel unless their destination requires it, according to the updated guidance.

People who are fully vaccinated with an FDA-authorized vaccine can travel safely within the United States, according to the CDC.

The CDC still recommends following its guidance on safe travel, like wearing a mask, staying six feet apart and keeping hands clean. An executive order from President Biden mandated mask-wearing on all U.S. flights.

Officials consider people fully vaccinated two weeks after they receive the last dose of their vaccine.

Most non-U.S. citizens are still restricted from counties with high infection rates, including Brazil, China, South Africa and parts of Europe. The U.S. will still require airline passengers coming into the country to get a test within three days of their departure and show proof of a negative test before boarding.

U.S. Travel Association President and CEO Roger Dow expressed confidence that there would be a return to domestic leisure travel this year, but said more needs to be done.

Travel and tourism is the industry hardest hit by the economic fallout of COVID, and the damage is so severe that a broader economic recovery will stall if we cant get travel off the ground, he said. A full travel recovery will depend on reopening international markets, and we must also contend with the challenge of reviving business travel.
Civil rights activists and some MPs speak to the media outside the Dang Wangi District Police Headquarters in Kuala Lumpur, April 2, 2021.

Eighteen youths sued Malaysias prime minister, the federal government and the Election Commission for delaying a move to allow 18- to 21-year-olds to vote this year in a possible general election, saying it was illegal.

Malaysias 1.2 million young citizens would be able to vote only after September 2022 because the coronavirus pandemic had delayed the automatic registration of voters, the commission announced last week.

In their lawsuit filed at the Kuala Lumpur High Court, the young plaintiffs asked the court to allow 18- to 21-year-olds to vote by July this year, Nurul Rifayah, one of those suing, told a news conference.

We are seeking a declaration by the court that the government decision to delay the lowering the voting age from 21 to 18 is irrational, illegal, disproportionate, and amounts to voter suppression, Nurul said.

Other than that, we are also appealing to the court to instruct the government to implement Section 3 (a) Constitution Rights (Amendment) 2019 on/or before July 2021, she said, referring to the amendment that reduced the minimum voting age to 18 from 21.

The Young Voters Association group, commonly called Undi18, is standing firm on its call that the voting age be lowered this year, she said.

Malaysias parliament approved amendments to the Constitution Bill to lower the voting age to 18 from 21, in July 2019. The government at the time, which was led by a prime minister in his nineties, promised to implement the amendment in two years, but Mahathir Mohamads administration collapsed the next year.

New Sin Yew, a lawyer for the youths, said the lawsuit specified that 18- to 21-year-olds should be allowed to vote starting in July because there was a possibility that general elections would be held around then or soon after.

This matter should be viewed seriously as the parliament could be dissolved at any time and adults should be allowed to cast their votes, New said.

Prime Minister Muhyiddin Yassin, who advised the king to impose an emergency in January, has repeatedly said since that as soon as the COVID-19 pandemic subsided he would ask the king to dissolve parliament and call national elections.

In addition, some analysts had told BenarNews that the considerable turmoil in the ruling coalition has roiled the political situation in the country.

Many opposition leaders had said Muhyiddin had requested that an emergency be imposed because he wanted to hold on to power, as he had allegedly lost majority support in parliament.

Last week, Muhyiddin denied that his administration had any role in the decision to delay the vote for young people.

The Election Commission, he said, was free from government influence and the delay was caused by pandemic-related restrictions.

Election Commission Chairman Abdul Ghani Salleh had announced that movement restrictions to curb the spread of COVID-19 had delayed preparations to complete the automatic registration of voters.

The EC would like to clarify that preparations toward the implementation are still ongoing and in the process of being taken, Ghani said on March 25.

This includes work such as system development, data review and coordination, follow-up engagement programs with government agencies, political parties and non-governmental organizations (NGOs) as well as preparations  other preparations related to it.

On Friday, ex-Prime Minister Mahathir said he supported Undi18s demands.

Everything has been recorded [in the government system], they [the government] could access the record at any time, so they could easily know where a person lives and have his/her identification information and so on, Mahathir, 95, told reporters.

So there is no reason for this to be postponed. If it is true that this is being dragged out, it not accidental. The youths should be taking part in the general election process, this is unfair.
Shortly after President Trump took office in 2017, the U.S. Army certified to Congress that upgrades of its CH-47F Chinook heavy lifter were a high priority for which funding had been set aside in future budgets.

A year later, the service began to signal prime contractor Boeing that the upgrades had become a bill-payer for other projects and that the Army would cancel the upgrade program.

Ever since that surprising reversal, the Army has been fighting a losing battle to convince Congress its plans for Chinook (or lack thereof) make sense.

Each year the service tries to withdraw the upgrade money, and each year Congress puts money back to keep the program on track.

Perhaps it is time for the Army to stop wasting political capital on this hapless quest.

Killing the biggest program at the biggest industrial complex in southeastern Pennsylvania isnt likely to be any more popular with the Biden White House than it is with Congress.

Boeing says 18,000 jobs could be destroyed across the Chinook supply chain if the Army has its way.

But the real crux of the matter isn't jobs. It's the incoherent operational logic of what the Army proposes to do.

Consider a few salient points.

First, Chinook is by far the heaviest lifter in the Army fleet. It is expected to remain in service for another 40 years, and at the moment, the service has no real plan for replacing it.

Second, without proposed Block II upgrades, Chinook will be unable to lift either the Armys light howitzer or the Joint Light Tactical Vehicle, successor to the Humvee.

Third, in its current configuration, Chinook's ability to lift other heavy cargos will be deficient in the high/hot operating conditions common in places such as Southeast Asia and the Persian Gulf.

Fourth, the Army has already paid to develop Block II upgrades and wants to go forward with making the improvements to its special operations fleet while denying them to the rest of the force.

Finally, the program is on schedule and on budget. Three prototypes incorporating the upgrades are in testing.

Boeing warned Army leaders when the prospect of cancellation first was raised that it could result in closing one of the few military rotorcraft production lines in the country.

The company says it needs to build at least 18 Chinooks per year to sustain its Pennsylvania line and the 280 suppliers that feed it.

Army leaders responded that they would find foreign buyers to make up for the loss of Army work. But in the three years since the Army turned against the upgrades, no new foreign sales have been booked.

So, Boeing now forecasts that production will fall below the minimum sustaining rate in 2023 if upgrades are not funded.

At that point, production of the baseline Block I configuration for the Army will have ceased, and foreign sales booked years ago will be dwindling.

All that will be left is six upgraded Chinooks per year for special operatorsbarely a third of the number needed to keep the line intact and suppliers engaged.

When the prospect of Block II cancellations first surfaced, the company predicted that foreign demand would dry up once it became clear the Army was walking away from improvements to the venerable helicopter.

So far, that is exactly what has happened.

Its important to understand that the proposed upgrades dont just preserve the ability to air assault heavy equipment.

The Block II design includes an improved drive train, a new fuel system, digital flight controls, and an enhanced electric system.

Thats in addition to the advanced rotor blades that restore 1,500 pounds of lift lost to when self-protection equipment added to the helicopters weight.

Under the original plan, the Army would have bought these improvements for 473 Chinooks operated by the regular Army, in addition to the 69 used by special operators.

But with the Army now committed to buying only the special ops helicopters, what had looked like 20 years of continuous work at Boeings rotorcraft complex instead looks like the end of the road for Chinook production.

To make matters worse, the collapse of Chinook productionthe company currently turns out one CH-47F per weekwill drive up the cost of V-22 fuselages made at the same site since they would have to absorb most of the plant's overhead.

All of which begs the question of what the Armys plan is for its only heavy lifter.

Some have suggested the Army might come back later and restart Block II upgrades, but that is a fantasy: in the current budget environment, once the production line and supply chain fall below minimum sustaining rates, they are unlikely to ever be reconstituted.

Some critical suppliers are likely to exit the business for good, and replacing lost skills would be prohibitively expensive.

So, of course, Congress, especially the local legislative delegations, are skeptical. That includes members from three different statesPennsylvania, New Jersey and Delawareall of whom have constituents working at the plant.

Rather than fighting this losing battle once again in the 2022 budget cycle, the Army ought to face the reality that Congress isnt going to embrace its plan for killing Chinook upgrades.

If it doesnt change course, the danger in an increasingly tight budget environment is that legislators will start finding the money for Chinook upgrades in programs that are a high priority for the service, such as Future Vertical Lift.

Loren Thompson writes on the strategic, economic and business implications of defense spending as the Chief Operating Officer of the non-profit Lexington Institute and Chief Executive Officer of Source Associates. Prior to holding my present positions, I was Deputy Director of the Security Studies Program at Georgetown University and taught graduate-level courses in strategy, technology and media affairs at Georgetown. I have also taught at Harvard University's Kennedy School of Government. I hold doctoral and masters degrees in government from Georgetown University and a bachelor of science degree in political science from Northeastern University. Disclosure: The Lexington Institute receives funding from many of the nations leading defense contractors, including Boeing, Lockheed Martin, Raytheon and United Technologies.
.......... .......... .......... .......... .......... .......... .......... .......... .......... .......... .......... .......... .......... .......... .......... .......... .......... ..........

Over the last year, while New Mexican communities have banded together to fight COVID-19, some of our most vulnerable neighbors, including hundreds of immigrant detainees, in the privately run Torrance County Detention Facility, Cibola County Correctional Center and Otero County Processing Center have been screaming for help inside soundproof walls. As of March 24, ICE had confirmed 10,408 positive cases of COVID-19 across 124 detention facilities since the beginning of the COVID-19 pandemic. In my job at the New Mexico Immigrant Law Center (NMILC), I speak with asylum-seekers facing this reality every week.

ICE detention centers across the country have been hotbeds for the uncontrollable spread of COVID-19. A recent report found the rate of coronavirus infection among ICE detainees was about 13.4 times the rate of the U.S. population each month between April to August. This infection rate, which has wreaked particular havoc in New Mexicos Otero County Processing Center, is a direct result of the inhumane conditions of ICE detention. This includes neglectful and abusive medical care, close quarters without quarantine infrastructure, limited access to personal protective equipment and hygiene supplies, and unnecessary and circular transfers between facilities.

ICEs consistent disregard for the health and safety of those in its discretionary custody throughout this pandemic, especially bad in the detention facilities that contract with private prison management corporations, is unforgivable.

Anticipating the danger of COVID-19 in ICE detention, NMILC and other local partnering advocates wrote a letter to Gov. Michelle Lujan Grisham at the onset of the pandemic urging her to pressure ICE to release those held in its custody here in New Mexico. Though state agencies have had limited authority regarding releases from ICE custody, ICE has recently stated it will defer to state officials for COVID-19 vaccination operations within ICE detention centers. This is New Mexicos make-or-break moment for ICE detainees facing the threat of COVID-19. Rather than handing vaccine doses over to private prison operators such as CoreCivic and MTC, the state must continue pressuring ICE to release those in its custody and facilitate the safe vaccination of our immigrant neighbors, both inside and out of detention. This can be achieved through partnerships with community-based health care providers.

We know private detention centers evade transparency and accountability in their medical practices, frequently failing to comply with basic CDC guidelines. As evidenced by the Irwin County, Georgia, Detention Centers ghastly sterilization operation of detained immigrant women, private corporations are consistently keeping important, comprehensive information about their medical practices from their ICE detainees and state officials. This is on top of already-murky structures of consent in detention, where ICE and private prison officials often force immigrants  especially those who do not speak English or Spanish  to sign legal and medical documents that they do not understand. As the vaccine has become more widely available, immigrants across the country have explicitly cited a fear of detention medical staff in their pleas for the vaccines to be administered by local, immigrant-friendly health care professionals.

ADVERTISEMENTSkip



................................................................

In New Mexico, we are fortunate to have dozens of culturally competent, community-based health care organizations who are trusted partners of our immigrant communities. Immigrants of color  especially Black and Brown immigrants  have long-faced simultaneous exclusion and exploitation in the American public health care system. It is now our obligation to implement vaccination plans that repair and strengthen relationships between those populations and the systems that are supposed to protect them.

At NMILC, we believe this is the states duty: to ensure immigrants both inside and out of detention receive comprehensive, culturally appropriate information about the vaccine so they can make informed decisions about their health. We cannot outsource this to private contractors. Not only is it the states responsibility to ensure the health and safety of those in ICE custody; it should be a welcome opportunity for New Mexico to show its power as a state that values all residents, regardless of immigration status.
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.
The increase in hate crimes against Asian Americans has left many feeling helpless, frustrated and in despair. This is why some academic and professional institutions are taking steps to support their communities.

Donna Demanarig, an assistant professor in the University of Bridgeport's Psychology Department, said the Asian American Psychological Association, in which she holds a leadership position, has been trying to provide resources and healing spaces for its members. This includes not only webinars with resources and how to address Asian American hate and discrimination in their own communities, but lighter events like Zoom karaoke which can help encourage fun and resiliency.

Constantly talking about it, it burns us out, Demanarig said. Sometimes talking too much about it is emotionally draining for a lot of folks. We provided a healing space for members where we air out our anger and be able to safely discuss our feelings and thoughts especially with what just happened with the women in Atlanta. That was triggering and it angered so many folks.

Last month, eight people, including six Asian women, were killed in a shooting spree targeting several spas in Atlanta.

At UB, Demanarig has worked to provide outside resources for community members to use to educate themselves and take action. In her multicultural psychology class, she talks about not just anti-Asian violence, but the Black Lives Matter movement.

/

UConn Stamford Campus Director Terrence Cheng, who is also an English professor, said the school is working to find more long-term solutions to address the rise in violence against Asian Americans, but in the meantime, he has spent the last year especially working to support the campus international student population many of which come from Asia.

Cheng said hes also been working on basic outreach, sending out surveys to international students and aiding with needs like emergency housing or helping find part-time employment. But most importantly, he said he tries to be open to conversations with them to find out needs and work on the infrastructure to support those needs as quickly as possible.

But its always possible to do more, something Cheng said hes devoted to doing for students across the board.

Were very much aware of international students being supported and successful in academic programs, but also socially, psychologically and socially, Cheng said. ...Its important other leaders at the university and I who represent everyone. But as a person of color, maybe I wear that a little more heavily because there are people of color who look to me and they expect more. Whether that's fair or not, I don't really care. Having a strong voice and letting everyone know you see their fear and pain...I think its important.

Part of the work being done is not just external, but internal. Cheng said he, like many others of Asian descent, has spent a large portion of his life being a model minority and not speaking out about systemic racism for fear of making waves.

Cheng said theres a Chinese saying eating bitterness which sums up a large part of the cultural outlook and sensibility instilled in many Chinese people.

Its a Chinese way of saying you suck it up, he said. I think that's really impactful because we have really internalized that. Chinese history demonstrates how that's been internalized and builds into the model minority myth that no matter what Asians will plow forward and that's having a reckoning of its own...Its a painful reckoning for me personally to know Ive not done enough in my life to end racism...I think it's because culturally were put in those boxes and given enough to succeed and not enough to unify. I think that's changing for individuals like myself and across the country.

Theres been a history of institutionalized racism against Asian Americans throughout the countrys history, said Cheng, going back to the Chinese Exclusion Act of 1882 which prohibited all immigration of Chinese laborers.

That, and the internment of Japanese Americans during World War II, are only some of the most prominent examples. It was only just last year that then-President Donald Trump and other politicians called COVID-19 Kung Flu and other derogatory names linking the virus back to the Chinese.

This is not a new thing, said Cheng. Those two symbols and moments in our history are almost completely invisible in social studies and history courses in our curriculum. That speaks to the fact Asians and Asian Americans occupy this invisible space as the model minority, as the white adjacent race allowed to succeed to a certain degree. The long history of Asian cultures combined with American caste system all come together to create that invisibility but its been there for a long, long time. Unfortunately its being exacerbated now but hopefully we can shed light on ongoing complex problems.

People who arent Asian American might be having their own reckoning about how much theyve been oblivious to and what can be done. Demanarig has some advice for them: just ask how your Asian American friends are doing and listen. Dont offer advice and dont be afraid of sitting in uncomfortable silence. Just listening is enough, she said.

Pretending nothings happening is a little more personal and perpetuates the invisibility this community is facing in the United States, she said. For a lot of our allies outside the community what they can do is really reach out to friends and people they know who are in the community and just to ask how are you doing? Even though they seem simple, theyre powerful. Those words convey allyship.

erin.kayata@hearstmediact.com
Metro Manila (CNN Philippines, April 3)  The Department of Social Welfare and Development has already provided the list of individuals who will receive cash aid amid the new round of enhanced community quarantine in the Greater Manila area.

Under joint memorandum circular 1-2020, those from low-income households, members of the vulnerable sector, and those greatly affected by the ECQ are among the beneficiaries.

READ: Govt assures cash aid for those who won't be able to work during one-week ECQ

Local government units in the NCR Plus bubble are now just waiting for the release of the funds from the Department of Budget and Management.

Quezon City Mayor Joy Belmonte confirmed the DSWD already sent the list of beneficiaries. Once the funds have been disbursed to the LGU, they will immediately begin the rollout, she added.

"Hopefully if we get the funds Monday, we can begin distributing by Tuesday," Belmonte said.

Taguig City Mayor Lino Cayetano, meanwhile, said they are targeting to start the distribution by "late next week."

"This is from the DBM directly to the local government sourced from the Bayanihan 2 funds  DSWD's only help is with final list, but it will be the LGU who will distribute, mas mabilis na po (this will be faster)," he said.

According to the LGUs of Quezon City, Taguig, and San Juan, they are now in the process of verifying the list to make sure there will be a fair distribution of funds.

"Hindi ganon kabilis yan dahil base sa guidelines na ito, we really have to sort kung sino magiging recipients natin. Options po are 1,000 per person or a maximum of 4,000 per family. We still have to determine sino ba yung members ng family na ito baka sumobra na sa 1,000," San Juan City Mayor Francis Zamora said.

[Translation: It's not that fast because based on these guidelines, we really have to sort out who our recipients will be. Our options are 1,000 per person or a maximum of 4,000 per family. We still have to determine who the members of this family are, because it may exceed 1,000.]

Finance Secretary Carlos Dominguez III said the government has allotted around 23 billion for the emergency subsidy program.

Metro Manila, Rizal, Cavite, Bulacan, and Laguna were placed under ECQ last Monday. The hard lockdown was originally targeted to end on April 4, but officials hinted at a possible extension.

CNN Philippines correspondent Maricris Dimatulac contributed to this report.
Royal author Andrew Morton's new book about the Queen and her sister, Princess Margaret, challenges conventional wisdom about their relationship.

Here, in the final part of our serialisation, he reveals how the two women's bond was unbreakable, despite Margaret's wild love life.

Princess Margaret's sudden illness during a Royal visit to Paris had taken everybody by surprise.

Coughing loudly, she told aides she was too unwell to attend an official lunch where she would be guest of honour and would rest instead.

Only later did it emerge that far from being ill, Margaret had spent the day having her hair done by one of France's most celebrated stylists before going on to a dress fitting with Dior.

For Cynthia Gladwyn, wife of the British Ambassador to France, the 29-year-old Princess's actions had been unforgivably rude.

'She wishes to convey that she is very much the Princess, but at the same time she is not prepared to stick to the rules if they bore or annoy her,' she said.

It was a pattern of behaviour that had been increasingly evident following the Princess's split from her divorced lover Peter Townsend four years earlier.

Since then, according to senior courtier Tommy Lascelles, Margaret had become 'selfish, hard and wild', enjoying the perks of Royalty while reluctant to embrace its responsibilities.

Margaret experienced a deep sense of hurt and betrayal watching the Panorama interview as she had considered herself an ally, a guide and a friend to Princess Diana

Margaret's attitude towards her sister, the Queen, was similarly erratic and often discourteous. On the one hand, she was the most loyal of supporters. 'My task in life is to help the Queen,' she often said.

But on other occasions her actions betrayed a resentment and indifference towards her sister that left even long-serving courtiers who knew her well shaking their heads.

At a state banquet in 1957, when the Queen was complimented by a Government Minister on her evening dress, Margaret casually remarked in front of other guests: 'Darling, that does show your bosom too much.'

And when the Queen and Prince Philip celebrated their tenth wedding anniversary in the same year, Margaret missed a celebration dinner, to go to a West End musical with friends.

She returned to Buckingham Palace at midnight when the party was nearly over, without a present, a card or even an apology.

Nor did her mother escape Margaret's apparent resentment and withering putdowns.

'Why do you dress in those ridiculous clothes?' the Princess would regularly demand. After she visited the Queen Mother's beloved Scottish retreat, the Castle of Mey, which had inspired her spiritual recovery after the death of George VI, Margaret was similarly dismissive.

'I can't think why you have such a horrible place,' she sneered. Her mother replied: 'Well, darling, you needn't come again.' And she didn't.

Princess's Margaret's contrary and contradictory behaviour defined not only her legacy as a working Royal but her tumultuous love life.

While she seemed to think nothing of embarrassing the Monarchy with her hedonistic lifestyle and sexual excesses, she was rigidly intolerant of other Royal Family members who appeared to be letting the side down.

This would take its extremest form in her vehement disapproval of Princess Diana and Sarah Ferguson, the Duchess of York.

Perhaps it was not surprising that when Margaret fell in love again following the Townsend debacle, it was with a man who, like her, was full of contradictions.

Talented and charming, the renowned society photographer Antony Armstrong-Jones was also impetuous and unpredictable, and occasionally cruel.

In the early days of their relationship, he knew how to strike exactly the right balance between daring and deference. He always addressed Margaret as 'Ma'am', even as he enticed her into his unorthodox, bohemian lifestyle.

For the most part, though, it was a one-dimensional relationship. As one of her husband's friends recalled: 'What he had foremost in common with Princess Margaret could be put in three words: sex, sex, sex.

'Theirs was a terribly physical relationship. They couldn't keep their hands off each other, even with other people present. He was very well made and obviously that had a lot to do with it.'

In the summer of 1959, Margaret's family were told of her secret relationship, with the Queen Mother declaring herself thoroughly enchanted by this charming, easy-going but eminently talented young man.

She did everything she could to support her daughter's unconventional romance, allowing them to use her home, Royal Lodge, Windsor, where they indulged their fondness for 'skinny-dipping' at midnight in the pool.

After their 1960 wedding and a six-week honeymoon, the couple set up home in Kensington Palace, where an invitation to supper or a singalong around the grand piano became the hottest ticket in town.

Their social circle included designer Mary Quant, writer Edna O'Brien, actor Peter Sellers and his wife Britt Ekland, ballet dancers Rudolf Nureyev and Margot Fonteyn, and trend-setting hairdresser Vidal Sassoon.

Now called the Snowdons, they befriended The Beatles, with John Lennon nicknaming the couple 'Priceless Margarine' and 'Bony Armstrove'.

'I adored them because they were poets as well as musicians,' the Princess later recalled. Margaret was a pioneer in trying to remove the barriers of snobbery and protocol  but not all. There was for ever a gulf, a self-conscious line that few crossed.

'I often stayed with them for weekends and you never quite knew what you were going to get; friendly Margaret or 'Ma'am',' observed Lord Snowdon's business manager Peter Lyster-Todd.

Sadly, the marriage turned sour within only a few years. The traits that had at first united the couple, similar in so many ways, now gradually divided them.

With their personalities 'too alike, too selfish', as friends recalled, they were bound to clash. In the battle of wills, Snowdon, as the Queen's biographer Sarah Bradford noted, was much better at being nasty than Margaret.

He resorted to writing cruel one-liners, such as 'You're fat and I hate you', which he tucked away in her glove drawer or inside her books. One note said: 'Twenty-Four Reasons Why I Hate You.'

A crushed Margaret confided to a friend: 'I can't think of 24 reasons to hate ANYBODY.'

A highly sexual young woman, Margaret yearned for male attention. With her husband often away on business, she sought reassurance from Anthony Barton, one of his Cambridge friends.

In early 1966, with Snowdon on a photographic assignment in India, Barton visited Margaret at Kensington Palace. That evening, she made her move. 'Let's go to bed,' she boldly told her startled guest.

When Barton declined, the Princess inched closer and cooed: 'Well, I think you could be a bit more cuddly.' A short-lived but passionate dalliance followed, until Margaret tearfully confessed to Barton's wife.

The final decade of Margaret's life had brought the Royal sisters together in a way they had not experienced for many years

Later that year, she began another brief liaison  with Robin Douglas-Home, an aristocratic nightclub pianist and well-known womaniser.

With her husband again away, Margaret and Robin began meeting at Kensington Palace, where, according to one report, they were discovered by a servant having sex on the sofa. Margaret stared at the servant until he left the room and then carried on as though nothing had happened.

An experienced and attentive seducer, Robin made the Princess feel desirable again. On Valentine's Day 1967, she wrote him a gushing letter. 'Darling, thank you for a perfect weekend,' she wrote. 'Thank you for being gentle when it was unexpected, which gave me back my self-confidence.'

Another time she wrote: 'I think all the time of you. Not many people are lucky enough to have known a love like this. I feel so happy it has happened to me.'

How her letters surfaced in an American magazine is uncertain, but their publication forced her husband, then in New York, to make a public statement denying a marital crisis.

By now, the marriage had virtually disintegrated. But even as the Snowdons' relationship grew more vindictive, they remained sexually involved, their bitter arguments serving as a kind of foreplay.

According to one close friend: 'It was the last thing to die in their relationship. Had it not been for the sex, their marriage would have collapsed far sooner.

'They had an incredible lust for each other. They would touch and squeeze each other in front of friends and strangers alike. One could sense them straining at the bit in their eagerness to get to the bedroom.'

Princess Margaret described her husband's sexual domination, saying that he would fling open the bedroom door and stand before her naked. 'Well, what could I do?'

When the couple's break-up was finally formalised in 1978, their divorce was the first in the Royal Family for 400 years.

Even in the early years of her marriage, Margaret had always had a covetous eye for the opposite sex. Her friend Anne Glenconner recalled: 'She liked the gentlemen very much. If she saw somebody, she would say, 'Who's that? I'd like to meet him.' '

The actor Brian Cox got an unexpected 23rd birthday present when Margaret went backstage after watching a West End performance. He recalled: 'She put her fingers on my shirt, and said, 'This is a lovely shirt.' And she started to run her fingers down the inside of my shirt. And I went: Uh-oh! What do you do when you're being touched up by a Royal?'

In the years leading up to her divorce and in its immediate aftermath, however, Margaret's hedonistic lifestyle moved up to a different level.

With her passion for tropical holidays on the Caribbean island of Mustique and her devotion to her much younger lover, Roddy Llewellyn, her image inspired a culture of media stories and television documentaries centred around her apparently lascivious behaviour.

The woman who had once loved ballet, the theatre and theological discussion no longer existed in the popular imagination.

One brief encounter on Mustique in the early 1970s, with British gangster and part-time actor John Bindon, sparked this explosion of interest.

Bindon had openly boasted about having sex on the beach with the Princess. His girlfriend, baronet's daughter Vicki Hodge, backed his claims, saying that when they first met over lunch on the island, Margaret was intrigued by 'his cockney accent, his rhyming slang, and dirty jokes'.

'When I saw them together, they were magnetised to each other,' she recalled. 'They were obviously involved. You could tell it in their body language. The fact that I was his girlfriend didn't really matter. It was, 'Step aside, baby.' '

Bindon also claimed that the Princess continued to see him in London, sending her car to pick him up for trysts. Though tantalisingly salacious, for the most part his memoirs were untrue or exaggerated.

Not that life on Mustique was a sunshine version of a vicar's tea party.

Another image that made its way into a British newspaper showed Roddy Llewellyn, along with Margaret's former boyfriend Colin Tennant and island manager Nicholas Courtney photographed by the Princess in various poses on the beach, all of them stark naked.

The narrative of the pleasure-loving, self-indulgent Princess and her toyboy lover was now gaining ground, with an opinion poll showing that nearly three-quarters of the public felt the relationship with Llewellyn (who had been a lowly researcher at the College of Arms) harmed Margaret's standing as a Royal.

However, her family accepted that he brought comfort to the Princess  even though the Monarchy paid a high price. While the Queen Mother occasionally entertained her daughter's lover at Royal Lodge, the Queen refused to invite him to any of her private homes.

Llewellyn had met Her Majesty only once, and under deeply embarrassing circumstances. At Royal Lodge, wearing only a shirt and underpants, he went looking for the Snowdon children's nanny, Verona Sumner, to sew on a button.

When he finally found Sumner, she was talking to the Queen. 'Please forgive me, Ma'am, I look so awful,' Llewellyn stuttered.

'Don't worry  I don't look very good myself,' the Queen answered politely before exiting the room.

As the Queen made clear to Margaret, she had to protect the Monarchy. She was acting as Sovereign first, sister second. Over the years, she had done everything possible to accommodate and welcome the men in Margaret's life. Not this one.

But at Margaret's funeral in 2002, her attitude seemed to have softened. She took Anne Glenconner to one side and thanked her for bringing Roddy Llewellyn into Margaret's life. She told her: 'I'd just like to say, it was rather difficult at moments but I thank you so much for introducing Princess Margaret to Roddy. He made her really happy.'

This was quite a remarkable turnaround by the Queen. It seemed as if she had learned, through her own travails with her children and their marriages, to be more accepting and understanding.

The final decade of Margaret's life had brought the Royal sisters together in a way they had not experienced for many years, the Princess proving herself time and again a loyal and devoted supporter. Particularly during the Queen's 'annus horribilis' in 1992, with the separations of the Duke and Duchess of York and of the Prince and Princess of Wales, Princess Anne's divorce and the Windsor Castle fire.

After embarrassing photographs were published of the Duchess of York having her toes sucked by her 'financial adviser' John Bryan by the side of a villa pool in the South of France, Margaret, no stranger herself to compromising pictures, sent Sarah Ferguson a withering letter.

It said: 'You have done more to bring shame on the family than could have been imagined. Not once have you hung your head in embarrassment even for a minute after those disgraceful photographs. Clearly, you have never considered the damage you are causing us all.'

There were double standards here, as Fergie immediately recognised  particularly considering that Margaret herself was the photographer when three naked men pranced before her on Mustique.

The hypocrisy was not lost on the errant Duchess. As she contemplated Margaret's closest family, she thought to herself: 'There but for the grace of God go the lot of you.'

Margaret's response to what she saw as Diana's betrayal of the Royal Family was, however, even more extreme.

While the Queen had been prepared to allow the Waleses' marriage to plod on following their separation, in the forlorn hope that there could be a reconciliation, Margaret was under no such illusions. In her view, delay only tarnished the monarchy.

Her opinion was reinforced after Diana gave her BBC1 Panorama television interview.

Margaret experienced a deep sense of hurt and betrayal as she watched the programme. She had considered herself an ally, a guide and a friend who had invested time and effort in integrating the Princess into the rarefied Royal world.

Indeed, Diana told me herself of her deep appreciation for Margaret. 'I've always adored Margo,' she said. 'I love her to bits and she has been wonderful to me from day one.'

Margaret had encouraged the Queen, sometimes against her better judgment, to indulge Diana's whims and caprices and to cut her some slack as she settled into Royal life. But as she saw it, Diana had repaid the family by airing their dirty linen in public.

Once her staunchest supporter, Margaret became Diana's fiercest critic. She sent Diana a 'wounding and excoriating' letter accusing her of letting everyone down. She had obviously been 'incapable of making even the smallest sacrifice', she wrote.

Not only did Margaret cut off all contact with the Princess, she also made it clear to her own children that she did not want them fraternising with the enemy.

So complete was the split that in July 1996, when Diana bought a present for Margaret's daughter Lady Sarah Chatto's first baby, Diana timidly passed it on to Margaret's chauffeur and asked him to deliver it.

In the aftermath of Diana's death, Margaret believed that the family, then staying at Balmoral, should have no more to do with the funeral than absolutely necessary. A private funeral for a private citizen was her verdict.

Throughout what became known as the worst week of the Queen's reign, Margaret continued her rearguard action. She didn't think Diana's coffin should rest in the Chapel Royal, nor that the Union Flag should fly at half-mast above Buckingham Palace. Having returned to London, Margaret grumbled over the smell of rotting cellophane-wrapped flowers  five feet deep in some places  piling up outside the gates of Kensington Palace.

She expressed her bafflement about what she called this 'floral fascism'. 'It was like Passchendaele,' she complained, describing how the lawns were churned into mud by mourners.

Even by Princess Margaret's standards, it was a remarkably insensitive comment. 'The Di thing was all too much,' she continued. 'The flowers on the paths everywhere were just awful.'

The day of the funeral also symbolised the differing formal reaction to Diana's death by the Queen and Margaret. Standing outside Buckingham Palace, waiting for the gun carriage carrying her body, somewhat bizarrely Margaret was talking to her sister about improving the lavatories at Kensington Palace.

Then, as the funeral cortege passed, the Queen respectfully bowed her head while Margaret gave the most cursory of nods, looking for all the world as though she wanted to be elsewhere.

She never forgave Diana for what she saw as her betrayal not only of the Royal Family, but also of her personally. Margaret did her best to expunge Diana's memory, destroying scores of letters written by her.

NEARLY 20 years after her death, the public perception of Princess Margaret remains that of a fast-living socialite who spent much time partying and lounging about in the Caribbean. But less well known was that she also dedicated her life to serving her sister and to upholding the values of Monarchy.

It was a quality the Queen appreciated in full measure, and from time to time she defended her younger sister from what she considered to be unfair attack by MPs and others.

When Duff Cooper, the former British Ambassador to France, had met the 18-year-old Princess Margaret at a lunch in 1948, he noted in his diary that she was 'very sure of herself and full of humour. She might get into trouble before she's finished'.

He was right. Margaret did indeed 'get into trouble'  and plenty of it. But she will also be remembered as one of the 20th Century's most intriguing, complex and colourful characters. Imperious and haughty as well as loyal and thoughtful, she was above all, as those who knew her would attest, never dull.

 Andrew Morton, 2021

lAbridged extract from Elizabeth & Margaret: The Intimate World Of The Windsor Sisters, by Andrew Morton, published by Michael O'Mara at 20. To pre-order a copy for 17.60, go to mailshop.co.uk/books or call 020 3308 9193 before April 18. Free UK delivery on orders over 20.
Goldman Sachs, a key adviser on Deliveroo's car crash market debut last week, is brushing aside a storm of protest and is already preparing to unleash its second giant tech listing this year.

Sources last night said Goldman Sachs and Morgan Stanley were on track to sell shares in financial technology giant Wise next month with a valuation of up to 5billion.

Wise, which counts Virgin's Sir Richard Branson as an investor, is one of the 'tech stars' that Chancellor Rishi Sunak hopes will make London a prime venue for Initial Public Offerings  the public sale of shares on the stock market.

Flop: Deliveroo saw 2bn wiped off its value on its stock market launch day

The Government commissioned Tory peer Lord Hill and ex-Worldpay boss Ron Kalifa to lead sweeping reviews of IPO rules in a bid to lure fast-growing, tech-savvy firms to Britain. But Deliveroo's disastrous week, which saw 2billion wiped off its value on its first day of trading, has been a huge setback.

Goldman Sachs and five other banks that led the Deliveroo share float risk losing about 18million in fees following a backlash from investors, according to one report.

Goldman came under fire when it floated lender Funding Circle in 2018 after shares fell as much as 24 per cent on its first trading day.

But sources close to the fintech Wise said Deliveroo's bitter experience had 'no bearing' on its plans to list. Wise has been profitable since 2017  in stark contrast with many loss-making start-ups including Deliveroo, sources said.

HOW WE WARNED OF 'FLOPPEROO' Deliveroo's share price collapse on its first day of trading followed revelations in The Mail on Sunday two weeks ago that institutional fund managers had baulked at the company's value. Top investors told this newspaper that the 7.5 billion float organised by brokers at Goldman Sachs and JP Morgan was 'ludicrously priced' and they would not be buying shares. Flashback: How we raised the alarm about the float two weeks ago However, despite the MoS raising the alarm on deep scepticism swirling the City, Deliveroo and its brokers decided to press ahead with last Wednesday's float  even announcing on the day after our warning that they fancied an even higher valuation than first mooted  8.8billion. A string of fund managers such as Aviva, M&G and Legal & General denounced the plans in the ensuing ten days, citing concerns about working conditions, lack of investor power and profitability. The float launched at the bottom of the range at 7.6billion before shares fell 30 per cent  leading to the name 'Flopperoo'. Ben Harrington and Emma Dunkley

Wise was among the 'tech stars' whose representatives met with Prime Minister Boris Johnson last year. Kristo Kaarmann, co-founder of Wise, recently told the MoS: 'We certainly are one of the largest tech companies in London  and one of the fastest growing ones.

'There have been regular engagements with the Treasury and with the Government [and fast growing tech firms].'

UK cybersecurity company Darktrace is finalising plans for a 3billion stock market listing, Sky News reported yesterday.

Richard Buxton, a fund manager at Jupiter Asset Management, said: 'The Deliveroo fiasco does not mean London is closed to exciting growth companies like Wise. But it signals advisers should think carefully about voting structures and, above all, valuations.'

Deliveroo uses dual class shares, which have been criticised for giving company founders greater voting rights over ordinary shareholders. It is understood that Wise is also planning to use dual class shares.

However, sources said The Hut Group floated at a value of 5.4billion and also used this structure. Its shares rocketed 30 per cent on its trading debut.

But last week's flotation flop is a blow for Chancellor Rishi Sunak, himself a former hedge fund executive.

He has described Deliveroo as a 'true British success story'. Deliveroo also has a handful of former Treasury advisers working at the firm. When asked by ITV last week if he felt embarrassed by the flop,

Sunak brushed off concerns, replying: 'Gosh, no. Share prices go up, share prices go down. We should celebrate success in this country.'

But financial heavyweights including Aviva, M&G, Jupiter, Aberdeen Standard and L&G have queued up over the past two weeks to criticise the meal delivery company, founded by Will Shu.

Among fund managers' fears are that Deliveroo may have to give its 100,000 riders worldwide 'employee' status which could come at a huge cost to the company. Some Deliveroo workers are said to have earned as little as 2 an hour.

Considering inflated, never-profitable revenues, unsustainably low labour costs, dubious corporate governance and a greedy valuation, the stock market delivered its own '30 per cent off' verdict. Barry Norris, Argonaut Capital

Barry Norris, the fund manager at Argonaut Capital who successfully bet on the share price collapse of disgraced German financial services company Wirecard, said: 'Considering inflated, never-profitable revenues, unsustainably low labour costs, dubious corporate governance and a greedy valuation, the stock market delivered its own '30 per cent off' verdict'.

Geir Lode, of fund giant Federated Hermes, said Deliveroo's flexible employment model 'exposes the company to risks around the future regulations of workers' rights' which could hit profitability.

He added: 'Without significant improvement on [these] issues and more clarity on the firm's risk mitigation strategies, we have no appetite for Deliveroo at this time.'

The 'dual class' shares were also a turn-off for investors. David Cumming, chief investment officer for equities at Aviva Investors, added: 'I'm generally not in favour of dual class shares because unsurprisingly shareholders want voting rights.'

But Kalifa, the mastermind of the Government's blueprint for listing more fintechs in Britain, told the MoS that reforms were vital to attract 'future Teslas and Apples' to the UK. 'Dual class shares are attracting scrutiny, but they do play a part in allowing company founders to help fend off corporate takeovers so that shares remain in public hands for longer.'

Kalifa said the City already lags behind New York and China, attracting just 5 per cent of global listings since 2015. 'Tech-enabled companies are crucial for future economic growth and jobs in the UK,' he added.

Deliveroo's finance boss Adam Miller attempted to reassure staff last week. In an email, he blamed 'volatile' markets, pointing out that most other European and US flotations are also trading below their initial offer price.

He added: 'Don't underestimate Deliveroo. Our share price will go up and down, but in the long run, none of the volatility matters. What does matter is controlling what we can control, executing on our plan and delivering on the targets that we have set out for ourselves and to the market. We have had and continue to have support from well-respected public market investors through this process.'

But a senior banker told The Mail on Sunday: 'Deliveroo has been a blow to London as a listings venue. If I were an entrepreneur, I'd think twice about listing in London.'
Dutch Prime Minister Mark Rutte attends a debate over remarks he made during talks to form a new government following the March 17 national elections, in The Hague, Netherlands, yesterday. Photo: Reuters/Piroschka van de Wouw

Dutch Prime Minister Mark Rutte survived a no-confidence vote yesterday and indicated his intention to lead a new government, despite a self-made scandal that will complicate that effort.

The vote in the Dutch parliament was called over allegations that Mr Rutte lied about trying to sideline a political rival. Mr Rutte is now expected to continue efforts to form his fourth governing coalition after decisively winning a March 17 election.

The no-confidence motion was narrowly dismissed by a margin of 78-72 votes, and Mr Ruttes credibility took a serious blow.

During the debate, he was accused of lying about outmanoeuvring a lawmaker who helped unearth a childcare subsidy scandal. The issue brought down the government in January, but Mr Ruttes party still finished first in the election last month.

I have 1.9 million voters, it would be strange to step aside, Mr Rutte told Dutch media yesterday.

Last week, he denied that he discussed pushing Christian Democratic lawmaker Pieter Omtzigt, who exposed the scandal, out of his job. But it emerged on Thursday that Mr Rutte, of the Liberal party, mooted the idea of moving Mr Omtzigt to a less influential post.

Mr Rutte will continue as caretaker PM, but the scandal complicates his ability to cobble together a coalition. Sigrid Kaag, leader of the D66 party said its not self-evident that Rutte will take the lead in the form ation process.
Since 2019 Vietnam has been visibly improving its military facilities on several of the Spratly islands that China has been claiming even though the islands are closer to Vietnam and were often occupied by Vietnamese civilian or military facilities. The latest Vietnamese improvements are most obvious (via commercial satellite photos) on West Reef and Sin Cowe Island. The most obvious change in West Reef is that it is now larger (28 hectares/70 acres) and most of it is recently dredged up sand. Sim Cowe also had about 11 hectares of land added via dredged up sand. Most of that new land is now covered with military structures, including bunkers for coast defense guns or missiles, radars and ELINT (Electronic Intelligence) sensors plus landing pads (for helicopters) or short airstrips. Although Russia is an ally of China, that has not halted the sale of Russian submarines and other weapons to Vietnam. The United States recently proposed installing about $5 billion worth of missiles and sensors on islands within or near the South China Sea that are threatened by China.

To those unfamiliar with the South China Sea situation, the American proposal seemed to be a major escalation, but it isnt. All the nations threatened by Chinese claims are improving the defenses on the islands they occupy. In addition, nearly once a month the U.S. sends warships through waters China claims in the South China Sea, and this is often done within sight of Chinese occupied islands. Many of these islands were recently created or expanded with dredged up sand.

China has always considered Vietnam the most aggressive opponent of Chinese claims, and the two countries have fought near disputed islands several times since the 1980s. Vietnam has not backed down but has been forced to back away several times and is preparing to make any future Chinese aggression very difficult, if not impossible without a major military operation. Vietnam knows that China wants to avoid being such an obvious aggressor in these matters because most nations, as well as international law (and the tribunals that hear appeals) oppose the Chinese claims.

China can be persuaded to back off. Vietnam was often the cause of failed Chinese aggression and embarrassed China. For this reason, China and Vietnam agreed to establish a hotline in 2013, after two years of negotiations, to ensure that any future disputes did not turn violent unintentionally. This was a good idea and the hotline was first proposed by China because Vietnam and China have been fighting each other for centuries. In the past the violence was mainly over disagreements about Vietnams status. China considered Vietnam a rebellious province, while Vietnam considered itself independent.

In the late 19th century French forces were invited in to support one faction in another round of Vietnamese internal strife. The French soon took over all of what is now Vietnam and united all of Vietnam for the first time. Despite extensive Chinese help in fighting the French after World War II and support for North Vietnam efforts to invade South Vietnam, China and a reunited Vietnam fought a short war in 1979. Technically China won, but in reality the Chinese got clobbered and have never got over that. In 1988 China and Vietnam fought a naval battle off the Spratly islands. This was a Chinese victory, in which a Chinese warship sank a Vietnamese transport carrying troops headed for one of the disputed islands. This was followed by Chinese troops establishing garrisons on some of the islands. In 1992, Chinese marines landed on Da Lac reef, in the Spratly Islands. In 1995, Chinese marines occupied Mischief Reef, which was claimed by the Philippines, but as a pointed reminder to Vietnam as well. China has since expanded its naval infantry force and built several large amphibious warships to land naval infantry on a defended island. With this history of violence, and continued disputes over some islands, a hot-line was a good idea but Vietnam still fears Chinese aggression and is preparing for more fighting.

This growing animosity is not restricted to Vietnam. China continues to threaten nations that get too close to the Chinese coast, or challenge Chinese territorial claims. The only problem is that China has a definition of territorial waters that the international community does not recognize. International law (the 1994 Law of the Sea treaty) recognizes the waters 22 kilometers from land as under the jurisdiction of the nation controlling the nearest land. That means ships cannot enter these "territorial waters" without permission. Moreover, the waters 360 kilometers from land are considered the Exclusive Economic Zone (EEZ), of the nation controlling the nearest land. The EEZ owner can control who fishes there, and extracts natural resources (mostly oil and gas) from the ocean floor. But the EEZ owner cannot prohibit free passage, or the laying of pipelines and communications cables. China, however, claims that foreign military ships and aircraft cannot enter its EEZ, and sometimes uses force to block entry. This is usually done with Chinese owned fishing or cargo ships, which move very close and persuade the invaders to leave. It is feared that eventually China will use one of its growing number of warships to challenge some foreign warship "invading" its EEZ. The 1994 treaty says nothing about blocking warships from your EEZ, but some nations believe it is allowed. China is simply doing what China has been doing for centuries, trying to impose its will on neighbors, or anyone venturing into what China considers areas under its control.

For the last three centuries, China claims it has been prevented from exercising its "traditional rights" in nearby waters because of the superior power of foreign navies. First it was the cannon armed 16th century European sailing ships, then, in the 19th century, newly built steel warships from Japan. However, since the communists took over China 70 years ago, there have been increasingly violent attempts to reassert Chinese control over areas that have, for centuries, been considered part of the "Middle Kingdom" (or "zhong-guo", as in the "center of the world").

China's other neighbors are also responding to this aggressive attitude. Taiwan has reinforced garrisons on disputed islands in the South China Sea. Taiwan is particularly concerned about the Pratas Islands, which only China and Taiwan dispute control of. These are 340 kilometers southeast of Hong Kong, and 850 kilometers southwest of Taiwan. Only one of the three islands is above water, and it (Pratas Island) is 2.8 kilometers long and 850 meters wide. There were never any permanent inhabitants. Taiwan not only maintains a military garrison and an air strip there, but is adding anti-aircraft and anti-ship missiles as well. There is also "service station" for fisherman and researchers working on the island or nearby. Taiwan is upgrading the defenses of several of the disputed islands it still occupies,

More valuable and more newsworthy, though, are a larger group of islands south of the Pratas. These are the Spratlys, a group of some 100 islets, atolls, and reefs that total only about 5 square kilometers of land, but sprawl across some 410,000 square kilometers of the South China Sea. Set amid some of the world's most productive fishing grounds, the islands are believed to have enormous oil and gas reserves. Several nations have overlapping claims on the group. About 45 of the islands are currently occupied by small numbers of military personnel. China claims them all, but occupies only 8, Vietnam has occupied or marked 25, the Philippines 8, Malaysia 6, and Taiwan one.

In 2009 Taiwan built a 1,150 meter long, and 30-meter-wide air strip on Itu Aba, one of the Spratly Islands, 500 kilometers to the south. Called Taiping Island by the Taiwanese, Ita Aba is one of the largest of Spratly Islands, at about 120 acres (489,600 square meters). It has been in Taiwanese hands since the mid-1950s and has largely been used as a way station for fishermen. The island is also claimed by the Vietnamese, who call it Thai Binh. Taiwan has long maintained a small military presence on the island, and an air strip is meant to cement that control. Taiwan has since upgraded its military facilities on Ita Aba. Protests were made by Vietnam, which controls the largest group of islands, and the Philippines, which also claimed Itu Aba Island. Vietnam refurbished an old South Vietnamese airstrip on Big Spratly Island. For over a decade both the China and Vietnam have been building more structures, including armed bunkers, on the Spratly islands they occupy. Malaysia has built an air strip on its Spratly island, which it uses to fly in tourists looking for prime scuba diving. There are now believed to be seven airports in the Spratlys; three for China and one each for Taiwan, Malaysia, Philippines and Vietnam. There are several other islands with air strips or plans to build one.

China has used force, or the threat of force, to prevent Vietnam from carrying out exploration for oil and natural gas in offshore waters where international law recognizes Vietnamese exploration rights. As recently as 2020, Chinese threats forced a British firm to back off on a billion-dollar oil exploration contract it had with Vietnam,

China is also demanding that the Philippines halt oil exploration in the Spratly Islands, without saying exactly what would happen otherwise. The Philippines has asked the United States to help establish Filipino claims in the Spratly islands. China claims to own any oil and gas throughout the South China Sea. This claim is not recognized by any international agreement. China is apparently trying to bully other claimants, especially the Philippines and Vietnam, into staying away from these potential assets. All China offers are vague promises of "sharing" these undersea bonanzas. But the implication is that China will get most of the profits, with the other claimants getting little. China insists that the U.S. should stay out of this dispute as it is not one of the claimants. The quarrel has sparked nationalist passions in all the nations involved. The United States has said it will stand by many of the non-Chinese claims, and now the Americans are proposing extensive military cooperation with the nations threatened by Chinese offshore claims.

The small countries all fear that China will eventually make good on its long-standing claim to all the Spratlys, as well as all similar islands and reefs in the South China Sea. At that point, the international community will have to worry about continued free passage through an area that currently sees about two trillion dollars worth of cargo moved through each year. With this in mind, the United States is backing China's neighbors, and refusing to bend to Chinese demands.
Source: Xinhua| 2021-04-03 16:08:22|Editor: huaxia

Video Player Close

MOGADISHU, April 3 (Xinhua) -- The Somali National Army (SNA) confirmed on Saturday that its forces had foiled two major attacks by al-Shabab fighters on its two bases in southern Somalia.

The SNA said the dawn attacks by the militant group on Awdhigle and Bariire districts in the Lower Shabelle region did not take place, refuting the militants' claims that the two military bases were struck by explosives.

"The SNA forces prevented al-Shabab from using explosives in the attack," said the SNA in a statement.

The militant group had earlier claimed to have overrun two military bases in Bariire and Awdhigle in simultaneous attacks using two vehicle-borne improvised explosive devices. Enditem
The Chinese ships settled in like unwanted guests who wouldnt leave.

As the days passed, more appeared. They were simply fishing boats, China said, though they did not appear to be fishing. Dozens even lashed themselves together in neat rows, seeking shelter, it was claimed, from storms that never came.

Not long ago, China asserted its claims on the South China Sea by building and fortifying artificial islands in waters also claimed by Vietnam, the Philippines and Malaysia. Its strategy now is to reinforce those outposts by swarming the disputed waters with vessels, effectively defying the other countries to expel them.

The goal is to accomplish by overwhelming presence what it has been unable to do through diplomacy or international law. And to an extent, it appears to be working.

Beijing pretty clearly thinks that if it uses enough coercion and pressure over a long enough period of time, it will squeeze the Southeast Asians out, said Greg Poling, the director of the Asia Maritime Transparency Initiative at the Center for Strategic and International Studies in Washington, which tracks developments in the South China Sea. Its insidious.
FRANKFURT - Germany's president says the country is enduring a crisis of trust and urged people to pull together as they weather a second Easter amid pandemic restrictions and dissatisfaction over the governments response.

People walk on the runway of the former Tempelhof airport that is now a public park in Berlin, Germany, Friday, April 2, 2021. Due to the coronavirus pandemic only a limited number persons can meet together. (AP Photo/Markus Schreiber)

FRANKFURT - Germany's president says the country is enduring a crisis of trust and urged people to pull together as they weather a second Easter amid pandemic restrictions and dissatisfaction over the governments response.

In the text of an address to be broadcast Saturday, Frank-Walter Steinmeier conceded that there were mistakes regarding testing, digital solutions and vaccinations.

Trust  in a democracy it rests on a very fragile understanding between citizens and the state: You, state, do your part, I, citizen, do mine, he said. I know that you, the citizens, are doing your part in this historic crisis. You have done much and you have gone without much.

Your expectation for those in government is, Get it together."

Steinmeier said the country had swung from self-satisfaction over lower infection numbers in the early stage of the pandemic to excessive pessimism today.

He urged Germans to pull together and put aside constant indignation over others or over people in high places. He said that vaccine deliveries would increase sharply in the coming weeks, Europe was building up its production capacities, and general practitioners would join the vaccination effort in addition to large vaccine centres.

The truth is, we're not world champion, but we're not a failure either, he said.

Germany, along with the European Union as a whole, has lagged behind the U.S. and the U.K. in the speed of its vaccination effort amid slower procurement of vaccines and complaints about excessive bureaucracy and paperwork. Poll numbers for Chancellor Angela Merkel's conservative party have slipped as the country faces a national election on Sept. 26. Merkel isn't running again.
What you need to know: Saturday, April 3
Qualified immunity is pure judicial cancer. This fact cannot be ignored. What began as a limited defense for decisions made in the heat of the moment has become the de facto response to civil rights lawsuits. The Supreme Court -- which conjured this new Section 1983 ejection seat out of thin air -- has only made it worse over the past few decades.

Qualified immunity is more bulletproof than the Kevlar vests worn by those who summon its protections most frequently. Efforts have been made to dial this back, but so far, weve yet to see them come to fruition.

Attempts to remove qualified immunity have faced massive amounts of opposition from some of the most powerful entities in the United States: law enforcement agencies and their unions. Despite this, efforts continue to be made to rein in something that has pretty much become a permission slip for rights violations.

The good news (via MagentaRocks) is that one ongoing effort to end immunity targets the largest law enforcement agency in the nation: the New York City Police Department. This package of reforms offers up some other useful changes, like requiring NYPD officers to live in the city and mandating quarterly reports on vehicle stops, broken down by ethnicity, race, and age. It also would strip the police commissioner of final say on cases recommended for discipline by the Civilian Complaint Review Board. This would prevent CCRB recommendations from being overturned by the NYPD, something that has happened with alarming frequency in the past.

But heres the big news: the end of qualified immunity for NYPD officers.

Sponsored by Brooklyn Councilman Stephen Levin, Intro. 2220-A ends qualified immunity for police officers, which gives officers an exemption for civil lawsuits unless proven by the plaintiff that the officers action directly violated civil rights. The councils legislation gives a local right of security against unreasonable search and seizure, in addition to excessive force.

Of course, this would be limited to cases handled solely by New York City courts. Federal civil rights lawsuits wouldnt be affected by this removal. Nor would cases handled by state courts. So, it will only affect a small number of lawsuits pursued entirely within the citys court system.

Since city lawmakers are limited to crafting laws that affect the city, this is the best they can do. Its better than doing nothing and it will help, even if its severely limited. And the bill still needs to be signed by Mayor Bill de Blasio, who has offered his support for some police reforms, but hasnt exactly shown hes willing to take on the NYPD during his tenure in office.

Its a very small (but positive) change. But as small as it is, its not small enough to keep the citys law enforcement unions from complaining about it.

The citys police unions have vocally opposed the bill, saying ending qualified immunity could have a chilling effect on officers willingness to insert themselves into complex and dangerous situations to enforce the law.

I dont think thats true. Good officers will still insert themselves into these situations. Officers who like to play fast and loose with rights and civil liberties may choose to sit some of these situations out. Qualified immunity hasnt given us better, smarter cops. It has encouraged abusive behavior by giving officers a litigation escape hatch -- one thats rarely denied by courts.
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
Copperas Cove, TX (76522)

Today

Cloudy skies this morning followed by thunderstorms during the afternoon. High around 75F. Winds NE at 5 to 10 mph. Chance of rain 60%..

Tonight

Rain showers early becoming more intermittent overnight. Low 64F. Winds ENE at 5 to 10 mph. Chance of rain 40%.
When Lorraine Boland was expecting her third child she got news that every parent fears.

Her third born had complications and was most likely going to be a person with Down Syndrome - a genetic disorder caused by the presence of all or part of a third copy of chromosome 21.

Lorraine was living in Ardcavan, having moved to Co Wexford from Australia. She was busy rearing her sons Bobby and Ben when she fell pregnant.

Lorraine attended The Coombe Hospital where a scan revealed an anomaly.

'The trainee technician thought the thigh bone length was a little bit short and got her supervisor, who also thought there was an issue with it,' Lorraine said.

'I got the Harmony test: the waiting was just unreal. It was one of the hardest things I'd ever experienced. I think the waiting was even worse than the news. After five days they came back and said there was a high percentage chance that my baby has Down Syndrome.'

So began a journey into the utter unknown for Lorraine and her husband Martin.

'You never think it's going to be you. At that point I still didn't fully believe it. I got an Amniocentesis test, where they take the amniotic fluid and test it and that gave a definite result. That was at 34 weeks. I knew then that Alex had Down Syndrome.'

The remainder of Lorraine's pregnancy passed in a blur and when she finally laid eyes on her son, she knew everything would be just as she had wanted.

'I think knowing beforehand - for me it was better, as I could kind of come to terms with the diagnosis and then when I met him, he was just Alex. There were no preconceptions. I did find it difficult to hear the antenatal diagnosis of Alex having Down Syndrome and it did take a while to come to terms with it as I didn't want his life to be different or more difficult than others without Down Syndrome.

'I was wondering what quality of life he would have. If he would be able to speak and what his hope for the future would be. Would he have the life that I hoped for my children? I felt he would have a worse life in a way than his siblings, but I was so wrong. He has so much hope and ability. I felt his ability would be less but if you meet Alex you'll see his ability is more than people who don't have Down Syndrome. You're Googling. I have stopped doing all of that now that I see Alex as a person. I see that his ability is huge. All those fears and worries have melted away because you just see he is going to be OK, just as much as you know all of your children are going to be.'

The first few months with Alex were challenging as Lorraine and Martin struggled to adapt to their bigger household.

Lorraine reached out to an aunt of one of her school friends who was living nearby and has a child with Down Syndrome.

She was involved with Down Syndrome Wexford and advised Lorraine about supports available to her. She also met a nurse who assisted her with lots of information surrounding supports.

'When a baby is born with Down Syndrome you meet with a welfare officer and at that point you are under the direction of a liaison nurse in Wexford who comes out to your house. Ann Lyndon has just been fantastic. She referred us to the speech and language therapy and occupational therapy and physiotherapy units at Grogan's Road.'

The Bolands had a long wait for OT and ended up going private with support from Down Syndrome Wexford.

Alex joined 3-2-1 Tots through Down Syndrome Wexford and started at Ard Aoibhinn creche last week, where he is like one of the family.

Through 3-2-1 Tots and a WhatsApp group, Lorraine suddenly had adults who she could chat to about the challenges of being the parent of a child with special needs.

She brought Alex to an exercise play session every week just off the Rosslare Road, where she got to meet with parents of other children with Down Syndrome. She was a bit hesitant about joining Down Syndrome Wexford initially but having met the groups' fundraiser Lynne Bousie and secretary Barbara Delahunty, she is now planning to become more involved.

Lorraine participated in the Odd Socks Day for Down Syndrome recently, reflecting the chromosome that makes Down Syndrome occur in the body, which happens to look like a pair of socks under the microscope.

Lorraine hopes to raise money for Down Syndrome Wexford which subsidises therapies for Down Syndrome people in the county who otherwise may have to linger for years on waiting lists.

All Down Syndrome Wexford paid up members can avail of those supports, as well as 3-2-1 classes for children aged three and under and the Latch On initiative which helps place people with Down Syndrome in jobs within their community.

Lorraine said she hopes society can become more accepting of people with Down Syndrome.

'I would love to see a society where Alex is accepted as an equal to his peers and for his worth to be no less than everyone else. It's not what Alex does or is able to do that makes him equal or loved - he just is equal and loved by everyone who knows him.'

She said: 'Down Syndrome Wexford has been an integral part of our acceptance of Alex's diagnosis. We have met lots of fantastic people who have been in a similar position as ours and have helped us navigate through the difficult first few years of finding our feet regarding therapies and hospital appointments and general advice.

'It is an invaluable charity that provides many benefits including facilitating families throughout Wexford who are receiving a diagnosis, allowing them to meet with others that have experienced this before them. I hope Down Syndrome Wexford can continue to provide this service to the population of Wexford.'

Lorraine said: 'At the beginning, it was all extremely difficult because you feel like you want the best for your child and with no disability. You don't know what to expect. You just don't know where this is going. Since Alex was born, our lives have become better. We've learned so much about acceptance and empathy since having Alex.'

A mischievous, fun loving child, she said Alex loves playing with his older brothers.

'He is so full of energy. He just joins in with them. He is stubborn too which actually goes in his favour. He needs to go his own way and wants to do everything by himself. He likes to feed himself and dress himself.

'He might have moments where he is feeling a certain way but he definitely doesn't hold onto these feelings. He comes out of them very easily.'

Like all children his age, Alex is prone to the occasional temper tantrum but can be talked around. For Lorraine and Martin the past three years have been eventful, but they wouldn't change a thing. 'I found out that having a child with Down Syndrome is no different to having a child without Down Syndrome. He has all of the needs and wants that any child has. We have hopes and dreams and fears for Alex's future just as we do for our other two children. We've learned that this isn't something for us to be sad about or to be pitied. Everyone has different abilities whether you have Down Syndrome or not and we just alter our response to our individual children depending on what those needs are.'
The Union on Saturday termed as "distorted" and "misleading" media reports linking its letter to the Punjab government on the plight of 58 bonded labourers rescued in the state to the farmers' agitation and said no motive should be ascribed to a routine communication over law and order issues.

The ministry said a section of media has erroneously reported that the ministry has written the letter to Punjab levelling grave charges against the farmers of the state.

These news reports are misleading and present a distorted and highly editorialised opinion of a simple observation about a socioeconomic problem emerging from four sensitive border districts of Punjab over a period of two years, which has been brought to the attention of this ministry by the concerned Central Armed Police Force, the said in a statement.

The said, Firstly, no motive can be ascribed to a letter issued by this ministry to a particular state or states as this is part of routine communication over law and order issues.

The ministry said the letter has also been forwarded to the Secretary, Union Ministry of Labour and Employment with a request to carry out a sensitisation exercise in all states to check the duping of vulnerable victims at the hands of unscrupulous elements.

Secondly, some of the news reports about the letter have juxtaposed in a totally unrelated context to conclude that the MHA has framed 'grave charges' against the farmers of Punjab and has also connected this with the ongoing farmers' agitation, the statement said.

Farmers, mostly from Punjab and Haryana, have been protesting on the borders of Delhi against three central agri laws since late November, with the deadlock persisting even after several rounds of talks.

The home ministry said the letter clearly and only states that human trafficking syndicates hire such labourers and they are exploited, paid poorly and meted out inhuman treatment besides luring them with drugs to extract more labour, affecting their physical and mental health.

Keeping in view the multi-dimensional and overwhelming enormity of the problem, this ministry has only requested the state government(s) to take suitable measures to address this serious problem, the statement said.

In its communication dated March 17, the home ministry has conveyedto the Punjab government that 58 mentally challenged people belonging to Bihar and UP were found to be working as "bonded labourers" in the border districts of the state and asked it to take appropriate action to deal with the "serious" problem.

In the letter to the Chief Secretary of Punjab, the home ministry said the Border Security Force (BSF) has found that these 58 people, who were brought to Punjab with the promise of good salary but exploited, were given drugs and forced to work in inhuman conditions once they reached Punjab.

The home ministry said the BSF has informed that these labourers were apprehended from the border areas of Gurdaspur, Amritsar, Ferozepur and Abohar in Punjab in 2019 and 2020.

The opposition Shiromani Akali Dal, which had snapped ties with the BJP-led NDA over the issue of agri laws, had on Friday questioned the Centre's missive, alleging it was an attempt to defame the farmers of the 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.)
The second phase of polling in the West Bengal Assembly Elections 2021 ended on a very dramatic note as the polling booths in the regions became an intense battleground for the electoral fight between TMC and BJP. EC sought a detailed report from the administration in connection with an incident that occurred in the Boyal area of Nandigram where CM Mamata had earlier paid a visit to oversee the situation.

After three months of an incessant, high-pitch campaign by both West Bengal Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee of the Trinamool Congress (TMC) and the Bhartiya Janata Partys leader Suvendu Adhikari, who switched over to BJP from TMC a few months before the polls, a very polarised Nandigram concluded its second phase of polling in the West Bengal Assembly Elections 2021.

Incidents of sporadic violence and booth-jamming were reported from different districts of West Bengal as it went to the second phase of polling. A clash broke out between the BJP and TMC workers in West Bengals North 24 Parganas on Wednesday and a TMC worker was allegedly stabbed to death in the Keshpur area on Thursday, while the polling was underway. The Election Commission of India sought a detailed report from the administration in connection with an incident that occurred in the Boyal area of Nandigram where CM Mamata had earlier paid a visit to oversee the situation.

The Trinamool Congress leveled accusations against the central forces of halting voters from exercising their franchise in the high stakes battle against CM Banarjees friend-turned-rival Suvendu Adhikari. Both Mamata and Adhikari are contesting from Nandigram, a high-profile constituency in the state. Mamata Banarjee, after monitoring the situation in the assembly segment where she received complaints from TMC leaders that local voters were not being allowed to vote and their election agents were declined entry in the polling booths, made a call to Governor Jagdeep Dhankar to complain about the alleged booth capturing in the region.

In West Bengal, we're forming govt & the results will be astounding. People of Bengal are eager to oust Mamata govt lock, stock, and barrel. In the first 2 phases, it is clear that TMC is gone and BJP is coming here. BJP's victory is certain: BJP chief JP Nadda in Guwahati, Assam pic.twitter.com/fX6Fvzott3  ANI (@ANI) April 3, 2021

That is her (Mamata Banerjee) strategy, she will know. But we have info that she is looking for it (another constituency). Her people told me this. She will know it but it is certain that she is losing in Nandigram: BJP chief JP Nadda to ANI in Guwahati, Assam pic.twitter.com/8o4v0n5oT2  ANI (@ANI) April 3, 2021

Uttar Pradesh CM and BJP leader Yogi Adityanath holds a roadshow in Uluberia ahead of the third phase of #WestBengalPolls, scheduled on April 6th. pic.twitter.com/oWYML0ijxd  ANI (@ANI) April 3, 2021

Also Read:

Bhartiya Janata Party Chief JP Nadda has said that the West Bengal Chief Minister Mamata Banarjee is certainly going to lose from Nandigram and is therefore looking out for other seats to contest from. the BJP chief is to flag off a rath yatra from Nabadwip in West Bengal today. In order to reach out to the people of West Bengal before the polling, the BJP has planned to organise similar rallies and yatras from different regions of West Bengal.

Also Read:
Prime Minister Scott Morrison has agreed to let NSW Health help deliver Covid-19 vaccinations, after a war of words erupted between state and federal governments over the rollout's slow pace.

The changed approach comes as the Australian government's top medical advisory body seeks further guidance on the AstraZeneca vaccine following investigations into whether it's linked to a Melbourne man's rare blood clot condition.

NSW Premier Gladys Berejiklian confirmed NSW's public health services would help administer phases one and two of the previously federally-managed vaccination scheme, which targets the state's adult population.

'I am pleased the prime minister in a letter... welcomed our offer,' Ms Berejiklian said.

Prime Minister Scott Morrison (pictured at the Royal Easter Show in Sydney with his family) has agreed to let NSW Health help deliver Covid-19 vaccinations

Four million Australians were due to have their jabs by the end of March, a target missed by more than 3.3 million

Canberra has copped flak over its handling of the vaccine rollout, with the slow pace blamed in part for Brisbane's recent three-day lockdown.

Queensland health authorities claim they only have a few days' stock of both vaccines after the state was accused of stockpiling the jabs and leaving frontline workers vulnerable.

The NSW government has also criticised the federal government's rollout after leaked data suggested states were to blame for delays.

Any delays in delivering jabs were due to the erratic supply the federal government has overseen, it said.

Four million Australians were due to have their jabs by the end of March, a target missed by more than 3.3 million.

The government aims for all Australians who want a vaccine to get one by the end of October, a goal critics say is out of reach.

'We need to work together to meet the federal government's October deadline,' Ms Berejiklian said.

In regards to the blood clot investigation, the Therapeutic Goods Administration and the Australian Technical Advisory Group on Immunisation on Saturday is due to update the Australian Health Protection Principal Committee.

NSW Premier Gladys Berejiklian confirmed NSW's public health services would help administer phases one and two

A man aged in his 40s is in a Melbourne hospital with the rare condition, which he suffered for the first time after receiving the AstraZeneca vaccine on March 22, the ABC reported.

Similar, though very rare, cases have been reported in the UK and Europe in AstraZeneca jab recipients, though no causal link has been found.

Australian vaccine experts are in close contact with their overseas counterparts, Acting Chief Medical Officer Michael Kidd says.

He emphasised on Friday the risk of Australians contracting Covid-19 was 'far greater' than the risk of a rare blood clotting disorder.

'We are taking this very seriously,' Prof Kidd told reporters.

'I acknowledge that people will be anxious and we will get more information as soon as it's available.'
SEOUL (Reuters) - South Korea's foreign minister said on Saturday the government will prepare for a visit to South Korea by Chinese President Xi Jinping, local news outlet Yonhap reported.

"As soon as the novel coronavirus stabilises, we have decided to prepare for President Xi's visit to (South) Korea as early as possible," Chung Eui-yong told reporters after a meeting with State Councillor Wang Yi, the Chinese government's top diplomat, Yonhap reported.

(Reporting by Cynthia Kim; Editing by William Mallard)
Source: Xinhua| 2021-04-03 22:22:36|Editor: huaxia

Video Player Close

ISLAMABAD, April 3 (Xinhua) -- An active Tehrik-e-Taliban Pakistan (TTP) terrorist was killed during an intense exchange of fire with security forces in Pakistan's northwestern Khyber Pakhtunkhwa province, an army statement said on Saturday.

The security forces conducted an intelligence-based operation in Boya area of North Waziristan in the province on confirmation of the presence of terrorists, the military's media wing Inter-Services Public Relations said in the statement.

The statement added that the killed militant remained involved in target killing, terrorist activities against security forces, extortion and planting improvised explosive devices.

Pakistan has conducted a series of military operations against terrorist groups in North Waziristan that borders Afghanistan.

Although the area has mostly been pacified, remnants of terrorist groups still manage to launch attacks on security forces sporadically. Enditem
Over the past day, April 2, the armed formations of the Russian Federation violated the ceasefire in the Joint Forces Operation area in eastern Ukraine 21 times, including 20 attacks on Ukrainian positions, one shelling of civilian infrastructure.

In the area of responsibility of the operational and tactical group North, the occupiers fired 82mm and 120mm mortars near Zolote-4 (59km west of Luhansk) and Novooleksandrivka (65km west of Luhansk); different grenade launchers and heavy machine guns  outside Svitlodarsk (57km north-east of Donetsk) and Novotoshkivske (53km west of Luhansk); different grenade launchers  towards Novoluhanske (53km north-east of Donetsk), 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, different grenade launchers and heavy machine guns near Pyshchevyk (25km north-east of Mariupol), Krasnohorivka (21km west of Donetsk), Hnutove (20km north-east of Mariupol); 120mm mortars, different grenade launcher, heavy machine guns, anti-tank missile system  outside Opytne (12km north-west of Donetsk); under-barrel grenade launchers  near Vodiane in the Sea of Azov area; hand-held anti-tank grenade launchers  in the area of Avdiivka (17km north of Donetsk); small arms  outside Pisky (11km north-west of Donetsk).

Two Ukrainian soldiers were wounded in the shelling.

In the area of Krasnohorivka (21km west of Donetsk), the enemy shelled civilian infrastructure, as a result of which a civilian received a shrapnel wound.

Advanced positions of the Armed Forces of Ukraine continue to record the conduct of engineering works by occupiers to expand and harden their defensive positions.

The Ukrainian side of the Joint Control and Coordination Center (JCCC) informed the OSCE SMM about the violations.

As of 7 a.m., April 3, one ceasefire violation was recorded.

The Ukrainian military continues to control the situation in the JFO area and adheres to the ceasefire.

ol
A Bergen County police chief currently suspended over corruption and misconduct charges has been endorsed by the county GOP as their nominee to vie for the County Sheriffs race.

The Bergen County Republican Organization endorsed Saddle Brook Police Chief Robert Kugler as the Republican candidate for the Bergen County Sheriffs Race, despite allegations that he ordered officers under his command to provide escorts while on-duty for the funeral home he owns.

At the organizations convention Tuesday night, Kugler received nearly three times as many votes as challenger Harry Shortway, the Midland Park mayor, reported NorthJersey.com. The vote means Kugler will get the party line, the first position on the ballot as an endorsed candidate.

The ballot position has Kugler, a veteran police officer, poised to win the GOP primary election in June.

I am extremely honored to be a candidate for Sheriff and to have the support of the Republican Party of Bergen County, Kugler told NJ Advance Media. All I want to do is serve the public in what I consider one of the most important roles as a law enforcement officer and Sheriff.

Last month, Kugler, who owns Kugler Funeral Home in Saddle Brook, was charged with official misconduct for allegedly ordering officers to escort funerals while on duty between January 2019 and August 2020, the New Jersey Attorney Generals Office previously said. He was also charged with conspiracy and corruption of public resources, the office said.

A town ordinance bans the use of police vehicles for escorts unless for the local government or non-profit organizations, according to the statement.

Police officers allegedly conducted escorts ordered by Kugler during their regular shifts, and they escorted funeral processions to cemeteries both within and outside of Saddle Brook. Kugler Funeral Home did not reimburse the Township of Saddle Brook for the escorts, the attorney generals office said in a statement.

Kulgers lawyer, John J. Bruno, of Bruno & Ferrara in Rutherford, previously said his client was innocent of the charges. Kugler has never cheated the township and never abused his authority as police chief, Bruno added.

When asked how hed respond to opponents or detractors who would bring up the charges during the campaign, he echoed the claims of innocence.

Although the charges are very serious ones, once the facts are laid out it should be obvious they shouldnt, and dont, apply to me, Kugler told NJ Advance Media.I didnt do anything wrong and look forward in absolving myself from this false narrative depicted towards me.

Kugler, 59, is a longtime law enforcement officer in Saddle Brook, where he served as chief since 1995. A former president of the Bergen County Police Chiefs Association, Kugler earlier this year announced he would challenge Democrat incumbent Anthony Cureton for Bergen County sheriff.

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.
New Delhi: India witnessed a massive surge in COVID-19 cases with 89,129 new cases being reported in the last 24 hours.

With over 80,000 fresh cases, the caseload stands at 1,23,92,260, while the active coronavirus cases have reached 6,58,909, the Ministry of Health data on Saturday (April 3) at 8 AM showed.

The death toll stood at 164,141 after 714 people succumbed to the infection in the last 24 hours.

Maharashtra recorded 47,827 fresh cases of Covid-19, taking the state-wide tally to 2,904,076. Besides Maharashtra (2,904,076), the worst COVID-19 affected states, in terms of total cases, are Kerala (1,124,584), Karnataka (997,004), Andhra Pradesh (901,989), and Tamil Nadu (886,673).

Amid spike in daily coronavirus cases, the Centre on Friday informed that it has administered a total of 7,06,18,026 vaccine doses till 8 pm, including 6,13,56,345 people who received the first dose. The second dose of the vaccine has been administered to 92,61,681 people. "Total 12,76,191 vaccine doses were given till 8 pm on Friday, the 77th day of nationwide COVID-19 vaccination," the ministry said in a statement.

More than 36.7 lakh COVID-19 vaccine doses were administered on April 1, the highest single-day coverage till now, the ministry had earlier said.

India is in the third phase of COVID-19 vaccination drive in which everyone above 45 years is eligible to get the jab.

Live TV
Source: Xinhua| 2021-04-03 11:23:09|Editor: huaxia

Video Player Close

by Sanaa Kamal

RAMALLAH, April 2 (Xinhua) -- "I'm lucky to be listed in the first batch of people to receive a jab of Chinese vaccine" against COVID-19, said Fares Hasouna, a 65-year-old Palestinian father of four from Ramallah, a Palestinian city in the central West Bank.

Hasouna is one of those who received the Chinese vaccine at al-Fajer primary school, which was turned into a medical center amid the rapid spread of the pathogen.

He told Xinhua that he decided to register via the health ministry's website as soon as he heard China would donate the much-needed vaccines to Palestine.

"I think the Chinese vaccine would be safe and effective. We know China has already succeeded in fighting the deadly virus," the elderly Palestinian man added.

In the last three days, many elderly Palestinians rushed to medical centers affiliated with the health ministry across the West Bank for an injection of China's Sinopharm vaccine to protect themselves against COVID-19.

Starting Thursday, the ministry scaled up its nationwide vaccination campaign, using the Sinopharm vaccine that China donated to Palestine on Monday to fight the pandemic in the country.

On March 21, Palestine launched a mass vaccination campaign against the novel coronavirus across the West Bank and the Gaza Strip.

The China-donated batch, which is considered the largest single donation of COVID-19 vaccines Palestine has received so far, will allow the inoculation of nearly 50,000 people, according to the health ministry.

"The credit goes to the tremendous efforts by Chinese medical workers who worked day and night to save people's lives here," Hasouna said.

On Friday, Palestine's daily COVID-19 infections remained at more than 2,000, with 16 more deaths. So far, Palestine has confirmed a total of 275,479 cases, including 2,917 deaths.

Sameera al-Sayyed, an elderly Palestinian woman from Al-Bireh, also took the Chinese vaccine in a government medical center.

"China has proven over the years that it is capable of inventing what is beneficial to humanity, including medicines and vaccines necessary to protect people from epidemics," said the 70-year-old retired teacher.

Sayyed told Xinhua that she had asked all her friends and relatives to register for their own jabs of the Chinese vaccine.

"It is a golden chance to protect ourselves ... and it is free of charge," she said.

So far, 89,933 people have received their first shot of COVID-19 vaccine in the West Bank and the Gaza Strip, and 10,146 have received the second dose, according to the ministry.

Mutasim Muheisen, head of the Ramallah and Al-Bireh health directorate, told Xinhua that the Chinese vaccine is well received among the Palestinians.

He said China has been helping Palestine in its fight against the COVID-19 pandemic since its outbreak in the country in March last year.

China donated several batches of medical supplies to Palestine in 2020, and a Chinese team of medical experts was sent to the country in June to support its fight against the virus, according to the Palestinian health official.

The Chinese vaccine "came at a right time to fill the vaccine shortage that the Palestinian health ministry has suffered," Muheisen noted. Enditem
New Delhi:

External Affairs Minister Sushma Swaraj on Saturday ripped through Pakistan at 72nd United Nations General Assembly (UNGA) session for accusing India of war crimes in Kashmir.

Referring to Prime Minister Abbasis speech, Swaraj ridiculed Pakistan and said he wasted too much of his time in making accusations against India.

Those listening had only one observation: Look whos talking! A country that has been the worlds greatest exporter of havoc, death and inhumanity became a champion of hypocrisy by preaching about humanity from this podium, Swaraj said.

Commenting on Abbasis claim that Pakistans founder M A Jinnah had bequeathed a foreign policy based on peace and friendship, she said while it remains open to question whether Jinnah actually advocated such principles, what is beyond doubt is that Prime Minister Narendra Modi has offered the hand of peace and friendship since he assumed office.

Also Read | EAM Sushma Swaraj hits Pakistan left, right and centre at UNGA, top quotes

Pakistans Prime Minister must answer why his nation spurned this offer, she said.

During her 21 minutes address, Swaraj punched Pakistan left, right and centre. She said that if Pakistan had spent on its development what it has spent on developing terror, both Pakistan and the world would be safer and better-off today.

(With agency inputs)

For all the Latest World News, Download News Nation Android and iOS Mobile Apps.
A trendy coffee company financially backed by the Duchess of Sussex has imported tons of a key ingredient from a Chinese supplier based in a brutal police state where an alleged genocide is taking place.

Human rights groups have urged Western companies to cut all business ties with China's Xinjiang region because of appalling abuses, including the widespread use of forced labour and the detention of a million Uighur Muslims in re-education camps, where it is claimed women are systematically raped.

But The Mail on Sunday can reveal that Clevr Blends, which Meghan last year proudly announced she was investing in as she praised its ethically sourced ingredients, has received almost 19 tons of oat milk powder from a company based in Urumqi, the capital of Xinjiang.

Hours before the Duchess's investment was announced, Oprah Winfrey enthusiastically plugged the company on social media to her millions of followers after receiving a basket of their products from a neighbour, 'M'.

The Duchess of Sussex last year proudly announced she was investing in Clevr Blends as she praised its ethically sourced ingredients

The supplier  Xinjiang Haiyan International Trade  has its head office within four miles of four suspected detention centres, including a possible maximum security prison, and an alleged re-education site.

Fashion giants H&M, Burberry and Marks & Spencer have refused to source cotton from Xinjiang because of concerns over forced labour.

And last year at least five organisations said they would no longer help companies audit their supply chains in Xinjiang because workers are unable to speak out without fear of reprisals.

There is no evidence to suggest that Xinjiang Haiyan has used forced labour and The Mail on Sunday understands that the oats were neither grown nor processed in Xinjiang.

When contacted by an undercover reporter, a representative said that the oats are farmed and turned into milk powder in different Chinese provinces, many miles from the Uighur region.

The MoS was told that Clevr Blends stopped working with Xinjiang Haiyan several months ago and now uses a US supplier, which uses Canadian oats.

It's understood that Meghan had not been aware of Clevr's previous relationship with Xinjiang Haiyan.

Publicly available shipping records seen by this newspaper reveal that Clevr received its first of five deliveries of oat milk powder from Xinjiang Haiyan on October 6.

Human rights groups have urged Western companies to cut all business ties with China 's Xinjiang region because of appalling abuses, including the widespread use of forced labour and the detention of a million Uighur Muslims in re-education camps, where it is claimed women are systematically raped

And its most recent delivery  totalling 8.8 tons  arrived on February 28, according to the US import records provided by data firms Panjiva and Import Genius.

Campaigners last night warned against dealing with Xinjiang-based firms because of the difficulties in confirming that they are not benefiting, if not directly then indirectly, from human rights abuses.

Chloe Cranston of Anti-Slavery International said: 'It's virtually impossible to be sure that any workplace in the Uighur region is free from forced labour, so no responsible business should wish to trade with any organisation based there. The situation is a human rights crisis at a level that we haven't seen since the Second World War and the situation is that companies have to choose whether they want to be on the right side of history or not.

'Any investor  regardless of who they are  should hold their portfolio companies accountable on their ties to the Uighur region.'

Iain Duncan Smith, the former Tory leader whom Beijing last month slapped sanctions on for speaking out against human rights abuses, said: 'Because Xinjiang is heavily involved in what I call genocide and slave labour, then any business done with that region runs the risk of that being involved with slave labour. So any company that is doing business there shouldn't do business in Xinjiang.'

Campaigners have warned against dealing with firms based in Xinjiang (pictured) because of the difficulties in confirming that they are not benefiting, if not directly then indirectly, from human rights abuses

Founded by entrepreneurs Hannah Mendoza and Roger Coppola in Santa Barbara, California, in 2019, Clevr Blends sells instant oat-milk lattes, costing 20 for a packet with 14 servings.

Its website states that 'ethics are always at the forefront of our product', adding: 'We prioritise working with smaller, family run ingredient suppliers or those with more transparent supply chains.'

In December, the Duchess of Sussex announced she was investing in the brand, telling Fortune magazine: 'I'm proud to invest in Hannah's commitment to sourcing ethical ingredients and creating a product that I personally love and [that] has a holistic approach to wellness.'

Clevr's former supplier Xinjiang Haiyan is based in a business complex in Urumqi. The Australian Strategic Policy Institute has pinpointed more than 20 suspected detention centres in the city, including four only a short drive from Xinjiang Haiyan's office on Pudong Street in the city's Xinshi district.

The company's website says all its products come 'from certified factories', although it does not detail where any of the more than 300 factories and distributors it says it uses are located.

The website also says it has a 'traceability' system so customers can pinpoint where products and raw materials come from.

However, a prominent picture on the website of a whitewashed industrial building is a stock image used by a string of other Chinese companies, including a uPVC window and door supplier, a manufacturer of massage chairs and a truck manufacturer.

Xinjiang Haiyan's company logo appears to have been digitally placed on to the photo to make it appear as if it is emblazoned across the top of the building.

An undercover MoS reporter contacted the company and was told by sales director Catherine Zhang that it could supply 344 tons of oat milk powder a month and that it boasts clients in the US, Australia and New Zealand.

Oprah Winfrey also plugged the company on social media to her millions of followers after receiving a basket of their products from a neighbour

The company's website, the shipping records for Clevr Blends and an invoice for an order of oat milk powder all state the company is based in Urumqi.

The company sells the product on Alibaba, the Chinese version of Amazon, where its 'place of origin' is given as Xinjiang.

But quizzed by the undercover MoS reporter, posing as a potential customer, Ms Zhang said the oats were grown in Inner Mongolia, a different Chinese province, and processed into milk powder in the central Chinese city of Xi'an.

In January, the US accused China of committing genocide and crimes against humanity in Xinjiang. Proposed legislation being debated in the US Congress would ban imports from the region, unless it is certified they are not produced with forced labour  something experts believe will be impossible to do.

Penelope Kyritsis, of the Workers Rights Consortium, a Washington DC-based watchdog, warned that dealing with a firm based in Urumqi was a 'huge red flag'. 'We take the position that no company should be conducting any business in the Uighur region,' she said.

Representatives for Meghan did not respond to a request for comment. But sources close to the Duchess of Sussex said she would never work with any organisation that does not uphold the highest ethical standards and human rights protections.

When contacted by this newspaper last week, a representative for Clevr Blends said: 'I personally have no awareness of this issue, and feel convinced that Clevr would never intentionally hire companies with such practices. Thank you for bringing this to our awareness.'

Xinjiang Haiyan did not respond to a request to comment.
Senator Regina Doherty at the launch of the Hot School Meals programme in 2019 when she was Minister for Social Protection

A Fine Gael Senator has welcomed the extension of the 'Hot School Meals Programme' to two more primary schools in Fingal.

The two additional schools to benefit from the programme are Skerries Educate Together NS and Thornleigh Avenue Educate Together NS, Swords.

Senator Regina Doherty, who first launched and implemented the scheme in 2019, said: 'The COVID-19 pandemic presented everyone with many challenges over the past twelve months, including our schoolchildren here in Fingal and especially those who would previously have come to school each morning without a breakfast.

'The 'Hot School Meals Programme' is a major initiative to encourage school attendance when schools are open, when schools are closed and when classes are held virtually.

'This initiative will consequently facilitate better educational outcomes by the schoolchildren and help tackle the issue of education disadvantage.'

As part of Budget 2021, Minister Heather Humphries announced an additional 5.5 million for the extension of the 'Hot School Meals Programme' with effect from January, to 35,000 primary school children who had been availing of the Department's 'School Meals Programme', which provided cold lunch options only.

The Department contacted some 700 primary schools currently receiving the cold lunch option under the 'School Meals Programme' in November seeking expressions of interest to avail of the hot school meal. Approximately 40% of schools expressed an interest in the programme and 189 schools were selected, including Skerries Educate Together NS and Thornleigh Avenue Educate Together NS, Swords.

The hot meals will be available to all pupils enrolled in these schools, which do not have canteen/kitchen facilities for preparation of the hot dinners on site.

Senator Doherty continued: "In further welcome news, Minister Humphreys also announced today that funding under the 'School Meals Programme' will continue during the upcoming Easter holidays for primary and second level schools. This will be done through the provision of food parcels. The funding for the 'School Meals Programme' throughout the entire school terms and holidays offers a security for many vulnerable schoolchildren by ensuring that participating schools in Fingal can provide food parcels benefiting pupils during this time.'

She added: 'I am really pleased to see the endorsement of this programme by pupils, parents, teachers and SNAs and will support the continued expansion of this worthwhile programme.'
Guwahati, April 3 : Prime Minister Narendra Modi on Saturday said that the new Assam will be 'Atmanirbhar' and after May 2, the new BJP-led government would step up its developmental mission with a renewed zeal.

Modi said that many developmental projects, including road connectivity, have been accomplished and many more are being undertaken to transform Assam into an 'Atmanirbhar' state.

"The people of Assam are keen to go with peace and development... they do not want any division in society," the Prime Minister said, while addressing an election rally in Tamulpur in Baksa district.

The Tamulpur assembly constituency in western Assam would go to the polls in the third phase, on April 6. Congress ally Bodoland People's Front candidate Rangja Khungur Basumatary switched sides to the ruling Bharatiya Janata Party earlier this week.

The Prime Minister, in his speech, urged militants who are still following the path of terrorism to lay down their arms and join the mainstream of life for building a peaceful and 'Aatmanirbhar' new Assam.

Saying that 'Sabka Saath, Sabka Vikas, Sabka Vishwas' is the "basic mantra" of the party and its mission is to work for the country and its development, the Prime Minister said that the BJP is not doing vote bank politics.

Terming the Congress led 10-party 'Mahajot' as 'Mahajooth'(grand lie), Modi said that the Congress had betrayed all the ethnic communities in Assam.

"The people have rejected the parties attacking the identity of Assam for decades." "The people of Assam in the first two phase of elections voted against the Congress-led 'Mahajot' (grand alliance) and gave their mandate for the double-engine government for the second time in Assam," Modi asserted.

Detailing the developmental projects being undertaken and already completed, the Prime Minister said that several big bridges have been constructed and half a dozen bridges are being constructed along with rural roads, by the double-engine government.

"Several hundred kilometres of new railway lines were laid in Assam and airports including the Guwahati airports modernised. All these infrastructure projects would create new job opportunities in Assam." Of the three-phase elections to the 126-member Assam Assembly, the third and final phase of polling will be held in 40 seats on April 6.

Nearly 81 per cent of the 73,44,631 voters exercised their franchise in the second phase of polling in Assam on Thursday in the 39 constituencies.

Around 80 per cent of 81,09,815 voters cast their votes on March 27 in the first phase of polling in 47 constituencies.

The results will be declared on May 2.

-- The story has been published from a wire feed without any modifications to the text
More people flew into Dublin Airport after mandatory hotel quarantine was introduced, with nearly 14,000 travelling to Ireland over a seven-day period.

New figures show that around 2,400 more passengers arrived in the last week than the seven days previous.

The mandatory hotel quarantine system came into effect on March 26 and between then and April 1, 13,951 passengers flew into the country.

This was an increase on the previous week, when 11,494 people flew into Dublin Airport between March 19 and 25.

Read More

Meanwhile, just 241 bookings have been made to date for mandatory hotel quarantine.

The Department of Health said 97 bookings were made for March, 132 so far for April and 12 for May.

Only passengers arriving from countries and territories deemed high-risk are required to quarantine, as well as people who come from any location without proof of a negative RT-PCR test taken within 72 hours before their arrival in Ireland.

However, once these passengers then provide a negative PCR test they can conduct their quarantine at home.

Daa said the passenger figures from the last two weeks are down 95pc and 96pc when compared with the equivalent periods pre-Covid.

From 4am on April 6, people travelling from 59 countries and territories will have to pre-book accommodation at a quarantine facility for 12 nights.

Some of the 26 new countries included are Albania, Andorra, Bahrain, Israel, Palestine and the Philippines.

Those already on the list include Argentina, Austria, Brazil, Chile, Mauritius, Rwanda, South Africa and the United Arab Emirates.

The mandatory hotel quarantine system has had a turbulent start after concerns about its legality were raised by the Department of Foreign Affairs and the Attorney General.

People coming into the State from France, Italy and Germany will not have to quarantine for now after the Attorney General, Paul Gallagher, warned it may be illegal to charge EU citizens to stay in quarantine hotels.

Those arriving from the United States also wont have to quarantine.

Health Minister Stephen Donnelly is looking to add more countries and states to the list of high-risk areas that necessitate a quarantine period on arrival in Ireland to prevent the possible spread of Covid-19 variants.

However, this has been met with some pushback by Foreign Affairs Minister Simon Coveney, who has concerns about capacity at the hotels.

Fine Gael TD Charlie Flanagan  who strongly opposed the system when he was justice minister  said it should be discontinued in the wake of controversial plans to expand it.

The alternative to hotel quarantine was to focus all efforts on the vaccination programme as it is key to any semblance of normality, he added.

The rate for a quarantine standard package of 12 nights inclusive of all services for one adult is 1875.

Children over 12 cost 625, while a child between four and 12 will cost 360. There is no charge for infants.

Anyone in quarantine must stay in their room except for exercise, which is allowed three times daily.

Meanwhile, one of three people who absconded from quarantine at the Crowne Plaza hotel in Santry, Dublin last week has not yet been found.

People can be fined up to 2,000 or face imprisonment of up to one month for breaches of the system.




Let us know what you're seeing and hearing around the community.

Submit here
In a shocking incident, a class 10 student from Meerut, Uttar Pradesh died by suicide after she was allegedly abducted and gang-raped while on her way back from a tuition class.

The incident that happened on Thursday was reported from a village in rural Meerut.

What happened?

The 15-year-old girl had gone for tuition and while she was returning four men allegedly abducted and sexually abused her.

Reuters

After returning home, she narrated her woes to her parents and consumed some poisonous substance sometime later, prompting her parents to rush her to the SSD Global Hospital in Modipuram.

'Died during treatment'

According to the police, the girl died in the hospital during the treatment.

Meerut's Rural Superintendent of Police Keshav Kumar said four youths were involved in abducting and raping the girl and the police, on the basis of a suicide note left by the girl, have arrested two of the accused and have launched a manhunt to nab two others.

In her suicide note, the girl had named four men, including Lakhan and Vikas from a neighbouring village, besides two others.

AFP

Lakhan and Vikas have been arrested while the police are on the lookout for two others, the SP said.

Not the first incident

This is the second such incident being reported from Meerut in recent times.

In March, a 15-year-old girl was kept hostage and allegedly gang-raped for over a month.

The incident was reported from Kanker Khera area under Sardhana police station of the district. It is also alleged that the accused were preparing to sell the minor.

PTI

The girl somehow managed to escape from the captivity and narrated her ordeal to the police.

According to the victim, her mother has so far got married thrice. She said her mother took her out on some pretext where two youth gave her sedatives and took her to their homes.

The accused continued to gang-rape her for one-and-a-half-month. On March 13, she escaped from the house and reached Sardhana police station and filed a complaint.

If you know anyone battling with depression or other mental health issues, please reach out to someone who can help. AASRA Foundation: 022 2754 6669 Samaritans Mumbai: +91 84229 84528 / +91 84229 84529 / +91 84229 84530 Sanjivini Society for Mental Health: +911124311918


The number of calls for support to Women's Aid Dundalk over the last year increased by more than 20%, as concerns about the 'shadow pandemic' of domestic abuse emerged.

The local organisation, which supports women and children who have experienced abuse at home, has highlighted the 'everyday reality of fear' for those who have been locked down with an abuser over the last year.

'What we are hearing from women is that all of the avenues that were open to them before, going out to work, the school runs, the appointments and meetings, all of these things which enabled them to get out of the house have been all but gone for the most part of the last year,' said Ann Larkin, manager at Women's Aid Dundalk.

She highlighted how 'even before Covid there was a huge demand for domestic violence services' but the many months spent at home since March 2020 have 'just shone a bright light on it.'

When the pandemic hit, the major challenge for Women's Aid as a service provider was to move women and children, who were living in the communal 'refuge' into their individual living spaces.

'We just couldn't have women and their families sharing facilities such as kitchens and bathrooms, it was the first thing that had to change.'

Women's Aid reached out to Louth County Council, and after accommodation was found, they were able to reduce the numbers in the refuge.

'With the help of the local authority we were able to move four women and families out and into the premises they had provided for us. It was a huge challenge, but we were very grateful for the assistance.'

The charity had to suspend all of their 'face to face' supports, and replace then with phone calls and help by zoom.

She explained that the local Women's Aid children's services was reopened in the summer months, after the first lockdown. But by the Autumn, they faced a Covid outbreak, and were closed again for three weeks.

'We obviously had to shut down again after Christmas after Level 5 restrictions were announced, but we're grateful they are open again now these last few weeks, and all is going well.'

Overall we did see a dramatic increase overall in the number of women accessing our refuge and support services, in spite of the lockdown, and the restraints that many women would have been under.

'I really think the real impact of this last year hasn't truly been felt yet,' said Ann.

Women's Aid continued with a range of services, despite the limitations placed on them, including the court support service, where they accompany women who are attending for legal proceedings.

'I have to say all of our staff, and volunteers, did an incredible job throughout the last twelve months. It was only because of their dedication and commitment that we were able to keep so much of our service running.'

Part of the work of Women's Aid Dundalk has been assessing the impact of these unprecedented times, both on their services, and the women and children who need them.

This involved feeding into the 'Safe Ireland' national research, and the shocking 'Shadow Pandemic' report which was published earlier this year.

'What really stood out from that was the huge number of women and children who had to access support services for the very first time over the last year. That just speaks volumes.'

'Some of that may have been...the realisation many women had, with spending so much time at home, how much control their abuser has exerted over their lives.'

'And also, the very public light that was shone on this issue across the country, encouraging women not to be afraid to leave home and travel beyond their five kilometres if they needed to, in order to get help,' said Ann.

'I must mention the work of Gardai, they have been so supportive over the last year, especially here in Dundalk.'

'It's crucial now, that this awareness of the issue is translated into really positive action in the Programme for Government.' She welcomed a review being carried out by Tusla, looking at the accommodation needs of people affected by domestic violence.

'But what we hope is that all of this work will underline the vital need for a national development plan to deal with domestic violence.'

On a more local level, she said the 'phenomenal support' shown by the community has helped Women's Aid survive over the last year.

'The fundraising was just fantastic, so many people contacting us for the first time because they wanted to raise money for our services.'

'The response from the community has just been amazing, and we are so grateful for that.'
Minister for the Greater Accra Region, Henry Quartey has introduced operation "Let's Make Accra Work".



This operation is geared at eradicating lawlessness and improper behaviours of residents in the Greater Accra Region.



Speaking on Peace FM's ''Kokrokoo'', the Minister explained that the operation ''Let's Make Accra Work will ensure no resident infracts the directives and laws governing the Capital City.



He stated that he is committed to this course and has begun stakeholder consultations to activate the project.



He said there will be a launch of the ''Let's Make Accra Work'' project and after the launch go into action.



''We will do our best, by the grace of God supported by the media and the good people of this country and of course the Region, to make sure it succeeds because I don't want any nine-day wonder'', 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
Keep pace: Walking with a partner is great but might slow you down

WEST LAFAYETTE, Ind. -- If you walk with your spouse or partner on a regular basis, you might want to speed up. Or tell them to.

A new study by Purdue University nursing, health and kinesiology, and human development and family studies researchers shows that couples often decreased their speed when walking together. Speed further decreased if they were holding hands.

The study looked at walking times and gait speeds of 141 individuals from 72 couples. The participants ranged from age 25-79 and were in numerous settings, including clear or obstacle-filled pathways, walking together, walking together holding hands and walking individually.

"In our study, we focused on couples because partners in committed relationships often provide essential support to promote one another's healthy lifestyle behaviors, including exercise," says Melissa Franks, associate professor of human development and family studies.

Libby Richards, associate professor of nursing, says, "We were hoping that there would not be a reduction in speed where partners walked together. We hoped that slower partners would speed up to match the faster partner, but that was not the case. However, it's important to note that any physical activity or walking - regardless of speed - is better than none."

Richards says it is common for people to walk or exercise with a spouse, partner or friend, as it increases one's likelihood to be active, especially as Americans are encouraged to meet a goal of 150 minutes of moderate activity every week.

"If someone substantially slows down when they are walking with someone else, that could negate some of the health benefits recognized if they walked alone at a faster pace," Richards says.

Shirley Rietdyk, professor of health and kinesiology who specializes in biomechanics, says there are many reasons to measure gait speed.

"Gait speed is important to measure because it is related to overall health. Typical gait speed is predictive of fall risk, functional ability, disability recovery and mortality," Rietdyk says.

"Common exercise interventions, including strength, coordination and multimodal training, are all effective in increasing gait speed. These interventions can also delay the onset of slower gait speed and help slow the loss of gait speed. No one type of training is better than the other, so do the activity you are most likely to stick with."

While walking is one of the easiest activities, people tend to walk slower as they get older and may have to find other fitness routines to stay active.

"Older adults who are more active tend to maintain their gait speed," Rietdyk says. "In other words, slower gait speed is not an inevitable aspect of aging. Older adults who walk slower tend to have poorer health and lower functional status."

###

The article appeared in a recent edition of Gait & Posture.

HyeYoung Cho, a recent Ph.D. graduate of Purdue's Department of Health and Kinesiology; Anna Forster, a Ph.D. student in Purdue's School of Nursing; and Sharon Christ, associate professor of human development and family studies, were on the research team, all from Purdue's College of Health and Human Sciences. All research team members are members of Purdue's Center on Aging and the Life Course. The Purdue Center for Families and the American Nurses Foundation funded the study.

About Purdue University

Purdue University is a top public research institution developing practical solutions to today's toughest challenges. Ranked the No. 5 Most Innovative University in the United States by U.S. News & World Report, Purdue delivers world-changing research and out-of-this-world discovery. Committed to hands-on and online, real-world learning, Purdue offers a transformative education to all. Committed to affordability and accessibility, Purdue has frozen tuition and most fees at 2012-13 levels, enabling more students than ever to graduate debt-free. See how Purdue never stops in the persistent pursuit of the next giant leap at https:/ / purdue. edu/ .

Writer, Media contact: Matthew Oates, 765-586-7496 (cell), oatesw@purdue.edu, @mo_oates

This story has been published on: 2021-04-02. To contact the author, please use the contact details within the article.
DEON RUSMAN, NIKOS RIKOS, ZACK GOWEN, FALLAH BAHH, CHEESEBURGER, LSG & MORE: 4/2 COMPLETE WRESTLEPRO IN SOLDOTNA, ALASKA REPORT

Welcome to PWInsider.com's ongoing coverage of WrestlePro Alaska's Northern Expansion Tour Night One from Soldotna, Alaska at the All American Training Center!

Bryson Axl vs. Elia Baratz

Axl is a local talent from Alaska, a student at the 907 Wrestling Academy.

Baratz, who has worked in OVW and elsewhere, took the mic and asked what the difference between him and the audience is he doesn't need a gun to handle their business. He said people up here need a gun at their hip to handle their business. He doesn't. He questioned why Axl was in the ring with him and asked him if he thought he was going to make a difference tonight. He said that he's going to have to live with the beating he's going to give Axl tonight. Elia Baratz is a big-time heel in the promotion. He bullied Axl early but was rolled up several times. Axl nailed a series of forearms but was cut off with a hard knee to the mid-section. Axl got dumped with authority to the floor.

Baratz attacked him on the floor and drove him hard into the ring apron outside. He dumped Axl back in the ring and went for a suplex, lifting him and dropping him down on the mat. The storyline was Baratz was mad he came all the way to Alaska to face a rookie, so he was tormenting him. Baratz worked him over and whipped Axl hard into the turnbuckle sternum-first. Baratz went for a splash but Axl rolled out of the way. He nailed a jawjacker and tried to nail several shoulder tackles but Baratz didn't go down. Axl finally nailed a leaping tackle and that did the trick. Baratz ate a big clothesline and went to the ropes. Axl nailed an exploder and covered him for a two count.

Baratz made a comeback and went for a suplex but Axl reversed it into a small package and scored the pin.

Your winner, Bryson Axl!

They played this up as a major upset as it was his second ever match. This was a very simple but well put together story where the bully got his in the end.

YT Jones came to the ring and introduced his team, The Nasty Gentlemen.

The Nasty Gentlemen Jack Windsor & Brody Adam with YT Jones vs. World Famous Cheeseburger & Ace of Space LSG

Brody Adam and Burger started with Adam having all the momentum due to his girth and strength. Burger used his speed and finesse to try and keep Adam off guard. He and LSG tagged in and went back and forth with some double team maneuvers, working over Brody's arm. LSG ducked a clothesline and drilled Adam with a dropkick. Jack Windsor tagged in but he too was double teamed with some fast spots, including a LSG bulldog. Burger teased a press slam but Windsor was way too big for that and was drilled across the back. The Gentlemen tried to work him over in the corner but Burger fought his way out. YT distracted Burger, allowing him to be beaten down. The Gentlemen antagonized LSG, who tried to get in the ring. The referee admonished him, allowing the Gentlemen to work over Burger with a multitude of stomps.

Windor nailed a long delayed suplex, scoring a two count on Burger. Burger tried to fight his way out but Brody scored with a big boot and got a three count. He followed up with a big standing elbow. Burger finally fought his way out and made the hot tag to LSG. LSG nailed a series of rights and a big bionic elbow. He nailed a springboard crossbody block on Brody for a two count. He nailed a series of forearms and a knee strike before nailing a DDT for a two count. Windsor broke up the pinfall. Burger hit the ring and jumped atop him with a sleeper hold. Windsor fought him off but Burger nailed a superkick. Windsor wiped him out with a Black Hole Slam. YT Jones grabbed LSG's leg as he scaled the ropes, allowing him to be double teamed and pinned as Burger was too late to break up the pinfall.

Your winner, The Nasty Gentlemen!

Burger and LSG got their hands on YT and laid him out after to get a big and some of their heat back.

This was tag team wrestling 101 with arrogant heels getting heat on the babyfaces, who got to do some flashy moves. This felt like it was setting up rematches elsewhere on the tour.

The Dominican Destroyer Vargas vs. Zach Gowen

Vargas is a regular for WrestlePro in New Jersey. This was his first Alaska appearance.

Gowen came out on crutches and then entered the ring, wrestling on one leg. Vargas played an old school savage monster heel with facepaint and was obviously the larger of the two. Gowen avoided him early on as they played cat and mouse. Gowen has put on some muscle since I last saw him.

Gowen went on the offense with some punches but was tossed to the mat. He jumped on Vargas' back, beating him with punches but was tossed off. Gowens fired away with chops and went for a flying bodypress but was caught and slammed in mid-air. Vargas began biting Gowen and beat him with sledgehammer like strikes.

Vargas walked across Gowen's chest, then began chopping away at him with overhead chops. He choked Gowen in the ropes and drilled him with a running knee to the back. Gowen was sent to the floor. Vargas followed and bit him again before tossing Gowen back into the ring. Vargas kept beating him across the back. He missed a splash, setting up the Gowen comeback as Gowen ducked and sent him to the floor. Gowen kicked him in the face as he charged and nailed a tornado DDT off the ropes. Vargas kicked up at two and Gowen went flying in the air to sell Vargas' strength. Gowen ate a clothesline but Vargas pulled up Gowen at the two count because he wanted to inflict more punishment. Vargas missed a splash off the top. Gowen nailed a moonsault and scored the pin.

Your winner, Zack Gowen!

Another simple but well worked bout with Gowen making Vargas look strong as the monster heel before scoring a meaningful win.

Micah Taylor & Trixie vs. Freya The Slaya & Modern Day Classic Jerry Bishop

Taylor is a former WWE developmental talent from the Deep South days. Trixie is his daughter. Freya and Bishop are locals here. Bishop trained in HWA in Ohio. Freya plays a likable babyface.

Bishop and Taylor start out. Micah backed him in the corner and shoved him. Bishop slapped him. Trixie tagged in and slapped Bishop several times. He tagged in Freya but Trixie ran out and tagged her father back in.

They locked up and Taylor backed her into the corner. He broke free but trash talked her. Freya dared him to lock up again. He worked over her arm but she reversed it and they went back and forth. She took him down to the mat and controlled Taylor to the point he retreated to the floor. Bishop tagged in. Micah played Larry Zbyszko, stalling and playing to the crowd. He was sent into the ropes and shoulder tackled Bishop down. They locked up and Taylor grabbed him in a side headlock. Taylor was sent into the ropes and they went into a series of hiptoss attempt reversals until Taylor ate one and was hit with a sideslam. Bishop charged him in the corner but Micah moved and Bishop hit the ring post shoulder first, crashing to the floor. He took some time to get back to the ring. Micah locked in a deep armbar, trying to force a submission. Bishop was biting his own hand to keep himself from tapping.

Micah and Trixie took turns tagging in and out. She nailed a pump kick and a basement dropkick on Bishop. She nailed a series of punches. Father and daughter continued working over Bishop. Taylor snapped his shoulder in the ropes. Bishop tried to fight out of the armbar but was controlled on the mat. Just as it looked he was going to escape, Taylor snatched him in a front facelock. Bishop was about to finally tag out but Trixie distracted the referee and he missed Freya tagging in, allowing Bishop to be forced into taking a bigger beating.

Freya finally made the hot tag. She sent Micah and Trixie into the corner, then nailed a cannonball on both. She slammed Micah and nailed the Atomic Legdrop on Micah, which got a huge pop. He rolled out of the ring. Freya choppped down Trixie. She went for the legdrop but Micah tripped her as she rebounded off the ropes. Bishop nailed Micah. Trixie nailed a superkick and scored the pin.

Your winners, Micah Taylor and Trixie!

Trixie was very young and early in her career, so Taylor did the lion's share of the work here. Bishop did really well at selling the shoulder. Freya has a very likable personality and works hard. She was super over here.

"The Pineapple King" Aleki vs. Chris Wilde

Aleki was billed as from the Samoan Wrestling family. Wilde is a regular in Hawaii on the indy scene there and played up to the crowd as a babyface. They faced off and Aleki nearly murdered him with a STIFF slap. It was brutal.

Wilde grabbed a side headlock and tried to work Aleki over. He took him to the mat and they really worked to out-wrestle the other with some nice grappling. Wilde shoulderblocked him down with authority for a two count.

Aleki cut off Wilde and nailed a big backdrop for a two count. He grabbed on a nerve hold but Wilde nailed a sit-out jawbreaker. Aleki drilled him but Wilde began psyching himself up. They chopped each other hard back and forth until Wilde faked him out and superkicked him in the chin. Wilde played to the crowd and nailed a series of knee strikes and kicks. He had a nice flurry of offense. Wilde was sent into the corner but snapped out with a kick to the head for a two count. Aleki cut him off with a clothesline and a headbutt for a two count.

Aleki missed a pumphandle while going for a move and was caught with a T-Bone Tazplex for the pin.

Your winner, Chris Wilde!

Another good story told. Wilde has some nice charisma. Aleki was great as the bruiser here, giving Wilde someone to overcome.

The first half of the show was very 1980s based in terms of the presentation and stories.

Coverage continues on Page 2!

If you enjoy PWInsider.com you can check out the AD-FREE PWInsider Elite section, which features exclusive audio updates, news, our critically acclaimed podcasts, interviews and more by clicking here!
Time-honored Rongchang pottery in China full of new vitality

09:51, April 03, 2021 By Wang Binlai, Chang Biluo ( People's Daily

Guan Yongshuang, an inheritor of Rongchang pottery, works with his wife Li Yunshan in their studio located in Rongchang district, southwest Chinas Chongqing municipality. (Photo/Courtesy of Guan Yongshuang)

Rongchang pottery, a famous traditional craft originated in Anfu subdistrict, Rongchang district, southwest Chinas Chongqing municipality and dates back to the Han Dynasty (202 BC-220 AD), is brimming with fresh vigor.

With a history of over 2,000 years, Rongchang pottery has been acknowledged as one of the four most noted ceramic crafts in China, and has been listed among Chinas national-level representative intangible cultural heritage (ICH) programs.

Today, visitors can see a shop making or selling Rongchang pottery every few steps they take in Antao tourist town, a characteristic town in Anfu subdistrict.

As the cultural heritage is known by more people, the studio of Lv Jicheng, an inheritor of Rongchang pottery at the district level, is often crowded with tourists. They have shown increasing interest in both Lvs works and the techniques and steps in making Rongchang pottery.

Liang Xiancai, a national-level inheritor of Rongchang pottery, has spent his entire life working on the cultural heritage, which involves 24 production procedures, including selecting clay, making greenware, polishing, carving and glazing.

In the 1970s and 1980s, when Rongchang pottery witnessed booming business and was a pillar industry of Rongchang district, almost every household in Chongqing and its neighboring cities used pots and jars made through the craft of Rongchang pottery to store rice and vegetables or preserve pickles.

Meanwhile, ceramics produced in Rongchang district were also exported to Southeast Asia, Europe, Africa, Latin America and other regions, with the average annual export volume exceeding 100,000 pieces.

However, at the end of the 20th century, the once popular pickle jars fell flat on the market, as producers of Rongchang pottery failed to transform and upgrade their products timely when competitors rised and consumers tastes had also changed.

To break the stereotype of Rongchang pottery as pickle jars, craftsmen started to make innovations, and enrich the varieties of their products by shifting to artware, such as tea sets and vases.

At the same time, many young people have been attracted to the intangible cultural heritage, injecting fresh vitality into Rongchang pottery and bringing the traditional craft to more and more people. Guan Yongshuang, who runs a studio in a quiet yard in Rongchang district, is one of them.

After graduating from Sichuan Fine Arts Institute in Chongqing, Guan and his wife rented the yard to dedicate themselves to inheriting Rongchang pottery.

Over the past five years, they have innovated various ceramics that are different from traditional pottery products, such as small trays with orange skin-like patterns for washing brushes, life-like seedpods of lotus flowers, and plates made of both red and white clay.

Lv has hosted live-streaming shows to introduce pottery-related knowledge to netizens. Rongchang pottery can be baked both in wood-fired kilns and electrical kilns, but the luster of the finished products made with the two kinds of kilns are different, Lv said to his audience.

During the baking process, the heat and wood ashes would leave unique marks on unpainted clay pots, something that couldnt be created through handwork, Lv added.

To help more people get to know Rongchang pottery, Rongchang district has shown via live-streaming the exact moment when freshly baked ceramic products are taken out of kilns, allowing netizens to appreciate carefully baked and elaborately designed ceramics, such as teapots, tea cups and vases.

While demonstrating the making of Rongchang pottery via live-streaming, craftsmen have refreshed the memory of people for the glorious history of the pottery and won likes and complimentary remarks from netizens.

On a site near the Antao tourist town, a cultural and creative pottery industrial park is gradually taking shape. It will serve as a practice base for students of colleges and universities, an extracurricular practice base for primary and middle school students, and a center where ceramic artists can make innovations.

With more than 70 high-tech enterprises settling in the ceramics industrial park in the high-tech industrial development zone of Rongchang district, the time-honored traditional craft have been brought closer to emerging technologies.

Pottery enterprises in Rongchang now see an annual output value of nearly 8 billion yuan (about $1.2 billion). Last year, the district was acknowledged as the ceramic capital of western China by the China National Light Industry Council.

Enable Ginger Cannot connect to Ginger Check your internet connection

or reload the browser Disable in this text field Edit Edit in Ginger Edit in Ginger

(Web editor: Kou Jie, Bianji)
CUNA received its first nomination for the District 6, Class B special election: Seth Schaefer, president/CEO, Rivermark Community CU, Beaverton, Ore.

Two CUNA Directors recently announced their resignation from the Board of Directors: in District 6, Class B, and Class C, elected nationwide. The District 6, Class B position will expire at the adjournment of CUNAs Annual General Meeting (AGM) in 2023; the Class C position will expire at the adjournment of the 2024 AGM.

All nominations and seconds must be submitted by 5 p.m. (ET) April 22. For more information and to obtain appropriate nomination forms, click here.

Credit unions in District 6, Class B, and Class C, elected at-large nationwide, are encouraged to nominate qualified individuals to assume these important duties and responsibilities. If more than one candidate is nominated in either category, a special election will be held by electronic ballot, with voting from April 26 to May 13. If only one candidate is nominated in either category, that individual will be elected by acclamation.
A same-sex couple from Cork have made history by becoming the first in the State to be officially recognised as the co-parents of their children.

Niamh O'Sullivan and Geraldine Rea welcomed twin girls Reidin and Aoibhin into the world on February 4 when Geraldine gave birth at the Cork University Maternity Hospital, having previously undergone donor sperm treatment at Cork's Waterstone clinic.

The enactment last May of the final sections of the Children and Family Act (2015), allowed for same-sex female couples to be legally recognised as co-parents of their children.

This means that both the birth mother and the intending co-parent - the mother's spouse, civil partner or cohabitant - can now register with the registrar for births, deaths and marriages as the parents of children born as a result of Donor Assisted Human Reproduction (DAHR). Prior to this, female same-sex couples had to go through an often lengthy court process to re-register the birth of their children so they could both be recognised as the children's parents.

Much to the delight of Niamh and Geraldine, their names are now down in black and white as the parents of Reidin and Aoibhin on their birth certificates, ensuring that both have the same legal rights as any other parents.

Niamh said they were delighted when they realised the legislation had been enacted last May, at a time when both she and Geraldine, who were married in 2018, were "dreaming of becoming parents".

The couple, who live in Bishopstown, had initially been due to have the frozen embryo transfer in March of last year. However, this plan was scuppered after the first COVID-19 lockdown was imposed by the government in the same week the procedure had been scheduled to take place.

"We were rescheduled, and thanks to good timing and the hard work of the team at the [Waterstone] Clinic, the transfer took place, and two days after the restrictions were lifted for fertility clinics and we finally became pregnant," said Niamh.

Speaking to The Irish Times, Geraldine said the couple had initially assumed the Children and Family Act had been enacted immediately following the historic 2015 referendum, when in fact it had taken until last year to come into effect.

"It was only when we started nearing the end of the pregnancy and we started doing research on what we needed to do - we realised we could be one of the first to get both our names on the birth cert and not have to go to court to both be recognised as parents so that was nice," said Geraldine.

"Little did we know, then, that fate would lead us to being the first to benefit from this new law," added Niamh. "It is monumental for us and a historic step towards LGBT+ equality, as many children with same-sex female parents can finally vindicate their right to have their family recognised."

The couple revealed that being the first to benefit from the new law was not the only pleasant surprise they received

"We thought we were just having one baby - we only discovered we were having twins at our six-week scan, so it was a lovely surprise, But it was still early days at that point so we didn't know it was going to be a sure thing but thankfully everything went well," said Geraldine.
Born in 1997 (yes, really) as a DVD sales and rental company, the American company now has over 200 million subscribers worldwide, and reported for 2020 a profit of $9.7 billion, according to Banking Rates. Thats enough money to consider a lot of investments for the future.And those investments might not be in movies alone, as weve gotten accustomed to. What if, for instance, Netflix joined the countless tech companies that are dipping their toes into the car-making business? What if it decided to make a four-wheeled vehicle, of all things?Thats the question renderers from British leasing company Vanarama tried to answer with the imagined vehicle pictured in the main photo of this piece, a cinema on wheels, if you like, meant to show one all the movies and series the giant is currently streaming.The vehicle has been envisioned, of course, as a driverless one, because nobody would like using their attention for driving while the others are enjoying visual delight in the back seats. Were not told what is supposed to make it move, but thinking electric power would not be against the scope of the design.A large cinema screen, visible only from the inside, covers the length of the windscreen, all the way down to where pedals are usually located.Vanarama speaks of professional quality surround, cinema-style seating, in-built food and drink facilities, so you should have the entire cinema experience, only in a more intimate space (theres no mention of how many people this vehicle could seat).Just like now Netflix offers several subscriptions, depending of various factors, the CineMove too would become part of the deal, and the vehicle could be rented, if you like, including for long-term use, not just short drives.
Currently, some universities include green chemistry (GC) as a separate course in their curriculum. For example, the Hanoi University of Industry is offering 30 periods, equivalent to two credits, of GC to third-year students in the Chemicals Technology Faculty, majoring in chemical engineering, petrochemical technology, environmental chemical technology, and food technology. Meanwhile, most universities integrate GC in other courses, instead of teaching it as a separate one.

The workshop on green chemistry was part of the UNDPs efforts to support businesses and universities in Vietnam

This is the result of a survey on the level of understanding and current teaching situation of GC in 44 universities in Vietnam, conducted by the project on applying GC in Vietnam to support green growth and reduction in the use and release of harmful chemicals.

This project is supported by the Global Environment Facility and the UNDP. Its main objective is to create a favourable environment for introducing GC and applications to the production industry in Vietnam and reduce the use and release of chemicals controlled under the Stockholm and Minamata Conventions.

GC is a sustainable trend for the chemicals industry in all countries. Applying GC in production helps to reduce soil and water pollution, and so to minimise the harmful impact of toxic chemicals on peoples health. It is estimated that the chemicals industry in Vietnam produces about three million tonnes of solid waste each year, of which 30 per cent are toxic waste. Therefore, it is crucial to improve the practicality of teaching GC at universities and applying it to the production process.

Luu Hoang Ngoc, deputy director-general of the VCA, said that all chemical activities aim to develop the sustainability of Vietnams chemical industry and to protect the environment.

We hope that students majoring in chemistry will also be knowledgeable and experienced in sustainable development and GC, Ngoc said.

Vu Dinh Tien, vice dean of School of Chemical Engineering under Hanoi University of Science and Technology, also shared, We have started to make GC an official subject for the students enrolling in 2020. However, to make this subject relevant to business practice, we need support from the project and international experts.

Hoang Thanh Vinh, programme analyst of the UNDP Vietnam, also said, We have several small funding for activities related to environmental protection, green chemistry, and sustainable development for businesses.

He also emphasised that within the framework of the project, the UNDP was ready to mobilise experts to consult and assist the universities, businesses in applying green chemistry, designing wastewater treatment systems, or advanced technical solutions.

At the workshop, the universities representatives also had an opportunity to listen to big businesses in Vietnam discuss their current practices in applying GC in Vietnam.

Our company is developing many technical solutions during the paper production process such as a change in washing technology, water recirculation, applying new materials, investing in renovation, and upgrading motors and lighting systems, said Ngo Tien Luan, head of the Technical Department at Vietnam Paper Corporation. For a business that wants to develop to protect the environment, in addition to using completely new technologies or replacing entire production lines, we also need to make use of available resources, promote technical innovation initiatives, with priority given to energy-saving solutions and application of technical advances in production.

Businesses representatives also shared that they were willing to cooperate with the project and the universities to share their practice and create a chance for students to learn their practical experiences in applying GC.
Syracuse, N.Y.  A 34-year-old man was shot in the midsection early Saturday morning on Syracuses South Side, according to Syracuse police.

Police arrived at Upstate University Hospital at 1:15 a.m. and found the man had been taken to the hospital in a personal vehicle, according to Syracuse police spokesman Sgt. Matthew Malinowski.

The shooting took place in the 100 block of West Borden Avenue, Malinowski said. Several gun shell casings were found in the area, he added.

The man is expected to survive, Malinowski said.

Police ask anyone with information about the shooting to call the Syracuse Police Department at 315-442-5222.

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.
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.
Brussels, April 3 : The parties to the Iran nuclear deal will convene in Vienna next week to discuss the possibility of lifting sanctions on Tehran, as well as the country's responsibility for further implementing the agreement, the European Union (EU) said in a statement.

Representatives of China, France, Germany, Russia, the UK and Iran, known as the participants in the Joint Comprehensive Plan of Action (JCPOA), met virtually on Friday, and "agreed to resume this session of the Joint Commission in Vienna next week, in order to clearly identify sanctions lifting and nuclear implementation measures", Xinhua news agency quoted the statement as saying.

Friday's high-level online meeting was chaired by the Deputy Secretary-General and Political Director of the European External Action Service (EEAS), Enrique Mora, on behalf of EU High Representative for Foreign Affairs and Security Policy Josep Borrell.

"Positive meeting today," Mora said on Twitter following the meeting.

The parties will reconvene in Vienna next week, with "substantial work ahead for a key opportunity" to bring the JCPOA back to life, he added.

The participants recognised the prospect of a full return of the US to the JCPOA and "underlined their readiness to positively address this in a joint effort, according to the EEAS.

They also "emphasized their commitment to preserve the JCPOA and discussed modalities to ensure the return to its full and effective implementation".

Russian Deputy Foreign Minister Sergei Ryabkov, who attended the virtual session, said that there is no alternative to the JCPOA.

All parties involved should make every effort for the earliest possible return of the Iran nuclear deal to the originally established framework, Ryabkov said.

The participants paid special attention to the measures that should be taken by the US to eliminate previously committed violations of the JCPOA and to lift its sanctions against Iran, the Russian Foreign Ministry said in a press release.

The US confirmed on Friday that it would attend the meeting in Vienna next week, saying it remains "open to" direct talks with Tehran.

"We have agreed to participate in talks with our European, Russian, and Chinese partners to identify the issues involved in a mutual return to compliance with the JCPOA with Iran," State Department spokesperson Ned Price said in a statement.

Meanwhile, Iranian Foreign Minister Mohammad Javad Zarif said Tehran would be aiming for the "choreographed removal of all sanctions" followed by "Iran ceasing remedial measures".

The EU said in its statement that the coordinator will "intensify separate contacts in Vienna with all JCPOA participants and the US".

The development was welcomed by German Foreign Minister Heiko Maas, who said it is good that all the relevant actors will meet to work on fully implementing the nuclear agreement again.

The JCPOA was reached in 2015 between Iran and the P5+1 (the five permanent members of the UN Security Council -- the US, the UK, Russia, France, China, plus Germany) and the EU.

Tehran agreed to roll back parts of its nuclear weapons program in exchange for decreased economic sanctions.

Washington under former President Donald Trump withdrew from the JCPOA in 2018 and tightened sanctions on Iran.

The US and Iran are at a standoff over reviving the nuclear deal.

The Joe Biden administration said that if Iran returns to full compliance with the JCPOA, the US would do the same.

But Iran insisted its compliance would only take place once US sanctions were removed.
Metro Manila (CNN Philippines, April 3)  Metro Manila, Bulacan, Cavite, Laguna, and Rizal will remain under the strictest community quarantine status as COVID-19 cases continued to spike, Presidential Spokesperson Harry Roque announced on Saturday.

The Greater Manila Area will go on enhanced community quarantine for another week after the Department of Health, some mayors, and the independent OCTA Research group endorsed the extension of the lockdown to contain the pandemic. The so-called National Capital Region Plus was earlier placed in a bubble to tackle the surge in infections at a speed never seen before.

LIST: One-week ECQ in Greater Manila area explained

"Nagrekomenda po ang inyong IATF na pahabain pa ang enhanced community quarantine ng minimum isa pang linggo sa buong Metro Manila, at mga probinsya ng Laguna, Bulacan, Cavite, at Rizal," Roque said in a short virtual briefing, after a meeting with the Inter-Agency Task Force.

[Translation: Your IATF recommended that we extend the enhanced community quarantine by a minimum of one week in the entire Metro Manila, and in the provinces of Laguna, Bulacan, Cavite, and Rizal.]

The recommendation has been approved by President Rodrigo Duterte, Roque later told reporters.

During this ECQ period, Roque said the government plans to intensify its PDITR or Prevent, Detect, Isolate, Treat, and Reintegrate strategy, which involves visiting residents in their homes to check who has symptoms, and testing as well as isolating them. Roque added local government units and the czars (heads of efforts in contact tracing, treatment, vaccine, etc.) should be monitoring the developments from using this strategy.

If the strategy is seen to be effective, the Greater Manila area could then return to a more relaxed MECQ or modified enhanced community quarantine, Roque said.

Amid the fast-depleting number of available hospital beds for COVID-19 patients, Roque said more beds for moderate to severe cases will be added during ECQ.

"Dito sa linggo ng karagdagang ECQ ay meron tayong 110 additional na moderate to severe beds na bubuksan na po at magiging operational dito sa Quezon Institute," he said. "Sa susunod na buwan hindi po bababa 'yan sa 160 additional moderate to severe bed capacity."

[Translation: During this extended ECQ, we will open 110 additional beds for moderate to severe cases in the Quezon Institute. In the next month, there will be at least 160 additional moderate to severe beds.]

The Quezon Institute is a hospital in Quezon City that also has an off-site modular hospital catering to moderate COVID-19 patients.

What health experts said

Health Undersecretary Maria Rosario Vergeire said a week of lockdown "is really not enough" to bring down the number of infections and decongest hospitals. She said this prompted the DOH to recommend the extension to the Inter-Agency Task Force for the Management of Emerging Infectious Diseases, the policy-making body in the governments pandemic response.

OCTA Research experts also backed tighter restrictions for the Metro Manila and nearby provinces to arrest the spread of the coronavirus.

Roque had said extending the ECQ is an "absolute last resort" for the government.

Over the past weeks, the country has been setting new record highs in the number of additional infections and active COVID-19 cases, forcing the government to revert to a week-long ECQ status within NCR Plus from March 29 to April 4.

On Friday, the country logged 15,310 more infections, which include a backlog of 3,709 cases from March 31. Still, the 11,601 confirmed cases that day became the biggest single-day increase in infections, but it was quickly overtaken by the 12,576 new COVID-19 cases reported on Saturday.

The number of active COVID-19 cases, or those who are still battling the disease is also at a record-high at 165,715.
Pope Francis is celebrating Good Friday in a severely restricted form because of the coronavirus pandemic.



In the early evening at 6 pm (1600 GMT), the Catholic Church leader will remember the suffering and death of



Jesus Christ in a service in St Peter's Basilica.



According to the Vatican, only a few faithful are to be admitted to the Pope's Masses around Easter because of health measures.



The large public Stations of the Cross at the Colosseum in the centre of Rome, which used to be a moving event for many pilgrims, will be cancelled as of 2020.



Instead - similar to the beginning of the pandemic - a small Stations of the Cross celebration is scheduled to take place in St Peter's Square in front of the basilica at 9 pm.



The event traditionally re-enacts Jesus' journey to death on the cross. For this meditation, children and young people have written texts and made pictures. According to church information, some of the children come from foster homes in Rome.



For the 84-year-old Francis, it is the second Holy Week and Easter under severe coronavirus restrictions.



In the spring of 2020, the pope from Argentina had warned against pessimism but appeared sad himself.



Easter, as the celebration of the resurrection of Jesus, is the most important religious festival for Christians.

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
Australia will proceed with the delivery of locally-produced AstraZeneca vaccine after a rare blood clotting condition was found in a Melbourne man who received a dose in March.

Deputy Chief Medical Officer Michael Kidd said on Saturday that the Australian Technical Advisory Group on Immunisation (ATAGI) and the Therapeutic Goods Administration (TGA) had not recommended any change to the rollout of the vaccine.

Acting Chief Medical Officer Professor Michael Kidd. Credit:Dominic Lorrimer

The decision comes after a 44-year-old man was admitted to Melbournes Box Hill Hospital on Friday for blood clots.

Professor Kidd said the TGA had convened a meeting of independent experts on Saturday morning to review the case.
Non-regular workers work inside an automobile factory in Korea. Korea Times file



Non-regular workers have been hit harder by the economic fallout from the COVID-19 pandemic than regular workers, a survey showed Saturday.



In a survey of 1,000 salaried workers aged 19 or above conducted from March 17 to 23 by pollster Embrain Public, 18.6 percent said they had experienced unemployment since the coronavirus broke out here in January last year.



By employment status, 35.8 percent of non-regular workers experienced job loss, five times higher than the corresponding rate of 7.2 percent for regular workers, the poll found.



It said 34.8 percent of all respondents suffered reductions in income over the past year, and the damage was more extensive among non-regular employees. Nearly six in 10, or 58.3 percent, complained of pay cuts, compared with 19.2 percent for regular workers.






When June Fearn was asked by the National Crime Agency to assist with its 'investigation', her selfless instinct was to agree.

'I thought I have to help,' says June, 74, a retired head teacher. 'I was brought up to be polite, and helpful to the authorities who are there to protect us.'

But little did June know that her kindness would cost her 37,000. The 'investigation' she was asked to help with was bogus.

Her callers were not from the agency, but highly sophisticated scammers who preyed on her goodwill to drain her bank account. They convinced June, who lives in Portsmouth, to make 'bait' payments into an account to trap a criminal insider at her bank.

Sophisticated: Scammers are preying on victims to drain their bank accounts

They told her the agency would refund her, but she never saw her money again. So-called impersonation scams, where criminals pretend to be from the police or a victim's bank, are rampant in the UK.

Their number rose by 94 per cent last year, costing victims close to 100million. They have thrived during lockdown as people are more likely to answer their landlines  and to be isolated.

In February, we reported on the case of Catriona Oliphant who lost 239,000 when she was tricked into thinking she was helping the National Crime Agency to ensnare criminals.

Last month, we helped Catriona get her money back from her bank, HSBC. Since then we have been inundated with correspondence from readers who have been caught out by near-identical scams.

The victims are from all walks of life: including a retired headteacher, a businesswoman, an underwriter and a carer. But they all have one thing in common: they are kind people whose instinct is to help those in authority to fight crime. In some cases, their conscientious instincts have cost them their life savings.

The similarity between June's and Catriona's cases are enough to send shivers down spines. June says she was 'astonished' to read Catriona's story. 'Word for word, it told my story exactly.'

Like Catriona, June was asked to help the agency catch a criminal working within HSBC. The only difference was the name of the purported agency official: John Williams, as opposed to Alan Smith who spoke to Catriona.

'During lockdown we've been prisoners in our own homes,' says June. 'We're off our guard and less able to check things with other people.' HSBC has so far refused to refund her 37,000.

There are more cases like June's. Alice Allen rues the day she agreed to help the 'Financial Conduct Authority' catch criminals working inside her bank, Lloyds. It cost her 525,000.

The scammers were terrifyingly convincing. 'I asked them how I could be sure they were from the regulator,' she says. 'They told me to look at the number they had phoned me from and then to look at the number on the regulator's website. They were the same.'

Alice had not heard of 'number spoofing' whereby scammers can make it look as though they are calling from any number they choose.

Over a number of days, and hours of phone calls, the scammers groomed Alice, who lives in Somerset, into trusting them and doubting her own bank.

Lloyds spotted signs of the fraud and says it tried to warn her about scams over the phone, in branch and by letter. It even sent the police to her home to warn her about scammers. But the fraudsters had put Alice under a spell so strong that the warnings fell on deaf ears. It was not until her son visited and overheard Alice speaking with the fraudsters that he broke the spell.

By then, Alice's money, earmarked to clear a mortgage, was gone, transferred to the fraudsters. Now 71, Alice is left with a debt she will never be able to pay back.

'The fraudsters used fear, anxiety and stress to control me,' she says. 'It was a rollercoaster of emotion. One minute they said criminals inside my bank were trying to steal from my account. The next minute they would say we've protected your money, don't worry.'

Alice adds: 'When you realise you've been scammed, it puts you into shock. I was shaking and felt sick for days. You keep going over it in your mind.'

Lloyds has so far refused to reimburse Alice, although it says it has a 'great deal of sympathy'. The bank insists it did all it could to protect her.

It adds: 'Helping keep our customers' money safe is our priority and we did absolutely everything we could to protect Mrs Allen  including stopping payments, writing to her to explain our concerns that it was a scam and involving the police.

'It's crucial for people to remember that a bank or a genuine company will never ask them to move money to a different account.' But once a victim has been taken in by a fraudster, their chances of getting a reimbursement from their bank are little more than a lottery.

Last year, around 60 per cent of money stolen by fraudsters was reimbursed by banks. But whereas one bank reimbursed 18 per cent of victims, another paid back 64 per cent, according to data from the Payment Systems Regulator. Most major banks are signed up to a voluntary code that says victims who have taken care to avoid a scam should get back their money. But victims are not always aware or told of their rights.

Customers continue to face a lottery with banks having wildly different reimbursement rates - each letter represents a bank

When scammers swindled Peter West out of 8,061 last month, he was told he would not get it back. But on Friday, his bank agreed to refund him, after The Mail on Sunday intervened.

Peter's family has banked with Barclays for more than 100 years. So when the 83-year-old from Northamptonshire got a phone call from its 'fraud department' asking for his help to trap a criminal insider, he felt duty-bound to help.

Peter, who is a carer for his wife who has dementia, asked the caller to prove his credentials. He did this by telling Peter the balances on his five Barclays accounts. 'I didn't see how he could have this information unless he was official,' says Peter.

Authorised push payment scams see victims tricked into transferring money to fraudsters. Scams involving impersonations rose 94% in 2020

He was then asked by the fraudsters to make a payment into a specially set up account to ensnare the insider. When Barclays blocked the payment, the scammers told him to transfer the money instead into his Nationwide account and make the payment from there, which he did.

Peter still does not know  and Barclays cannot confirm  how the fraudsters knew his account balances.

Nationwide initially refused to refund the amount scammed. But it changed its mind after being approached by The Mail on Sunday.

It said: 'The claim was initially declined as no error had been made by the society and all appropriate steps were taken to warn him about the risk of such scams before he made the payment.

'At that time we were unaware of any vulnerability that could have impacted his decision making. We have now reviewed the case and agreed to refund in full.'

For more information about protecting yourself from financial scams, go to takefive-stopfraud. org.uk.
(Newser)  Amazon doesn't issue very many apologies, notes veteran tech reporter John Cook of GeekWire. But it made an exception Friday night in a blog post after a hubbub about peeing in bottles. The controversy began when Rep. Marc Pocan, a Wisconsin Democrat, fired off a tweet last month critical of the company: "Paying workers $15/hr doesn't make you a 'progressive workplace' when you union-bust & make workers urinate in water bottles," he wrote. To which Amazon quickly replied, You dont really believe the peeing in bottles thing, do you? If that were true, nobody would work for us. The exchange set off a lively social media debate, and Amazon on Friday walked back its initial response. Among other things, it acknowledged that some of its drivers do, in fact, have to resort to urinating in bottles.

story continues below

This was an own goal, were unhappy about it, and we owe an apology to Representative Pocan, reads the blog post. The company explained that its initial tweet referred to workers in its fulfillment centers, adding that they have restrooms available, per Reuters. Drivers are a different matter. "We know that drivers can and do have trouble finding restrooms because of traffic or sometimes rural routes, and this has been especially the case during Covid when many public restrooms have been closed," the company says. It adds that the problem affects drivers at many companies, not just Amazon. Meanwhile, Amazon workers in Alabama have finished voting on whether to unionize, but it will likely take days before results are known, per the AP. (The company took flak from GOP senators for banning a controversial book on transgender issues.)
(CNN)  Italy's government has passed a decree making vaccination mandatory for all healthcare and pharmacy workers with the aim of protecting medical staff, patients and vulnerable people.

Healthcare workers who refuse the vaccine will be reassigned where possible to roles where they are not in contact with patients. Where that is not an option they now face being suspended without pay.

The Italian Federation of Doctors and Dentists argues that the government should have gone further and made the legal procedure to suspend non-vaccinated workers easier and faster. However, a minority in the healthcare community remain strongly opposed to compulsory vaccination.

It remains unclear whether the decree is constitutional, and many believe that future legal cases on the Covid vaccines are likely.

Roberto Lanna, a pharmacist and owner of a pharmacy on the outskirts of Naples, told CNN he was unconvinced.

"I am not against all vaccines," he said, adding that "we know very little" about the coronavirus shots. "I don't like that they oblige us to do the vaccine. An obligation has to be accompanied by certainties and guarantees, that this vaccine doesn't have," he said. "What am I going to do now [after the government decree]? I don't know."

For others, the measure is an essential step as Italy battles to contain a third wave of coronavirus infections.

Roberto Agresti, the owner and director of a care home in Fiano Romano, about 20 kilometers (12 miles) from Rome, told CNN an outbreak of Covid-19 cases appeared to be linked to an unvaccinated caregiver.

Out of 36 guests in Agresti's care home, 27 tested positive for the virus in mid-March, two of whom had to be hospitalized, he said.

Agresti said the cluster originated "presumably" from a caregiver who had refused to be vaccinated and began to suffer a fever during her shift on March 16. She was sent home and tested positive for Covid-19 after a swab test, he said.

"It should have been done earlier," he said of the mandatory vaccination measure, passed Wednesday. "I only wanted vaccinated people to work in my care home, but before the decree I couldn't say it."

He believes that the caregivers were mainly "scared from the collateral effects of the vaccines that are amplified by the media," and hopes that all of them will now change their mind.

Three Covid-19 vaccines are now administered in the country -- AstraZeneca, Pfizer and Moderna -- all approved by Italy's medicines agency. Common symptoms of inoculation include soreness, redness and swelling at the site of the injection. Some of those vaccinated may also develop headache, fever, fatigue and muscle aches. However these minor side effects are normal and expected.

Reports of rare blood clots affecting a small number of people in Europe who had had the AztraZeneca vaccine made headlines last month and led to a brief suspension of use of the jab in Italy. However, the European Medicines Agency and the World Health Organization both said there seemed to be no link between blood clots and the vaccine, and both bodies said the benefits of the vaccine outweigh the risks.

Health fears

Even before the decree was passed, it was lawful to move anti-vaccine health workers around in Italy to non-patient-facing roles, but the decree will make it harder in theory for employees opposed to vaccination to seek legal action.

Last week, a care home in Belluno, northern Italy, that placed employees who refused to be vaccinated on paid leave had its decision upheld in court, in one of the first legal cases in Italy of a company insisting on staff being vaccinated as a condition of their employment.

A Covid-19 cluster spread in the facility this past winter, killing 15 guests between November and December. When at the end of December the Pfizer vaccine was made available for all medical personnel in Italy, eight out of the 80 caregivers of the facility refused the shot, Paolo Santesso, director of the elderly care home, told CNN.

The lawyer for the eight caregivers in question, Andrea Colle, told CNN he was ready to appeal the court's decision. The reason the workers are hesitant to take the vaccine is because they "fear that their health can be damaged," he said.

Meanwhile, Filippo Anelli, head of the Italian Federation of Doctors and Dentists, said he was disappointed that the decree didn't meet all of the federation's recommendations. The measure "will not have a strong enough impact, limiting itself to the suspension, through a muddy process, of the right to carry out a job that implies personal contact," Anelli said in a press statement.

Michela Molinari, a spokeswoman for the federation, told CNN that the body was also disappointed that the decree extends only through December 31.

Most of the doctors, nurses, and dentists in Italy have already received or will soon receive the Covid-19 vaccine, she said. The proportion of so-called "no vax" medical staff is very small, roughly 100 out of 1 million doctors and nurses in the country, she said, "but they are very loud, and very active on social media."

Some doctors and nurses cannot get vaccinated due to some specific health issues, Molinari said, but even that percentage is low, around 1 to 2%.

According to Molinari, the greater issue is with healthcare workers who carry out less skilled work at hospitals and clinics, as well as sites like nursing homes, and that is "why the decree was needed."

As of Thursday night, according to Italian government data, 10,324,127 vaccine doses had been administered, of which more than 3 million had been given to health workers. More than 3.4 million people have had both first and second doses.

'Restart of the country'

Italian Prime Minister Mario Draghi signaled last Friday that the government intended to take a tough line amid concern that health workers who refuse Covid-19 vaccines could become a national problem.

"It is unacceptable that healthcare workers who are in direct contact with the sick patients refuse to be vaccinated. The government intends to take action on this," he told a press conference.

The president of the northwest Italian region Liguria, Giovanni Toti, said 15% of the region's care workers had refused the vaccine. A judge in Genoa, a city in Liguria, has opened an investigation on a Covid cluster potentially caused by a "no-vax" nurse working in the San Martino hospital.

Health Minister Roberto Speranza expressed "great satisfaction" about the decree's passage, adding that winning the "health battle is a prerequisite for a real restart of the country."

The decree also protects those who administer the vaccine by excluding them from criminal liability as long as the inoculation has been carried out in accordance with instructions laid out by the Health Ministry.

Vaccine confidence has risen significantly in Italy in recent months, according to polling by the World Economic Forum. A survey conducted in late February indicated that 85% of Italy's population would be likely to get a Covid-19 vaccine when offered, with the proportion of those surveyed saying they strongly agreed up by 36% since December.

This story was first published on CNN.com Italy makes vaccines compulsory for health workers. But some are unconvinced
-:- Message from Tripadvisor staff -:-

Tripadvisor staff has removed this post because it did not meet Tripadvisor's forum guidelines with regards to off-topic chat. Please limit conversations to subject matter directly related to the host forum. For example: when in the London forum, please stick to topics that relate to travel within the London Metropolitan Area.

Off-Topic Chatter is a forum for discussions gone afield from the topic of travel. Please note that the Off-Topic Chatter forum is un-moderated -- the Forum Posting Guidelines are not enforced, with the exception of pornographic images or text, hate speech, unauthorized re-prints of copyrighted text, and messages that promote or encourage illegal activities. Each user is expected to take responsibility for his or her own conduct.

To review the Tripadvisor Forums Posting Guidelines, please follow this link: http://www.tripadvisor.com/pages/forums_posting_guidelines.html

We remove posts that do not follow our posting guidelines, and we reserve the right to remove any post for any reason.

Edited: 07 April 2021, 08:33
Srinagar: Former Jammu and Kashmir Chief Minister Farooq Abdullah, who recently tested positive for Covid-19, was admitted to the Sher-e-Kashmir Institute of Medical Sciences (SKIMS) here on Saturday (April 3) for better management.

Abdullah`s son, Omar Abdullah posted the news about his father`s admission to the hospital on his Twitter handle.



Based on the advice of doctors to enable them to better monitor my father, he has been admitted to hospital in Srinagar. Our family remains grateful to everyone for their messages of support & their prayers  Omar Abdullah (@OmarAbdullah) April 3, 2021

"Based on the advice of doctors to enable them to better monitor my father, he has been admitted to a hospital in Srinagar. Our family remains grateful to everyone for their messages of support and their prayers", Omar Abdullah tweeted.

On March 30, 85-year-old Farooq Abdullah was tested positive for the virus, four weeks after getting covid-19 vaccine jab. He was being managed at his high-security Gupkar Road residence in Srinagar.

Live TV
A pensioner and a teenager have appeared before a special sitting of Dungannon Magistrates Court in relation to an alleged long-running cross-border identity fraud totalling almost 240,000.

Annie Maughan and the youth (17), who cannot be identified due to her age, are charged with fraud by false representation and going equipped for theft.

The charges against Maughan (66), of Harmony Heights, Cavan, are alleged to have occurred between January 2014 until her arrest on April 1.

In respect of the youth, the allegations relate only to April 1.

A detective constable said she could connect both accused to their respect charges.

She explained concerns were raised by the Department for Communities around potential benefit fraud being paid to persons resident in the Republic of Ireland.

It was established these were being collected from various Post Offices in Co Fermanagh every fortnight involving three different accounts.

On Thursday, police were advised payments were due to be collected and Maughan was driving from Cavan in the direction of Derrylin, Co Fermanagh.

She and the youth were detected in a Post Office and having carried out a transaction, were holding a large amount of cash.

They were spoken to by police and Post Office account cards were recovered along with 895 in cash, after which the pair were arrested.

The detective said the case is grounded on identity fraud, with Maughan picking up benefits paid into three Post Office card accounts from 2014 to the present, totalling 239,165.

In respect of each, 80,550 was claimed in one identity; 68,358 from a second and 90,260 from a third.

All three identities had the same mobile phone number on the applications.

An Electoral Identity Card was recovered from Maughan bearing her photograph but in the name of another person.

Evidence has shown this was created in 2016 and was used to register with a GP Surgery in Fermanagh. From medical evidence provided, it was used to apply for disability payments in the false name, which Maughan would collect.

During interview she admitted creating the identity card and withdrawing the money, which she claimed was spent on her grandchildren.

She accepted collecting money in respect of the two other accounts but could provide no further details.

A Post Office card was recovered from the youth and it is the first time police were aware of her involvement in the case.

She stated Maughan had handed her the card and asked her to check the balance on the account, then withdraw the full amount.

It was claimed she believed the account belonged to Maughan, who was getting money for a friend.

Bail was opposed for both defendants due to risk of absconding with the detective pointing to the length of time the fraud was ongoing and the amount involved, totalling almost a quarter of a million pounds.

District Judge Steven Keown said he had no difficulty in agreeing to release the youth on bail to reside at an address in Lisbellaw.

In respect of Maughan, however, Judge Keown felt there was a risk of absconding, making her current address unsuitable.

Although willing to grant bail, he ruled police must approve any address in advance.

Maughan is also to be electronically tagged and abide by a curfew from 7pm to 7am.

The case will be mentioned again at Enniskillen Magistrates Court on April 26.
Source: Xinhua| 2021-04-03 04:38:36|Editor: huaxia

Video Player Close

UNITED NATIONS, April 2 (Xinhua) -- UN Secretary-General Antonio Guterres on Friday called for efforts to create favorable working conditions for people with autism.

"Recovery (from COVID-19) is also a chance to rethink our systems of education and training to ensure that persons with autism are afforded opportunities for realizing their potential," said Guterres in a message for World Autism Awareness Day, which falls on April 2.

Breaking old habits will be crucial. For persons with autism, access to decent work on an equal basis requires creating an enabling environment, along with reasonable accommodation, he said.

"To truly leave no one behind in pursuit of the 2030 Agenda on Sustainable Development, we must realize the rights of all persons with disabilities, including persons with autism, ensuring their full participation in social, cultural and economic life. Let us work together with all persons with disabilities and their representative organizations to find innovative solutions to recover better and build a better world for all," he said. Enditem
Her character is currently involved in a dramatic storyline after she trolled Steve McDonald online and accused him of stealing from his late son Oliver's charity fund.

Yet there's no drama in store for Melanie Hill's own social media accounts as the star revealed that she has deleted 'toxic' Facebook.

The Coronation Street star, 59, who has played Cathy Matthews since 2015, admitted that she found the platform 'uncomfortable' and it 'got on her nerves'.

'Toxic': Melanie Hill revealed that she has deleted 'toxic' Facebook as she found the platform 'uncomfortable' and it 'got on her nerves' (pictured in 2019)

Melanie also revealed that she suffers with insomnia and it would cause her to wake up in the middle of the night to check Facebook on her phone.

The actress, who still has Instagram and Twitter, admitted social media is 'toxic' and she tries to limit her usage.

Melanie added that she initially felt 'terrified' she would be missing out on everything but now it feels as though a 'weight off' her shoulders.

Talking to the Mirror, Melanie said: 'Facebook wasn't making me happy, so I got rid of it six months ago. I'm a terrible insomniac and I'd wake in the middle of the night and pick up the phone.'

Role: The Coronation Street star who has played Cathy Matthews since 2015, is currently involved in a dramatic storyline after she trolled Steve McDonald online and accused him of stealing from his late son Oliver's charity fund (pictured in soap still)

She added: 'For two weeks afterwards I felt terrified I was going to miss out on everything. But then I felt like a weight off my shoulders. I'm glad I did it.'

Melanie's character is currently embroiled in a dramatic storyline after she accused heartbroken Steve McDonald online of stealing from his late son's charity fund.

In November, Steve and Leanne Battersby's son Oliver tragically passed away in heart-wrenching scenes.

After weeks of fighting to keep her son alive in hospital as he battled rare mitochondrial disease, Leanne finally let her son die peacefully.

Decision: Melanie also revealed that she suffers with insomnia and it would cause her to wake up in the middle of the night to check Facebook on her phone (pictured in 2018)

Talking about joining the hit ITV soap in 2015, Melanie admitted that she still gets a 'massive high' and her heart 'comes out of her chest' when she walks onto set.

The actress has had an impressive career, appearing on the likes of sitcom Bread and Playing The Field.

Melanie also admitted that she has become 'terrified of everything' as she has got older in life.

The actress, who is set to turn 60 next year, said: 'I'm terrified of everything and I hate it. I do meditation and I walk; I'm continually trying to calm myself down. I don't know what it is. It's only happened as I've got older.'

Important: The actress, who still has Instagram and Twitter, admitted social media is 'toxic' and she tries to limit her usage unlike her character Cathy (pictured)

Melanie added that it was a reason for her moving out of London as she feels it is a 'young person's city' and it had become 'too loud and busy' for her.

The star said she likes 'being quiet now' and enjoying time by herself or with her writer husband - Jim Daly, describing their relationship as 'peas in a pod'.

Melanie shares two children - Molly, 29, and Lorna, 33, with her ex-husband Sean Bean.

Heartbreaking: In November, Steve and Leanne Battersby's son Oliver tragically passed away in heart-wrenching scenes after battling rare mitochondrial disease

The former couple met at exclusive acting school Rada in London, marrying in 1990 and welcoming two daughters. They split in 1997.

Melanie admitted that it has been 'heartbreaking' during the pandemic as she has been unable to see her children or grandchildren.

The star said that she 'misses them to bits' but is grateful that they are both 'happy, healthy and living their best lives'.